~Chapter 1~
The sun rose over the silent hills of the fallen city. Not far away from theses rays, a strange sight could be seen; a seemingly 'liquid' sword in the ground next to an elegantly carved staff. Further on, a gaggle of strange looking people were gathered around a fire, most looking grim and oppressed. They obviously had something on their minds of great importance, but none seemed eager to discuss it. Suddenly, one of them, dressed in what was possibly the most normal way (by our standards), stood, as if he could no longer stand staying there. He briefly rested his hand on the shoulder of the young woman next to him, before he took to the small hill they sat next to. He gazed out across the city, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. As he stood, he fought off tears, and decided that now would be the best time to share what had happened.
"Listen to my story," he said, mostly to himself, though he caught the attention of the six individuals below him. "This may be our last chance."
It was a hot summer's day in Chicago, Illinois. Thousands of people were out and about, walking home from work or school, and glad that it was Friday. Above the massive sea of people, the L-Train snaked its way through the sky on its elevated rails. On the train, sitting contently and quietly was Zachary "Tidus" Scott, heading home after a long day at school. He sat, looking out the window, clad in long, blue jean shorts, a white t- shirt with a joke of some sort on the chest, white sneakers, and a large, bulging backpack. His blond hair, which was combed back out of his face, gave him the appearance of a capable 17-year-old, with sinewy muscles, and an aptitude for sports.
The train stopped, and Tidus stepped off of the train. From here, it only a short walk to his apartment complex. He had his mind on the events that would take place later that evening, though it had nothing to do with the huge backpack he hauled. He was concentrating on a game, a championship game that his team could win.
He entered his ground floor, walked to the elevator, and arrived at his door. He unlocked his rather large apartment, which housed a lot of basketball memorabilia. Tidus' father had been a professional player, a member of the Bulls. It was hard to miss a game when Jecht Scott took center court. But Jecht was never too concerned with things that went on at home; in fact, he was more like a bully than he was a father. And one day, Jecht simply vanished.
The world was shocked. The MVP was missing! Tidus didn't mind much, though. He had been waiting for that day for so long. And then. His mother died. Left alone, Tidus, now age 10, had no idea what he was going to do.
But then, he arrived.
The strange man had arrived looking for Tidus at school, saying that he was 'Tidus' appointed guardian'. And that was when Tidus met his mentor: Auron.
Auron had always been there for him after that. He never did live with Tidus, but kept watch from afar. Tidus' inheritance kept him floating, and now, here he was. Not that he was totally independent; Auron still made house calls daily.
As Tidus crossed out of the spacious living room and into the kitchen, the front door opened again, and in stepped Auron.
If you thought fashion was out of whack already, you should've seen Auron. He was clad in a red trench coat, with a blue line running down on either side of the collar, until it reached the bottom. He wore a black armor plate under that, and a strange neckpiece. His sunglasses were worn like spectacles, and were not hiding the fact that he had a large scar running through his right eye. On his left shoulder, he wore a gold and bronze armor plate, but he didn't have his left arm in the sleeve. Instead, he held it under his coat, like it was in a sling, even though it wasn't. His right am was in the sleeve, and was kept there by a black glove that held the sleeve in its position. His coat was kept shut by two leather belts wrapped in bright blue-and-green cloth. His gray pants were tucked into black boots, and gray-and-white-and-black hair gave him the wise old man appearance. He also had the 'don't mess with me' air about him.
"Hello?" Tidus called from the kitchen as Auron took a seat in the living room. He remained silent, his left eye sweeping over the apartment. Tidus emerged from the kitchen, saw Auron, and sighed.
"Why can't you knock and say 'hi' once and a while?" Tidus complained.
"How are you today?" Auron asked in a deep voice.
Tidus shrugged. "Good enough. Hey, Auron, you know what tonight is?!"
Auron looked up at the excited young man before him. "No."
"It's the championship game! The Abes versus the Dougals! It's at the upstairs gym at the school-you should come and see it."
Auron stood. "I would like to," he said, "but I have several things to see to tonight."
"Auron," Tidus whined, but Auron turned and started to walk out. As he left, he said, "Good-bye. And good luck."
The high school was packed with people. The school team was playing, and there were a few people in the stands watching. Most of them had made their way to the upstairs gym, where the unofficial league prepared to play it out for the championship. The lights hadn't come on yet, but when Tidus gave his friend Mike the nod, Mike threw on the lights, much to the crowd's approval. Mike had already thrown on a CD, a favorite called 'Otherworld'. Team intros came, and when Tidus stepped up, the crowd went nuts.
