Chapter 2: Leaving Home

"Tidus!" someone was shaking him.

"Dad, no!" the young teenager tore his eyes open to see his old friend, Quistis, gripping him by the shoulders with concern. She was no longer that little girl he spoke to in his dream, but a grown teenager like himself.

"Uh… sorry Tidus, your father ain't here," Jaxx said sadly.

"W-What happened?" he said. His voice was trembling and his body shook with confusion. He wiped away the line of sweat that formed over his lip.

"You were kinda out of it there. We've been callin' you for the past minute," Jaxx told him.

"Man, you aight…?" asked one of his other friends.

He looked around to see his fellow teammates looking at him trying to figure out what all the commotion was all about. He found himself still sitting on one of the cushioned seats of the special charter bus that was driving him and his teammates to the central stadium for their world championship blitz ball game.

His face was drenched with sweat and his eyes were unfocused. Feeling a bit nauseated, he replied. "Oh, uh…" he said rubbing the back of his neck, "Nothing, I'm fine, you guys, really. I just fell asleep, that's all."

"Sure 'bout that?" someone else asked. "Sounded like your father was in it too."

"…" He hoped he did not say anything personal out loud.

"Look, if the guy says he's ok, he's ok! Now leave him alone, we're almost there!" Quistis said hushing everyone on the bus.

Tidus watched his teammates slowly go back to doing whatever they were doing before his little "episode". It was just a dream, it wasn't real… he told himself. He tried to calm himself down by taking slow, deep breaths. It felt so real. Because it did happen… He still remembered what his father had done to him at that moment and he'd never forget it. He hated him and that was that. Sighing, he looked up at Quistis.

"Thanks", Tidus said to her with a weak smile.

"No problem, Ti", she said. "You just take care of yourself, ok? And I really mean that too. You don't look so well today."

"Yeah, I know." He shifted his gaze to the window as he watched cars swerving pass the bus and the yellow stripes that marked the black pavement of the road go by. His skull was beating with an oncoming headache as he rubbed his temples with his strong fingers.

"So…was it another dream?" Tidus looked at her again surprised that she still had not gotten over the topic.

"What about it?" he wasn't exactly in the mood to talk about his problems at that moment, especially before an important game where he needs to keep his focus.

"I'm not stupid. You've been having weird dreams lately about your past, even ones that don't make any sense," she grasped his free hand and held it tight while she spoke. "And today's sounded like your father was in it again."

He exhaled sharply and shook his head. "I dunno. I guess I'm just under pressure. You know how Coach is."

"But Tidus…" she began. "You probably don't even notice it, but you've been way off your game lately. And I know it's not just because Coach has been giving you a hard time. Seems more to me that there's something more that you need to figure out."

"I know, I know," he surrendered. "It's not that I'm trying to hide this or anything, I just don't get what's happening to me. One day I'm fine, the next I start having dreams for no reason! My dad's been gone for years now, why would I even think about him? But he's not the only thing I dream about, there are even times I'm in some bizarre place I've never seen in my life! What's does it all mean?"

"Tidus! Calm down!" Quistis tried to hold him down while he sprung up from his seat. His teammates were watching him again. Tidus sat down resting his head on his hands. He stared at his blitz ball shoes trying to relax.

"I'm sorry, Quistis," he whispered. "What's wrong with me…?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Ti, don't worry about it. We'll figure this out somehow." With a nod of assurance, Tidus smiled with appreciation. What would he do without his best friend?

"You know," he began. "I was dreaming about the day we first met."

She sat trying to remember how they had met. Her eyes lit up as she smiled, "Aw! I almost forgot about that!"

They laughed together before the bus came to a stop. The bus driver pulled a lever that opened the two doors in the front and the middle of the bus. The door in the back that leads to the mini bathroom opened with a teammate rushing out to get her stuff before the lane crowded with people.

Tidus grabbed his bag filled with all he needed for the big game that night and patiently waited until he finally stepped down the steps of the bus and into the scorching sun. It was late in the afternoon, but the sun was still up pretty high in the sky. He walked with Jaxx who was talking about the game, while Quistis went to talk with her girl friends. He was glad for the peacefulness though. Tidus expected there to be a huge crowd gathered in front of the stadium entrance and storming towards him and his teammates once they arrived like every other game. Or not, he thought.

