I know its early for the Sphere Break Tournament but I couldn't really
think of anything the characters could do before it. And the rules had to
be changed a little cause you really don't seem to challenge the other
player in the game, its just breaking the sphere which isn't very different
from anyone else's.
Chapter 6
Lady Luck
I awoke to fireworks in the sky. So many colors especially for the daytime. I got dressed, grabbed my weapon, and grabbed my sphere and coins and made my way to the square.
I saw a ton of people. I even managed to spy Yuna and Rikku among the crowd. Would I end up facing them?
Rin, the owner of all those travel agencies, was the guy holding the tournament. I saw the sphere on a small display next to him. I'd be sure to win that...or at least steal it from the winner, whichever comes first.
After a long speech on the simple rules everyone scattered to find opponents.
"Ah ha!" I heard a girlish voice shout from behind me. I sighed out loud and then turned to face her.
"Trying to take another sphere from us? That's not happenin' buster!" Rikku spat at me while pointing an accusing finger.
"Leave me alone. I competing here just like everyone else." I told her.
"Well than you won't mind if I beat the pants off you than?" she shouted.
I refrained from making a dirty joke out of that. "Well than I say we have a challenge on our hands."
"Fine by me! Once I beat you you'll have to be my slave until the end of the tournament!" she yelled loud enough all of Luca could hear her.
"If I win you'll have to kiss me." Now you're probably thinking 'Oooooh Aeon likes Rikku!' but the reason I chose that was because to Rikku the idea of kissing me was comparable to kissing a Funguar, or in other words "utterly disgusting".
"F-Fine then! L-Let's begin!" she stuttered. I could tell she was thinking "Please let me win."
We plopped on the floor and exchanged spheres. We set those and our coins down and began to play. Rikku's sphere was simple. The quota was only 25 with a 45 second time limit per turn. My sphere had a 45 quota with a 40 second time limit per turn. She looked determined to beat it.
I began turning coins and scoring Echo Bonuses early on. Within 8 of the 15 turns I was already up to 17 and she was up to 15. Not bad.
It was down to the last turn for us and we each needed one more coin to fulfill one another's quotas. I spotted the number I needed and flipped the coin. The sphere was completed and I had won by a number of seconds.
"I lost!? No!!" she really sounded upset by this. It was kinda funny to watch. I wish Leblanc were here to check this out, she'd totally eat this up. I was actually laughing out loud at her.
"You big meanie!" She stomped, throwing my sphere back to me. I gave hers back and she turned to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" I asked her. She stopped dead in her tracks. "You're not thinking of going back on our promise are you?"
"N-no not at all! J-just making sure you didn't forget t-that's all." She stammered.
"Where's that kiss?" I asked. She wore an expression on her face of pure disgust. "Don't worry I'm not poisonous."
She walked, very slowly I might add, up to where I stood and kissed me on my left cheek. "Was that so hard?" I asked her. She was bright red. It was hard keeping in the laughter.
"Grrr! Don't think I'll lose next time!" she yelled in my face loud enough that my hair blew back a little.
"Tell you what. Just to be fair I'll do one thing for you right now, just pretend I'm your slave and you won but I'll only carry out one command. And no don't ask me to jump into the ocean or anything like that. Sound fair?" I suggested.
This confused her a little. Just cause I beat her didn't mean I had to rub it in her face. It was a close match and I felt she deserved to humiliate me a little after what I had her do. I guess I'm just sensitive.
"Fine then. I order you to carry me to all the way to the stadium. Once I find an opponent you can let me down." She said. Sounds fair, and besides she doesn't look too heavy for me to handle, hopefully.
She went behind me and leapt on my back with her arms holding my shoulders. I grabbed her exposed legs and began my trek to the stadium. "This is going to be hard."
"Oui cilg!" she told me as I lurched forward. It was kinda weird carrying Rikku around, we were enemies here. I was so thinking before I came to Spira that if we ever met we'd be like best friends and I would be doing this for different reasons, now look at us. She wasn't too heavy and her legs felt nice.
We made it into the stadium and I saw Yuna there just finishing up a game of her own. She walked over to us and started to giggle. Yuna giggle? She really has changed.
