Unfortold Destiny

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Adventure

(A/N: apart from the diary entry things, this story will be told in third person, I hope this doesn't confuse anyone.)

Has anyone ever had a life changing experience? A chance to do something no-one else has? I have. I found a place that no-one thought existed, a place that dreams were flattened in, and a nightmare ran loose. Let me tell you my story, my tale of despair, friendship, love and destiny. Let me tell you my story of fantasy, my…Final Fantasy.

"Caleb! Come on! Come off that, it's my turn!" Caleb sighed at the noise of his little brother's whiny voice, why oh why did he have to share his PS2 with that selfish midget.

"Alex I've only been on for ten minutes! You were on here for two hours earlier so I think it's my go!" Alex turned round and yelled at him

"Fine I'm telling mum!" and with that he stormed off downstairs. Caleb shook his head and watched his brothers retreating back 'great' he thought 'what else can go wrong now?' His question was answered as every light in the house went out, and the music blaring from his brother's room suddenly stopped.

"Oh great! A power cut!" he said sarcastically, venom dripping from his voice "I've always wanted one of those, right when I'm in the middle of BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF A BOSS!" He sighed and started to leave the room when he noticed a light playing behind him. He turned to see that the TV screen was shimmering and flickering, the picture of Tidus facing Geosgaeno was frozen on the screen. "What the heck…" Caleb stared at the fluctuating screen, filled with a sense of wonder and wariness at the same time. He slowly moved towards the screen, the strange light almost pulling him into it, he reached out a hand to touch it… and the power came back on resulting in the PS2 resetting itself. Caleb stood frozen for a moment before he snapped out of his stupor and saw the opening scene again. He sighed and shut off the power, then walked to his room before his winghy brother could get his mum to scold Caleb. He opened his window and leaned out, breathing in the cool air to try and clear his head, his recent lack of sleep making his life all the more difficult beside the memories that he suppressed each night. At the moment the simple fact was that Caleb was bored and tired, he wanted an adventure not his boring daily routine: get up, go to school, fall asleep in class, come home, fight with his brother and go to bed.

He sighed and lifted himself out of the window onto the roof and sat up there cross-legged, watching the sunset. "I wish I could get out of here, I wish I could… go on an adventure, do something miraculous, anything but this!" he sighed again and looked out at the harbour that was about 15 minutes from his house "… I wish… I wish that I could have gone with you dad, and if you're out there I want you to know that I don't blame you… I just want to see you again and go on an adventure with you" he forced the tears that were threatening to spill out back and climbed down into his bedroom, the sun now gone and the last vestiges of light disappearing beneath the clouds. Caleb silently changed and climbed into bed, he closed his eyes and hoped for his first good sleep in weeks, but it didn't come. He lay in bed awake for three hours, his brother and mother long since asleep. He almost screamed in frustration but decided that wouldn't help him, so he climbed out of bed and silently crept over to his mother's office, where the PS2 lay. "This time" he said to himself "this time I'll get that thing" He turned the console on and watched the opening scene again, sighing he skipped through and tried to load his save game but he found only a blank card, mysteriously wiped due to the power cut. He silently screamed at the machine and resigned himself to starting a new game. As the scene started he heard a song playing from his brother's room as he had left his radio on when he fell asleep, the song was "Somewhere Else" by Razorlight and it happened to be Caleb's favourite song as every time he heard it he imagined himself to actually be 'somewhere else'. He quietly started to sing along as the scene of Tidus and the group played on mute "You're an emotional wreck, you don't know who you are, you never say what you mean. And you keep your mouth and your eyes cast down, and then you come and call on me…! But I am somewhere else, somewhere else, somewhere else, I really really wish I could be, somewhere else, somewhere else, than here!"

(I didn't know it then, but that song was perfect for my situation, and if I had known what was going to happen… well it wouldn't have been a surprise then but even if I had know… I don't think I had a choice about what followed)

After the words "listen to my story… this… may be our last chance" had escaped Tidus's mouth the screen went black as it loaded Zanarkand. However Caleb noticed that something was different, the screen was fluttering like it had during the power cut. Suddenly a large image of Zanarkand filled the screen, it wasn't one from the game and showed the entire Machina city in its full glory, then the screen darkened and started to fluctuate even more. Caleb's curiosity was far greater than his fear and he leant in closer. A strange writing suddenly appeared on the screen, it was in a different language and looked like a cross between hieroglyphs and something else… then a six symbols appeared and multiplied round the edges till they made a banner across the television. Finally the screen appeared to bend inwards and the image became sharper, like he was actually looking down on the city of Zanarkand.

