Hello, all. Turns out I wasn't as late as I thought I'd be after all. There
is much rejoicing. Yahoo. Heh.
Chapter 09
Gratituitous Blitzball Game
"Hmm. Aurochs versus the Kilika Beasts, four thirty. Goers versus the Al Bhed Psyches, five."
"Let's see the Goers play," suggested Sky. "I don't think any of us has seen them before; we've seen our home teams practice." We had all decided that while we were in Luca, we should make the most of our time there. Obviously, this meant seeing a Blitzball game-pretty much the only entertainment around.
Besides, Sky told me later, this was probably her last chance to ever see a match played.
"Okay, then." Sakura frowned at the pamphlet she was holding. Several more were spread out on the table in front of her, for various events and different days. I think Sakura's grandfather collects them or something. Sakura whistled. "A thousand gil for one measly ticket? What a rip-off!"
I took the pamphlet. "Let me see that. Oh, here-those are only the seats in the middle. The ones lower down and higher up are a lot cheaper."
"I still say it's a rip-off."
"They might let us in for free, me being a Summoner," Sky said, frowning.
"They might let you in for free, but I'm not so sure about us."
"They will."
"You know what." Sakura said thoughtfully. She didn't finish her sentence, but instead just got up from the table and walked out the door. I looked at Sky, who shrugged.
"How do you like Luca?" I asked. We hadn't had much chance to talk yesterday.
"It's big," Sky said, smiling a little wistfully. "Colorful. Everyone seems loud, but cheerful. It's a lot different from Kilika. But, then, that's part of the reason I became a Summoner. How else would I get to see the world? That's not all of it, though." she seemed to be talking to herself more than me. I wasn't quite sure how we got on the topic of why she became a Summoner, anyway. "I wasn't really sure before. Oh, I knew I wanted to help people, that Sin was bad. but all I knew for sure was that this was the right thing to do." I was a little surprised to hear this. Sky isn't the kind of person who just does things on suspicion-she has to have a definite motive before she takes action. "But.before, I never actually saw someone who'd had everything taken away from them by Sin. I was too young when my home was destroyed. Sakura, and Nyk, they've lost everything so many times I sometimes wondered how they could still smile. I think I know, now. They've hardened themselves to it, taken it and moved on." She stared out over the balcony. "That's why.I'm sure that's why, now. I don't want anyone to have to accept death and destruction as a part of everyday life."
There wasn't really anything I could say to that, so it was probably a good thing a yawning Nyk came through the door just then. "Why's everyone up so early?" he said, a bit disgruntled.
"Get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Sky asked, grinning rather.
"Mmph," he replied, sitting down next to her. "Liya jumped on me. Said she wanted breakfast." This was so unlike Liya that I burst into laughter- besides, anyone looks amusing with their eyes all squinted and their hair sticking straight up. Nyk glared at me. "She's downstairs with Grandfather."
"Did you see Sakura leave?" I asked.
"Mmm.I think so.not sure."
"'Kay." I got up and left. Trotting downstairs, I wondered where she could have gone. I peeked in the kitchen, but the only ones there were Liya, munching happily on a piece of bread with honey, and her grandfather, cooking something on his stove.
She must have left, then, I thought to myself. I walked to the front door and peered outside. There were many more people in the streets then than there had been the day before-a bit surprising, considering how early it was--but Sakura wasn't one of them.
I wasn't even sure why I needed to find her. It's not like I expected her to get into trouble or anything.
I stepped out the door and tapped the shoulder of a woman loitering near the door. "Er, excuse me.how do you get to the Blitzball stadium?"
"Hmm? Oh. Turn left at the end of the street, then keep going straight until you get to the docks. Turn right after the third one, then left. Or just go in that direction," she said, pointing to a spot on the horizon. I looked, and saw the stadium rising above the skyline, I thanked her, feeling a bit foolish, and headed towards the end of the street.
As I was turning left, someone took hold of my wrist. I pulled my hand away and jumped around, relaxing only slightly when I saw it was Kiyo.
He looked down at me-he had to, being a good six inches taller-and grinned. "Jumpy this morning, aren't we? I yelled, but I guess you didn't hear me."
"No." I said. "You want something?" Once I heard them, the words sounded a lot ruder than I'd meant them to.
He shook his head. "Only the pleasure of your company.if you don't bite my head off, first." I smiled in spite of myself. For all that I had some suspicions about him, he didn't seem to be that bad of a person.
"Sorry," I said. "I don't think being in crowds agrees with me."
"Really? I like big cities like this." I started walking again, and Kiyo fell into step next to me. "Course, if you put a spider within ten feet of me I panic and try and cast Ultima on it. I guess everyone has their own weird phobias."
