4. Alone (1/1)

chapter three: alonehe was blinded by this immense light."hey! hey!"zanarkand seemed perfectly normal. the buildings were still standing, remaining ever so dignified. it was dark, yes, but the lights were shining

illiantly against the darkness. zanarkand was still zanarkand, from what tidus could confirm, floating above the town in what felt like an eerie reverie. he must have been thousands of feet into the air, his arms flailing out to the side and flapping swiftly, as if he was in thin water. in front of him was a softly glowing, yet angrily roaring fire carved out into the shape of the zanarkand's abes' symbol: the triple-knot, the same symbol he wore around his neck with the silver chain and the same symbol pierced onto his right ear."my . . . old man?" he was surrounded by his home, he was certain of it. he could see the ship where his apartment was. he could even see the stadium from afar. everything was real . . . and yet, not. it didn't make sense, he knew. but the world around him had become languid and surreal. he didn't know what force guided him, but he found himself descending to glowing blow round platform. a young boy, the age of perhaps five or six, stood in the center with yellow shorts on and a blue jacket and a white shirt underneath. "i thought about a lot of things . . . like where i was, what i'd got myself in to. i started to feel light-headed . . . and then sleepy."the world that had flanked his side began to melt into purple swirls around him. "i think i had a dream. a dream of being alone. i wanted someone—anyone, beside me . . . so i didn't have to feel alone anymore."***the clouds gathered in the sky and gave a foreboding, ominous vi

ation. the only light in the desolate place came from the lightning flash behind the veil of the charcoal clouds. the sky looked like it wanted to weep, but it couldn't find the tears to. stranded in the center of nowhere, on the surface of the cloudy water, tidus laid flat against jagged edged rocks with smooth surfaces. he wanted to stay asleep, because if he did, that meant nothing could hurt him. it would mean that he would still be at home, safe in zanarkand, preparing for another blitzball tournament. but the dream ended. his tingling fingers came to life first and then his whole body was resurrected. he lay on his stomach and propped his elbows onto the rocks to position himself more comfortably. he looked up at the spectral and shadowy sky. the heavy murky clouds drifted past him in the vault of the heavens, only to reveal more patches of storm. "anybody there?" he surveyed his surroundings. he knew from his observations—as well as from the solid bottom of his uncertain heart—that there was no one here but him. he was alone. yet still, he hoped that someone else would be here, to find him, to comfort him. he didn't like the loneliness, the absolute silence and stillness."auron!" there was, of course, no reply.he shouted at the strange new world. "heeey!" the sound of his own echo confirmed his solitude.there was a bird perched on the jagged upright end of the rocks he was laying on. upon looking at it, the bird darted away on agile legs and flapped its raven black wings against the matching sky, towards a structure made out of ruins, it appeared. tidus hopped into the water and swam towards the structure of ruins, following the bird, leaving a trail of white ripples behind him, a shocking contrast to the blackness of the water. his feet found solid ground and underneath him, he saw the formation of stairs. he rose from the water and ascended the stone steps. he stopped to gaze at his surroundings before he went on. there seemed to be light here, but the light was dim and dismal. he could see, however, the stone arc he was approaching and the ruins after it. there was no other way. what else could he do but follow the only path there seemed to be for him? tidus swiftly sprinted the stone path, passing by

oken rocks. he made his way to another path with many cracks within it. it stood above the water. he looked down at the water below him. unexpectedly, the stone

idge he had been following split. he was on solid ground, fortunately, and was not perturbed by this at all. but he was, however, curious. he leaned over and gazed at his distorted reflection in the opaque water. his blue eyes swept the water around him that could possibly become his grave. he moved down into the water for a better look.floating upright in the water, tidus grew still when he heard the sound of something tearing through the water. about a foot away from him, a little to his right side, a lime green fish with multiple

ight yellow fins and red streaks bulleted out of the water. where that unusually large fish had landed, another shot out from the water and arced back the way the other fish had come. still, another fish sprang out from the water behind tidus. he gathered up his

eath—a nifty trick he had learned throughout his years as a blitzball player—and he dove headfirst into the murky waters. he sped past the trio of