"What the…" Caleb trailed off as he moved toward the television, like earlier, the strange light seemed to be pulling Caleb towards it and he was too curious to resist. His hand moved of its own accord and touched the screen…only to have it slide through. Caleb's eyes widened in shock and he was about to remove his hand when he realised he couldn't, it was stuck and what was even more worrying was the fact that he was being pulled through too! Before he could yell out Caleb was pulled through the screen, turned portal and was blinded by a brilliant white light. A magnificent voice, filled with power filled the space he was in, he couldn't understand the language but he thought it was talking about him, and the symbols he had seen on his screen were circling him, six of them, each a different colour. As he was about to call out loud he suddenly felt a tug on his shoulder and the force that had been holding him up disappeared. Caleb screamed as he fell through the endless black that had been exchanged for the white that had been there a moment ago, the black encircled and engulfed him and his scream became as endless as the black itself until he finally lost consciousness.

(I remember thinking before I blacked out… what have I got myself into? … That was the sensible part of me, the not so sensible part, or in other words, the insane, giddy mental side of me that was thrilled this had happened was thinking "man how can this get any better? I'm finally on an adventure! WAHOO!" …I think I need to see a psychiatrist)

Caleb's eyes flickered open slowly as if they had been glued shut. He stood up slowly and realised he was DEFINITELY not at home anymore, he stared at the huge city of Zanarkand when it was in it's prime, his mouth hanging open. "I have got to be dreaming" he whispered to himself as he took in the massive Blitzball stadium where Tidus and the Zanarkand Abes were going to be playing tonight! He kept staring until he felt a small tug on his arm. Looking down he saw a little girl that couldn't have been more than eight or nine, tugging on his arm.

"hey mister are you a Blitzball player?" she asked hopefully. Caleb was about to ask her why she would think that when he caught sight of himself in a blacked out window. His jaw fell open again as he stared at an older and more different version of himself, he had crimson eyes and his hair was longer, coming down just past his nose and a spike was covering his right eye. His hair had turned Black with Red streaks rather than his usual brown and he was definitely older, around 16 or 17. he then looked at his clothes, he had a silver and gold bracer on his left forearm and a gauntlet exactly like Tidus' on his right but without the blue bracelet. He also wore a sleeveless purple top and a blue jacket, which was cut off at the elbows, over it. A black scarf was tied round his neck and it came down to his knee. He also had a pair of black running trousers with green slashes down the sides and black and red boots on his feet. Finally the strangest part was the fact that he had a tattoo on the palm of his left hand, it had five symbols on it and his eyes went wide when he recognized them. They were the same symbols he had seen on his screen and in the white void but one of them was missing and he still had no idea what they meant. He shook his head trying to clear the thoughts and questions running through his mind and looked back down at the girl.

"Uhm…I'm sorry but I'm not a Blitzball player, I'm kinda new here and I've never even seen a Blitzball match!" he said untruthfully, well not entirely, he had never seen a real one or a full length one. The girl was obviously shocked that Caleb had never seen a Blitzball match.

"Well the how come you have the Zanarkand Abes' gauntlet on?" she asked, catching Caleb completely off guard.

"Uh… I…don't know?" he said hopefully but while the girl seemed to disbelieve this she didn't question further.

"Well if you haven't seen a Blitzball match then why don't you come with me! My mommy and I are going to tonight's and I had an extra ticket for my friend, but she couldn't come" the girl seemed very excited at the prospect of having a new friend and Caleb couldn't resist seeing a real Blitzball match.

"Okay I'd love to come with you!" he told the girl and received a huge smile

"Great! Come meet my mom and we can go!" she called as she jogged off with Caleb in tow yet!

"H-hey you haven't even told me your name, come to think of it I haven't told you mine, I'm Caleb" Caleb chuckled as they ran.

"It's Nina nice to meet you Caleb" the girl replied as they turned a corner and approached a house that Caleb recognized "mommy mommy! This is Caleb, he's coming to the match!" Nina announced with confidence. Nina's mother, a young woman who looked like she was born to be a mother, glanced up and down Caleb.

"Uh hi I'm Caleb" he introduced himself, the woman smiled

"I'm Sarah, are you coming with us? Because Nina seems very happy that you are"

"Uh…" Caleb started sheepishly "I'm not sure I should I mean Nina wants me to but I don't think I could…"

"It's alright I don't have a problem you can come if you want" Sarah reassured him, thankfully not questioning his gauntlet as her eyes lingered over it "Nina seems to like you a lot so it's alright but you'll have to wait, Nina's getting an autograph from the Zanarkand Abes' star player Tidus!" at the mention of his name Caleb's head shot up, he had recognised the house but now he knew that it was indeed the home of Tidus, the main hero and protagonist of the story he was caught up in. He suddenly heard the tapping of boots and the chinking of Tidus' bracelet on his gauntlet, then the teenager came into view and the crowd in front of his house started murmuring.

As he stepped forward a group of kids circled him and held out their Blitzballs hopefully, Tidus grinned and signed them then turned to flirt with the two girls to his left. Throughout all this Caleb watched him, noting the cocky swagger in his stride and the way he bypassed all the attention on him, finally the three kids turned to him again.

"Two…three… teach us how to Blitz!" they all called out in unison.