Further away, at the famous Sears Tower, many people on the observation deck were pointing at this mass that seemed to be rising out of the earth itself. Pointing and screaming, no one noticed Auron, who was out on a ledge, toasting the giant mass with a liquor bottle, like it was an old friend.
Back at the game, Tidus' team, the Abes, had taken an early lead. The teams ran up and down the court, shooting, missing, scoring, and, occasionally, fighting. That was the case right now, as a member of Tidus' team was currently in a shoving match with a Dougal. Tidus, being one who wanted to play basketball instead of wrestling, rushed forward and tackled the Dougal to the ground. "Now play!" he yelled, and took off down the court, much to the approval of the screaming fans.
If the gym was loud, it was nothing to what Auron was now hearing. As he made his way down the two-lane bridge, motorists had stopped and climbed out of their cars, pointing at the mass in the sky, which more or less looked like a big orb of water floating in midair. As he made his way through the masses, five girls hysterically ran past him. Upon turning to look at the mass, and spotting Auron, one of them ignored his clothes and called, "What is that thing?!"
Auron brushed them aside and silently continued on his way. As he did so, he stepped in a puddle of water, and when the droplets went into the air, they refused to come back down.
Tidus had the ball. He came tearing down the court, faked a lay up, and passed the ball to Cody, a teammate. Cody easily put the ball in from the three-point line.
Outside, Auron had reached Tidus' school. Above his head, the mass suddenly shivered.
Tidus once again had the ball, running all over to try to get it in the hoop. He again pulled off a clean pass, and the Abes got the point.
The shivering mass suddenly shot from its center what looked like missiles surrounded in fire.
Back at the school, it was lucky that the Abes managed to steal the ball, because that side of the gym exploded.
"What the Hell!" Tidus screamed. Tidus and the rest of the people up in the gym ran down the access stairs, but not quickly enough. Another explosion not only threw Tidus out of the school, but also demolished it in the same go, and Tidus, landing hard on the front stairs, fell unconscious.
Tidus woke up to the sounds of screaming people. Standing up, he looked around, and out of the corner of his eye, saw something red billowing in the breeze.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled out.
The person didn't respond. It must be Auron, Tidus thought. Running over to him, he discovered Auron was leaning up against a large piece of debris. "What are you doing here?" Tidus asked.
"I was waiting for you," Auron responded, not looking at Tidus. As he said this, he left his current place, and headed into the city.
"What are you talking about?" Tidus yelled after him. Auron chose not to reply, forcing Tidus to chase after him. Auron swiftly walked up an exit ramp to the same two-lane bridge he had been at before. While he managed to get through effortlessly, Tidus had trouble pushing his way through. Finally, he got to the top of the ramp, but, having lost Auron, had no idea what to do next.
Then, quite suddenly, everything got quiet.
Tidus looked around, and spotted a person standing behind him. It was a young boy, not older than ten, in a purple sleeve-less shirt with a green hood. He wore black shorts and no shoes. On the back of his shirt, a pattern was etched in gold, looking like two golden circles, one inside of the other, connected by elongated "S"s. Tidus, seeing this boy, breathed a sigh of relief. He started to step forward, when he realized he was the only person moving. That is, except for the boy.
"It begins," The young boy said.
"Huh?" Tidus asked.
"Don't cry."
Tidus looked at the boy, but before he could get close, everything started again, and the boy disappeared. Tidus looked up, and by dumb luck, spotted Auron, still a distance away. "Hey! Wait!" Tidus called.
Tidus sprinted the length to Auron, and, leaning over on his knees, panted, "Not this way."
Auron ignored him. "Look!"
Tidus looked up in the sky. The sight of the floating mass made him back away in fear. Auron spoke again.
"We called it 'Sin'."
Tidus looked slowly at Auron. "Sin?"
Auron nodded. Suddenly, to their left, a building exploded. Out of the building came a tentacle-laden creature that retreated further up the bridge. However, it left a trail of pods in its wake, which sprouted into four-legged, winged bugs. Three of them charged Tidus, who started to swing his arms and try to ward them off. He attempted to kick one, but it rushed forward suddenly, and, startled, he fell over. Auron was swiftly there, holding something over Tidus.
"Take it," he said. Tidus then realized: It's a sword.
Taking the handle, Auron pulled Tidus up to his feet. Tidus was suddenly surprised at how heavy the sword was. Auron spoke:
"A gift from Jecht," he said.
"My old man?" Tidus asked.
Tidus took the sword and began to try his 'go away' swings again, only to fall over-again. Auron, having produced his own sword, which was now hoisted on his right shoulder, rolled his eye. "I hope you know how to use it," He said dryly. "Yeah," Tidus agreed.