"What are you two doing?" she asked.
"She lost a game we had. She had to kiss me and I wanted to be fair so I carried her over here like she wanted." I explained.
"Rikku's new boyfriend." Yuna declared bursting into laughter. Rikku's body got a lot warmer and I could tell her face was beet red right now. She jumped down from me.
"Yunie, not you too!" she said grabbing her head in frustration. "This is not my day!"
I went and beat the person Yuna had just beaten so I was in the finals. It was down to three people, including myself. The last matches were to take place back at the square we started at. I had to run back if I hoped to make it.
"I wonder who the other two are." I said aloud jogging towards the commotion.
I came just in time to see Yuna stare at the ground defeated. It surprised me to see her be beaten by a kid. Well not really when you think about it. Little kids are usually good at these games.
"So, this should be interesting." I said facing this little boy.
"Beating Yuna was an easy task." He began.
"I'm flattered."
"I was about to say that beating you would be even easier." That little masked kid told me. I was gonna make him eat those words.
"And I thought Rikku hated me." I mumbled.
The match began and he was doing really well at first. But I eventually scores some huge Echo Bonuses which really put me ahead. Before anybody knew it I had beaten his quota while he was still 3 coins shy of mine.
"Inconceivable! Impossible!" He shouted surprised as his sphere rolled over to him.
"I wanted to warn you that I'm smart when it comes to numbers, but you seemed so confident I didn't want to shatter your hopes." I told him smiling.
"Well we have our winner ladies and gentleman!" the news reporter, Shelinda, told all of Luca...maybe even all of Spira.
Rin approached me and congratulated me on my victory and I took the sphere from the pedestal. It felt nice holding this in the sky as the crowd erupted in applause.
After everything was done I went back to the hotel room. It seemed less breathtaking this time around. Both Cora and Sarah were there dressed in the same clothes as before, most likely a different pair of the same kind.
"We heard you won. Way to go!" Sarah told me wrapping her arms around me.
Usually I'd return the gesture but for some reason it didn't feel right to me. I don't know why.
"What's wrong?" she asked me.
"I...can't explain it." I told her.
"You could just be tired." Cora suggested.
"Maybe. I just wanna relax." I said going to sit down.
Then the door opened up and Logos came in, that was unexpected.
"The Boss wants you back home on the double. No time to rest." He said matter of factly.
I got my things and left my room. Logos stayed in the room before I closed the door.
I caught him gazing at something. His staring earned him a smack from Cora. That was really funny. I hid my laughter because Logos still outranked me and he could probably outgun me any day.
Once back in Guadosalam Leblanc was waiting inside wearing this huge smile on her face.
"Well done love! I caught everything on television and you sure stuck it to the Dullwings." She said proudly.
"I even embarrassed that girl Rikku. It was hilarious. Oh that reminds me!" I said holding out my prize, a dressphere.
"Marvelous, love!" she said taking the orb from me. "I see it wasn't a mistake picking you up."
"Is this why I was brought back here?" I asked.
"No it wasn't. The Gullwings recently obtained this sphere from Kilika since the tournament and they are giving it to the Youth League. We're going to sneak on board their airship and steal something from them."
"What are we stealing?" I asked them.
"They picked up a broken sphere from Zanarkand and we have the other half. We're going to find that sphere and take it." Logos told me.
"Sounds good. Are all of us going?" I asked.
"That's right. You, Logos, Ormi, and I will be going onboard. Hope you're ready love." She told me.
I was ready. But deep down I was kinda sorry about it. I had already humiliated the Gullwings once today and now I was going to do it again. I really didn't want to do it. It enough they don't like me but now they'll just abhor me.
"Do we have any spheres I can record myself on?" I asked Leblanc.
"Why yes. What's the reason?" she asked. I knew if I told her the real reason she might not let me so I came up with a lie.
"Just a little something to leave the Dullwings once we get there. Kinda to rub salt on the wound one might say." I told her.
"Very well. I'll have one brought to you as soon as I can." She told me.
