Chapter 1 - Blitz Off!

Final Fantasy X.V



Prolouge:
Its been at least five-hundred years since the tribulations and trials of Sin first broke the surface on the chaotic world of Spira. Now with the Temples of the Fayth set across Spira, summoners of all sorts take upon the task of finally being able to rid the world of Sin, and allow the Calm to take it's hold on all the peoples of Spira.
During these "Calms" people of all nations and languages unite and sing the "Oath of Spira" as it has been done many many years in the past. In these times no one needs to fear, for peace can finally be attained. No one has to worry if the next day will bring happiness or destruction. No child will have to weep or wail over a fallen family member or friend, and there is no acts of war upon one another, everyone lives joyously. That is what the Calm is.
But, unfortuneatly for the people of Spira this short yet prosperous time comes at a price. For a summoner, brave enough to take on the tests of the Fayth must be willing to give there lives if he or she is the one confronting Sin, that is the way it goes, and nothing, so far, can be done about it. A summoner is completely dedicated and is willing to do anything for their land of Spira.
But some do not agree with these methods, and opposers are stopping these summoners from fulfilling their mission, even if it means doing it by force. Even the high leader of Yevon, Rikai started to question the summoners and their travels, because it seemed they were losing more and more lives than earlier planned. Yevon than had all the Fayths closed off and made the summoners stop their travels to return home. After that anyone to even think of challenging the Fayth would be shamed and deniled as a follower of Yevon.
Yevon no longer wanted to lose any more summoners, why? No one really knows. They probably thought " Why risk the lives of so many brave ones for a few peti years of peace?" Maybe the leader of Yevon didn't like the idea of sacrificing lives. But how many lives would be lost if the summoners were stopped? And were those few years of peace really so peti?

CHAPTER 1
BlItZ OFF!

My head spins; there's nothing I can do to stop it. I feel as if I'm trapped in some sort of vortex, but of my own soul? It seemed so real and at the same time so fake I was unable to make out anything through these states except for odd voices calling...almost reaching out for me. But what were they saying? What could all of this mean? Was I really trapped inside this dark abyss? Where my soul lay dormant waiting to get swallowed by the darkness? I didn't know, and I felt I never would know. Until...that one day where everything seemed to...change.
I awoke with a start as I heard someone relentlessly pounding on the door. I thought a bit about the odd dream I had and how my head hurt now. What could it have meant? I threw off my sheets and hustled out of bed to run to the door, only to be greeted by Vex my team mate and best friend. He looked at me suspiciously and more then a little angrily, like a snake about to strike.
"What are you doing!? Did you completely forget about the championship tournament today?" Vex asked exasperated.
"Huh?" I asked a bit drowsy.
I looked at him with a puzzled glance until I finally realized what he was talking about. I had completely forgotten about our Blitzball Championship. Boy, did I feel dumb. I mean, the leader of the Luca Torrents shouldn't be forgetting something like this. I ran back inside to get ready. Now what was I gonna tell my team? This hadn't been the first time this had happened. I rushed through all my junk pulling on my Blitzball uniform, then rummaged around some more until I had found my Blitzball. Finally I was able to head out the door, giving a final wave to my mother. What I didn't know is how final that wave had really been.
Vex and I rushed down the bustling streets of Luca, my brown shoulder-length hair flying in my face as we tried to get through. Unfortunate for us, when the Blitzball Championship came around this had to be one of the busiest times of the year. Vex continued to push his and my way through, but were we going to make it in time? We decided the only way we were going to get there was through one of the side streets, so we pushed around until we could find one.
We rushed down the dank, narrow side street until we had reached the main street leading to the stadium. This was the final stretch and if we got to the front, we were home free. Pushing and shoving our way through, I thought we had finally made it until my head started spinning again and I could feel myself passing out. If I passed out on the streets I would be trampled to death, so I had to push all my strength into staying on my feet. I couldn't keep it up, though, and I knew any minute I was going to fall. Everything around me went deadly quiet and everyone seemed to have stopped in their tracks. Was I hallucinating? Suddenly I was brought back to my senses when I ran into something solid. I felt myself fall back onto my bottom, and my senses returning to me; once again, people were bustling about as if nothing had happened. I looked up to see what I had run into. Standing there was a fairly tall man wearing an abnormal black cloak. He stared at me with a cold, icy, almost dark glance and continued to walk forward. That was odd, I thought to myself.
" Hey! Dude, where are you?" a familiar voice called.
" Vex! I'm over here!" I called picking myself off from the ground.
" Thank Yevon! I thought something terrible had happened to you. When I turned around and you weren't there I started to panic. Are you sure you're okay?"
" Yeah I'm fine, I guess I just lost my footing, or something."
" Okay, but never scare me like that again, or else I'll have Sin come and eat you." Vex said as we laughed and continued our way to the stadium.
It seemed like a funny joke then about Sin. We thought nothing would ever happen to us. Sure, we were living in the Calm; what was there to be afraid about? Sin would never come through...right?
I started down to our dormitory until we were called out to play. Once I arrived I got chewed out by my teammates for once again, being late. I apologized more then I thought possible, then sat down with my team to discuss the playing plan. The speakers then came on to announce the playing teams. We were going up against the Al Bhed team Scavengers. This was going to be a very interesting play since the Al Bhed were always completely unpredictable. We were just gonna have to hope that my battle strategy worked.
" Go out there and do your best, team!" I yelled hoping that would keep the spirits high, because right now anything would do.