At that moment, the numerous double doors of the stadium slid open as people came pouring out from the air condition into the heated sidewalks where the players of the Zanarkand Abes walked with a look of amusement on their faces. Luckily, the city patrols had a walkway fenced about four feet high to prevent chaos for the players.

"Here we go," Jaxx mumbled as they prepared themselves for screaming fans and autograph signings.

The patrols walked in front and behind the team leading them to the locker rooms while the players scribbled their names on electric notebook pads and pictures of their team. Half the people there seemed to have cameras with them, for bright flashes and the continuous sound of clicking shutters surrounded them. It was loud considering that the crowd was a big size, but not as loud compared to the volume that will be in the stadium once the game begins.

Finally, everyone got to the locker room where a computer touch-screen stood in one corner. On it were some new plays that the Coach had drawn there earlier. The patrols went back to their posts while the team settled onto the benches with their bags resting besides their feet. Coach was no where to be seen, for he drove to the stadium himself a few hours before they had arrived. Locker doors began opening and shutting with a bang, and the players began moving about actively, preparing themselves for the game ahead of them.

"Good luck, man", said one of his teammates. Slapping him on the back, his eyes burned with excitement as he began doing his warm up exercises to prepare for the blitz ball game, a sport combined with soccer and football that is played in a chamber filled with gravitated water.

"Yeah, you too, Laguna", replied the 17-year-old boy who was warming up also. As the stray strands of his short blonde hair fall across his forehead, he bent down to stretch out his muscular legs. He watched as his coach slammed through the door, looking furiously red as though he had just come out of a fierce argument, as he began speaking to his players.

"Alright boys!" he screamed, "That piece of crap they call 'Coach' ain't nothin' but a two-faced jerk with nothin' on us! So get your butts out there and show 'em what blitz ball really is!" Continuing the demanding pep talk, the coach drowned on and on about beating the other team and showing their "loser" coach that he does not have the skills to make his players into a good team.

Sure thing, Coach, Tidus thought. Blocking out the yelling of the plump old man, he began to visualize the game. It was something he did before any other game, preparing himself mentally besides just physically.

Just then, a young woman, small and thin and ranging about in her mid thirties, came in carrying a clipboard and wearing a headset. Looking flushed with exhaustion, she told the coach that it was time for the game to begin.

The coach walked out eagerly, followed by the fully equipped team, but Tidus was the last to leave, for something had begun to bother him. He was not able to have complete focus of himself and was beginning to feel insecure about it. He felt distracted for some odd reason, a reason that he could not precisely describe. Then it happened: visions blurred his mind as he remembered the dream that he had dreamt of earlier that day.

"Hey man, you ok…?" Tidus's visions cleared as he looked up to see that Irvine was standing at the rusted metal hinged door as he said worriedly, "If you're not feelin' to good maybe you should just sit this one out."

Shaking his head, Tidus stood up and walked a bit to keep from thinking of the dream. Running his fingers through his spiky hair, he said, "Nah, it's alright. Besides, I'd rather play then get my butt whooped by Coach."

"Hehe, you crack me up, Ti, you know that?" Irvine laughed as he called him by his nickname. He walked into the locker room and sat down on one of the wooden benches that appeared to have been cleanly polished recently. "But don't forget what I said, you know how bad Zidane wants to be star player." Remembering one of his other teammates, Tidus guiltily thought of him, knowing that while they had always been friends, he had been jealous of him for years.

"Yeah, well, that's his problem. Our problem right now is to get out there and hope Coach doesn't get a heart attack anytime soon." Tidus said as he began to walk out of the locker room.

"Look, you sure there's nothin' up, cause the past couple days you seemed pretty out of it."

Tidus paused before he reached the door. He looked down at the cracked tile floor, feeling the anxiety of his visions begin to rise again. Shaking it off, he said, "Really, I'm ok. I…I dunno, I guess I haven't been sleeping too well lately."

"Oh, well I guess that's—"

"What the hell are you boys still doin' in here?" Coach interrupted as he stormed into the locker room. "You're suppose to be out there playin' blitz ball, not playin' 'share and tell'!"