The two turned to face their adversaries. Auron was ready.
"These ones don't matter," He called to Tidus. "We cut through!"
He rushed forward, and freeing his left arm from its sling-like position, brought his left hand up to grasp the handle, and, pivoting his upper body downwards, brought the incredibly long sword down like an axe on one of the bugs. The bug, in response, fell in two pieces.
Tidus, getting the idea, looked at his sword and the nearest bug. Getting a running start, Tidus ran at the bug, lightly jumped, and used his momentum to bring his sword down on the bug's head. He advanced to meet up with Auron, who had found himself almost completely surrounded.
"Don't bother going after all of them," Auron told Tidus. "Cut the ones that matter, and run."
Rushing forward, the two managed to slice their way further up the bridge. Upon getting into a brief clear zone, they spotted the tentacle monster blocking their path.
Auron stepped forward to survey the scene. He noticed a car hanging on the edge of the bridge, almost ready to go over. "Hmm. This could be bad," He said, looking to the beast.
"Ya think?" Tidus retorted.
"That-knock it down!" Auron said, indicating the car.
"What?!"
"Trust me. You'll see." With those words, Auron charged at the car, swinging his gigantic blade across the hood. The car slid, just a bit, more over the edge. Tidus, catching on, soon ran over to help, and their combined efforts knocked the car over, down off the bridge. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The resounding blast blew the creature sky high, not to mention severed the bridge. The other half, the one Auron wanted to get to, started floating up into Sin. Auron nodded to Tidus.
"Go."
The two took the jump at a run, and.
"Uhh! Ahh!" Tidus groaned with effort not to fall. Auron had made it, but Tidus was hanging by his fingers. Suddenly, Auron appeared over the edge, looking down.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled. The bridge jerked; its last post had been ripped out of the ground and the whole thing was floating into the sky. "Auron!" Tidus yelled desperately.
Auron looked over his shoulder, at the floating mass. "You are sure?" he asked it. Meanwhile, Tidus had managed to climb up onto the bridge. Auron turned, and before Tidus could get to his feet, Auron grabbed him by the collar, and spoke.
"This is it. This-is your story."
By now, the two were engulfed in a bright light. Auron continued.
"It all begins here."
Suddenly, he was stretched like a noodle and pulled into Sin completely. Tidus, trying to fight it, couldn't escape. He, too, was pulled into Sin.
The sun rose over the silent hills of the fallen city. Not far away from theses rays, a strange sight could be seen; a seemingly 'liquid' sword in the ground next to an elegantly carved staff. Further on, a gaggle of strange looking people were gathered around a fire, most looking grim and oppressed. They obviously had something on their minds of great importance, but none seemed eager to discuss it. Suddenly, one of them, dressed in what was possibly the most normal way (by our standards), stood, as if he could no longer stand staying there. He briefly rested his hand on the shoulder of the young woman next to him, before he took to the small hill they sat next to. He gazed out across the city, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. As he stood, he fought off tears, and decided that now would be the best time to share what had happened.
"Listen to my story," he said, mostly to himself, though he caught the attention of the six individuals below him. "This may be our last chance."
It was a hot summer's day in Chicago, Illinois. Thousands of people were out and about, walking home from work or school, and glad that it was Friday. Above the massive sea of people, the L-Train snaked its way through the sky on its elevated rails. On the train, sitting contently and quietly was Zachary "Tidus" Scott, heading home after a long day at school. He sat, looking out the window, clad in long, blue jean shorts, a white t- shirt with a joke of some sort on the chest, white sneakers, and a large, bulging backpack. His blond hair, which was combed back out of his face, gave him the appearance of a capable 17-year-old, with sinewy muscles, and an aptitude for sports.
The train stopped, and Tidus stepped off of the train. From here, it only a short walk to his apartment complex. He had his mind on the events that would take place later that evening, though it had nothing to do with the huge backpack he hauled. He was concentrating on a game, a championship game that his team could win.
He entered his ground floor, walked to the elevator, and arrived at his door. He unlocked his rather large apartment, which housed a lot of basketball memorabilia. Tidus' father had been a professional player, a member of the Bulls. It was hard to miss a game when Jecht Scott took center court. But Jecht was never too concerned with things that went on at home; in fact, he was more like a bully than he was a father. And one day, Jecht simply vanished.
The world was shocked. The MVP was missing! Tidus didn't mind much, though. He had been waiting for that day for so long. And then. His mother died. Left alone, Tidus, now age 10, had no idea what he was going to do.
But then, he arrived.
The strange man had arrived looking for Tidus at school, saying that he was 'Tidus' appointed guardian'. And that was when Tidus met his mentor: Auron.