ightly-colored fish that seemed to be hungry. he came to a stop to face his opponents. there was nowhere to run at the moment. he was going to do what auron had suggested a long time ago: "cut the ones that matter." and now, tidus had a strong belief, a confident one, that these were the ones that mattered. with the sword his fath—jecht, my old man, he corrected himself—had supposedly given him, tidus sliced up two of the three fish, so that one remained fluttering about in the water still. even in the water, tidus could feel the subtle rumblings of an oncoming creature that was much larger, much scarier . . . much stronger. from out of a humongous hole, a massively-scaled fish poked its grotesquely enormous body out of its dwelling. the side of its bulky body rubbed the stones that had piled up next to the hole of its dwelling. the yellow fish was clever. it spun around so quickly that its rear fins almost whipped it in the face, but no matter how clever it was, it was still unable to avoid the four-pointed beaks around the gargantuan round mouth of the hideous larger fish. tidus slid to the side and watched as the larger fish swallowed stretched out towards the yellow fish and clamped down on its slender body. dark blood squirted out of the yellow fish, a distinct mismatch of coloration. but the bigger fish caught a glimpse of an even better meal: tidus. if it had eyes, which tidus was unsure of, they were probably sparkling with the glimmer of a madman. the geosgaeno, the enormous, ugly fish, opened its mouth and tossed away the puny yellow fish. uh-oh, tidus thought before the violent movements caused by the geosgaeno's immeasurable weight fumbled him over in the water. he stood straight again and could only watch as the geosgaeno reared its ugly head. tidus knew that this was another "one" that mattered. the geosgaeno shrieked in the water, sending out waves of sound and water at tidus. he held his sword at his side, poised to strike, ready to take advantage of the pre-emptive situation. it rose up as well and exposed the underside of its lined belly, a weak spot for tidus to pierce. even though he had the upper hand, the geosgaeno still managed to get in a round of hits that weakened tidus's strength greatly. mustering his strength, tidus swam up to the creature to slash its underside. he backed away immediately, not knowing the result. he bowed his head, fatigued and more than ever wanting nothing but a comfortable bed to sleep in. but the geosgaeno would allow him no such thing. it roared at him, snapping him to alertness, and began to pursue him through the water. tidus backed off to the side and the creature

ushed right past him, narrowly missing him. it slammed into a stone wall, causing more of the ruins on the surface to fall apart and drown in the water. the geosgaeno, however, did not lose sight of its meal. it pulled away from the wall and followed tidus with renewed interest. "whoa!"tidus had never known his legs could move so fast, but they had to, in order to keep him alive. he propelled himself forward, his legs pushing the water behind him as the geosgaeno followed closely by. like one of those yellow fish, tidus popped out of the water, emerging for a moment of air and also to weigh the situation at hand. his gaze went from side to side and finally to an opening partially covered in water. relief was hopefully at hand.he gulped oxygen into his lungs and dove headfirst back into the cool, murky water. he swam like a torpedo towards the opening, but it did not take long before the geosgaeno closed the little distance in between them. foolishly, tidus glanced over his shoulder, only to be frightened at the rapid speed of the gargantuan creature only inches away from him. his arms were growing tired, but he forced them to work as he moved closer and closer to the opening. no matter how much closer and closer he got, however, it seemed that the geosgaeno advanced closer to him by that same amount. its large mouth opened wide for him and almost all of his body nearly fitted inside his mouth, one of the geosgaeno's beaks hanging precariously above tidus's head. he was unaware of the fact that he was being nearly close to getting swallowed; all he could see was the hole staring at him in the face, mocking him. he swam into it and the roar that the geosgaeno emitted drove him even further through the opening. the creature was much too large to fit. even its mouth would have had some difficulty. but tidus made it through in one piece.that was most important at the moment.tidus looked like he was doing a back flip as the strong currents of the water shoved him through another section of the opening he had just safely made it into. his bottom hit the rock on the ground and he could hardly keep his head up to see several boulders from above descending towards the ground, splashing tremendous water, and blocking the only exit he had seen thus far. "i had made it out of the frying pan . . . and into the freezer."he listened to the eerie echo of a trail of water dripping from the ceiling into the puddle on the floor. he, himself, sat on shallow water. "i thought i was going to die in this place."he pushed himself up on his feet, refusing to submit to his fears. he turned around and found a small flight of stairs. he dashed up the steps.lightning flashed, illuminating a massive, grotesquely-looking statue with round grey eyes, an opened mouth shaped like an alligator with spiked fangs and wearing a cone-shaped hat of some kind. it looked like a soldier—an intimidating soldier. it was the first thing tidus saw after he had removed some of the rubble and stones blocking the entrance. he emerged from the hole he had just cleared and walked to the center of the building, facing a wide water cascade. it almost looked like an ancient temple, ruined and shadowy, with its dark corners and circular design. he looked up at the waterfall before he realized just how cold he was. he shivered, his

