Tidus's Story
Tidus has been grumpy ever since they left the Sanctuary that morning. His pompous father has taken the liberty to intrude on him and Yuna, and worse, did all the talking the whole morning. He stared angrily at the rugged and muscular Jecht excitedly telling Yuna about his twenty-three different strategies in Blitzball, the underwater sport that made him an international star back in their hometown of Zanarkand.
He caught Yuna stealing worried glances at him every now and then. Being his girlfriend, Yuna knew that the young blonde Blitzball player was never in the best of mood whenever his father is around. The usually cheerful and bright Tidus had deliberately slowed his pace to distance himself from the other two and wore a discomfited frown on his face.
As Yuna scouted ahead, momentarily breaking free of Jecht's lecture on Blitzball, Tidus picked up his pace and approached his father, scowling, "Hey old man! Why do you have to intrude on our date?"
"Ah, I just can't keep my mind at ease leaving Yuna with you alone." Jecht said mockingly.
"I'm perfectly capable of protecting my own girlfriend! Thank you!" Tidus replied indignantly.
Jecht was about to retort with another condescending comment, but was fortunately distracted by the sight of Yuna waving at someone at the distance. The father and son pair approached Yuna's spot and saw that the summoner was beckoning Tifa to join them.
"Tifa, are you patrolling alone?" Yuna asked, sounding concerned. While some of the Cosmos warriors such as Squall or the Warrior or Light were accustomed to patrolling alone, others like Tifa and Terra were not usually left unaccompanied.
"Umm… I was with Squall, but we got separated." Tifa replied bashfully, her lovely cheeks turning pink.
So the rumors were true after all. Tidus thought upon seeing Tifa's reaction. In a world where entertainment is scarce, the bored Cosmos Warriors would gossip about one another every now and then. It was common consensus that Cecil knew every little gossip the group had, yet his personal records were oddly untainted.
"Then you should come with us!" Yuna told Tifa, "It's dangerous to be walking alone," her gentle heterochromatic eyes brimming with concern.
"Oh! Of co-"
But before Tifa could finish her sentence, a crystalline form of Cecil Harvey had plunged its weapon in Yuna's direction.
"Watch out!" Tidus cried, summoning his sparkling blue sword just in time to block the manikin's attack on Yuna. The manikin jumped back, letting out a monstrous inhumane growl at its own failure. Behind it, several more of its kind appeared, all readying their own weapons to attack the group.
"A party it is then!" Tidus declared as he charged forward at the Delusory Knight. Jecht and Yuna both readied their weapons and assumed fighting stances. These bloodthirsty crystal imitations are ruthless monsters, as long as they are not destroyed, they would attempt to kill any nearby Warriors of Cosmos. Their lust for blood led them as though they were zombies, but their lack of hearts and brains prevented them from strategizing any significant plans. If they had any, the plans would have been strategized by a Warrior of Chaos.
As Tidus's athletic form spun and somersaulted in the air in his charge forward, he caught a glimpse of Tifa. The attractive martial artist was standing behind Yuna and Jecht, but unlike the other two, did not assume a fighting stance. Instead, an odd purple light glimmered at her fingertips…
The moment Tidus's sword touches the manikin's rod; a huge blast swept the group of warriors and manikins away. In the blinding light, Tidus was unable to see anything, but he could feel the rocks around him crumbling, and his feet soon lost its footing. He wanted to scream, to call out Yuna's name, but the massive energy that had caused the blast seemed to be drowning his voice before it even left his mouth. A moment later, he could feel his whole body crashing into solid ground.
How far he fell, he did not know, but as Tidus's eyes adjusted itself to the sudden darkness, he found himself in a narrow ravine-like cave. His sword radiated a faint blue light in his grip, providing him with sufficient light to discern his surroundings. The walls of rock on both sides are steep and rocks have closed in upon the entrance up above. He knew that he had to find another way out. As he looked around for some clues as to another exit, he found Tifa's limp body lying on the moss covered ground.
"Tifa!" Tidus cried, "can you hear me?" He shook her frantically by the shoulders. In response, Tifa let out a soft groan before slowly opening her eyes.
"What… happened…?" she asked, her hands reaching out to massage her forehead.
"We fell… and got separated…. I guess." Tidus replied hesitantly, recalling the odd glimpse that he caught of her earlier. I could be imagining things. He told himself sternly. It would do him no good to be suspecting his only ally now to be responsible for their fall. "We have to find another way out. Can you walk?"
"Barely…" Tifa said as she tried picking herself up.
"Well… I could carry you on my back for now." Tidus offered.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it." Tifa said. She gave him a weak smile as she leaned on the steep rocky walls to support her crumbling body.
Tidus squatted down in front of her, allowing her to climb onto his back. With his sword still in his hand to provide the faint light they needed, he began walking.
...
Elsewhere, Prishe was in a heated discussion with Squall.
"You just have to promise me to make up with Tifa!" the purple-haired girl had desperately needed to scream out loud at Squall's stubbornness.