* * * *

So far we were doing great we had won the match against the Al Bhed Scavengers and the Kilika Tornadoes. One more team and the championship would be ours. The final team was the Bevelle Excaliburs and they were no push-overs. We would have to play extra careful if we wanted a chance of beating them. We stepped out facing the thousands of now overly excited fans. With one final talk to the team we dived into the Blitzball stadium coming face to face with the Excaliburs.
The second half of the game ended leaving the game tied. This was an extremely tense situation it was anyone's game now, and I knew by the look in their eyes the Excaliburs would not give up the Championship without a fight.
We were given a ten minute break until the last Blitz, so this gave me some time to discuss strategies with my team. As I started swimming back to the dorm I noticed the same cloaked man sitting in the stands. It was odd that someone like him would like Blitzball, but I suppose there were all different kinds of Blitz fans all over Spira. Although, there was something about him that made me feel like he was there more than just to watch Blitzball.
I arrived back at the dorm where eveyone was waiting for me.
" So Captain, what are we gonna do?" Jen asked.
" Well, what I was thinking is, that if we could score at least one point against the Excaliburs and then focus on keeping them away from our goal for the rest of the game, we would have a pretty good chance."
" Well if the Captain thinks it'll work, then I have all my confidence in it." Vex said looking for the other's opinions.
They looked at each other for a moment and then all shook their heads in unison.
" Alrighty! Then lets get out there and kick some Bevelle butt."
" Yeah!" we screamed.
With that, the bell ran for us to re-enter the battlefield and win our glory. I swam out first, leading the rest of the team behind me. I looked over to where the cloaked man was sitting, but he was nowhere in sight. Where could he have gone off to? It made me curious, but I knew I had to focus more on the final round then anything else. We got into our formation and waited for the buzzer. It rang and we were off, it had finally come down to the final match against the Bevelle Excaliburs and the Luca Tornadoes. BLITZ OFF!!
Just as soon as it had started it was over; after months of hardcore practicing and determination the championship had finally ended.
" And the Luca Tornadoes have done it! They have managed to pull off the win of the century!" the announcer proclaimed as thousands of cheering fans bellowed their thrill and happiness with us.
I couldn't believe it at the final second we were able to score one final goal. This was how it happened. The clock was bearing down to the final twenty seconds, and so far no one was able to score a goal on either side and it was an all out war to keep the ball. Now the last ten seconds of the game came upon us and Vex gained control of the ball. There was no time to swim down to the other side of the field so using everything he had he kicked that ball as hard as he could. No one thought it was going to make it, but boy were we wrong; that ball found its way right into the unexpected goalies net, just as the buzzer sounded.
I was completely shocked and I'm sure the Excaliburs were too. We all ran over to Vex giving him the praise of a high and mighty king. He had won us the Championship, and we could now call ourselves the best team in Spira. This was the greatest moment in my life, but also the worst becuase of what happened next. We were all still inside the Blitzball stadium congratulating each other and exchanging high fives when it happened.
I was so thrilled I could barely contain myself. All that hard motivation and work was worth it after all. We were all going to head back to our dorm when the whole stadium started shaking, not just the Blitzball stadium but the stands to. People started panicking and hurriedly rushing towards any exit they could find. Still inside the water stadium my team also started panicking, we had to get out of there or the whole thing was going to crumble on top of us. I made some hand signals to Vex who immediately understood and informed the rest of the team. We needed to swim to the dorm entrance as quickly as possible, so we did just that. After what seemed like hours of swimming we arrived back at the dorm.
