Inside the winning locker room, the Besaid Aurochs celebrated their victory. They grabbed some drinks, shook them up, and opened them, letting the contents spray all over the floor and other players. The Crystal Cup was in the center of the room and all of them huddled around it.
"Man, I can't believe we finally did it! Cap'n Wakka's gonna be so excited when he gets back!" Letty exclaimed, picking up the trophy and hoisting it over his head proudly while the team simply admired it for a few moments.
Then Gatta and Barthello entered the room. "Congratulations on your victory," the Crusader said. "Sir Tidus, shall we get going?"
"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed. "Guys, I had a lot of fun. Thanks for letting me play with you."
"Thanks for helpin' us win," Botta returned.
"Oh yeah, and tell Cap'n Wakka the good news!" Jassu added.
"I will. See ya around."
Then the three of them left the locker room to continue their journey. As they exited the locker area, they noticed that most of the crowd had yet to leave. They were still hanging out around and inside the blitzball stadium. Tidus could overhear many of them talking about how great the tournament had been.
Then Gatta halted, causing the other two to stop in their tracks. "What's up?" the former Zanarkand Abes star asked.
He was staring intently at a small group of people across from them. "That's Dalan," he whispered softly, pointing to the individual.
"Huh?" He followed his finger to a short man with dark skin. He was balding, and what little hair he had left was short and dark brown. Tidus felt there was something strangely familiar about him, but decided to ignore that feeling for now. "Well, let's get him then," he suggested.
"We can't seize a man in broad daylight with this crowd around. None of them know he's done anything wrong," Gatta stated. "We'll just have to wait for the people to disperse a little, or we'll follow him to wherever he goes if he leaves. Then we'll catch him."
The young guardian was about to say something, but an overwhelming crash, followed by outrageous screams of fear and pain were heard inside of the arena. Then Dalan began to dash off of the scene, as everyone was distracted except for Gatta. He had started to pursue him, but Tidus got in the way and tried to hold him back. "No! Let him go! There's something going on in the stadium!"
The Crusader continued to struggle. "Yeah, and he's behind it! That's why he's running! We can't let him get away!" he said angrily.
"But the people in there are in danger, Gatta! We can't just abandon them! We gotta help them!"
Then he calmed himself down. He had been convinced. "You're right. Let's go!"
Then the three of them rushed through the gate leading to the stadium to discover what the problem was. They were shocked to see that the apparatus that generated the sphere pool had literally been lifted from its foundation and had fallen over, crushing and injuring many innocent civilians.
"This is terrible…" Tidus muttered, slowly shaking his head.
Gatta interrogated one of the people nearby. "What happened here?"
"I-I don't know…It just suddenly fell over…It was like it was a ghost or something," the man answered.
The Crusader thanked him for the information and returned to the two guardians. "Just as I thought. It was the Ronau Group. There's nothing we can do here. Let's keep going," Gatta said.
Tidus hesitated briefly, and then nodded reluctantly. They left the stadium and headed toward the city limits. They walked up the stairs past the tavern that led to the Mi'ihen Highroad. "Time to hit the road," he commented, and they began to follow the trail on their way to Zanarkand.
As they walked, the blonde-headed guardian had something to ask the Crusader. "Gatta…Why were the Guado attacking me during the game? They got somethin' against me?" he inquired.
"What? You mean you don't know?" he asked, almost in disbelief.
"Nope…Something I did?"
"Well, to make it simple…The Guado blame you for Maester Seymour's death. They believe that you had conspired from the beginning to murder him, and that's the only reason you joined High Summoner Yuna on her pilgrimage. They've made that claim public knowledge to everyone," he explained.
"What?! They said that?! That's just stupid!" Tidus exclaimed in incredulity.
"Yeah, no one else bought into that either, but the Guado still believe it. They hate you with a passion for supposedly ruining their chances of ever being joined together with humanity. They even refuse to acknowledge you as a true guardian," Gatta added.
They continued along the highroad on their journey in silence. Tidus observed the old structures of the ruined machina that littered the trail. They were the main features on the Mi'ihen Highroad. Other than the wreckage of the forbidden technology, it was not a very distinctive path. It was simply a wide dirt road with few travelers.
