September 14, 2010 AD (Tuesday - 12:04) Clear
The sun was shining bright as the Al Bhed ship began to dock near Bikanel Island. Chris looks to see numbers of Al Bhed working. He notice one of them was bald, who was awaiting their arrival. Rikku emerged from the ship.
"Bikanel Island!" Rikku said.
"That's a lot Al Bhed in one place!" Chris said, impressed by the sight. Chris notice a much bigger ship.
"Whoa! What's that?" Chris asked. Pointing to the big ship.
"That ship's for salvaging much bigger prizes the ocean has!" Rikku replied. "We'll be using it for the airship!"
"Think they'll suspect me as some kind of Yev-whatever?"
"Well, you don't appear to be with Yevon. Don't worry, I'll vouch for you." The ship safely docked on the harbor. The Mohawk and two other Al Bhed exit the ship and walked onto the harbor. Rikku and Chris followed them.
"Man, It's hot. How can you survive with all that gear on?" Chris said, not use to being in a desert.
"You get use to it." Rikku admitted. "Bubc! (Pops!)" She called to the old man.
"Rikku! Oui'ja syta ed pylg! (Rikku! You've made it back!)" The old man replied. "Ruf tet ed ku? Yhodrehk? (How did it go? Anything?)"
"Dra naluntc fana nekrd! Dra airship ec hayn Baaj Temple! (The records were right! The airship is near Baaj Temple!)"
"Aqlammald! Fa'mm bnabyna nekrd yfyo vun dusunnuf! Rayt Home vun cusacrehk du ayd! (Excellect! We'll prepare right away for tomorrow! Head Home for something to eat!)"
"Ur, emsucd vunkud. (Oh, almost forgot.)" Rikku turned and pointed at Chris. Rikku explained what happened to her father. As Chris watched Rikku talk with her dad, he began to feel an awkward presence from the other Al Bhed as they talked about him. He didn't understand what they were saying, but he didn't like it.
"Frana't ra lusa vnus? (Where'd he come from?)"
"Drehg ra'c y Yevon cbo? (Think he's a Yevon spy?)"
"Hu, ra's duu ouihk. (No, he's too young.)" Chris felt a wave of uncomfortably from them.
"Rikku, oui'na duu lynamacc! (Rikku, you're too careless!)" the mohack one said.
"Crid ib! Fa'na hud fiends hun monsters! (Shut up! We're not fiends nor monsters!)" The old man shouted to the Mohawk.
"Pid vydran! (But father!)"
"Hu suna dyng uv drec! Ruf yna fa eho paddan dryh Yevon un dra paycdc dryd bnao uh dra mejehk?! (No more talk of this! How are we any better than Yevon or the beasts that prey on the living?!)" The old man then walked over to Chris looked back at him.
"Umm... Hi... How's it going?" Chris said, nervously. The old man look as his face turned from serious to a smile.
"Heh-heh-heh!" The old man laughed, placing a arm over Chris's shoulder. "You don't have to be so nervous! You've came a long ways! You must be tired! Rikku shall take you Home for something to eat! I'll get you a room to stay in! Chris, right? I'm called Cid."
"Thanks, sir. And nice to meet you." Chris replied.
"Same here. Now that's settled..." Cid said, before looking to the Al Bhed. "Fryd yna oui ynn cdyhtehk ynuiht vun!? Kad pylg du fung! (What are you all standing around for!? Get back to work!)" The sudden outburst cause some of the Al Bhed to get shocked and confused, causing some to knock into each other. Chris and Rikku laughed at this while Cid sighed.
"Alright, follow me, we'll go by Hover." Rikku pointed at one of the Hovers. "Don't worry, I'll drive!" Chris could feel the sweat rolling down his neck when her heard that, it wasn't to reassuring. He was right as Rikku started by riding over a sand dome into the air, the rest of the ride was pleasant.
---
Chris and Rikku made their way to Home as no fiends could attack them along the way. Chris looked at the mechanical building, it wasn't being invaded by Guado or anything yet so Chris was able to witness it in all its glory.
"Any Final Fantasy fan would give an arm and a leg just to stand here." Chris said to himself. He followed Rikku into the building, once inside he never saw so much Al Bhed in one place. "Wow, lot of people here!" Rikku looked at Chris all confused. "What?"