" Is everyone here!?" I shouted.
Everyone looked around at each other making sure no one was missing.
" Wait! Where's Lani?" Jen asked worried. Everyone once again looked around trying to locate Lani. It was true he was no where in sight.
" He must still be out in the stadium! I have to go found him." I said running out of the room back into the stadium.
I started running about the outer rim of the stadium looking for any sign of Lani. The tremors were getting worse and the stadium was not going to stay supported for long I had to hurry. I finally caught sight of him trembling in the center of the stadium. I tried calling his name but due to the tremors and the stadiums swaying and breaking away I knew he'd never hear me. I dived in, swimming with all my might to reach him. Finally I reached the trembling Lani and took a hold of his hand. We started swimming back towards the dorm. I could see the rest of my team awaiting our return. They breathed a sigh of relief when they spotted us approaching. I could feel the stadium give out as we reached the final stretch, we couldn't give up now being so close.
I could see my team urging us on. How could I give up on them? I swam harder then I ever had before, but it was no use we would never make it before the stadium was completely engulfed. I couldn't believe this was really the end? I looked behind me at Lani whose eyes were so full of terror and fright. I couldn't give up on him I had to get him back safely so I did the only thing I could think of doing. I threw Lani as hard as I could to my other team mates just as the stadium crumbled away taking me with it. Vex reached out to me trying to grab me before I plummeted to my watery fate below, but it was no use there was nothing he could do. He tried diving in after me but the rest of the team held him back, I guess this was it. My team, They were shouting something to me but I was unable to make it out. I closed my eyes as my entire life passed by me, my Blitzball career, my best friend Vex, my team, and; my mother. My poor mother what would she think I couldn't bear to think about it. Then an odd voice shouted out to me in my mind. Are you prepared to face your true fate? What could that of been? I looked about me nothing but a flash of blue and white. Then black.
I awoke once again in that dark hell where all my answers refused to come to me. I stood up feeling as though I was floating on top of the darkness. Was there any light in this place? I thought this must have been hell, but that couldn't be, since I had certainly been here more then once, and I was sure I was alive when I came the other times. Could that mean I was still alive? How could that be possible though? There was absolutely no way I could have survived that plummet.
I continually sat there stupified by everything that had happened. What would I be able to do now? Stay there until I died mentally to? I could feel myself drifting off when a flash of gold awoke me blinding me. What I saw next was very odd. I couldn't completely make it out but it appeared to be some sort of giant bird? Or maybe a whale? I couldn't be sure but it was big...really big. There were also four figures that looked human, but once again I couldn't be sure. Then just as soon as it had appeared it had gone and it was once again only darkness.
" How could this have happened?" I sobbed, I didn't care.
My father had always told me to be strong, and never cry. That was, before he died. But I didn't care there was no one around to see anyway so why should it matter? I crumpled up into a pitiful version of myself hoping that something would just come and kill me right now. It wouldn't matter any fate would be better then this, anything. There was nothing I could do but lay there and weep until I finally fell asleep dreaming of the past. The glory, the pains, the victories, the friendships I thought I would never find again, and for once I was able to dream with joy, something I hadn't done in a long time.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment