Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X, Spira, blitzball, and all related characters and locations are owned by Squaresoft, with the exception of a few original characters who will be noted as such. This is a work of fanfiction, meaning that it is both created by a fan for no purpose other than entertainment, and it is fiction, meaning that all characters and events are purely fictonal and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Please don't sue me. If you do, you'll never find out about everyone's pasts. Or what the Spiral conspiracy really is. Or how movie spheres are made! Isn't that important information?
Author's Note: The narrator of this story is Al Bhed, and some dialogue and idiomatic phrases have not been translated into English. Translations of all Al Bhed phrases can be found at the end of the chapter in which they appear.
Green Eyes in Overdrive
by flame mage
round 2: Comrade
**********
"Cap'n LinLin, we got a big problem."
I ask you, what blitzball captain with a major game coming up in only a few short hours does not love hearing those words? Okay, me, for one, and they were the first ones I heard when I walked back into the locker room at 11 AM sharp.
"Botta, what are you talking about?" I demanded.
"We found Datto, but we still can't get holda Jassu or Letty," explained Keepa.
"None of you has seen or heard from either one of them all day?"
"Nope." The forward, my former archrival, was shaking his head. "Nothin' since last night. I was sharin' a room with Letty. When I got up, he wasn't there."
"Same with me," Botta said. "Jassu's totally gone."
"All right." I took two deep breaths, counted to ten, and forced myself to stay calm. What the hell would Rin do? "The first thing to do is find them. Keepa, I want you to go to the front desk in the lobby and get them to page Letty and Jassu. If they're in the complex, we'll find 'em. Botta and Datto, you two fan out and check some of the places in the city they'd be likely to go, starting with the Cafe and working back this way. We'll meet back here in two hours."
"What are you gonna do, Cap'n?" the goalkeeper asked.
I cracked my knuckles. "Sharpen my steak knife."
*****
Needless to say, I didn't go sharpen my steak knife; I didn't even own one. Being a very busy single guy, Bickson had subsisted almost solely on fast food, pizza, and TV dinners until Naaga showed up, so he didn't have any either. I would have to resort to plan B, which was: go check Letty and Jassu's rooms.
You have no idea of the kind of smooth talking I had to do to get the hotel security staff to let me in there, not to mention the exact percentage of my paycheck I had to slip most of them, probably enough to put their great-grandchildren through college. But eventually I made my way up to the twentieth floor, the Auroch standard, with two key spheres in hand.
I tried Letty's room first. There was no answer when I knocked, so I put the sphere in the lock and walked straight in. Datto, I knew, hated heights, which meant that the bed right by the balcony with the 20-stories-down view of Luca would probably be Letty's.
The bed had definitely been slept in. But when I opened the closet, four uniforms were hanging inside it. I knew each of the Aurochs, like most blitzers, carried two uniforms per person for a weekend stay like this. It was easy to tell which uniforms were Letty's and which were Datto's, since the forward's were a lot smaller. I rifled quickly through Letty's tiny duffel, but he didn't have any extra clothes. That meant that whereever he'd gone, he'd gone there in pajamas.
Weird.
I went next door into the room Botta and Jassu were sharing. Here it was hard to tell what was going on. I was pretty sure whose junk was whose, but it was all over the two sides of the room. Eventually I sorted out the fact that Jassu had also had the bed nearest to the balcony, and that he'd also spent the night in that bed.
But then I noticed that the lamp near Jassu's bed was knocked over. Even for those two, who had never exactly been known for their neatness, this was way over the top. I walked out onto the balcony and took a look at the round glass table that was sitting out there. It was identical to all the other bajillion glass tables on all the other bajillion balconies of the other rooms, except for one big difference: there was a spiderweb of cracks on the top, like someone had punched the glass and smashed it.
My first thought, after a quick rundown of the current team budget and the muttered words "oh, shit, are we in trouble now," was "REALLY weird." There had definitely been a struggle here. Had Jassu and Botta gotten into a fight or something? Why hadn't Botta told me? And where was Jassu?