"Sorry Coach", the teammate said apologetically, "I was just seeing if Ti's ok—"

"I don't give a damn what you're doin' here, just get out there and play is all I ask!" Irvine got up and left with an exasperated sigh as the Coach turned to Tidus. "Yeah, I know, I know. All season I've been workin' your butts off, but you know how much I want you guys to be at the top", when Tidus finally nodded he continued, "I know that somethin' must be up with you. I've been seein' you a little bit off in your game lately, but just do your best and give it your all, all right? Besides, it's the championship play-off game!"

It's been a while since Tidus had seen his coach on the soft side, which in Coach's case is a soft side, but what do you expect for his most valuable player? "Yes sir", he replied.

"Alright, so what're you waiting for? Get out there and make me proud!" Tidus smiled at Coach's returned spark. Tidus hurried out as he reached to open the double doors that led to the stadium. Once he went through, he was instantly blinded from the white flashes of the people who tried to take pictures with their camera. He ran out into the large stadium to find it packed with people who were stirring loudly as they got seated on the steel metal bleachers from arriving for the game or just coming from buying their ice-cold sodas and snacks. There were others that were already seated in the bottom rows of the bleachers who were trying to get autographs from the players on the field.

Those who sat farther from the field were yelling loudly, a thing for them to do in order to keep themselves from springing out of their seats from the excitement of actually being at a blitz ball game. The big television screens that hung inside the outdoor stadium revealed excited people who waved happily at the cameras that taped the game that was to be broadcast later that night. Feeling at home, Tidus jogged over to his team to be greeted by cheers that were coming from the high volume screeching of the crowd. Giving high fives, he saw that the visiting team had already begun to get into their positions inside the water chamber.

"Alright guys, let's do it!" Tidus screamed. Piling their hands, one on top of the other, they grunted, "1, 2, 3, WIN!" They hollered together as they walked into the water chamber. Stepping onto the platform that led to the upper deck of the water chamber, Tidus and his teammates took a deep breath of air before they were let out into the water field. After they took their positions, opposite of the other team, they got prepared to swim for the ball.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a little man announced. He was the speaker of the night and showed nothing but enthusiasm, as he appeared to be honored to be the host of such a special event. "Welcome to the championship game for blitz ball!" The crowd roared with anticipation, as the game was to begin. Pipes that were located under the chamber led to wide holes on the floor of the field that pumped out air bubbles filled with oxygen. Every couple of seconds, they pumped out air bubbles for the players to breathe once their air runs out. There was a hatchet at the bottom of the water chamber that lets out the ball used to play the game that was controlled to open and close electronically. When it finally opened, the crowd became silent as they waited for the ball to shoot out of the hatchet. Swish! The ascending volume of the crowd was sounded through the liquid walls as the ball had been released. Zidane was the first to swim for the ball. He got it! Swimming swiftly, he expertly passed the ball to one of his teammates, Steiner. Steiner, being known as the team's fastest swimmer, with Tidus just a few seconds slower, glided through the water as he beamed the ball into the other team's goal. "Score!" the announcer had exclaimed. Getting back to their sides, the ball had been released once more. This time, though, the other team had gotten to it first.

They've obviously been practicing… Tidus thought as he saw that his opponents were more skilled then what he had witnessed from before. Viewing the past games of his opponents that was taped on a videocassette, he studied it on the television screen and remembered that they had played like an excellent team, but here they played even tougher. Probably championship pressure, he suggested. They had failed to score a goal with their last shot, but soon recovered with a rebound as they scored their first point.

"It's now tied 1 all!" the crowd was entranced into the game as they ate their snacks while cheering on their favorite players. The ball had been shot out into the water field and the ball had gone to the other team once again. Steiner, who had swam even his quickest, was unable to block the ball that flew toward his team's goal.

"The score is now 2 for the visitors and 1 for the home team!"

I am really starting to hate that guy…Tidus thought to himself. The ball was finally theirs, as it was passed to his teammate, Jaxx. He swam swiftly, dodging the oncoming players from the other team that roughly played their defense against them as hard as they could. They were obviously determined to win. Because of the water, they were unable to call out plays to their other teammates, but Tidus's thoughts were interrupted as he saw his friend signaling a pass to him. The ball went flying through the water as he caught it. Game time, Tidus thought. He blocked out the sounds coming from around him as he swam towards the goal. Shooting it as fast as a gun, the ball swished passed the defense players on the other team and into their goal.