"You said 'people'?" Rikku asked.
"Yeah, all these people in one place." Chris replied "Why?"
"That the first time a non-Al Bhed ever called us 'people'." Rikku stated. "Makes us feel the same."
"Well, to each his own."
"Fair enough. First off, lets get something to eat, the mess hall's this way." Rikku said as she walked through the corridors with Chris on tow. He saw plenty of machina helping with some tasks. Some were on patrol and some were building stuff. In the mess hall, machina were hear too. These were programmed to clean up plates and the table. There was few Machina near the stoves and one distictive looking one with a chef's hat, these where programmed to cook the food. The one with the chef's hat waved at Rikku as she got close to the counter.
"Rikku! (Rikku!)" The chef's Machina said. This one was also programmed to speak but it could only speak Al Bhed.
"E's pylg! (I'm back!)"
"Ruf't ed ku? (How'd it go?)"
"Fa'ja vuiht dra airship! (We've found the airship!)"
"Aqlammald! (Excellect!)" Rikku explained what happen at the Baaj Temple and the site. Chris couldn't follow so he turned to see some of the Al Bhed finish their meals before turning back to Rikku as she finishes her story.
"Dryhg oui vun ouin ramb! (Thank you for your help!)" The chef said. Chris couldn't replied because of his rusty Al Bhed.
"He said, 'Thank you.'" Rikku replied.
"Oh, don't mention it!" Chris said, scratching the back of his head. Rikku handed him a menu.
"Pick what you want and the Machina will make it." Rikku said. Chris looked at the menu but couldn't understand it as it was in Al Bhed.
"Ummm... Can't read it." Chris said, handing the menu back to Rikku. "I'll just have whatever I had on the boat."
"You mean curry? Sure! You go ahead and sit down. This won't take long." Rikku said before turning to chef.
"Okay." Chris said. 'Oh, so that WAS curry...' He sat down at one of the tables and waited for the food to be served. He took this time to observe the Al Bhed. They were speaking Al Bhed, but he didn't mind. He sees Rikku returning with plates of food.
"Rikku!" A voice was heard calling for Rikku, it was Cid. We wanted to talk to her for a moment.
"I'll be right back. You can go ahead and eat." Rikku head over to her father who began discussing somethings with her. Chris stated with his meal until Rikku walked back.
"What's wrong?" Chris asked swallowing his food.
"We're just talking about the room you'll be staying in. There's only one available and you'll have to share it with someone else and..." Rikku replied.
"And?"
"The person isn't very friendly to most of the Al Bhed here except for me and my dad."
"Well, any alternatives?"
"It's the only room with an extra bed. The man's a blacksmith for hire but doesn't speak Al Bhed and he doesn't like that his works is being used for machinery. They say he's the best blacksmith in Spira. He originally was going to be a guardian, but the temples rejected him."
"But why?"
"I tried to ask but all I got was a grunt."
"Sounds like he had a hard time."
"We'll lets finish our meal and I'll take you to him."
After they finished their meals, Chris followed Rikku to a room at the far end of the corridor. It's one of the area's Chris never seen in the game itself.
"Here we are." Rikku said as she knocked on the door. "Alsmith, it's Rikku!"
"One second." A voice was heard from within the room. The door open to reveal a muscular man who looks 18. He wear a white shirt and blue trousers. "What is it? More materal to forge to waste on ammo?" He sounded like Chris, but a bit more blunt.
"Uhh... no." Rikku replied. "We found someone at the Baaj Temple and he..."
"I know, he needs a place to stay." He finished what Rikku was going to say. "Well, where is he?"
"Right here. His name's Chris. Chris, this is Alsmith. He's called that is because he can create all type of weapons and armor." Rikku stated, but was ignored for a split second as Chris and Alsmith seem like they know each other somehow. "Hello?" Rikku asked, this brought the two back to their senses for a bit.
"He can say as long as can keep his hands of my furnace and my equipment." Alsmith said before walking back into the room.
"Well, I'll see you later." Rikku said. "We'll be needing your help salvaging the ship."
"You sure? I won't wanna get in your way." Chris said.