"I told you I can't promise anything." Squall said, seemingly mustering the strength of every muscle of his body to keep his cool.
"She did nothing wrong! That stupid agreement about you being the most desirable bachelor wasn't Tifa's own idea! We all had our part in it, but we meant no harm!" Prishe exclaimed.
"I don't buy it!" Squall retorted vehemently. "Can you convince me that people like Lightning and Terra would nominate people in some stupid agreement?"
"Well maybe not…" Prishe sighed exasperatedly. "Look can we just forget about that agreement? I promise that none of us are gonna bring that up EVER again. You make up with Tifa and that's it. I'll help you with Lightning."
Squall stood in silence, resentment still clearly registering on his handsome features. "Whatever," he finally said.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Prishe said cheerfully, her mood apparently lightening up again the moment Squall agreed. As a reply, Squall only snorted.
...
After a long walk through the seemingly endless darkness, Tidus finally spotted light seeping in through some cracks in the wall.
"Look!" He cried excitedly, "I think we might be able to move these rocks for an exit!" He squatted down and let Tifa down from his back and quickly dug at the wall of reasonably small rocks. The bright warm sunlight gradually bathed Tifa who was struggling to stand while holding onto the walls for support.
When the hole was big enough for them to pass through, the sight of a vast green field greeted the two weary explorers. While not exactly picturesque due to the ensuing war, Tidus felt that it was probably one of the most beautiful sceneries he has ever seen. Supporting Tifa out of the cave, the two collapsed on the green grass.
"I'm so glad we made it out." Tifa said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," Tidus idly replied as he stretched himself on the natural green carpet before finally placing his hands behind his head and closing his weary eyes.
"You know Tidus…" Tifa began, his closed eyes making him oblivious to the bizarre purple gleam flashing in Tifa's normally red eyes. "I am really grateful to you carrying me out of that dreadful cave…" she continued as she inched closer to Tidus, her voice gradually becoming softer. "I'd like to give you my token of appreciation…" she whispered seductively, her face barely inches away from Tidus's.
A chill went down Tidus's spine the moment he heard Tifa's voice so close to his face and quickly opened his eyes to find Tifa's lips hovering dangerously close above his. Startled, he rolled away and summoned his sword.
"Who are you!?" He demanded. "You… You're not Tifa!"
Chuckling, the beast in Tifa Lockhart's skin slowly got up. She turned to stare at Tidus with eyes that glinted with the presence of evil before abruptly sending shards of ice flying at him. Tidus dodged the incoming attack effortlessly. But Tifa had anticipated that. After all, Tidus was a skilled dodger. As Tidus spun in the air dodging the Blizzard attack, Tifa had closed in on him and the moment he landed back on the ground, she had sent her flurry of kicks and punches at him. Tidus struggled to block the unforeseen attack, barely managing to block them all until a punch landed on his arm.
Tidus stared in bewilderment at his arm. It was no normal punch. The punch had left his arm frozen with shards of ice covering the affected area. Fortunately, that was not his sword arm, allowing him to continue blocking Tifa's subsequent attacks, albeit with great difficulty as the frozen arm was beginning to hurt him. It was a burning sensation, as though his arm was placed in contact with dry ice.
Wearied, Tidus's blocks were gradually weakening and Tifa managed to land another one of those deadly blows on his right leg, causing the same burning pain to seep through that leg. Pleased, Tifa jumped back and smiled mockingly at him. "It would've hurt less if you would just follow my orders." She crooned dangerously.
"Like hell I will!" Tidus bellowed adamantly, trying to keep the pain out of his facial expressions.
"How unfortunate…" Tifa replied, her face contorting into an ugly smile. Tidus had never seen such a horrible expression, much less from Tifa Lockhart. She began chanting what seemed to be a spell. The same purple light that glimmered earlier reappeared at her fingertips.
Ugh! So I was right after all. There's no way I could escape that. Tidus though vehemently. He thought of Yuna and was silently thankful that it was not her who had to face this monstrous Tifa.
"Say your last goodbyes, Tidus." Tifa told him, or rather, announced his doom to him. He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the same blast. Through his closed eyelids, he could feel the ball of light drawing nearer and nearer…
Then he felt unexpected swishing right in front of him and he could feel a wall forming between him and the ball of light. A split second later, the blast was heard blowing off in the distance. He opened one eye warily to find a blue cape swishing in his face.
"Firion!" He cried, his voice brimming with gratefulness. Firion had apparently employed his Shield Bash skill to block Tidus from the attack and sent the blast in another direction.
"Are you alright Tidus? What happened?" Firion asked anxiously.
"She…" Tidus began, pointing at Tifa.
"Tsk!" Tifa snapped impatiently before an ominous purple light engulfed her, and she was gone. She knew that it was unwise to challenge two Warriors of Cosmos at the same time… even with a surrogate body.
"Who… is she?" Firion asked apprehensively.
"Wish I knew…" Tidus replied savagely, the pain throbbing incessantly in his arm and leg. When I find out who's behind this, that person's gonna pay. He thought before finally collapsing again on the ground.