September 13, 2010 AD (Sunday - Evening) Cloudy
Chris awakes to find himself lying on a submerged structure, all alone.
"I'm... alive..." He grunted in pain from his aching body. "Oh man... what hit me?" Holding his head. "Where... am I?" He examined the surroundings and sees the area was all submerged in water. "Man, I should of practice swimming when I had the chance..." He then dove into the water and began to swim, trying his best to stay afloat. He sees some stairs. "All... most... there..." He said in-between breaths. He makes it to shore all tired out as he spits out the salt water from his mouth. Then he lied down to rest.
After he calm down a bit and aches began to subside a little bit. "Alright... First thing is that I need to know where I am." He rolls on his stomach to push himself up. He looks to notice a floating sphere near some torn down structure. "Is that..?" He stands and wobbles his way to the sphere as he placed his hand to touch it. The moment he did, his body filled up with energy and all his aches and wounds vanished. "I'm all better now!"
He looks down at his clothing. "My outfit is like... a mage. But it looks more waterproof." Before looking at his new weapon. "The Dawn of Chaos? Didn't I draw you? Never knew you were real." He swung the weapon to check it's flexibility. "Go thing I worked on my swordplay... How can I put it aw-- Oh!" The moment he send that his weapon turned into water and sank into his left hand. "Nice!"
Chris found a spell book in this pocket to see what he can use. "Oh! Good spells!" His active spells are Arcane Intellect, the Five Elemental Bolts, Earth Spike, Stone Curse, Frost Armor, Napalm Beat, Arcane Missile and Conjured Food and Drink. His passive skills were, Increase Mind Recovery, Staff Mastery, Wand Mastery and Weapon Mastery. He also had a set of abilities ready to use, Dodge Roll, Guard and Mermaid Kick.
He examined the building over the distance. "That's Baaj Temple. So... I'm in Spira." Chris sees the fallen structure that stretches over the water like a bridge and finds a figure walking across. Chris notice who it was by his suit. "Tidus!?" Chris follows him across the bridge up to the middle of it. Chris sees Tidus stop as he looks into the water and sees something moving in the water. Suddenly a tremor was felt which started to make the bridge around Tidus's position crack. Chris caught wind to this. "WATCH OUT!" Tidus heard Chris cry, but another tremor caused the bridge to collapse and send Tidus down into the water. Chris hurried to grab him but missed his hand by a inch. Another tremor was felt which caused Chris to fall in with parts of the bridge as well. Chris struggled in the water. I can't breath! But realized that he was alright. I CAN breath! He emerged at the surface as did Tidus.
"You okay?!" Chris asked.
"I'm okay, just startled." Tidus replied. "But who are you?"
"I'm Chris, but that's not important right now. We need to get back to land." Tidus agreed with Chris's logic. But soon they got ambushed by three fish-like monsters, Sahagin. Since Tidus is a blitzball player, he fair well. Chris, on the other hand, never fought underwater before. One of the three chased Chris while Tidus was busy with the other two. The commotion of the fight, woke up a giant fish fiend, Geosgaeno, that was sleeping. Chris saw this and swam out of the way. The Sahagin that was chasing Chris was devoured by the bigger one. Tidus dispatched the two before seeing it. Chris and Tidus teamed up on Geosgaeno, but where outmatched by it and decided to retreat. Tidus distracts the fiend while Chris finds an exit. He sees a window and swims to it. As he was doing that Tidus made the fiend hit a wall at full speed, causing some of the rubble to fall on it and bury it for a bit.
"HEY, TIDUS! OVER HERE!" Chris shouted before he swam inside. Tidus followed Chris with the fiend, who recovered from being KO'ed, follows close behind. Tidus manages to escape certain death. Tidus was swimming so fast he knocked Chris aside and slid to a wall. The window got blocked by rubble. The two laid on the staircase to catch their breath.
"Ok... Let's not do that again." Chris said.
"Agree." Tidus nodded. The two regain the composure and continued through the hallway until they reached a big circular room. Most of the room has collapsed and has some water running through the rubble, similar to those metal fountains you see in stores. All the water and night atmosphere made the room very cold. And the water on their clothing made it even colder.
"C-c-cold!" Tidus said, shivering.
"Le-let's find s-someth-thing to start a fi-fi-fire!" Chris suggested as Tidus nodded. The two split up for a tinder and something that can catch fire quick. There was some charcoal in the center of the floor. Tidus found a flint in one of the rooms, while Chris found a withered bouquet in the hallway on the other side of the room. Chris placed the bouquet around the charcoal while Tidus began to lit it with the flint. It didn't take long for the fire to start. The two began to feel the heat filling the room. Chris sat close to warm up while Tidus laid down. Chris took this time to recap on what happen thus far.