"It's not a phobia, really," I said. "I'm just not used to them. There were only about seventy people in Kilika."
"Where're you headed?" Kiyo asked quickly. I guess the expression on my face must have given away some of what I was thinking.
"Right now?" I asked, glad for the change in subject. "The Blitzball stadium. I think Sakura's there."
"You going to a game today?"
"Yeah, the Goers versus the Psyches."
"No, don't turn right here." I looked up at him, confused.
"The lady who gave me directions said turn right at the third dock."
"Shortcut," Kiyo explained. "It doesn't have as many turns. I wonder who built this city, anyway?"
"All the streets seem to curve," I agreed. "Like a giant spiral."
"And there's no real center. here we are," he said. Sure enough, in front of us there was a large, blue-gray wall with several red-framed doors. To the left of where we were standing, there was an oval window, with a tired- looking woman leaning out of it. Sure enough, there was Sakura standing in front of her, apparently talking, with the aid of expansive hand gestures. I trotted up to her.
"Hi!" she said brightly as she saw me approach. "Guess what I got!"
"Six prime seats for five hundred gil," the woman at the window said dolefully. "You her friend? Could you take her away before she has me paying her?" Sakura laughed and walked away, with me following her. Kiyo waved as he passed us, going in the other direction. I waved back.
"I see you've lost your suspicious nature," Sakura said cheerfully.
"Have not. That's not something I should be defending, is it." Sakura shook her head. "We met up on the way here and chatted for a while. He's nice enough. How'd you get the tickets so cheap?"
"Oh, it was easy. I asked if Summoners could get in free, and she said yes, but guardians couldn't. I said Why not? and she said something about Losing money. I made a pretty big stink about not paying proper respect to people, and how you won't lose much money if it's only a couple times in a decade, and that with two thousand seats it won't matter if a couple are cheap. So we bargained down to a hundred gil, then she asked how many tickets we needed. I'm pretty sure she expected me to say one or two.you should have seen the look on her face when I said six!"
I chuckled. "Yeah, she seemed pretty shell-shocked when I came up. Who're the extra two tickets for?"
"I figured Liya would like to see a match, and maybe Grandfather would too, I don't know. Is it left here or right?"
I looked around. The buildings to my left looked pretty familiar. "Left."
As it turned out, right was the correct way. Sakura and I managed to see a good half of Luca before arriving at her grandfather's house. We were both pretty hungry by then, so we headed straight to the kitchen.
"Where were you? You've been gone forty-five minutes," Sky said as we entered the room. She and Nyk were both just finishing omelettes, and Liya was on her third piece of toast and honey, by the number of crusts on her plate. She must be a slow eater, I thought.
"We got lost," Sakura said with a shrug. "I got tickets to the game real cheap." She sat down at the table and took a muffin from the basket in the middle. "Five hundred gil for six."
Sky raised an eyebrow, but it was Nyk who asked, "What did you do to the poor ticket vendor?"
"Jeez, why're you acting like I threatened her with death or something?" Sakura said in a mock offended tone.
Nyk stood up and put his plate in the sink. "I know you, that's why."
"Well, Genna, did you ever expect this?" The announcer's voice managed to cut through the din of two thousand cheering people.
"No, I sure didn't, Dan. The Luca Goers have crushed all opposition for the last ten years, and I didn't think they'd let the underdog score so much as one goal."
"Folks, at the start of the second half we have a tie game, after a come- from-behind, last minute goal by Luren of the Psyches, bringing the score to six points."
"Let me tell you, I'm on the edge of my seat right now!"
From somewhere up above the stands came a blaring horn, signaling the start of the second half of the game. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet, cheering one team or the other, and our little group was no exception. Sakura and I were cheering on Luca, while Sky and Nyk were yelling for a Psyches victory-the Al Bheds aren't nearly as hated in the Blitzball world as they are in the real one. Liya, after a few moments of being terrified by the crowds, was happily twirling around on her seat, yelling "Go Goers! Go Psyches! Go Goers!" Her grandfather had decided not to come, saying humorously that screaming crowds were no place for an old man.
"And the Psyches start off with the ball, driving through the center-a remarkable pass to Jeti on the left-oow, and he's bowled over in a superb display of a Venom Tackle!"
"The Goers are plainly trying to confuse the other team, in a rapid right- left-right pass-"
"An intercept by Marth, right defense! He passes it forward-ooh, careful now, don't let the ball slip!"
