Final Fantasy X: Journey
"Tidus… Tidus, do you think Tida is okay?" Yuna asked worriedly, watching anxiously as Tidus peered down an opening in the wall they had just discovered in their chosen tunnel.
Tidus paused long enough to look back at Yuna and answer, "I don't know," before returning to looking around. "You wouldn't happen to have a light on you, would you?"
Yuna shook her head but Tidus couldn't see. She sighed and looked ahead into the dully-lit corridor. Hoisting herself up onto a platform on one of the side columns, she grabbed one of the fire-flickering torches and brought it back down to Tidus, who took it instantly.
He cast the light down the opening, revealing yet another pathway in this temple maze. Inwardly, Tidus groaned and he closed his eyes for a brief second before opening them again before Yuna could see and ask what was wrong.
No sense in having her worry over me. A teenage daughter who's a Summoner is enough for one mother to worry about, he thought, suddenly feeling grim. He shook his head, eyes dark.
"Do you suppose this is the Cloister for this temple?" Yuna whispered, suddenly feeling chills run up and down her spine. Tidus shrugged.
"Your guess would be as good as mine. It's hard to tell. No one's been down here for years, according to what little Wakka told me of this city," he said, nodding to the froth and stain on the temple floors and walls.
Yuna slowly nodded as well, surveying the new hall with mounting anxiety. "We can't split up. We can't just stand around, either."
Tidus shifted his feet uneasily before glancing back at the unlit tunnel. He blew out a breath, sending his blond bangs flying uncontrollably. Turning back, he looked to Yuna, smiling softly in understanding.
"I know, I know. Which one should we chose?" Tidus said, pointing to both with the torch. He shook his head as if to clear it so he could think clearly.
Yuna bit her lip for a moment, thinking. Remembering, an idea popped its way into her mind. "I've got it! Why not let—"—she pulled a small scarlet pointed crystal from her pocket—"—this decide?"
Tidus eyed the gem warily, and then said, "A rock? A damn rock is going to chose our path?"
Yuna glowered at him, now annoyed plainly at his ignorance. "It's not a damn rock! It's a pathfinder. Tida and Rikku both have one—except theirs are different colors—and it will locate them and point us in their general direction. It can tell us which corridor will led us to them—or closet to them, as the case may be," she explained, setting the crystal gently on the floor.
"So it will point us to Tida."
"Well, maybe. It depends on who's closet to us. It might be Rikku or it might be Tida. I don't know for sure," Yuna said, looking up slightly to see his eyes. She smiled secretly to herself at seeing the worry hidden with the blue orbs.
"What have got to lose—right now, anyway," Tidus added hastily, avoiding Yuna's sudden glare.
"Point me!" Yuna commanded, whipping her hand around and down to point at the crystal.
At once, swirls of light flew in and out of the gem before it began to flicker and spin, faster and faster until a brilliant flash for a small object flowed, and it stopped, dead, a bead of red light on the end showing that the direction it was aimed to was at the unlit hall.
"I was hoping it would pick the other one," Yuna said wryly, scooping the crystal up as she followed Tidus, who had immediately started down the dank tunnel the moment he had seen which way to go.
—
"I hope Tida's okay," Rikku said, ducking low to avoid a collapsed archway. She stopped, turning to watch as Lulu followed, Wakka close behind, nearly on the Black Mage's heels.
"There has to be an end to these tunnels, ya know?" Wakka said, wiping sweat from his brow. It was getting hotter and hotter in the corridor, making all three somewhat uneasy.
"So far there isn't," Lulu said, sighing as she shook her head, midnight hair flying. She looked back over her shoulder as far as she could before the tunnel bent in a curve.
"Let's keep going. We gotta stop Seymour!" Rikku said, clenching one fist tightly, her knuckles turning from tanned gold brown to white.
"We know, Rikku." Wakka blew out a breath and shook his head.
Lulu waved her right hand lazily and cast a tiny ice spell on the three of them to try and cool things down enough for rational thought.