"Man, so much happened." Chris said, he thought of the time he played Final Fantasy X and knows what to expect, but will he be able to fight Sin is the question. He remembers the Persona he received from the Zohar, Chaos. Before Chris can figure what to do with his Persona, he heard a sound from the other side of the room. He couldn't find anything, but kept his guard up by drawing his weapon. "I know you're there..." He whispered to himself.
"He-hey, Chris!" Tidus shouted, while looking at the fire. "The fire's going out."
"Tidus, I think we have company!" Chris warned, but was ignored.
"I'll get more wood!" Tidus hurried off but stopped when he saw it. A fiend clinging to the balcony, Klikk. The fiend moved along the wall before jumping of the wall and landing on the campfire. Tidus engaged with it while Chris figures how to fight it using magic.
Tap into your mana pool!
"That voice."
'Concentrate! Focus on igniting your opponent!' Chris focused on tapping into his mana pool. He imaged a flame growing bigger and more fierce until the whole image was covered by the flame. He became surrounded by a red aura and his eyes glow red as he open them. Now call it out!
"Fire Bolt!" With the wave of his hand as a flaming arrow came out of it and hit the fiend's blindspot. It was overwhelmed by the damage and fell over. Chris panted a bit in amazement. "It worked and looks like it hurt!"
"That was great!" Tidus was amazed as well. Chris then took the opportunity to cast another Fire Bolt spell before the fiend could got up in hopes of making it dizzy. Another flaming arrow came down and hit the fiend, dizzying it. The two then ganged up for an all-out assault on the fiend. It was still dizzied. Tidus took this time to use Spiral Slash for major damage, while Chris focus on cast some more fire bolt spells seeing how it was the most effective.
The battle raged on until a door was blast opened by an explosion. Chris was almost hit by one of the doors as it flew by. The two saw a bunch of people emerge from the smoke. The one in front was a young girl came to assist on the fight against Klikk.
Tidus keep the fiend at bay, while the girl readied with a grenade. Chris then cast a different spell, this time he was surrounded by a light brown aura. He ran up behind the fiend before placing his hand on it's tail. "Stone Curse!" Chris latched a curse on the fiend, before being whacked to a stone pillar. The fiend's slowly body began to turn into stone, hindering it's movement, before fully turning to stone. The fiend's body began to slowly break apart and dissolve into grains of dust. The pain from hitting the pillar left Chris motionless for a moment, trying to recover, but he could hear what was going on...
"Whew! That was close." Hearing Tidus' voice. "Hey, lemme go!"
"Fryd ec drec? (What is this?)" One of the Al Bhed said. Chris was a little rusty with his Al Bhed.
"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca! Oac! Ed ec cu! (A fiend! In human disguise! Yes! It is so!)" Another said.
"Fa gemm ed? (We kill it?)" The third one said.
"Fyed? Fryd ev ed ec risyh? (Wait? What if it is human?)" The girl's voice was heard.
"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr. (They are the same in death.)"
"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic. (I forbid it! We bring it with us.)"
All Chris heard was a punch and a body dropping to the floor. A few moments past as Chris heard the two walking away with Tidus. He took the time to slowly got back up and checked his back to make sure it's not broken. He heads through the busted doorway and follow the way until it lead outside to the Al Bhed Ship, where he sees Tidus being taken. There was some cargo that haven't been stored yet on the bridge. Chris sneak into one of the crates, it was steel and watertight. Shortly after, Chris felt the crate moving as it was being lift up by the crane. Chris stood still as best as he could as the crane slowly lowered the crate before releasing it.
Man, how does Solid Snake get so use to this? Chris thought to himself.
"Dea tufh dra lenku yht gaab tydlr uh dra lybdeja. (Tie down the cargo and keep watch on the captive.)" One of the Al Bhed said. The two Al Bhed began to do as they were told as they placed a tarp over the cargo. Chris began to feel a sensation on his nose as the dust began to kick up.
Oh no! Not now! Chris thought, trying to keep himself from sneezing. He held his nose to prevent it, but he was gonna sneeze anyway. Just as the Al-Bhen where done, Chris sneezed.
"Fryd fyc dryd? (What was that?)" An Al Bhed said, hearing the sneeze.
Great! I'm done for! Chris thought as chills when down his spine. He heard the Al Bhed approaching close as his heartbeat steadily increases. The crate began to open up from it's side slowly. It fully opened as Chris saw the Al Bhed and the Al Bhed saw Chris. Chris was paralyzed with fear.
"Y cdufyfyo!? (A stowaway!?)" One of them said.
"H-h-hi, guys... What's up...?" Chris barely said. After a few minutes, he was hog-tied by the Al Bhed and placed near Tidus. Chris was a few moments away from death.