These, I decided as I headed back down to the locker room, were questions I wanted answers to.
*****
"So you guys didn't get into an argument or anything?" I asked Botta a few minutes later.
He shook his head again. "Nope. Everythin' was normal."
"So how the hell did you not notice that there was a big fight that ended in someone smashing halfway through your table?"
"These." A pair of earplugs landed on the bench. Botta rubbed the back of his head in embarassment. "Jassu snores reaaaaally bad, ya? So I hafta use these. A wall coulda crashed in and I wouldn't know it."
"And I didn't hear anythin'," Datto added. "He was there when I went ta bed, and when I woke up, he wasn't."
"Neither one of you knows anything?" I sighed in exasperation.
A pudgy hand was raised. Following the arm down, I saw it was attached to Keepa. "I know somethin'," the goalie volunteered.
"Well, cough it up already!"
"I found this in the hallway." He handed me a small round wooden bead.
"What the hell is this?" I demanded.
"Lemme see," Botta asked, holding out his hand. I dropped the bead in and he looked at it. "Dunno."
"It's obvious, dunderhead," Datto snapped. "Look at it. It's a prayer bead like they use in the temples, ya?"
"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere." I took the bead back and started for the door. "I'll keep checking back in. If they're not back by six tonight we're gonna have to cancel the match, so let me know if anything happens."
*****
But no one let me know, and nothing happened, and by five o' clock I was so frantic I could barely see straight. I'd checked the entire arena and virtually every blitz hangout in Luca, and my two missing players were still nowhere to be found. At five I finally gave up and headed out to the docks to see if my shipment was in yet--not like I'd need it now.
The place was in utter chaos, as usual. It was five o' clock on a Saturday night, which meant that every dock was jammed with blitzers and spectators coming and going. Our team--minus two, I thought, grimacing--was already here, and I bet the Fangs were too. I'd talked to Nimrook the day before, but I wasn't sure whether the Psyches were still around. Lately they'd been leaving as quickly as possible after games to avoid the Glories. These days, the Al Bhed and the Guado were not exactly on good terms.
And with good reason, I reflected as I tore around the ring of docks. I didn't want Aniki to go blow up Guadosalam, but when Berrik and Eigaar had nearly gotten into a fistfight with Giera and Zazi the week before, Letty had had to literally hold me back to stop me from joining the fray and busting some heads--or getting my own smashed in the attempt. Everyone was on edge these days. There were times when I envied Tidus and Wakka, getting to hike all over Spira and stay out of trouble. In fact, there were times when I envied anyone who wasn't Al Bhed.
The harbormaster was nowhere to be found either, so I had to run around trying to find anyone who looked like an authority figure. When I finally found one of the shoopuf people, I barked, "Who's in charge of the five o' clock shipment? I'm waiting for my equipment here." Nice it ain't. Efficient it is.
"Zzhhat would be Zzhalitz," the little blue thing answered.
"Okay, great. Where is Zalitz?" I said through gritted teeth, really trying not to explode at this creature on whose good will I was dependent.
"I do not know zzhees. Ssshumtimes hhhe izzhat the Sspheere Theater."
"Why isn't he down here unloading my shipment?!"
"I do not know zzhees eizzher."
"Ahh, forget it!" I charged off towards the theater, throwing a halfhearted "thanks" over my shoulder.
Not surprisingly, the grounds outside the theater were pretty much empty. The Sphere Theater, that fun little movie joint whose specialty is copying sounds and memories from people's minds and turning them into spheres, is open virtually 24-7. Blitzball games happen only three times a week, and these days the Aurochs were a hot property. Just outside, I had to fight my way through a throng of vendors who were trying to sell me the same autographed blitzballs I'd signed the week before.
If the walkway was empty, the lobby was completely deserted. I called Zalitz's name a couple of times, but if he was there, he was hiding. No answer was forthcoming. The punk was nowhere to be found.