"What's the pla—Whoa!" Rikku's arms shot out to catch herself as the floor opened beneath her feet. Straining her arm and leg muscles, she fought to keep herself level as she looked desperately around for something hanging down to grab to pull herself up.
"Wakka!" Lulu cried. She flew down the chute, screaming. Wakka scrambled for a grip but there wasn't one to grasp and he, too, began to slide down the other chute with a loud yell of hopelessness and outrage.
Rikku tried to pull up but the sides suddenly began vibrating—as if trying to shake her off—and she slipped, clawing wildly to keep from sliding down to where fayth only knew.
"NO!"
Rikku's anguished cry echoed in the tube.
—
"Tidus… Tidus, do you feel that?" Yuna whispered, groping for his arm in the tiny circle of light surrounding their bodies in the dark corridor.
Tidus stopped, casting the light over her face. "Feel what? Yuna, are you sure it's not your imagination? I mean, women usually do scare—"
"I'm not scared, Tidus. I'm worried about our daughter," Yuna interjected firmly, her eyes narrowing. "But it feels like—like the ground is trembling."
Tidus rolled his eyes and turned back around, taking a step.
At once, the floor tiles dropped away all around them, leaving them standing in the air on a suspended platform. Yuna held Tidus's arms tightly, eyes now shining bright with fear. Tidus's eyes burned dark with frustration and confusion. He dropped the torch as Yuna tripped in fright and he moved to catch her.
Complete darkness surrounded them and Yuna's breath became heavy from panic and alarm, and Tidus held her. Yuna's chest heaved against his and choking sobs of terror left her body.
Yuna's sobs suddenly began to subside and Tidus could feel her looking around sharply, as if she were feeling something familiar to her.
"Yuna?"
"It's Tida. I can feel her. She's radiating power. Something's happened to trigger all her abilities at once. She's releasing vast amounts of energy. Can't you feel it?" Yuna's soft voice barely masked the excitement within it.
"I can feel… something. It's bright. Kind of like a rosebud suddenly opening into a fully-bloomed flower… full of white… a white glow?" Tidus shook his head. "I must sound crazy," he said ruefully, smiling.
Yuna shook her quickly. "No, no. You're close, really. Tida's got a lot of power. I don't think she really knows what she's truly capable of. We've got to find a way out of here. Something's wrong."
A loud clanking noise followed her words and the lights came on, bright as day.
Tidus slowly rose from where they'd been crouching and looked around. "I don't think we're going to get out of here right now."
The platform zoomed downward, Yuna and Tidus's screams matching the other breath for breath and echoing together as they fell.
—
Tida's face was buried in her knees as she huddled, crying, against the wall. She hugged her legs to her tightly as her lithe body racked with sobs for Chappu and Zeoron, her loyal guardians to the end.
Her cape and pouch lay were she'd dropped them; the white material was strewn across the floor somewhat dramatically, part of it draped over the pouch, whose contents littered the floor: a small blue pointed crystal, tiny bottles of potions, vials of phoenix downs, and a few other things that Tida felt she needed to carry.
"We weren't… we weren't ready! I was not ready! We should have trained more—prepared more for this!" she wailed, once again beginning a new wave of tears. She leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling as the tears made their trails down her red cheeks. One hand reached for and clutched at the Zanarkand symbol glistening in the tiny rays of light.
"Oh, Chappu," she whispered. "You're in my heart, always."
Strength surged in her veins, throughout her entire being. Tida stood, one hand balled tightly into a fist at her side as she closed her eyes and lowered head.
Tida abruptly jerked her head up and stared piercingly ahead down the channel, her colored eyes nearly glowing with power.
"I don't care who the hell you think you are, Seymour, but I swear to you, you will pay!" Tida roared the last few words as white light erupted from her body. She pulsed with the force of Holy.
The white blaze faded and Tida strode forward, each step drawing her closer and closer to whatever lay ahead in this temple maze.
Disclaimer: All belongs to Squaresoft. Tida, Chappu, Aeon of Light, etc., are mine.