"You'll be with the Al Bhed to watch for any fiends that may attack us." Rikku said. "Later." Rikku walks of as Chris enters the room. It wasn't a bad place, not dusty or dirty, but hot due to the furnace. From where Chris was standing to his left there was a bathroom door and a bed to the left of it, followed by a set of pipes that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, next to that was another bed with some drawers at the end, following that was the furnace and an anvil. Alsmith was sitting in front of it.
"Take the bed near the bathroom. The other one's mine." Alsmith said without turning. Chris walked over and sat down on the bed.
"You're a blacksmith of sorts, right?" Chris asked.
"Of sorts? Kid, I'm the best one on this rock they call a planet. My skills are renown throughout Spira." Alsmith stated. "But what about you? What's a mage like you doing on a backwater island like this?" He takes a drink from his canteen.
"Well, I won't tell anyone from this world but..."
"This world? You're not from this world?"
"Yes, my world's called Earth. Some things happen and we had to leave it."
"We?"
"Me and my friends. Wait a minute, they weren't with me when I came here. I hope their alright."
"If you survived the trip here, your friends would, too. Don't whine over it."
"I'm not whining, I quit that a long time ago." Still though, if their all together it's alright. Carmen can hold his own, Evan, I don't know how well he can fair, and Angela, I hope she's safe. "Anyway, I heard that you wanted to be come a guardian but got refused. Why's that?"
"It's because I once sold my wares to an Al Bhed once. The instant I did, I was banned from the temples and it was also the fact I don't like their 'precious' teachings. They haven't helped us 1000 years ago and they won't help us now."
"What did you do?"
"I continued selling armor and weapons in Luca to anyone wanting to hunt fiends. I don't sell weapons to young kids, however."
"How long have you done this?"
"I was fascinated with blacksmith as a young boy and made my first weapon, a mace, when I was only 8."
"8 years old! That's amazing!"
"I also have a special dream I wanna complete. I wanna create the most powerful sword in the universe, but the materials I need are almost impossible to find. May even take a lifetime to complete."
"What's it called?"
"I haven't named it yet." Alsmith realizes what he was saying. "What's with me? I'm bearing my soul and sharing my dreams with someone I barely met. Forget about it, kid." Chris let out a yawn. "Tired, kid?"
"Haven't slept since I got here."
"Take a nap, then. I'll tell Rikku or Cid that you're resting." And with that Chris removed his robe, lied down on the bed and slowly drifted of to sleep.
-----
In his sleep, Chris was falling, head first, down an dark abyss for miles and began to see streams of blue liquid, they were thin at first, but got thicker as he continue his descend until the blue streams surrounded him and he found himself within it. He sees a bit of a ripple in the streams in front of him. For some reason, it sounded like a young lady's voice.
"Chris... top... her... Chris... topher?"
"Who's calling me?"
"It looks like... we've finally met... Christopher... Christopher... a word... to define an individual... to distinguish between many... and it's meaning... the Bearer... of Christ..."
"Okay, you know me. But who OR what are you?"
"I am the one... who made you... But I'm not worth... mentioning yet... But do you know you... know yourself...?"
"I am Christopher Michael Cifelli."
"I don't mean your given name or family name... I mean... your true self."
"My true self..."
-----
Same Day (14:35) - Clear
Chris wakes up finding himself a bit groggy and doused in sweat. He doesn't know if it was from the furance or the dream he had. Was it a dream, or wasn't it?
As he stood up, he heard Alsmith and Cid's voice.
"We'll be leaving in a bit." Cid said. "Tell him for me."
"I will." Alsmith replied, as he saw Chris sitting up when Cid left. "You're up, kid. They'll be leaving soon."
"How long was I asleep for?" Chris asked.
"Only an hour or so. You're all sweaty."
"And groggy... Got a shower here?"
"In the bathroom, I'll be taking one after you... Can you flush for me?"
"Why?"
"You'll find out..." Chris got up and entered the bathroom as a putrid smell from the toilet hit him.
"Ewww, PU! What did you eat?" Chris said, holding his nose from the smell.
"Hey, I had tacos for lunch!" Alsmith stated.
"That's more than tacos... Whoo!" Chris replied as he flushed the toilet. Chris forget something as he look backed out. "Got a spare change of clothing."