Auron had always been there for him after that. He never did live with Tidus, but kept watch from afar. Tidus' inheritance kept him floating, and now, here he was. Not that he was totally independent; Auron still made house calls daily.
As Tidus crossed out of the spacious living room and into the kitchen, the front door opened again, and in stepped Auron.
If you thought fashion was out of whack already, you should've seen Auron. He was clad in a red trench coat, with a blue line running down on either side of the collar, until it reached the bottom. He wore a black armor plate under that, and a strange neckpiece. His sunglasses were worn like spectacles, and were not hiding the fact that he had a large scar running through his right eye. On his left shoulder, he wore a gold and bronze armor plate, but he didn't have his left arm in the sleeve. Instead, he held it under his coat, like it was in a sling, even though it wasn't. His right am was in the sleeve, and was kept there by a black glove that held the sleeve in its position. His coat was kept shut by two leather belts wrapped in bright blue-and-green cloth. His gray pants were tucked into black boots, and gray-and-white-and-black hair gave him the wise old man appearance. He also had the 'don't mess with me' air about him.
"Hello?" Tidus called from the kitchen as Auron took a seat in the living room. He remained silent, his left eye sweeping over the apartment. Tidus emerged from the kitchen, saw Auron, and sighed.
"Why can't you knock and say 'hi' once and a while?" Tidus complained.
"How are you today?" Auron asked in a deep voice.
Tidus shrugged. "Good enough. Hey, Auron, you know what tonight is?!"
Auron looked up at the excited young man before him. "No."
"It's the championship game! The Abes versus the Dougals! It's at the upstairs gym at the school-you should come and see it."
Auron stood. "I would like to," he said, "but I have several things to see to tonight."
"Auron," Tidus whined, but Auron turned and started to walk out. As he left, he said, "Good-bye. And good luck."
The high school was packed with people. The school team was playing, and there were a few people in the stands watching. Most of them had made their way to the upstairs gym, where the unofficial league prepared to play it out for the championship. The lights hadn't come on yet, but when Tidus gave his friend Mike the nod, Mike threw on the lights, much to the crowd's approval. Mike had already thrown on a CD, a favorite called 'Otherworld'. Team intros came, and when Tidus stepped up, the crowd went nuts.
Further away, at the famous Sears Tower, many people on the observation deck were pointing at this mass that seemed to be rising out of the earth itself. Pointing and screaming, no one noticed Auron, who was out on a ledge, toasting the giant mass with a liquor bottle, like it was an old friend.
Back at the game, Tidus' team, the Abes, had taken an early lead. The teams ran up and down the court, shooting, missing, scoring, and, occasionally, fighting. That was the case right now, as a member of Tidus' team was currently in a shoving match with a Dougal. Tidus, being one who wanted to play basketball instead of wrestling, rushed forward and tackled the Dougal to the ground. "Now play!" he yelled, and took off down the court, much to the approval of the screaming fans.
If the gym was loud, it was nothing to what Auron was now hearing. As he made his way down the two-lane bridge, motorists had stopped and climbed out of their cars, pointing at the mass in the sky, which more or less looked like a big orb of water floating in midair. As he made his way through the masses, five girls hysterically ran past him. Upon turning to look at the mass, and spotting Auron, one of them ignored his clothes and called, "What is that thing?!"
Auron brushed them aside and silently continued on his way. As he did so, he stepped in a puddle of water, and when the droplets went into the air, they refused to come back down.
Tidus had the ball. He came tearing down the court, faked a lay up, and passed the ball to Cody, a teammate. Cody easily put the ball in from the three-point line.
Outside, Auron had reached Tidus' school. Above his head, the mass suddenly shivered.
Tidus once again had the ball, running all over to try to get it in the hoop. He again pulled off a clean pass, and the Abes got the point.
The shivering mass suddenly shot from its center what looked like missiles surrounded in fire.
Back at the school, it was lucky that the Abes managed to steal the ball, because that side of the gym exploded.
"What the Hell!" Tidus screamed. Tidus and the rest of the people up in the gym ran down the access stairs, but not quickly enough. Another explosion not only threw Tidus out of the school, but also demolished it in the same go, and Tidus, landing hard on the front stairs, fell unconscious.
Tidus woke up to the sounds of screaming people. Standing up, he looked around, and out of the corner of his eye, saw something red billowing in the breeze.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled out.
The person didn't respond. It must be Auron, Tidus thought. Running over to him, he discovered Auron was leaning up against a large piece of debris. "What are you doing here?" Tidus asked.
"I was waiting for you," Auron responded, not looking at Tidus. As he said this, he left his current place, and headed into the city.