He knew that it had a special meaning to Gatta though, because this track not only led to Djose, but also led to the formation of Yevon's Crusaders. They were formerly known as the Crimson Blades, but Yevon had protested their organization. General Mi'ihen followed the very same highroad they were on now to confront the maesters to plead their cause. They were convinced and dubbed them the Crusaders, who pledged to fight Sin in the name of Yevon until it perished.
Tidus glanced over at Gatta, who was looking straight ahead with a determined look on his face. (He must be focused on finding this Dalan guy.) he thought.
Then he looked back at Barthello, who remained as stoic as ever. It seemed as if little fazed him. He pondered back to the time that they had come across him in the Macalania Woods after he had lost Dona. He was in a panic, and it was the only occasion he had ever seen him in that manner.
Then the cheerful youth remembered what Auron had told him, about guarding his emotions first, and then guarding his summoner. He wondered if that was how it was with Barthello; he actually had something to say or express, but preferred to keep it inside. His philosophy was the complete opposite of his own. Tidus had no problem saying what he felt. He was simply an extrovert by nature.
(But can people change their natures? It seems like Barthello has…Why am I even thinking about this anyway? It's not like it matters.) he thought.
Tidus was a curious person, and although he really wanted to ask the large guardian what was on his mind, he opted to keep quiet. Some people wanted privacy, and that was all there was to it. Barthello was just one of those types of people.
All of his thinking had caused him to lose track of time, and before he realized it, they came upon Rin's Travel Agency. "Hey, let's stop here!" he insisted, halting the progress of his comrades.
"But why? There's still plenty of time before nightfall," Gatta commented, perplexed.
"I don't mean for the night. I just wanna rest here for a sec," he clarified.
The Crusader shrugged. "Fine by me. It's up to you."
So they took a break from their voyage momentarily and entered the Al Bhed shop. Inside, they found Rin, who was talking to Yuna's uncle and Rikku's father Cid, who was also the leader of their people. They held their conversation in their language. "Did you hear about the incident in Luca?" the bald man asked in his gruff voice.
"Yes, I did. They still do not know who is behind all of it?" Rin inquired in his usual calm voice.
Before he could answer, Tidus interjected. "Hey Cid, Rin!" he greeted.
"Well, lookie here. It's the guardian of my niece," Cid said, speaking in English.
"What are you doing here?" the blonde-headed youth asked curiously.
"What does it look like I'm doin'?! I'm talkin' to Rin!" he shot back.
"No, that's not what I meant…Aren't you going to Yuna's wedding?"
"To see her marry some Yevon Maester? Nah, I'd rather not," he replied.
"Oh, well, we're on our way there, actually…Hey, I heard what happened to the airship. Why'd you hand it over?" the young guardian asked, suddenly changing the subject.
"That's none of your business," Cid said rudely.
"…Sorry," he apologized, scratching the back of his head.
"Listen, if you're headin' to Zanarkand, you'd better watch your back. You hear about what happened in Luca?"
"Yeah, I was there."
"Really? Did you see anyone suspicious or do you know who's responsible?" the Al Bhed leader asked eagerly.
"Yeah, it was the Ronau Group," he answered.
"The who?" he asked, confused.
"You know, the Ronau Group. They've been behind a lot of the attacks in Spira the last couple years."
"I ain't ever heard the name before."
Tidus found it odd, but before he could say anything else, Gatta interrupted. "Sir Tidus, we should really be going."
The Crusader and Barthello left as he moved toward the door. "Good luck," Cid said.
He turned back around to face the two Al Bhed. "Thanks. Oh, and one more thing before I go…I didn't forget those words, did I?" he asked with a smirk.
Yuna's uncle chuckled and grinned as well. "Nope, you sure didn't. Thanks kid," he said kindly.
Then Tidus left, closing the door behind him.
Author's Notes: I don't think that turned out very well. At least not as well as I'd hoped anyway. Sorry, but I don't know the Al Bhed language, so I decided to put the words they spoke in Al Bhed in bold. If someone could help me translate them, it'd be greatly appreciated. Anyway, let me know what you thought in a review along with some constructive criticism. It'll help me improve as a writer. God bless.