"Fa vuiht drec cdufyfyo retehk ed dra lenku. Fryd tu oui fyhd du tu? (We found this stowaway hiding in the cargo. What do you want to do?)" One of the Al Bhed said.
"Gemm ed, uv luinca! (Kill it, of course!)" An Al Bhed with a Mohawk said. Chris didn't like the sound of that as he got goosebumps.
"Cdub! (Stop!)" Another voice was heard. It was the girl. "Oui'mm hud gemm res, aedran! (You'll not kill him, either!)"
"Aedran? (Either?)" The Mohawk Al Bhed asked. "Veha. (Fine.)" The girl returned into the ship. "Gaab tydlr uh res yht dra udran. (Keep watch on him and the other.)" The Mohawk Al Bhed went back in the ship leaving two on-guard. Chris gave a hearty sigh of relief as his life was spared. He laid back and looked up into the sky, wondering was will happen next.
"Man, there goes a few years of my lifespan." Chris said. His body began to feel the goosebumps all over his body from the atmosphere. "It's cold..." After a few moments of silence, Chris looked towards Tidus who was still out. He saw a bit of movement as Tidus began to wake up. He slowly gets up and approaches the guards. They noticed him as they turned.
"Ced, lybdeja! (Sit, captive!)" One guard said, elbowing Tidus. Tidus got knocked back but held onto the railing to regain his balance.
"Hey, that hurts!" Tidus said, holding the spot that hurt.
"Hu sujehk, rayn? (No moving, hear?)" The other said, pointing his weapon at Tidus.
"Whoa... Okay." Right there, the door hatch opens and the girl and the Mohawk Al Bhed came out.
"Caynlr res! (Search him!)" The Mohawk Al Bhed said. The girl when beside Tidus. The Mohawk Al Bhed began to do some form of body language. Chris almost laughed at this.
"Right. Whatever." Tidus couldn't make out what the Mohawk Al Bhed wanted.
"Tu oui hud cbayg? (Do you not speak?)" He said, the Mohawk Al Bhed showed Tidus a pair of goggles.
"I said I don't understand!"
"Ehcumahla! (Insolence!)" An Al Bhed pointed his weapon to Tidus.
"Fyed! (Wait!)" The girl ordered. "He said you can stay if you make yourself useful." This surprised Tidus greatly.
"You... You understand me?" One of the Al Bhed struck Tidus. "All right, I'll work!" Chris saw this as a chance.
"Umm... Excuse me? May I offer my services as well!" Chris said.
"Oh, sorry..." The girl remembered. "Ihdea res! (Untie him!)" She ordered one of the guards. Chris was freed as he can stood up.
"So what's the mission?" Chris asked, despite the fact he already knew what it is.
"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us." She replied. "It's not active now, but there should be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it...and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!"
"Doesn't sound to hard. I can get use to fighting underwater." Chris said.
"Okay! Let's get to work!"
"Roger!"
---
The trio dove into the water and swam down to the Underwater Ruins following a long chain with lead the way to the site. Once inside, turned on the power in the ruins, but this caused an squid field, Tros, to appear. After defeating Tros, the trio swam out of the ruins and followed the light to the sunken airship. Later on the Al Bhed ship...
---
"Fa vuiht dra airship! (We found the airship!)" An Al Bhed said.
"Dra naluntc fana nekrd. (The records were right.)" Another said. Chris and Tidus got back on the ship.
"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib? (Now, how to drag it up?)" Tidus follows the Al Bheds in but gets stopped by one of them. "Oui, uidceta! (You, outside!)"
"Hey. I helped out, didn't I?" Tidus said as the door hatch shuts. Chris laughs at this.
"They sure know hospitality, don't they?" Chris chuckled.
"More like hostility." Tidus grunted. "You don't seem like you're from around here?"
"Nice observation!" Chris said. "You're right, though. I'm from a planet called Earth."
"Earth?" Tidus asked.
"My home. It's not bad, but there are somethings I don't care about. Somethings happened and it caused me and my friends to leave it."
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me your story." Chris and Tidus began to talk about what happened between them. After talking a few...
"Okay, so let me get this straight. This scientist found this artifact called the Zohar." Chris nodded. "And it played a melody called the Song of Nephilim." Chris nodded. "Which causes all inhabitants to go berserk and fight amongst each other." Chris nodded. "And those unworthy turn into a ghostly being called 'Ghost-is'."
"Gnosis." Chris corrected.