*****
Well, I decided, hunkering down on the floor with my back against a wall to think, this was not good. In fact, it was downright crappy. Letty was gone, Jassu was gone, Naida hadn't gotten my shipment in and Zalitz hadn't picked up the replacement. It was almost six, and with no practice, no equipment and a third of our team missing, there was no way the Aurochs were going to be in that sphere tonight. I'd just have to go to the lobby and try to get the game rescheduled. Oh, cred, was I gonna have to forfeit the match? It'd count as a loss, and that would be our first loss of the season. The way the Psyches were playing, one loss might be enough to bounce us.
Something clicked in my mind and I sat up straighter. Letty. Jassu. Naida. Zalitz. There was something there, some kind of mental connection I'd made between them. Those names belonged together, but I couldn't quite remember why. After a few minutes, it came to me. Tattoos. I remembered that. Weird target-shaped tattoos, like Bickson's. Letty, Jassu and Zalitz all had the same kind; Naida had a string of them straight down the front of her body.
All of a sudden, it hit me. I knew why those names fit together. I'd seen all the pieces of the puzzle fit together on the screen in that same theater a week before.
I dashed into the reception room of the theater. "I need to make a sphere of something, quickly," I announced to the gum-snapping receptionist, trying to convey a sense of immediate urgency.
"Just one movie sphere?" she asked. "Pop," added the bubble of gum as it splattered gooily back between her pursed lips. Eew.
"Yeah."
"That'll be 2000 gil."
"Tysh!" I hissed without thinking. "Is it always that expensive?"
"Who cares? I'm sitting at the counter today and I'll charge what I feel like, okay? Now are you gonna pay or not?"
2000 gil was two-thirds of my salary for the tournament. It was two weeks' pay, minus my bonus for my status as quasi-apprentice-captain. It was also absolutely outrageous. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice, so I regretfully forked it over. I'd just have to advance myself next week's salary.
"All right," she sighed. She stood up, popped her gum, and gestured to a small room behind the counter. "Do you accept the fact that the Luca Sphere Theater, Ltd., is not responsible for any injury or trauma you may occur during the process of transferring or viewing your memories?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have any allergies, including but not limited to: moonflow, metal, or peanut butter?"
"Who the hell is allergic to metal?"
"Any self-respecting Yevonite. Metal is used in machina. Just answer the question."
"No, I don't." I tried to restrain myself from asking if they had popcorn.
"Remove your goggles and step this way, please," she recited. I unstrapped my stylish eyewear a little nervously, hoping she wouldn't decide to kick me out when she saw my swirled green eyes. She didn't seem to notice, and we continued into the tiny chamber.
"All right," she repeated once we were both inside. "In a minute, I'm gonna step outside and flip a switch. The room'll fill with Moonflow. Keep your eyes open and concentrate on the memory you wanna transfer. When you're done, I flip the switch again and the Moonflow goes into a sphere. Then you can take it into the theater and play it. Got all that?"
"Yeah," I replied. She stepped out and slammed the door. Clenching my goggles too tightly in one metal-encased fist, I slouched back against the wall and waited apprehensively as the Moonflow seeped into the room. It made a hissing sound as it passed through the ducts in the walls.
I don't like Moonflow. Don't like it at all. First off, no one knows exactly what it is, except that it's apparently produced naturally in the Farplane and--appropriately enough--the Moonflow. It's a mind-altering substance, which means that it's used for everything from a cheap high by street junkies to a way to see the dead. That's the most macabre part of it all--Moonflow seems to have some connection to memories and the dead. And that, ladies and gentlemen, combined with the fact that it's a hallucinogen that makes you see things that aren't real and that it's infested with Pyreflies, is why I hate Moonflow.
It's also cold. I shivered as the room started turning weird shades of blue and green and purple. A few Pyreflies glowed faintly at first through the mists, but I took several deep breaths to calm myself and willed them to go away. I could feel my pupils struggling to dialate and I screwed my eyes shut before remembering that the attendant had said to keep them open.