"Nothing for your class."
"Oh well... At least these are water resistant." Chris said taking of his shoes, hopped into the shower and turned the water on. "Huh?" Chris became puzzled as he couldn't feel the cold water touch his body and was absorbed into his skin and clothing, healing any wounds and fixing any rips he had. "What's happening to me?" After being in the shower for 10 minutes or so, Chris got out and saw how young he looked in the mirror by his face, the lack of facial hairs, height and body mass. "I've definitely regressed back to my teens."
"If you're done admiring yourself, I like to take my shower now." Alsmith said, bluntly. Chris, who didn't have to dry himself or his clothing as they were already dry, walked out of the bathroom as Alsmith walked in. "Head to the main entrance. Rikku should be waiting there." With that, Chris put his robe back on, left the room and continued down the hallway to the main entrance. He couldn't see Rikku at all and thought that she was outside. As Chris exited Home, he saw another being emerged from the outside.
"Oh, you're up! Sleep well?" The being asked, which was Rikku.
"I was a little groggy and sweaty, but I'm alright now." Chris replied.
"We'll be heading soon. Got your stuff?"
"I'm all set."
"Where's your weapon?"
"It's in a safe place." Chris didn't wanna give away how his weapon can go into his body as he didn't understand it himself.
"Come with me. I'll take you to the docks." Chris followed Rikku over to one of the Hovers. Chris put on his goggles he received and got in.
"Hold on tight!" Rikku said as she started the Hover. The two road off over the domes they've crossed before and made their way to the docks. Like before, none of the fiends were fast enough to catch them. During the ride...
"How do you like it here so far?"
"It's an alright place so far. Hard to believe that a world that revolves around death has lively people."
"Things weren't always like this. It basically started 1000 years ago, when Bevelle and Zanarkand were constantly at war with each other. This is known now as the Machina War."
"The Machina War?" Chris said.
"I don't know what truly happened or how it started, but Sin emerged in between the fighting and began to destroy Zanarkand into nothing but ruins, this cause all of Spira to cower in fear until Yunalesca, the first summoner, vanquished Sin. But Sin couldn't be entirely defeated, as for every 10 years Sin is reborn and then new Summoners rise up to defeat Sin again, but each time someone does..." Rikku stopped as it was very painful.
"They die." Chris finished.
"Yes." Rikku nodded. "It's not really explained but when a Summoner first summons the Final Aeon. It completely kills them. Some say that it sucks the life from them."
"What about you guys?"
"Before I was born, Sin attacked our home without warning and scattered us across Spira. But my dad gather us one-by-one and came here to set up our new home, away from Yevon. I know it's against the teaching's to use Machina, but with them, life will be much easier."
"Well, I don't care about Yevon and it's bull crap. This is free will and without it we would all be mindless zombies that must think the same."
"That was most of the Al Bhed think, too! Free will! You aren't one of them."
"Told you. I also don't like how Yevon runs things in Spira, religion is fine and all, and I do get that they aren't trying to repeat past mistakes, but I prefer free will over that."
"Well said. We're almost their soon, the docks are just over that dome." Chris and Rikku made it to the docks and see Cid talking to the Mohawk Al Bhed, who had a concern look on his face.
"What's wrong, Pops?"
"Oh, it Sin. You said you had a encounter with him at the siting, right? Well there could be a chance that he's still there or one of his spawn even."
"The spawn we can handle, but Sin's the problem."
"Won't Sin come back for it's spawn?" Chris joined in.
"Yes, that why we'll need to kill it before Sin returns."
"Well, I'm all set. Got my spells and whatnot."
"You'll be riding on Rikku and Brother's ship. It's going to be a long ride, though."
"See you on the ship." Chris starts walking towards the ship but ran into a man.
"Byntuh sa! (Pardon me!)" The man said. Chris recognized who it was, but decided to keep it low.
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, forgive me." The man replied. "I meant to say 'pardon me' but it came out in Al Bhed. You must be the boy Cid mentioned. I'm Rin. Hela du saad oui! (Nice to meet you!)"
"Nice to meet you, too. Right?"
"Oh? You understand Al Bhed?"
"I'm a little rusty at it, though."