"What are you talking about?" Tidus yelled after him. Auron chose not to reply, forcing Tidus to chase after him. Auron swiftly walked up an exit ramp to the same two-lane bridge he had been at before. While he managed to get through effortlessly, Tidus had trouble pushing his way through. Finally, he got to the top of the ramp, but, having lost Auron, had no idea what to do next.
Then, quite suddenly, everything got quiet.
Tidus looked around, and spotted a person standing behind him. It was a young boy, not older than ten, in a purple sleeve-less shirt with a green hood. He wore black shorts and no shoes. On the back of his shirt, a pattern was etched in gold, looking like two golden circles, one inside of the other, connected by elongated "S"s. Tidus, seeing this boy, breathed a sigh of relief. He started to step forward, when he realized he was the only person moving. That is, except for the boy.
"It begins," The young boy said.
"Huh?" Tidus asked.
"Don't cry."
Tidus looked at the boy, but before he could get close, everything started again, and the boy disappeared. Tidus looked up, and by dumb luck, spotted Auron, still a distance away. "Hey! Wait!" Tidus called.
Tidus sprinted the length to Auron, and, leaning over on his knees, panted, "Not this way."
Auron ignored him. "Look!"
Tidus looked up in the sky. The sight of the floating mass made him back away in fear. Auron spoke again.
"We called it 'Sin'."
Tidus looked slowly at Auron. "Sin?"
Auron nodded. Suddenly, to their left, a building exploded. Out of the building came a tentacle-laden creature that retreated further up the bridge. However, it left a trail of pods in its wake, which sprouted into four-legged, winged bugs. Three of them charged Tidus, who started to swing his arms and try to ward them off. He attempted to kick one, but it rushed forward suddenly, and, startled, he fell over. Auron was swiftly there, holding something over Tidus.
"Take it," he said. Tidus then realized: It's a sword.
Taking the handle, Auron pulled Tidus up to his feet. Tidus was suddenly surprised at how heavy the sword was. Auron spoke:
"A gift from Jecht," he said.
"My old man?" Tidus asked.
Tidus took the sword and began to try his 'go away' swings again, only to fall over-again. Auron, having produced his own sword, which was now hoisted on his right shoulder, rolled his eye. "I hope you know how to use it," He said dryly. "Yeah," Tidus agreed.
The two turned to face their adversaries. Auron was ready.
"These ones don't matter," He called to Tidus. "We cut through!"
He rushed forward, and freeing his left arm from its sling-like position, brought his left hand up to grasp the handle, and, pivoting his upper body downwards, brought the incredibly long sword down like an axe on one of the bugs. The bug, in response, fell in two pieces.
Tidus, getting the idea, looked at his sword and the nearest bug. Getting a running start, Tidus ran at the bug, lightly jumped, and used his momentum to bring his sword down on the bug's head. He advanced to meet up with Auron, who had found himself almost completely surrounded.
"Don't bother going after all of them," Auron told Tidus. "Cut the ones that matter, and run."
Rushing forward, the two managed to slice their way further up the bridge. Upon getting into a brief clear zone, they spotted the tentacle monster blocking their path.
Auron stepped forward to survey the scene. He noticed a car hanging on the edge of the bridge, almost ready to go over. "Hmm. This could be bad," He said, looking to the beast.
"Ya think?" Tidus retorted.
"That-knock it down!" Auron said, indicating the car.
"What?!"
"Trust me. You'll see." With those words, Auron charged at the car, swinging his gigantic blade across the hood. The car slid, just a bit, more over the edge. Tidus, catching on, soon ran over to help, and their combined efforts knocked the car over, down off the bridge. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The resounding blast blew the creature sky high, not to mention severed the bridge. The other half, the one Auron wanted to get to, started floating up into Sin. Auron nodded to Tidus.
"Go."
The two took the jump at a run, and.
"Uhh! Ahh!" Tidus groaned with effort not to fall. Auron had made it, but Tidus was hanging by his fingers. Suddenly, Auron appeared over the edge, looking down.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled. The bridge jerked; its last post had been ripped out of the ground and the whole thing was floating into the sky. "Auron!" Tidus yelled desperately.
Auron looked over his shoulder, at the floating mass. "You are sure?" he asked it. Meanwhile, Tidus had managed to climb up onto the bridge. Auron turned, and before Tidus could get to his feet, Auron grabbed him by the collar, and spoke.
"This is it. This-is your story."
By now, the two were engulfed in a bright light. Auron continued.
"It all begins here."
Suddenly, he was stretched like a noodle and pulled into Sin completely. Tidus, trying to fight it, couldn't escape. He, too, was pulled into Sin.