"Kad ed dukadran, Linna," I muttered to myself, trying to focus through the haze that was entering my brain. Rin had always taught me to pick one thing and concentrate on it, the way you use "spotting," or picking one object and watching it to keep from getting dizzy, when you're spinning in a blitz sphere. I could do that. Bickson's clear blue eyes appeared in my mind.
Then I mentally sketched out the rest of Bickson, drew myself with him, and put us both in the Luca blitz sphere. It was night. I could see the stars overhead. He'd had his arms around me. I'd asked about the tattoos. What had he said? What were the names? Who were the people who'd been in those black and white uniforms in the movie we'd watched?
"You didn't keep your eyes open!" snapped the attendant, bursting in. I blinked. The Moonflow was gone. "The quality'll probably be really shitty now. Why doesn't anyone ever do what I tell them?"
"Where's my sphere?" I asked.
She almost threw at me. "Go watch it, but don't blame me if it's bad."
I brushed past her and took the stairs up to the balcony of the Sphere Theater two at a time. The little electronic menu glowed as I touched it, and I thrust the sphere in the base and jabbed the screen to start it playing.
*****
"It's the symbol of my first minor-league team."
"We were called the Spirals."
"They don't exist anymore."
"The team was disbanded by order of the Maesters not long after I moved up."
"The six of us ended up with some really wicked tattoos."
"Letty and Jassu...Zalitz...Naida."
*****
The Spira Spirals. Of course. Bickson's old minor-league team, before he'd hit it big. They'd all gotten tattoos for team unity or something. The Yevonite temples had shut them down for some reason. The goalie, Reppi, had gone missing. They never found a body. He'd warned me that night to be careful, that something was going on in the temples.
Now I was sure I knew what it was. Four of the Spirals had gone missing in one day. There was no way that could be a coincidence. And only one of them was left.
Bickson.
I started running.
**********
Translations:
cred - shit
tysh - damn
"Kad ed dukadran." - "Get it together."
Please don't sue me. If you do, you'll never find out about everyone's pasts. Or what the Spiral conspiracy really is. Or how movie spheres are made! Isn't that important information?
Author's Note: The narrator of this story is Al Bhed, and some dialogue and idiomatic phrases have not been translated into English. Translations of all Al Bhed phrases can be found at the end of the chapter in which they appear.
Green Eyes in Overdrive
by flame mage
round 2: Comrade
**********
"Cap'n LinLin, we got a big problem."
I ask you, what blitzball captain with a major game coming up in only a few short hours does not love hearing those words? Okay, me, for one, and they were the first ones I heard when I walked back into the locker room at 11 AM sharp.
"Botta, what are you talking about?" I demanded.
"We found Datto, but we still can't get holda Jassu or Letty," explained Keepa.
"None of you has seen or heard from either one of them all day?"
"Nope." The forward, my former archrival, was shaking his head. "Nothin' since last night. I was sharin' a room with Letty. When I got up, he wasn't there."
"Same with me," Botta said. "Jassu's totally gone."
"All right." I took two deep breaths, counted to ten, and forced myself to stay calm. What the hell would Rin do? "The first thing to do is find them. Keepa, I want you to go to the front desk in the lobby and get them to page Letty and Jassu. If they're in the complex, we'll find 'em. Botta and Datto, you two fan out and check some of the places in the city they'd be likely to go, starting with the Cafe and working back this way. We'll meet back here in two hours."
"What are you gonna do, Cap'n?" the goalkeeper asked.
I cracked my knuckles. "Sharpen my steak knife."
*****
Needless to say, I didn't go sharpen my steak knife; I didn't even own one. Being a very busy single guy, Bickson had subsisted almost solely on fast food, pizza, and TV dinners until Naaga showed up, so he didn't have any either. I would have to resort to plan B, which was: go check Letty and Jassu's rooms.