"And Luren grabs the ball, sets it up-goal! Seven-six, Psyches in the lead!" Sky cheered, while Sakura shook her head sadly. It was strange-none of us had done more than hear about these teams before now, and we were cheering them on like we knew them all personally. I guess being in the middle of two thousand cheering people and not cheering would be almost impossible, though.
"Three and thirty left in the game, and it looks like the Goers are getting worried!"
"Guess they got too used to winning, eh Dan?" one announcer joked.
"Well, they're launching an all-out offense now! Goers start with the ball."
Over the next two minutes, the Goers scored five points, to resounding cheers from the crowd. However, by the time there was fifteen seconds left, the score was again tied.
"Luren of the Psyches tackles the left forward! He grabs the ball and-ooh, narrow miss there! Tern, goalie, lobs the ball out of the goal-intercepted by Marth, sets up and bicycle kicks-GOAL! Four seconds left.three.two."
"And the match is over! Twelve-eleven to the Al Bhed Psyches! What a match! Wiped those grins off the Lucan faces, didn't it?"
I don't think anyone listened to the announcers' ending chatter. I don't think anyone could have heard even if they wanted to. People grumbled or screamed their excitement, and I was left feeling like I'd been watching an hour-long game, instead of only ten minutes. All too soon, people started to flow down the aisles of the stadium and out the doors at the bottom.
"Let's wait a few minutes," suggested Sky, her face still glowing with excitement. "The crowds will thin out then."
The rest of us agreed. I watched as the players swam out of the pool, and, a few seconds later, as the water began to drain. The sphere pool was half empty when we finally made our way down to the exits.
It was still early in the year, so in the twenty minutes we had been in the stadium evening had turned into full night. On the streets, lights hung along the sides of houses lit up, probably so anyone out walking at night wouldn't trip over their own feet. Lights came on in the windows of houses, some gas lamps, mostly electric lights. There were still a lot of people out strolling-women with shopping bags, groups of children dashing here and there, couples with their arms around one another, and even a few families.
For some reason, seeing all the happy people brought homesickness thundering down on me. No. I couldn't be homesick. I didn't know how badly Kilika had been hurt by Sin's attack, but some part of me knew for sure that if I went back, my house and family would be gone. And even if they weren't, I couldn't-I wouldn't-turn back now.
Tuning out Sakura and Nyk's happy banter, Sky's laughing comments on it, Liya's happy little made-up song about nothing in particular, I looked up at the sky. But with all the light shining down in the city, or perhaps clouds moving in from the coast, I couldn't find the stars.
Chapter 09
Gratituitous Blitzball Game
"Hmm. Aurochs versus the Kilika Beasts, four thirty. Goers versus the Al Bhed Psyches, five."
"Let's see the Goers play," suggested Sky. "I don't think any of us has seen them before; we've seen our home teams practice." We had all decided that while we were in Luca, we should make the most of our time there. Obviously, this meant seeing a Blitzball game-pretty much the only entertainment around.
Besides, Sky told me later, this was probably her last chance to ever see a match played.
"Okay, then." Sakura frowned at the pamphlet she was holding. Several more were spread out on the table in front of her, for various events and different days. I think Sakura's grandfather collects them or something. Sakura whistled. "A thousand gil for one measly ticket? What a rip-off!"
I took the pamphlet. "Let me see that. Oh, here-those are only the seats in the middle. The ones lower down and higher up are a lot cheaper."
"I still say it's a rip-off."
"They might let us in for free, me being a Summoner," Sky said, frowning.
"They might let you in for free, but I'm not so sure about us."
"They will."
"You know what." Sakura said thoughtfully. She didn't finish her sentence, but instead just got up from the table and walked out the door. I looked at Sky, who shrugged.
"How do you like Luca?" I asked. We hadn't had much chance to talk yesterday.
"It's big," Sky said, smiling a little wistfully. "Colorful. Everyone seems loud, but cheerful. It's a lot different from Kilika. But, then, that's part of the reason I became a Summoner. How else would I get to see the world? That's not all of it, though." she seemed to be talking to herself more than me. I wasn't quite sure how we got on the topic of why she became a Summoner, anyway. "I wasn't really sure before. Oh, I knew I wanted to help people, that Sin was bad. but all I knew for sure was that this was the right thing to do." I was a little surprised to hear this. Sky isn't the kind of person who just does things on suspicion-she has to have a definite motive before she takes action. "But.before, I never actually saw someone who'd had everything taken away from them by Sin. I was too young when my home was destroyed. Sakura, and Nyk, they've lost everything so many times I sometimes wondered how they could still smile. I think I know, now. They've hardened themselves to it, taken it and moved on." She stared out over the balcony. "That's why.I'm sure that's why, now. I don't want anyone to have to accept death and destruction as a part of everyday life."