The crowd had seem to get louder and louder by the minute. Heavy music filled the air as fans crazily waved their arms in glee. Before the ball was released, Tidus took a gulp of air from a bubble that floated upward to be disposed of out of the chamber. When the ball had been let out once again, Tidus was back in game mode and went straight to it.

Retrieving the ball, he saw that three players were about to gang up on him. By instinct, he threw the ball straight upward as he followed it into the air, flying above the gravitated water as he begun to flip backwards to kick it back into the chamber, but suddenly stopped. Something had caught his eye, something that had felt familiar to him. No, not now! Tidus panicked as he thought that it was another vision that was going to swallow his mind.

"What the…?" Tidus squinted at the faraway object as he began to realize that this time, his mind was not playing games with him. He had come to see that the object was actually a living creature, an oddly dangerous looking monster that had come out of nowhere.

Everything had seemed to move in slow motion since he had gone to fetch the ball that had flown overhead. He had forgotten about the game when he suddenly felt his body fall downward. He braced himself for the impact against the water that was going to feel like a thousand needles striking him at once.

Everyone looked to see what was so intimidating that would make him miss the ball and slam into the water. As Tidus finally regained control of himself, he heard that the crowd was just as loud as it had been, but not because they were cheering, but because they were screaming with horror when they saw that a mysterious creature had infested their great city.

In a minute, what had started as loud commotion had turned into complete chaos. The terrified audience started to panic and hurriedly exit the stadium as both teams was brought out of the water chamber.

Boom! A bright light was beamed at one of the big television screens as it fell towards the bleachers. Rushing to get out of the way, everyone's head turned to look at what had caused the big blast. The unknown creature had spotted the location of where the majority of the city's population was at and was starting to attack it with treacherous laser beams. The players were running towards the locker rooms when Tidus stopped to see that his coach was standing there, paralyzed. "What…what is that thing…" the coach managed to stumble out.

"Coach! What are you doing? We have to get out of here, NOW!" Tidus dragged his coach out with a bit of difficulty.

"Tidus!" he turned to see that the late assistant coach had finally arrived to the game when he told him that he would look after Coach for him, so Tidus was free to escape. Feeling reassured, he began to sprint, stripping off his equipment while he ran, as he left the stadium when he saw a familiar looking man.

"Auron…?" Realizing that it was actually he, he shouted, " Auron! What are you doing here?" He had not seen his friend for nearly months now and was curious to know where he had been all this time.

"Tidus….", Auron looked at him as he spoke calmly. "Come, we have to go."

"What? But, but wait, why are you—?"

"There's no time to explain. We must go," he said stiffly.

They ran for a while, dodging any incoming danger and avoiding the enemy. Bodies littered the floors of the city, and many were injured from the attacks coming from the creature. They passed the cries of infants that were scared, and children that tried to find their lost parents.

"What are you doing?" Auron asked when he saw that Tidus had stopped.

"Wait, we gotta help those kids first."

"There's no time, we have to keep moving", was his only remark.

"But they're just kids!" Tidus argued, "It's too dangerous out here! What if something happens to them?"

"They are not our responsibility", Auron said seriously, "Our problem right now is get out of here and make sure that nothing happens to you!"

They continued on, passing adults that suffered from massive injuries or helping others that needed it. "Where are we going?" the silence began to bother him. He went on impatiently, "Where are we—?"

"Look out!" Auron warned as Tidus luckily dodged from a speeding mini pod. There were many of them that came along with it. They landed firmly through the concrete ground, causing the stone hard floor to crumble into bits and chunks of rock.

"What are those…?" Tidus asked curiously as he felt his body get drawn towards the steam blowing mini pods.

"Hold it", Auron said as he gestured his arm up to stop him from moving any more forward.

The mini pods opened, revealing alien like creatures that crawled out, showing their sharp claws and harsh glowing eyes. They were short, but looked deadly. Their bluish black hard-shell backs were unscratched from the impact of crashing into the ground. They surrounded them, making Tidus uneasy.

"Here", the man said. Tidus looked to see what he was talking about. In his hand he held a sword, a sword about half his height that glistened at the reflected light that shone brightly around it. Handing it to him, Tidus nearly dropped it when realizing how heavy it actually was. Getting a firm grip, he held the sword up as he heard Auron speak, "It's from your father. He wanted me to make sure I gave it to you."

"What?" Tidus yelled surprised. "My old man gave me this?"

"Yeah, know how to use it?" Auron asked referring to the oncoming enemy that was ready to attack.