You have no idea of the kind of smooth talking I had to do to get the hotel security staff to let me in there, not to mention the exact percentage of my paycheck I had to slip most of them, probably enough to put their great-grandchildren through college. But eventually I made my way up to the twentieth floor, the Auroch standard, with two key spheres in hand.
I tried Letty's room first. There was no answer when I knocked, so I put the sphere in the lock and walked straight in. Datto, I knew, hated heights, which meant that the bed right by the balcony with the 20-stories-down view of Luca would probably be Letty's.
The bed had definitely been slept in. But when I opened the closet, four uniforms were hanging inside it. I knew each of the Aurochs, like most blitzers, carried two uniforms per person for a weekend stay like this. It was easy to tell which uniforms were Letty's and which were Datto's, since the forward's were a lot smaller. I rifled quickly through Letty's tiny duffel, but he didn't have any extra clothes. That meant that whereever he'd gone, he'd gone there in pajamas.
Weird.
I went next door into the room Botta and Jassu were sharing. Here it was hard to tell what was going on. I was pretty sure whose junk was whose, but it was all over the two sides of the room. Eventually I sorted out the fact that Jassu had also had the bed nearest to the balcony, and that he'd also spent the night in that bed.
But then I noticed that the lamp near Jassu's bed was knocked over. Even for those two, who had never exactly been known for their neatness, this was way over the top. I walked out onto the balcony and took a look at the round glass table that was sitting out there. It was identical to all the other bajillion glass tables on all the other bajillion balconies of the other rooms, except for one big difference: there was a spiderweb of cracks on the top, like someone had punched the glass and smashed it.
My first thought, after a quick rundown of the current team budget and the muttered words "oh, shit, are we in trouble now," was "REALLY weird." There had definitely been a struggle here. Had Jassu and Botta gotten into a fight or something? Why hadn't Botta told me? And where was Jassu?
These, I decided as I headed back down to the locker room, were questions I wanted answers to.
*****
"So you guys didn't get into an argument or anything?" I asked Botta a few minutes later.
He shook his head again. "Nope. Everythin' was normal."
"So how the hell did you not notice that there was a big fight that ended in someone smashing halfway through your table?"
"These." A pair of earplugs landed on the bench. Botta rubbed the back of his head in embarassment. "Jassu snores reaaaaally bad, ya? So I hafta use these. A wall coulda crashed in and I wouldn't know it."
"And I didn't hear anythin'," Datto added. "He was there when I went ta bed, and when I woke up, he wasn't."
"Neither one of you knows anything?" I sighed in exasperation.
A pudgy hand was raised. Following the arm down, I saw it was attached to Keepa. "I know somethin'," the goalie volunteered.
"Well, cough it up already!"
"I found this in the hallway." He handed me a small round wooden bead.
"What the hell is this?" I demanded.
"Lemme see," Botta asked, holding out his hand. I dropped the bead in and he looked at it. "Dunno."
"It's obvious, dunderhead," Datto snapped. "Look at it. It's a prayer bead like they use in the temples, ya?"
"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere." I took the bead back and started for the door. "I'll keep checking back in. If they're not back by six tonight we're gonna have to cancel the match, so let me know if anything happens."
*****
But no one let me know, and nothing happened, and by five o' clock I was so frantic I could barely see straight. I'd checked the entire arena and virtually every blitz hangout in Luca, and my two missing players were still nowhere to be found. At five I finally gave up and headed out to the docks to see if my shipment was in yet--not like I'd need it now.
The place was in utter chaos, as usual. It was five o' clock on a Saturday night, which meant that every dock was jammed with blitzers and spectators coming and going. Our team--minus two, I thought, grimacing--was already here, and I bet the Fangs were too. I'd talked to Nimrook the day before, but I wasn't sure whether the Psyches were still around. Lately they'd been leaving as quickly as possible after games to avoid the Glories. These days, the Al Bhed and the Guado were not exactly on good terms.
