Tidus broke the surface of the water and swam in place, taking in his surroundings. He was in the middle of a small lake with mountains behind him and an open, grassy plain in front of him. Tidus swam to the edge of the lake and pulled himself out of the water.
He'd searched for an exit to the cave above the water first. There were a few tunnels leading off the cavern where he'd left Squall, but they all got very dark very quickly and Tidus feared he would get lost before finding a way out. Then he'd returned to the pool of water and discovered there was a series of underwater canals below the surface. The canals were dark, but there was luminescent coral and fish that guided his way. Eventually the canal he had chosen opened into the lake, which was lit by moonlight.
Tidus shivered as he got to his feet, the air was crisp and cold against his wet skin. Once his eyes were adjusted to the moonlight, he noticed a cluster of lights in the distance. Too bright and too low to be stars, he thought they must indicate a settlement of some kind. Hopefully a settlement that included a healer. He set off at a quick jog toward the lights.
Yuna watched as Seifer paced the cobblestone walkway, his eyes flashing around the village. Yuna didn't know what to think of Seifer. He spoke sweetly to Rinoa and crassly to everyone else. The others clearly didn't like him, and seemed a bit afraid of him. But he claimed to be able to get back home, leaving the others at his mercy. After his dramatic arrival and declaration that he could get home, Seifer had disappeared for several hours. He'd reappeared a few minutes ago, looking agitated, but not offering any explanation as to where he'd been or when and how he intended to return home.
"I need something," he finally declared. "A sword."
"You're not getting Lionheart!" Zell, who currently had Lionheart strapped to his back, raised his fists defensively.
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Not Lionheart. A different sword. Mas…Masasamoon."
"Masamune?" Yuna asked. "That was Sir Auron's weapon."
For the first time since he'd arrived, Seifer turned his attention to Yuna. She was a bit afraid of what he might say to her, but to her surprise, he smiled, and not unkindly. "Yeah. That's it."
Rikku planted her hands on her hips. "Why do you want Sir Auron's sword?"
Seifer turned toward Rikku, his eyes narrowed. "It's our ticket home."
"What are you going to do with it?" Yuna asked.
Seifer's lip curled in a way that was more snarl than smile. "Hand it over and you'll see." After his earlier smile, Yuna had thought maybe she had somehow been on Seifer's good side, that maybe he would treat her as he did Rinoa. But it looked like she'd quickly fallen out of favor, if she'd ever been there at all.
"He's going to give it away," Zell answered, then took a step toward Seifer. "Gilgamesh. You're bribing Gilgamesh with the promise of rare swords?"
Seifer ignored Zell, continuing to look at Yuna. The intensity in his blue-green eyes was disquieting. "So where's the sword?"
Rikku stepped up beside Yuna and crossed her arms. "Who said you could have it?"
Seifer threw up his hands. "Fine. Keep it. I'm sure hoarding a dead man's weapon is more important than finding your boy." He stalked away.
Rikku looked to Yuna. "We're not gonna give away Auron's sword are we?"
Yuna looked to Quistis, Zell, Irvine, and Selphie in turn. "Will it really help save Tidus?"
"I don't know," Quistis admitted.
"If I'm right, that he's got some deal with Gilgamesh, it probably will work, to get us back home. That's probably how he got here," Zell said. "But I don't know that Gilgamesh can help us find Squall and Tidus."
"If we return to your world, Ellone could speak to Squall again, right? And he could tell her where he is?"
"Possibly."
"Then we should go." Yuna spoke with more confidence than she really felt. She hated to give away her late Guardian's weapon, but Sir Auron would understand. He would want her to, if it would help Tidus. Wouldn't he?
"Yunie…" Rikku clung to Yuna's elbow. "Are you sure about this?"
"Let's think about this for a bit," Quistis said. "We don't want to rush into anything."
Yuna nodded appreciatively. "We'll eat first. Then decide."
The tiny town was set into the hillside perhaps a quarter mile from the lake. Tidus was winded but not exhausted as he slowed to a walk. As he entered the town, the rocky ground was replaced by dark grey bricks. The town was made up of one- and two-story wooden buildings with shingled roofs. Many buildings had lanterns hanging on the outer walls. Since it seemed to be the middle of the night, Tidus was hesitant to just start knocking on doors. Fortunately, he didn't have to.
"Who the heck are you?"
Tidus turned to see a man emerging from the shadow of a building behind him. He was on the short side, with a wiry build. He wore a dark jacket and a bandana that covered most of his hair. He didn't look too likely to be a healer, but he didn't look particularly dangerous either.
"Hey. My name's Tidus. My friend was badly injured; I was hoping to find a healer."
"A healer, huh?" The other regarded Tidus critically. "Where exactly is this friend of yours?"
"In a cave, on the other side of the lake."
"Other side of the lake? There's no cave there."
"Yes, there is. The entrance is underwater."
"Underwater?"
Tidus nodded. "Yeah. I just came from there. Look, my friend's bleeding, I don't think he has much time. Are there any healers around here?"
"What happened?"
Tidus hissed through his teeth. He really didn't have time to explain, especially not if this guy wouldn't be able to help anyway.
"Locke, what's going on?" A girl with green hair and a red dress approached from the opposite direction, her eyes flicking back and forth between Tidus and the other man.
"I was just out for a late night walk and I happened across this guy wandering through town." Locke hurried toward the girl, placing himself between her and Tidus.
"I need to find a healer," Tidus added.
"Are you hurt?" The girl moved quickly toward Tidus, to Locke's clear chagrin. "You're all wet."
"No. It's not me. My friend, he's bleeding."
The girl's eyes widened. "Where is he?"
"Not far. Can you help him?"
"I can try."
"Wait a minute," Locke interrupted. "I'm not sure about this…"
The girl turned to look at Locke. "We have to help."
Locke gave a resigned sigh. "Okay, but we should tell Celes. And…did you say it was underwater?"
Tidus nodded. "It's not too far, if you can swim. Maybe three minutes underwater."
Locke had started walking deeper into the town as Tidus spoke, but stopped and turned toward him. "Three minutes underwater? How did you get here?"
"I swam." Tidus continued walking in the same direction, hoping to hurry things along.
"What kind of relics you got?" Locke looked Tidus up and down as he began walking again. The girl followed.
"What? I don't have any…relics." Whatever those are.
They arrived at the door to a building and went inside. They entered a large open room with an oversize table in the center. There was a single candle burning on the middle of the table, illuminating a young woman with long blonde hair. "Locke, Terra, where have you been?"
"Someone's in trouble, Celes. We have to help him." The green-haired girl—Terra—replied.
Locke knelt in front of a wooden chest set against the far wall. "Where are the underwater breathers?" he asked as he rummaged through the contents. "Ah, here they are." He removed something from the chest.
"Underwater breathers? Why—?" Celes looked strangely at Tidus.
"We'll explain on the way." Locke had four long loops of leather, each with a flat metal plate attached. He handed one to Terra and one to Celes, keeping the other two. Tidus didn't understand how leather and metal could help someone breathe underwater, but if it worked he was all for it. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone was a swimmer. "Alright, lead the way."
Tidus hurried out the door and immediately picked up a jog, hoping the others would be able to keep up.
Author Note: Locke, Terra, and Celes are borrowed from Final Fantasy VI. The FFVI characters and story are somewhat AU here (more so than FFVIII and FFX).