"Hey I've got a game to play!" Tidus protested shaking his head

"Then…teach us after?" one of the boys pleaded

"I dunno… maybe tonight uhm…" Tidus offered when he was suddenly cut off

"You can't tonight" a small figure clad in tattered purple robes announced. Tidus seemed to agree and said

"I mean tomorrow"

"You promise?" another boy asked with anticipation filling his voice. Tidus smiled

"Promise!" he told them, they then performed the Blitzball victory sign that Caleb was intimate with.

As Tidus headed off Caleb, Nina and Sarah moved off after him, Caleb nudged Nina forwards

"Go on! Ask him for his autograph!" he encouraged her but she shook her head and shied away from the cocky teenager. Caleb smiled at her, he may be in the most radical place ever but he couldn't help but find this natural intimidation funny. Taking the cue from Nina he swept the ball out of her hands and jogged up to Tidus. "Hey!" he called, catching the Blitzball superstars attention "you're Tidus right?" Caleb continued

"Yeah that's right" Tidus replied.

"Well you see I have a little friend behind us and she's a bit shy to ask for your autograph so here I am to get it for her!" Caleb announced, glad to see the smile of humour pass over Tidus' face

"Heh! Fair enough" he said and whisked the ball out of Caleb's hands, he quickly signed it but hesitated at the end "uh… what's her name?" he asked Caleb who had completely forgotten about that..

"oh! Sorry her name's Nina and I'm Caleb" he told Tidus who quickly added her name to the autograph and threw it back to Caleb.

Caleb didn't even realize what he was doing as he reacted on his new instinct and grabbed the ball out of the air and spun it around his body, then threw it in the air. He back flipped, kicking it over to Nina who missed the catch because she, along with Tidus, Sarah and several passerbyers stared at him as he landed. Caleb glanced around him,

"What?" he asked as he saw the slightly shocked faces.

"I thought you said you weren't a Blitzer" Nina and Sarah said at the same time but quietly enough so that only Caleb heard. He suddenly realized what he had done and gulped, he sheepishly chuckled and scratched his head with his gauntleted hand, which was a mistake. Tidus' eyes went wide when he saw the gauntlet and he grabbed Caleb's hand, staring at him.

"Why are you wearing this? Only qualified members of the Zanarkand Abes can wear this, it's our signature," he asked accusingly.

"Heh, heh um…" Caleb stuttered but fortunately Nina came to his rescue

"He was given it by the retired guy, you know, Zane Frall, he saw Caleb's skill with a Blitzball and wanted him to try out for the Zanarkand Abes so he gave him the gauntlet," Nina fibbed but damn she was good at it. The story seemed to satisfy Tidus because he looked surprised for a moment then shrugged and dropped Caleb's hand.

"fair enough, I can see why he gave it to you, not many can do the Barrier Sphere Shot like that" he looked Caleb up and down for a second then his pocket started to vibrate. He grabbed the phone from it and started to talk "yeah… hey Wilks!... you don't sound too good buddy is something wrong?...WHAT? are you kidding me? The game starts in ten minutes and you tell me you're sick now? Man how we going to play? We need yo…" Tidus trailed off and looked over at Caleb, a sly smile playing over his lips. "actually never mind Wilks you take the game off, I think I've got the solution… yeah alright just make sure you turn the Sphere on okay?... yeah bye" Tidus shut off the phone and put it backing his pocket, then looked at Caleb again "hmmm…. Zane thought you were good enough so…"

Caleb's eyes went wide

"you can't seriously be thinking about me…"

"…Playing for the Zanarkand Abes tonight? Yup!" Tidus finished for him

"…Oh boy" Caleb sighed "do I get a choice in the matter?" he asked.

"Nope! Now come on the game starts in ten minutes!" Tidus exclaimed and dragged Caleb off with Nina running behind laughing out loud at the fact that her new friend was going to be playing in the final game of the season and Sarah trailed along muttering something about boisterous teenagers and troublesome kids. Meanwhile Caleb could only think of two things in the separate parts of his mind, one was: "oh crap! what have I got myself into now and how am I gonna get out?" the second, slightly insane part was thinking: "ALL RIGHT! Not only am I in FinalFantasy X but I'm playing a Blitzball match" … unfortunately this was the side with all the control at the moment and he raced after Tidus, eager to start the match.

: The six symbols each represent something else, but I'm not saying what. If you want to know what they look like then I suggest you think about W.i.t.c.h. and if you don't know what that is or what the symbols look like then pick up an issue or watch the program and if you do know what they are then please don't spoil it for anyone who doesn't. Oh and I know he's only got five of the six symbols on his hand when there are in total six but don't worry, you'll see why I did this later.

: I am going to add a few new Blitzball moves as it will make it more exciting and fit in with Caleb's abilities. If you want a list of the moves then please ask me in a review and I will add a chapter about them.

Okay that's the first chapter done! God that took me a while! Anyway next time Caleb goes Blitzing and fights an army of Sinscales along with a sarcy battle of words with Auron, and I might put some stuff in about the symbols and his tattoo but I am undecided on that. Anyway till next time seeya! Oh! And please please please R&R! bye!