And with good reason, I reflected as I tore around the ring of docks. I didn't want Aniki to go blow up Guadosalam, but when Berrik and Eigaar had nearly gotten into a fistfight with Giera and Zazi the week before, Letty had had to literally hold me back to stop me from joining the fray and busting some heads--or getting my own smashed in the attempt. Everyone was on edge these days. There were times when I envied Tidus and Wakka, getting to hike all over Spira and stay out of trouble. In fact, there were times when I envied anyone who wasn't Al Bhed.
The harbormaster was nowhere to be found either, so I had to run around trying to find anyone who looked like an authority figure. When I finally found one of the shoopuf people, I barked, "Who's in charge of the five o' clock shipment? I'm waiting for my equipment here." Nice it ain't. Efficient it is.
"Zzhhat would be Zzhalitz," the little blue thing answered.
"Okay, great. Where is Zalitz?" I said through gritted teeth, really trying not to explode at this creature on whose good will I was dependent.
"I do not know zzhees. Ssshumtimes hhhe izzhat the Sspheere Theater."
"Why isn't he down here unloading my shipment?!"
"I do not know zzhees eizzher."
"Ahh, forget it!" I charged off towards the theater, throwing a halfhearted "thanks" over my shoulder.
Not surprisingly, the grounds outside the theater were pretty much empty. The Sphere Theater, that fun little movie joint whose specialty is copying sounds and memories from people's minds and turning them into spheres, is open virtually 24-7. Blitzball games happen only three times a week, and these days the Aurochs were a hot property. Just outside, I had to fight my way through a throng of vendors who were trying to sell me the same autographed blitzballs I'd signed the week before.
If the walkway was empty, the lobby was completely deserted. I called Zalitz's name a couple of times, but if he was there, he was hiding. No answer was forthcoming. The punk was nowhere to be found.
*****
Well, I decided, hunkering down on the floor with my back against a wall to think, this was not good. In fact, it was downright crappy. Letty was gone, Jassu was gone, Naida hadn't gotten my shipment in and Zalitz hadn't picked up the replacement. It was almost six, and with no practice, no equipment and a third of our team missing, there was no way the Aurochs were going to be in that sphere tonight. I'd just have to go to the lobby and try to get the game rescheduled. Oh, cred, was I gonna have to forfeit the match? It'd count as a loss, and that would be our first loss of the season. The way the Psyches were playing, one loss might be enough to bounce us.
Something clicked in my mind and I sat up straighter. Letty. Jassu. Naida. Zalitz. There was something there, some kind of mental connection I'd made between them. Those names belonged together, but I couldn't quite remember why. After a few minutes, it came to me. Tattoos. I remembered that. Weird target-shaped tattoos, like Bickson's. Letty, Jassu and Zalitz all had the same kind; Naida had a string of them straight down the front of her body.
All of a sudden, it hit me. I knew why those names fit together. I'd seen all the pieces of the puzzle fit together on the screen in that same theater a week before.
I dashed into the reception room of the theater. "I need to make a sphere of something, quickly," I announced to the gum-snapping receptionist, trying to convey a sense of immediate urgency.
"Just one movie sphere?" she asked. "Pop," added the bubble of gum as it splattered gooily back between her pursed lips. Eew.
"Yeah."
"That'll be 2000 gil."
"Tysh!" I hissed without thinking. "Is it always that expensive?"
"Who cares? I'm sitting at the counter today and I'll charge what I feel like, okay? Now are you gonna pay or not?"
2000 gil was two-thirds of my salary for the tournament. It was two weeks' pay, minus my bonus for my status as quasi-apprentice-captain. It was also absolutely outrageous. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice, so I regretfully forked it over. I'd just have to advance myself next week's salary.