There wasn't really anything I could say to that, so it was probably a good thing a yawning Nyk came through the door just then. "Why's everyone up so early?" he said, a bit disgruntled.
"Get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Sky asked, grinning rather.
"Mmph," he replied, sitting down next to her. "Liya jumped on me. Said she wanted breakfast." This was so unlike Liya that I burst into laughter- besides, anyone looks amusing with their eyes all squinted and their hair sticking straight up. Nyk glared at me. "She's downstairs with Grandfather."
"Did you see Sakura leave?" I asked.
"Mmm.I think so.not sure."
"'Kay." I got up and left. Trotting downstairs, I wondered where she could have gone. I peeked in the kitchen, but the only ones there were Liya, munching happily on a piece of bread with honey, and her grandfather, cooking something on his stove.
She must have left, then, I thought to myself. I walked to the front door and peered outside. There were many more people in the streets then than there had been the day before-a bit surprising, considering how early it was--but Sakura wasn't one of them.
I wasn't even sure why I needed to find her. It's not like I expected her to get into trouble or anything.
I stepped out the door and tapped the shoulder of a woman loitering near the door. "Er, excuse me.how do you get to the Blitzball stadium?"
"Hmm? Oh. Turn left at the end of the street, then keep going straight until you get to the docks. Turn right after the third one, then left. Or just go in that direction," she said, pointing to a spot on the horizon. I looked, and saw the stadium rising above the skyline, I thanked her, feeling a bit foolish, and headed towards the end of the street.
As I was turning left, someone took hold of my wrist. I pulled my hand away and jumped around, relaxing only slightly when I saw it was Kiyo.
He looked down at me-he had to, being a good six inches taller-and grinned. "Jumpy this morning, aren't we? I yelled, but I guess you didn't hear me."
"No." I said. "You want something?" Once I heard them, the words sounded a lot ruder than I'd meant them to.
He shook his head. "Only the pleasure of your company.if you don't bite my head off, first." I smiled in spite of myself. For all that I had some suspicions about him, he didn't seem to be that bad of a person.
"Sorry," I said. "I don't think being in crowds agrees with me."
"Really? I like big cities like this." I started walking again, and Kiyo fell into step next to me. "Course, if you put a spider within ten feet of me I panic and try and cast Ultima on it. I guess everyone has their own weird phobias."
"It's not a phobia, really," I said. "I'm just not used to them. There were only about seventy people in Kilika."
"Where're you headed?" Kiyo asked quickly. I guess the expression on my face must have given away some of what I was thinking.
"Right now?" I asked, glad for the change in subject. "The Blitzball stadium. I think Sakura's there."
"You going to a game today?"
"Yeah, the Goers versus the Psyches."
"No, don't turn right here." I looked up at him, confused.
"The lady who gave me directions said turn right at the third dock."
"Shortcut," Kiyo explained. "It doesn't have as many turns. I wonder who built this city, anyway?"
"All the streets seem to curve," I agreed. "Like a giant spiral."
"And there's no real center. here we are," he said. Sure enough, in front of us there was a large, blue-gray wall with several red-framed doors. To the left of where we were standing, there was an oval window, with a tired- looking woman leaning out of it. Sure enough, there was Sakura standing in front of her, apparently talking, with the aid of expansive hand gestures. I trotted up to her.
"Hi!" she said brightly as she saw me approach. "Guess what I got!"
"Six prime seats for five hundred gil," the woman at the window said dolefully. "You her friend? Could you take her away before she has me paying her?" Sakura laughed and walked away, with me following her. Kiyo waved as he passed us, going in the other direction. I waved back.
"I see you've lost your suspicious nature," Sakura said cheerfully.
"Have not. That's not something I should be defending, is it." Sakura shook her head. "We met up on the way here and chatted for a while. He's nice enough. How'd you get the tickets so cheap?"
"Oh, it was easy. I asked if Summoners could get in free, and she said yes, but guardians couldn't. I said Why not? and she said something about Losing money. I made a pretty big stink about not paying proper respect to people, and how you won't lose much money if it's only a couple times in a decade, and that with two thousand seats it won't matter if a couple are cheap. So we bargained down to a hundred gil, then she asked how many tickets we needed. I'm pretty sure she expected me to say one or two.you should have seen the look on her face when I said six!"
I chuckled. "Yeah, she seemed pretty shell-shocked when I came up. Who're the extra two tickets for?"
"I figured Liya would like to see a match, and maybe Grandfather would too, I don't know. Is it left here or right?"
I looked around. The buildings to my left looked pretty familiar. "Left."