We would be leaving in a few minutes. What a day? But now I'm starting to think about Earth more and more. Would I ever go back, or would it just remain a memory and a story to tell people?
Chapter 6
Lady Luck
I awoke to fireworks in the sky. So many colors especially for the daytime. I got dressed, grabbed my weapon, and grabbed my sphere and coins and made my way to the square.
I saw a ton of people. I even managed to spy Yuna and Rikku among the crowd. Would I end up facing them?
Rin, the owner of all those travel agencies, was the guy holding the tournament. I saw the sphere on a small display next to him. I'd be sure to win that...or at least steal it from the winner, whichever comes first.
After a long speech on the simple rules everyone scattered to find opponents.
"Ah ha!" I heard a girlish voice shout from behind me. I sighed out loud and then turned to face her.
"Trying to take another sphere from us? That's not happenin' buster!" Rikku spat at me while pointing an accusing finger.
"Leave me alone. I competing here just like everyone else." I told her.
"Well than you won't mind if I beat the pants off you than?" she shouted.
I refrained from making a dirty joke out of that. "Well than I say we have a challenge on our hands."
"Fine by me! Once I beat you you'll have to be my slave until the end of the tournament!" she yelled loud enough all of Luca could hear her.
"If I win you'll have to kiss me." Now you're probably thinking 'Oooooh Aeon likes Rikku!' but the reason I chose that was because to Rikku the idea of kissing me was comparable to kissing a Funguar, or in other words "utterly disgusting".
"F-Fine then! L-Let's begin!" she stuttered. I could tell she was thinking "Please let me win."
We plopped on the floor and exchanged spheres. We set those and our coins down and began to play. Rikku's sphere was simple. The quota was only 25 with a 45 second time limit per turn. My sphere had a 45 quota with a 40 second time limit per turn. She looked determined to beat it.
I began turning coins and scoring Echo Bonuses early on. Within 8 of the 15 turns I was already up to 17 and she was up to 15. Not bad.
It was down to the last turn for us and we each needed one more coin to fulfill one another's quotas. I spotted the number I needed and flipped the coin. The sphere was completed and I had won by a number of seconds.
"I lost!? No!!" she really sounded upset by this. It was kinda funny to watch. I wish Leblanc were here to check this out, she'd totally eat this up. I was actually laughing out loud at her.
"You big meanie!" She stomped, throwing my sphere back to me. I gave hers back and she turned to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" I asked her. She stopped dead in her tracks. "You're not thinking of going back on our promise are you?"
"N-no not at all! J-just making sure you didn't forget t-that's all." She stammered.
"Where's that kiss?" I asked. She wore an expression on her face of pure disgust. "Don't worry I'm not poisonous."
She walked, very slowly I might add, up to where I stood and kissed me on my left cheek. "Was that so hard?" I asked her. She was bright red. It was hard keeping in the laughter.
"Grrr! Don't think I'll lose next time!" she yelled in my face loud enough that my hair blew back a little.
"Tell you what. Just to be fair I'll do one thing for you right now, just pretend I'm your slave and you won but I'll only carry out one command. And no don't ask me to jump into the ocean or anything like that. Sound fair?" I suggested.
This confused her a little. Just cause I beat her didn't mean I had to rub it in her face. It was a close match and I felt she deserved to humiliate me a little after what I had her do. I guess I'm just sensitive.
"Fine then. I order you to carry me to all the way to the stadium. Once I find an opponent you can let me down." She said. Sounds fair, and besides she doesn't look too heavy for me to handle, hopefully.
She went behind me and leapt on my back with her arms holding my shoulders. I grabbed her exposed legs and began my trek to the stadium. "This is going to be hard."
"Oui cilg!" she told me as I lurched forward. It was kinda weird carrying Rikku around, we were enemies here. I was so thinking before I came to Spira that if we ever met we'd be like best friends and I would be doing this for different reasons, now look at us. She wasn't too heavy and her legs felt nice.
We made it into the stadium and I saw Yuna there just finishing up a game of her own. She walked over to us and started to giggle. Yuna giggle? She really has changed.
"What are you two doing?" she asked.