"Gnosis. And if one touches you long enough, you'll be turned into salt or become one of them." Chris nodded. "And you've found a gemstone called the Chaos Emerald." Chris nodded. "Which can do a great number of things." Chris nodded. "And you used it to reach the Zohar." Chris nodded. "But getting there, you get ambushed by the Gnosis." Chris nodded. "During the fight, you obtained this power called Persona." Chris nodded. "Which is an alter-ego of your personality." Chris nodded. "Which you used to defeat the Gnosis." Chris nodded. "Then you manage to evade death and somehow ended up in those ruins." Chris nodded. "That makes comple-- THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL!!!" Tidus yelled, flipping a table that wasn't there.
"Oh, and I suppose getting swallowed by a giant sphere-like being while hanging from a destroyed highway, doesn't make sense either?" Chris countered.
"Then again, nothing makes sense as far as I know." Tidus said.
"For any rate, we're alive." Chris said. "That all that matters for now."
"I'll starve to death before anything else." Tidus said, elbow standing on the ship's deck. The door hatched open up as the girl came out with two trays of food. She kicked Tidus in the arm to get his attention as she placed the food down. "Whoa! Right on!" Tidus began to scarf the food.
"Dude, you're gonna choke!" Chris warned, but was ignored as Tidus did began to choke. The girl gave Tidus a canteen of water and Tidus immediately drank the water, he stopped choking and the food went into his body as he sighs with relief. Chris continued eating his meal.
"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" The girl said. Tidus gets up to stretch. "Hey!"
"Hello there. What is your name?"
"Rikku."
Tidus starts to shake both of Rikku's hands rapidly. "Whoa! You really do understand!" Tidus starts to laugh before realizing... "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend."
"Uh... 'we'?"
"'Oui' means 'you'." Chris stated, slowly finishing his meal.
"Who are you guys, anyway?"
"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell? Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?"
"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is."
"Where are you from?"
"Zanarkand. I'm a Blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Um, you guys hit me."
"Oh, right... Do you remember anything before that?" During Tidus' conversation with Rikku, Chris thought about keeping of what happen on Earth a secret, he didn't want to upset someone, as he finishes off his meal.
"Did I say something funny?" Tidus asked Rikku, who was very quiet.
"You were near Sin." Rikku replied.
"Mmm-hmm."
"Don't worry, you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?"
"You mean I'm sick?"
"Because of Sin's toxin, yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays Blitzball there."
"Huh? What you do mean a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!" Chris get up.
"You said... You play Blitzball?"
"Uh-huh."
"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize."
"Luca?"
"It's a city that's ways off from here. There's a Blitzball stadium and everything." Chris stated.
"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise! You'd rather stay here? Okay, I'll go tell the others. Wait here. Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone."
"Upset who?" Tidus asked but Rikku already left.
"She means watch what you say." Chris interject. "And you're not sick because of Sin's Toxin. This is your first step into another world, same for me."
"But if what Rikku said was true..."
"I don't know the full story of it myself."
"But I thought Sin just took me to some faraway place that I can return in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future?! No way!"
Tidus got mad and kicks the cargo.
"Calm down!" Chris suggested. Suddenly there was vibrations coming from the water rock the whole ship. Chris held on to the cargo while Tidus tumbled to the railing, nearly falling of the ship. Two of the Al Bheds came out, tumbling as well.
"Sin!" An Al Bhed said.
"Sin ec lusa! (Sin is come!)" Another Al Bhed said.
"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic! (Under us! Under us!)" A third Al Bhed said.
A huge tidal wave emerges from the ocean and rammed the ship causing Tidus to be sweep away by the currents as it wash the deck. Chris and the Al Bhed held on as much as they could.
"Tidus!" Was all Chris could say, as he moved to the railings only to watch Tidus sinking into the whirlpool before his eyes. After a few moments, the waters calm down again.
"Ajanouha ymnekrd? (Everyone alright?)" The Mohawk Al Bhed said. Chris continued looking onward, hoping that Tidus will be fine.
"Sin kud res. (Sin got him.)" An Al Bhed said.
"You okay?" Rikku asked Chris.
"Little water-logged, but fine." Chris replied, still wondering about Tidus.
"Drana'c hu fyo ra luimt ryja minjejat. (There's no way he could have survived.)" Another Al Bhed said.
"Drana's ymfyoc y cmes lryhla ra luimt, druikr. (There's always a slim chance he could, though.)" The Mohawk Al Bhed stated, before walking back into the ship. The other Al Bhed followed him in.
"Worried about him?" Rikku asked.
"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll be alright, though. We'll meet up again sometime soon." Chris reassured himself. "I've played this game so many times, I should know."
"Played this game?" Rikku asked not sure what he meant by that.
"Ahhhh... Nevermind! I'm just spewing random crap!" Chris realized what he said and tried to make up an excuse for it.
"Well, we'll be heading for home pretty soon so sit tight." Rikku said before entering the ship herself. Chris decided to lie down near the cargo. He felt the ship moving to it's destination: Home.