As it turned out, right was the correct way. Sakura and I managed to see a good half of Luca before arriving at her grandfather's house. We were both pretty hungry by then, so we headed straight to the kitchen.
"Where were you? You've been gone forty-five minutes," Sky said as we entered the room. She and Nyk were both just finishing omelettes, and Liya was on her third piece of toast and honey, by the number of crusts on her plate. She must be a slow eater, I thought.
"We got lost," Sakura said with a shrug. "I got tickets to the game real cheap." She sat down at the table and took a muffin from the basket in the middle. "Five hundred gil for six."
Sky raised an eyebrow, but it was Nyk who asked, "What did you do to the poor ticket vendor?"
"Jeez, why're you acting like I threatened her with death or something?" Sakura said in a mock offended tone.
Nyk stood up and put his plate in the sink. "I know you, that's why."
"Well, Genna, did you ever expect this?" The announcer's voice managed to cut through the din of two thousand cheering people.
"No, I sure didn't, Dan. The Luca Goers have crushed all opposition for the last ten years, and I didn't think they'd let the underdog score so much as one goal."
"Folks, at the start of the second half we have a tie game, after a come- from-behind, last minute goal by Luren of the Psyches, bringing the score to six points."
"Let me tell you, I'm on the edge of my seat right now!"
From somewhere up above the stands came a blaring horn, signaling the start of the second half of the game. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet, cheering one team or the other, and our little group was no exception. Sakura and I were cheering on Luca, while Sky and Nyk were yelling for a Psyches victory-the Al Bheds aren't nearly as hated in the Blitzball world as they are in the real one. Liya, after a few moments of being terrified by the crowds, was happily twirling around on her seat, yelling "Go Goers! Go Psyches! Go Goers!" Her grandfather had decided not to come, saying humorously that screaming crowds were no place for an old man.
"And the Psyches start off with the ball, driving through the center-a remarkable pass to Jeti on the left-oow, and he's bowled over in a superb display of a Venom Tackle!"
"The Goers are plainly trying to confuse the other team, in a rapid right- left-right pass-"
"An intercept by Marth, right defense! He passes it forward-ooh, careful now, don't let the ball slip!"
"And Luren grabs the ball, sets it up-goal! Seven-six, Psyches in the lead!" Sky cheered, while Sakura shook her head sadly. It was strange-none of us had done more than hear about these teams before now, and we were cheering them on like we knew them all personally. I guess being in the middle of two thousand cheering people and not cheering would be almost impossible, though.
"Three and thirty left in the game, and it looks like the Goers are getting worried!"
"Guess they got too used to winning, eh Dan?" one announcer joked.
"Well, they're launching an all-out offense now! Goers start with the ball."
Over the next two minutes, the Goers scored five points, to resounding cheers from the crowd. However, by the time there was fifteen seconds left, the score was again tied.
"Luren of the Psyches tackles the left forward! He grabs the ball and-ooh, narrow miss there! Tern, goalie, lobs the ball out of the goal-intercepted by Marth, sets up and bicycle kicks-GOAL! Four seconds left.three.two."
"And the match is over! Twelve-eleven to the Al Bhed Psyches! What a match! Wiped those grins off the Lucan faces, didn't it?"
I don't think anyone listened to the announcers' ending chatter. I don't think anyone could have heard even if they wanted to. People grumbled or screamed their excitement, and I was left feeling like I'd been watching an hour-long game, instead of only ten minutes. All too soon, people started to flow down the aisles of the stadium and out the doors at the bottom.
"Let's wait a few minutes," suggested Sky, her face still glowing with excitement. "The crowds will thin out then."
The rest of us agreed. I watched as the players swam out of the pool, and, a few seconds later, as the water began to drain. The sphere pool was half empty when we finally made our way down to the exits.
It was still early in the year, so in the twenty minutes we had been in the stadium evening had turned into full night. On the streets, lights hung along the sides of houses lit up, probably so anyone out walking at night wouldn't trip over their own feet. Lights came on in the windows of houses, some gas lamps, mostly electric lights. There were still a lot of people out strolling-women with shopping bags, groups of children dashing here and there, couples with their arms around one another, and even a few families.
For some reason, seeing all the happy people brought homesickness thundering down on me. No. I couldn't be homesick. I didn't know how badly Kilika had been hurt by Sin's attack, but some part of me knew for sure that if I went back, my house and family would be gone. And even if they weren't, I couldn't-I wouldn't-turn back now.
Tuning out Sakura and Nyk's happy banter, Sky's laughing comments on it, Liya's happy little made-up song about nothing in particular, I looked up at the sky. But with all the light shining down in the city, or perhaps clouds moving in from the coast, I couldn't find the stars.