"I think I can handle it", Tidus smirked while positioning himself. His father was a multi talented guy. He use to be a pretty good swordsman back when he existed… When Tidus was younger, his father taught him a thing or two about using a sword, although his father wasn't always around back then.

The monsters went and attacked, showing that they had no mercy. His arms screamed with pain that arose from the impact of the clash between the heavy sword and the monster.

"Ah!" he let out as he began to violently slash his way through. Auron followed his lead as they made their way out of the group of monsters. They had finally found a clear path and sprinted across a wide bridge. More mini pods landed there, causing a deep crack to crease into the brick stoned bridge.

Tidus fought alongside with Auron, each striking the monsters that seem to continuously multiply into more and more. The big creature that had infested the city seemed to be the one that kept supplying the place with more and more monsters. The waving tentacles that were attached to the bizarre creature seem to be shedding them, group by group, launching them in different directions while attacking certain places at the same time.

"Look! Over there!" Auron pointed to Tidus. It looked like an electrical computer that was out of the ordinary in Zanarkand, but somehow it appeared to be linked to the little creatures shedding from the monster. "It seems to be some sort of power source for the monsters. Maybe if we destroy it, we can stop them from attacking."

After giving it a little bit of thought, Tidus gave in. "It's not like we have a choice anyway. Let's do it!"

They tried to find an opportunity to destroy the electrical computer but were unable to get one. The monsters were everywhere, taking the valuable time that Auron needed to get Tidus out of there.

"Tidus! Now!" the man yelled as he saw that the young boy was able to get to the gadget. With a struggling movement, Tidus struck it causing it to be badly damaged. Tidus protected his eyes as sparks flew from the gadget.

"Dammit! We need to keep striking it!" Tidus had been ambushed with another swarm of monsters now.

They caused him to back away from the computer, making him irritated. They had caught on to their plan and were viciously attacking to make sure that he and Auron do not get to the gadget. They may have been able to move in rapid movements, but they were too sluggish to notice that Auron had already found the perfect opportunity and was closing in on the box as he rushed to destroy it. With quickly trained movements, he struck the power box, causing it to shatter apart, making the monsters stop functioning.

Tidus ran up to Auron, thinking that the worst was over, but he had forgotten that there was still another enemy out there that he and Auron had to face. Seeing that they have found a way to stop the monsters, the large creature came to battle against them both.

Seeing the monsters fall lifelessly, Tidus got up from the ground. With a tired sigh, he went to speak to Auron, but lost his chance before he got to him. The bridge began to shake violently. "Auron! We gotta get off this bridge! The impact from those monster things must have made it unstable!" Even after yelling, Auron still would not budge. "Auron! AURON!"

He turned to look him in the eye as the bridge suddenly split and was leveled. Auron stood there looking down at Tidus, who was desperately climbing the rocky ends of the now broken bridge. "Auron! Look out!" He was referring to the sky, which suddenly became an alien like portal that seemed to lead to somewhere mysterious. Sucking up everything like a powerful vacuum, Tidus felt winds, stronger than those of tornadoes and hurricanes, blow in thick gusts making everything fly into the air. Tidus was fully aware of the fact that if they did not do something soon, they would get sucked into the sky also. Looking at Orin, he had come to see that he had not taken his eyes off him.

"Comon Auron! We gotta get outta here before that—thing—gets us!" Tidus was hanging there as Auron bent down to help him get up, but suddenly gripped the collar of his shirt tightly. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Tidus screamed as he looked into the unseen eyes of his once old friend.

"I'm sorry Tidus, but there is no other way."

"Wha----aaahhhhh!" Tidus yelled as the alien-turned sky began to take hold of him. He was getting sucked into the mysterious blackness of the center of it. "Auron! Wait! Auron, please! Ah!"

There was nothing he could do. All he did was peer through the thickness of the dark cloud that fogged the air to see the last site he will ever see of his world: the turned back of Auron, the man who he had come to think had just set him up. He also looked at the crumbled bridge, the bridge that he had once walked upon so many times in his life.

Is this it? Am I going to die? Those were the only thoughts that had crossed his mind in those few seconds that he had been levitated into the air. He was beginning to be blown away even closer to the dark hole. Watching in terror, he went through the vertex of the opening in the sky, only to see that everything had gone black.