eath coming out in frosty white puffs and he rubbed his hands together."cold . . ." he shuddered again with the chilliness. "need . . . fire."he forced himself to put his hands down to his hip, wanting to show some pride in this moment of uncertainty. he surveyed the large, empty temple and found a small place in the center where it seemed as if a fire had died out a while ago. he knew that this would be the perfect place to make a fire, if only he had the necessary materials: flint and tinder. when he spoke, his

eaths came out in tiny white clouds. he was not just going to stay here and freeze to death. if he had made it out of the frying pan, he was certain he could just as well make himself out of the freezer.***with flint and tinder in his hands, he knelt down at the fire site and struck the two together, each time igniting a small spark that died as quickly as it had come. finally, on the fifth try, the fire burst to life, causing him to stand up and take a few steps backwards.the fire glowed, illuminating the darkened walls of the temple. the several balconies were

ownish-orange, with golden designs that had a complexity and originality to them that could not be replicated.the blazing flames of the fire roared soothingly, biding tidus to come sit down and warm his hands above them. moments later, feeling a lot more comfortable with a "night-light," tidus laid down on the floor by the consoling fire and gazed at the remarkable, high-rise, domed ceiling of the temple.it was so incredibly huge. it must have taken titans to create a thing so tall. sure zanarkand had its elevated buildings, but they were touched with modernism. looking at the buildings, one would see that they were easy to duplicate. but this, this temple radiated a sense of antiquity, like some enormous lost piece of unknown history. there were secrets buried in this place. tidus could feel the whispers and murmurs of these such enigmas. he wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel in awe at this remarkable temple, or in dread that he may never leave it. but something else intervened, gnawing at his gut."i need food!" he whined, the hunger pangs getting the best of him.he figured that if he went to sleep, he may just forget about his hunger, even for a little while. ***he stood with his arms behind his head, in his apartment, standing by the railing of the ramp, locking gazes with the man who had been more involved in his life than his own father. "what do you want?" tidus questioned him.the man clothed in red with the white jug—auron—answered him. "it was a bad call. your team lost because of you."tidus set his arms down, exasperated. "you came to say that?"auron walked down the ramp, to the second landing. "it's been . . . ten years."tidus nodded, now understanding."i thought you'd be crying," auron added as he made his way down the last of the ramp and then walked away from tidus's line of vision.offended, tidus asked, "who, me?"the little boy with the purple hood ran onto the second landing of the ramp and said softly, although still accusingly, "you cried."***tidus hugged his knees to his chest, sitting close to the dying fire. his head bobbed gently up and down, as he stirred back to consciousness. the fire glowed, creating one last illumination of tidus's lightly-tanned face. but now, as time had passed, the once blazing, searing flames of the fire had now become mere, white wisps.by the water cascade, a slithering creature hastened along the temple wall. tidus felt a slight tingling sensation on the back of his neck. it was this that snapped him awake. he cocked his head from side to side to find out what exactly had just crawled past him, but his attention was averted to the dying fire. he promptly rose to his feet, pleading with the dying embers. "hey, wait! wait! don't go out on me!" he put his face close to the wood, as if it had eyes, as if it would somehow sympathize with his present situation. he rose and gestured for the fire to "wait." the situation would have been comical, if he wasn't so desperate. "just hold on," he continued frantically. "i'll get more wood!"he darted around to find the wood, but something he sensed caused him to freeze. a streak of lightning and tidus saw clearly the agile insect clinging to the wall in front of him.they stared at each other; tidus studied the insect carefully. its four legs looked like two long black sharp talons. its body was slender, as well as its head, which had a pair of talons protruding from it. its eyes gleamed a

ight menacing red hue before the insect scurried across the circular balconies. tidus could only watch in awe as the insect traveled the temple in a matter of seconds. it stopped behind the water cascade, where shortly afterwards, it paused and then lunged to the ground in front of tidus. its heavy talons created a