"If you like you can brush up on it if you're going to stay with us. I have a primer containing all the letters of the Al Bhed, translated from English." Rin gave Chris a premium primer.
"Thank you!"
"I will let you go over the fundamentals on your own. Ask Rikku, Cid or me if you need help. Though you might wanna be careful when speaking our language."
"I get the message. Don't worry." With that, Chris headed to the ship and began to read the primer as he waited. He wanted to help out, but he decided that he would only get in the way. His job was to help fight any Sinspawn or fiends that may hinder their progress. Chris would use his magic, but remembered not to use Lightning magic when Rikku's around so Chris will just use Wind magic. After about 30 minutes or so, the ships were ready to sail to their destination. Chris continued to read the primer, while sitting on the deck, working on pronunciations.
-----
Same Day (18:23) Cloudy
The ships slowly approach the site as they came to a halt. Chris looked over the railing and saw that the lights were still active, revealing the sunken airship. Some of the Al Bhed came out of the other ships. Rikku and her crew came out.
"We're here!" Rikku said, before looking at Chris. "Ready?"
"Ajanouha! Pakeh Ubanydeuh! (Everyone! Begin Operation!)" Cid said. With that all the Al Bhed, one after another began to dive into the water. Rikku and her crew dived in but Brother stayed on deck. Chris climbed down the ladder before diving, but left the primer on the deck. Chris began to swim around to patrol for any fiends or Sinspawn. They didn't have too much trouble as some of it were just the fish ones from before. No Sinspawn yet, though. That was until the first hook grappled on the ship was when Chris could feel it through the Ocean depths. A Sinspawn was approaching from the Northeast, moving at rapid speed.
"Fydlr uid! (Watch out!)" Chris shouted. But to no avail, as the Sinspawn rammed into some of the Al Bhed. It looked like a shark by appearance, and it was out for blood. This Sinspawn was completely different from the other Sinspawn Chris saw before. While some of the Al Bhed keep the Sinspawn busy, Chris started to cast a wind spell, "Wind Bolt!" The bolt of wind travels through the seawater, which caused it to be pushed aside. The bolt hit it's mark, but it wasn't weak to it. Chris tried a different spell, "Arcane Missiles!" Three bolts of arcane energy, one after another, shot forth an hit their mark. It didn't do a lot, but more than the Wind Bolt did. Chris tried another spell, "Napalm Beat!" As the Ghost spell hit, the Sinspawn flinched as Pyreflies began to leave it's body. Ghost was it's weakness. With that in mind, Chris continued using Napalm Beat, until much to his surprise, he learned and unleashed a new spell: "Soul Strike!", which send a spirit at the Sinspawn. This dealt the finishing blow as Pyreflies left it's body as it sank to the bottom before disappearing into nothing.
Some of the Al Bhed continued their job as Rikku gave Chris a thumbs up. The big ship began to slowly pull the airship out of it's watery prison and left a giant hole behind. The airship was successfully salvaged by the Al Bhed, but something didn't feel right for Chris as he looks at the giant hole. He saw something emerging from it, which appeared to be tenticles. Chris began to swim away from it as it revealed to be a Giant Kraken.
"MUUG UID! (LOOK OUT!)" Chris yelled. This alerted the other Al Bhed and saw what he was swimming from. Some of them began to shot at the Kraken, it did little damage to it. The Kraken whacked some of the Al Bhed away, Rikku tried an back assault, but it resulted in her capture by one of it's tentacles. Chris tried a spell, but was knocked back to a cliff and was flipped upside down, and caused something in his pocket to fall out. It was the Chaos Emerald, it manage come with him. Very fortunate as he can use Chaos Control, and this will be his first real test. As some of the Al Bhed tried to free Rikku from it's grasp, Chris began to cast spells to weaken the Kraken's tentacle enough for Chris to gain enough power for "Chaos Control!" Chris disappeared and slashed off the tentacle, which freed Rikku. Chris, still in Chaos Control, helped her reach the surface and to her ship. Chaos Control weared off and Chris was pulled down by the Kraken.
"Chris!" was all Rikku said. Brother quickly dived in to help Chris.
Next: Kraken Battle and Home.
Chris' first major battle with the Kraken finally begins with the support of the Al Bhed, returns Home for a well-deserved rest and a new mission.