"All right," she sighed. She stood up, popped her gum, and gestured to a small room behind the counter. "Do you accept the fact that the Luca Sphere Theater, Ltd., is not responsible for any injury or trauma you may occur during the process of transferring or viewing your memories?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have any allergies, including but not limited to: moonflow, metal, or peanut butter?"
"Who the hell is allergic to metal?"
"Any self-respecting Yevonite. Metal is used in machina. Just answer the question."
"No, I don't." I tried to restrain myself from asking if they had popcorn.
"Remove your goggles and step this way, please," she recited. I unstrapped my stylish eyewear a little nervously, hoping she wouldn't decide to kick me out when she saw my swirled green eyes. She didn't seem to notice, and we continued into the tiny chamber.
"All right," she repeated once we were both inside. "In a minute, I'm gonna step outside and flip a switch. The room'll fill with Moonflow. Keep your eyes open and concentrate on the memory you wanna transfer. When you're done, I flip the switch again and the Moonflow goes into a sphere. Then you can take it into the theater and play it. Got all that?"
"Yeah," I replied. She stepped out and slammed the door. Clenching my goggles too tightly in one metal-encased fist, I slouched back against the wall and waited apprehensively as the Moonflow seeped into the room. It made a hissing sound as it passed through the ducts in the walls.
I don't like Moonflow. Don't like it at all. First off, no one knows exactly what it is, except that it's apparently produced naturally in the Farplane and--appropriately enough--the Moonflow. It's a mind-altering substance, which means that it's used for everything from a cheap high by street junkies to a way to see the dead. That's the most macabre part of it all--Moonflow seems to have some connection to memories and the dead. And that, ladies and gentlemen, combined with the fact that it's a hallucinogen that makes you see things that aren't real and that it's infested with Pyreflies, is why I hate Moonflow.
It's also cold. I shivered as the room started turning weird shades of blue and green and purple. A few Pyreflies glowed faintly at first through the mists, but I took several deep breaths to calm myself and willed them to go away. I could feel my pupils struggling to dialate and I screwed my eyes shut before remembering that the attendant had said to keep them open.
"Kad ed dukadran, Linna," I muttered to myself, trying to focus through the haze that was entering my brain. Rin had always taught me to pick one thing and concentrate on it, the way you use "spotting," or picking one object and watching it to keep from getting dizzy, when you're spinning in a blitz sphere. I could do that. Bickson's clear blue eyes appeared in my mind.
Then I mentally sketched out the rest of Bickson, drew myself with him, and put us both in the Luca blitz sphere. It was night. I could see the stars overhead. He'd had his arms around me. I'd asked about the tattoos. What had he said? What were the names? Who were the people who'd been in those black and white uniforms in the movie we'd watched?
"You didn't keep your eyes open!" snapped the attendant, bursting in. I blinked. The Moonflow was gone. "The quality'll probably be really shitty now. Why doesn't anyone ever do what I tell them?"
"Where's my sphere?" I asked.
She almost threw at me. "Go watch it, but don't blame me if it's bad."
I brushed past her and took the stairs up to the balcony of the Sphere Theater two at a time. The little electronic menu glowed as I touched it, and I thrust the sphere in the base and jabbed the screen to start it playing.
*****
"It's the symbol of my first minor-league team."
"We were called the Spirals."
"They don't exist anymore."
"The team was disbanded by order of the Maesters not long after I moved up."
"The six of us ended up with some really wicked tattoos."
"Letty and Jassu...Zalitz...Naida."
*****
The Spira Spirals. Of course. Bickson's old minor-league team, before he'd hit it big. They'd all gotten tattoos for team unity or something. The Yevonite temples had shut them down for some reason. The goalie, Reppi, had gone missing. They never found a body. He'd warned me that night to be careful, that something was going on in the temples.
Now I was sure I knew what it was. Four of the Spirals had gone missing in one day. There was no way that could be a coincidence. And only one of them was left.
Bickson.
I started running.
**********
Translations:
cred - shit
tysh - damn
"Kad ed dukadran." - "Get it together."