"She lost a game we had. She had to kiss me and I wanted to be fair so I carried her over here like she wanted." I explained.
"Rikku's new boyfriend." Yuna declared bursting into laughter. Rikku's body got a lot warmer and I could tell her face was beet red right now. She jumped down from me.
"Yunie, not you too!" she said grabbing her head in frustration. "This is not my day!"
I went and beat the person Yuna had just beaten so I was in the finals. It was down to three people, including myself. The last matches were to take place back at the square we started at. I had to run back if I hoped to make it.
"I wonder who the other two are." I said aloud jogging towards the commotion.
I came just in time to see Yuna stare at the ground defeated. It surprised me to see her be beaten by a kid. Well not really when you think about it. Little kids are usually good at these games.
"So, this should be interesting." I said facing this little boy.
"Beating Yuna was an easy task." He began.
"I'm flattered."
"I was about to say that beating you would be even easier." That little masked kid told me. I was gonna make him eat those words.
"And I thought Rikku hated me." I mumbled.
The match began and he was doing really well at first. But I eventually scores some huge Echo Bonuses which really put me ahead. Before anybody knew it I had beaten his quota while he was still 3 coins shy of mine.
"Inconceivable! Impossible!" He shouted surprised as his sphere rolled over to him.
"I wanted to warn you that I'm smart when it comes to numbers, but you seemed so confident I didn't want to shatter your hopes." I told him smiling.
"Well we have our winner ladies and gentleman!" the news reporter, Shelinda, told all of Luca...maybe even all of Spira.
Rin approached me and congratulated me on my victory and I took the sphere from the pedestal. It felt nice holding this in the sky as the crowd erupted in applause.
After everything was done I went back to the hotel room. It seemed less breathtaking this time around. Both Cora and Sarah were there dressed in the same clothes as before, most likely a different pair of the same kind.
"We heard you won. Way to go!" Sarah told me wrapping her arms around me.
Usually I'd return the gesture but for some reason it didn't feel right to me. I don't know why.
"What's wrong?" she asked me.
"I...can't explain it." I told her.
"You could just be tired." Cora suggested.
"Maybe. I just wanna relax." I said going to sit down.
Then the door opened up and Logos came in, that was unexpected.
"The Boss wants you back home on the double. No time to rest." He said matter of factly.
I got my things and left my room. Logos stayed in the room before I closed the door.
I caught him gazing at something. His staring earned him a smack from Cora. That was really funny. I hid my laughter because Logos still outranked me and he could probably outgun me any day.
Once back in Guadosalam Leblanc was waiting inside wearing this huge smile on her face.
"Well done love! I caught everything on television and you sure stuck it to the Dullwings." She said proudly.
"I even embarrassed that girl Rikku. It was hilarious. Oh that reminds me!" I said holding out my prize, a dressphere.
"Marvelous, love!" she said taking the orb from me. "I see it wasn't a mistake picking you up."
"Is this why I was brought back here?" I asked.
"No it wasn't. The Gullwings recently obtained this sphere from Kilika since the tournament and they are giving it to the Youth League. We're going to sneak on board their airship and steal something from them."
"What are we stealing?" I asked them.
"They picked up a broken sphere from Zanarkand and we have the other half. We're going to find that sphere and take it." Logos told me.
"Sounds good. Are all of us going?" I asked.
"That's right. You, Logos, Ormi, and I will be going onboard. Hope you're ready love." She told me.
I was ready. But deep down I was kinda sorry about it. I had already humiliated the Gullwings once today and now I was going to do it again. I really didn't want to do it. It enough they don't like me but now they'll just abhor me.
"Do we have any spheres I can record myself on?" I asked Leblanc.
"Why yes. What's the reason?" she asked. I knew if I told her the real reason she might not let me so I came up with a lie.
"Just a little something to leave the Dullwings once we get there. Kinda to rub salt on the wound one might say." I told her.
"Very well. I'll have one brought to you as soon as I can." She told me.
We would be leaving in a few minutes. What a day? But now I'm starting to think about Earth more and more. Would I ever go back, or would it just remain a memory and a story to tell people?