ief cloud of golden dust and cracked the ground underneath when it landed. it stood up on its hind legs and stretched out its talons, displaying its power in spite of its thin size. tidus lifted his sword and stood in a defensive battle position, ready to attack the insect klikk. it wasn't even half the size of the geosgaeno, but it managed to tire him out. he was on bended knee, with the blade of his sword planted in the ground next to him to keep him steady. he panted heavily, staring the soon-to-be victor in the eyes. surely he was going to die.he mustered his strength for what would most likely be his final strike at the insect klikk. he hastened to it and slashed it with his sword.unexpectedly, one of the temple doors exploded with fire. the door shattered into chunks of heavy rocks, littering the ground. tidus covered his face with his forearm. he dared to catch a glimpse of what would now come through the door. part of him expected salvation. the other part of him expected certain death.a group of four or five men walked in, wearing

ight colored full body suits with goggles masking their faces. they stood at the door, intimidating in their frozen stance. a second later, they ran forward, stopped again, and aimed their machina guns. they clicked the trigger, ready to shoot. a young woman, equally dressed as strange as the others, led the group. she stood with one hand to her hip and had a manner of youthfulness and authority.tidus wasn't sure what to make of her. she didn't look like she cared for his struggles, but at the same time, why would she and her men come to his aid? or are they here to help me? tidus questioned himself. a sense of doom settled over him. but then, just when he expected the worst, the girl began to walk calmly towards him, adjusting the cuffs on her wrists. she approached his side, planted a firm foot in front of her, out her arms down to her side, and motioned with her hand for the insect klikk to "

ing it on."this was a sign of relief for tidus. suddenly, he felt more hopeful at the moment, and in response to the certainty that the girl had come to his aid, he chirped, "you on my side? cool!"the girl made the first move. she

ought out grenades and hurled them at the insect klikk. there was another burst of fire as the creature was struck with the grenades. tidus swung his blade at it, and finally, light spheres that had a flowing trail of blue and purple emanated from the creature as it toppled onto the ground lifelessly and vanished. relief filled him, but now there was another matter at hand. who was this girl who had just rescued him? —and why did she save him?he came face-to-face with her as she removed the goggles from her face. she cocked her head from side to side, eyeing tidus as curiously as he was eyeing her. tidus gawked at her with his mouth open, but when he noticed that she did not mean him any harm, he knelt down and sighed, alleviated. "whew!" he

eathed. "that was close."one of the men, with a blonde beard, stalked over to tidus's side and clutched a handful of his spiked blond hair, lifting him up off the ground. startled by the aggressiveness, tidus implored, "hey, lemme go!" i thought they were here to help me. he struggled, his arms flailing out, but the grip on his hair remained firm. the more he struggled, the more pain he felt, like his hair was literally being ripped from his scalp. more men surrounded him and pointed their machina guns at him. from behind him, tidus heard a thick, deep voice uttering a language he had neither heard of nor understood. "what is this?"a man to tidus's other side replied in that same odd language, "a fiend! in human disguise!"a voice assented, or so it sounded like to tidus. "yes! it is so!"tidus had the urge to scratch his head in bafflement. another man standing behind him snatched him away from the grip of the bearded man. tidus thought he was momentarily free, but instead, the new man drew a wickedly curved knife and pressed it against the soft flesh of his throat. to whimper and squirm would have been too pathetic. instead, tidus thought desperately, wow, that's really sharp."we kill it?"tidus could tell it was a question. it was formatted as one. the most he could hope for was the question being: "should we let him go?" but he sincerely doubted that, seeing that there was still the matter of a glimmering blade up to his throat.the girl spoke up, her voice high and cheery. "wait! what if it is human?"if only tidus could understand what she was saying, but it sounded like she was arguing on his behalf, and if she was, this would make the second time she had saved him. the man holding the knife did not seem pleased with the girl's comments. he flipped the handle of the knife in his hands and pointed it at the girl. "they are the same in death," he told her. vehemently, the girl protested against whatever the knife-holder had said. "i forbid it! we

ing it with us!"she closed the distance between herself and tidus, whose night blue eyes widened when he heard her whisper into his ear, "cunno," which meant "sorry" in her language. immediately afterwards, he felt her solid knee strike his stomach with the most sickening sound he had ever heard. his hands went to his belly and his eyes sealed tight in pain. he collapsed to his knees, feeling like he would vomit. the world around him quickly faded to black, the face of the blond girl who had been his savior disappearing before he finally crumbled to the ground.