To Kilika

I had went to check on Lysander down at the cabins but the guy was still asleep. He seemed to only be awake for a couple of hours to eat then he'd be asleep again. He must have really hated water to try block it out as much as he could. He said he could have been worse but I don't think anyone really wanted to find out if that was true or not.

It was the third day of being on the boat, around the afternoon. Grace suggested that I get to know everyone better and started to explain to me what Yuna's Pilgrimage involved. Lulu wasn't very interested in speaking to me, Tidus or Lysander, and when she did she was quite cold. Kimahri, that huge blue Ronso thing, didn't speak at all but Wakka and Yuna were nice to us. They told us not to worry about their attitudes because that was just how they were. Still I couldn't help but think it didn't hurt to be nice.

I could see Yuna and Kimahri at the front of the boat, lots of the other passengers crowding around her, wanting to speak with her. Wakka had told me that Yuna was the daughter of High Summoner Braska, who had defeated Sin ten years ago. When I asked why is Sin still here Wakka looked at me like I'd grown a second head. He then went on to tell me that Sin comes back because we need to atone for the crimes we committed in the past, which were relying too heavy on Machina. The way Grace said it sounded as though she didn't believe it though so when I asked if it was true or not she said she didn't know, but she thought it was a little extreme that Spira was being punished for technological advancement.

"Hey," I was sitting on a few crates and staring out at the ocean when Grace came up to me. "What's up?"

"Nothing really," I said. "Hey when will we get to Kilika?"

"I'm guessing at night," She replied. "So we should be able to get a sleep in the Port before heading to the Temple tomorrow," The Port? Grace noticed my quizzical look. "Kilika is a Port town, built entirely on the shallow shores of the island. The actual Temple is on the mainland, past the jungles."

"Why is it a Port?" I asked. Grace gave a shrug and a guess.

"Maybe the land on the island is too uneven to build a town on," She said. "I've never been there before. The Crusaders told me a lot about Spira's geography."

"What else do you know about it?" I asked. I really wanted to know as much as I could about Spira because Tidus and I knew nothing about this world. Grace gave my question some thought and sat beside me on the crates.

"Well Luca is the second largest city in Spira, that's where we're going after Yuna and the Aurochs pray at the Temple," I was puzzled, again. "Well, the High Summoner Ohalland defeated Sin two hundred and thirty years ago and he lived in Kilika. Before he became a Summoner he played for the Kilika Beasts, the Kilika Blitz team. So before the major tournaments all the Blitz teams go and pray to Ohalland for victory," Grace gave a sigh. "Although with the Auroch's luck they'll need more than prayers for victory. They'll need a miracle if they want to win."

"Well Tidus joined the team. He's a really good player," I told her.

"Yeah but one really good player with a good player and the rest of the Aurochs isn't going to give them a huge advantage," She said. "The Aurochs haven't won a game in twenty-three years, or so I'm told. I'm all for the underdog, don't get me wrong, but they're going to need a couple of miracles to win the cup," I nodded and looked at the ocean. "Hey is Lysander okay? Every time I want to talk to him he's asleep."

"He told me he hated water," I answered. "He really hates being around it, I think he just sleeps so he doesn't have to deal with it."

"Oh right," Grace nodded, changing the subject. "Hey how's the Toxin? Think the air's been clearing your head?"

"Not really," I frowned. "It's still really fuzzy, I remember little bits and then I forget. Last night, before I went to sleep, I thought about this town. There was water and it was quite a big town. Limer... Limer something. I can't remember what it's called. But it was on an island, next to another island."

"Ireland?" Grace asked. I looked at her, surprised at her suggestion. Ireland sounded so familiar to me, but at the same time I was so confused. Ireland wasn't in Spira, or Zanaraknd. So where was it? "Hey it'll take time. If you need to talk to someone you've got me, okay?" I nodded. For a girl three years older than me she certainly acted motherly. Maybe that was just her personality.

Grace later went down to see Lysander and I headed up to the front of the boat. Tidus and Yuna were away up the front, talking to one another. Kimahri stood close by, as did Wakka and Lulu.

"Hey how's it going?" Wakka asked when he saw me.

"Not bad," I answered. "Grace was telling me about High Summoner Ohalland and that Blitz players pray at Kilika."

"Yup. One of the best Blitzers there ever was," Wakka said. "We go every year before the game and pray for victory," I nodded. "But we're here for Yuna first. She's got to pray at all the temples before she reaches Zanarkand." Tidus and I had heard that Zanarakand was destroyed a thousand years ago, which made no sense. I still wasn't ready to believe it. A lot of things weren't making sense at the moment and I could do nothing about it. I only hoped that this Toxin would fade as soon as possible.

The boat jolted all of a sudden, throwing us forward as a huge grey fin rose from the sea, a huge wave soaking the ship.

"Sin!" A passenger shouted and panic grew with the realisation. I grabbed the closest thing to me that was stable and didn't let go, terrified of being thrown overboard again. Sin was ahead of us by a small amount and I saw sailors running to the harpoons at the front.

"What are you thinking?" Wakka called. "You harpoon that thing and we'll all get dragged under!" I panicked and gripped tighter to the ship.

"Our families are in Kilika! We have to do something!" The sailor yelled. "Please forgive us Lady Yuna!"

"Lysander! Get up here!" I heard Grace yell from the other side of the boat. I didn't know how much he hated water but I was hoping it wasn't enough to not help us. "Lysander! Where are you going?" Grace groaned and ran up to the top of the boat before looking at me. "Get in the cabins, go!" She took her spear and ran at a beast that I remembered from Zanarakand. I was attacked by so many of them and all I did was panic and run. Grace said that I should go in the cabins, like Hell I was.

One of the monsters spotted me and came at me. Despite my better judgement saying I should run, the adrenaline had be charging and kicking the thing right over. It hurt it a bit but not as much as the swords, spears and Magic were. I put myself into the fighting stance Lysander suggested for me, so if I was attacked I wouldn't lose my balance and I wouldn't hurt myself. The same monster came at me and bit my leg so I brought my fist down over its head, Pyreflies fluttering out of it.

The adrenaline was filling me. It didn't even occur to me that I had just killed something. Maybe it was because it was a monster, not a person. It still didn't register with me that I had killed. Not for a while.

It was hard to keep steady because Sin was throwing us back and forth, dragging the ship with it to Kilika. The ropes of the harpoon snapped, breaking apart from the ship and throwing us backwards, water thrown onto the ship and soaking everyone. I landed flat on my back, gasping for air when the boat started to settle. I looked around the place, seeing if everyone was okay.

"Where's Tidus and Wakka?" I asked.

"Your friend fell overboard," Lulu said calmly. How could she be so calm? "Wakka dove into the sea after him. They'll be fine, don't worry."

"But they could be miles away by now!" I said. I wasn't as strong a swimmer as Tidus or Wakka, but I didn't want to stand and be unable to do anything. I couldn't do anything though and that was frustrating.

I looked ahead, seeing a small blot on the horizon. Kilika was there and so was Sin. If Sin had completely destroyed Zanarkand then the damage it could do to Kilika... a chill went down my spine just thinking about it.