After returning to the Al Bhed ship, Rikku brought some food. Tidus seemed to be pretty hungry, as he instantly dove into the food and gobbled it down. Even Ranma, who was a fast eater himself, was amazed at his eating speed. Maybe the poor guy has been drifting in those ruins for a much longer time than himself, Ranma thought.
When Tidus nearly choked on the food, Rikku gave him a water bottle. "It's because you eat so fast," she admonished him.
Nabiki snickered. "Well, were are we heading?" she asked.
"I gotta go home," Tidus said. "I gotta see if someone of my friends is alive after Sin's attack!"
"Where are you from?" Rikku asked.
"From Zanarkand," Tidus answered. "I'm the star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"
Ranma silently laughed. Looks like Tidus has to brag with this title every time he introduces himself.
But Rikku looked at him like he was crazy.
"Did you... hit your head or something?" she finally asked.
Tidus rubbed his head. "Um... no, I don't think so!"
"What's the matter?" Nabiki asked. "What's so strange about what he said?"
"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "Don't you like blitzball or something like that?"
Now Rikku was looking at all of them like they were ghosts.
"You're kidding me, right?" she asked. When the other three all shook their heads, she sighed in desperation. "All right... Three delusional people at once, great..."
She walked up and down the deck for a few seconds, while Nabiki and Ranma exchanged a little look. What was wrong with that girl?
"All right," Rikku said. "I got it! You said you were close to Sin, right?" she asked Tidus. He nodded. "Well, then it's no wonder you're saying something like that: You got some of Sin's toxin. It got to your head and now your memory is all screwed up!"
"What?" Tidus almost yelled. "My memory is all fine, thank you very much!"
Rikku didn't pay any attention to what he said and asked Ranma and Nabiki: "And you were near him as well, were you?" Ranma shook her head, and Nabiki asked: "Uh... who or what is Sin?"
Rikku screamed out in frustration. "Oh, that's just great! I always knew Sin's toxin plays some nasty tricks on people's minds, but forgetting about Sin himself? Come on, that's just silly!"
"Hey, can you just tell us what's going on?" Nabiki yelled.
Rikku sighed. "Look, there just isn't any Zanarkand where he could have played blitzball!"
"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.
"You see... Sin destroyed Zanarkand... over a thousand years ago!"
They all gasped at that.
"Wh-what do you mean, a thousand years ago?" Tidus yelled desperately. "But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! And that should have happened 1000 years ago? No way!"
Angrily, he crossed his arms.
After several moments of silence, Rikku asked him: "You said... you play blitzball?"
Tidus nodded. "Uh-huh!"
"You know, you should go to Luca! There's going to be a major blitzball tournament there... and if you meet some players from your old team... someone has to recognize you, you know? And you two..." She turned around to Ranma and Nabiki. "If you're looking for your friends, Luca also would be a great place to find someone. It's the second biggest town in Spira, you know?"
"Um, sounds good to me," Ranma said.
"Right..." Tidus murmured. He still had a hard time to believe what Rikku just told him.
"Than it's settled!" Instantly, Rikku turned back into her old, cheerful self. "I'll get the three of you to Luca! Promise! Okay, I'll talk to the others. Wait here!" She went back inside the ship.
Tidus looked down at the deck and said nothing. Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other, worried. Then Ranma walked over to the young blitzball player. "Hey... you all right?"
"Huh, what...?" Tidus looked up. "Oh, it's you... Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine... just fine..."
But in reality, he was far from fine. He just saw his town being attacked by a giant monster, somehow got carried to a place he never heard of before, and then Rikku tells him that his hometown has been destroyed over 1000 years ago. Ranma felt more and more pity with her new friend. She felt like she should say some reassuring words, even if she wasn't that good with them.
"Look, I..." But before she could continue, something hit she ship from below and shook it so hard, that the three of them stumbled over the deck. Nabiki was lucky enough to get a hold on the door, but Tidus and Ranma, who were standing in the middle of the deck, tumbled against the railing.
A big geyser of water shot up, several meters from the ship. The metal door flew open, and Nabiki almost fell down.
Some of the Al Bhed were storming out of the door. "Sin!" one of them shouted. "Sin ec lusa!"
"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!" another replied.
"Ranma," Nabiki shouted and wanted to go to her. But Rikku grabbed her arm. "Don't be silly," she said. "Or you'll be swept into the sea!"
"But what about Ranma?" Nabiki asked desperately.
Tidus shook his head. His head had hit the railing when they fell against it. Ranma helped him up. "Come on, we gotta..."
But before she could say any more, Sin hit the ship again. It shuddered from the impact, and tilted to the side. Nabiki and the Al Bhed were able to hold onto something, but Tidus and Ranma fell down into the seawater.
"Ranma," Nabiki cried out, before a giant wave hit the deck.
Ranma realized she was underwater and quickly looked around. Nearby, she could see Tidus' body floating around the current caused by Sin's massive body.
"Quickly," Carbuncle's voice shouted inside her head. "You have to stay near him! Hold him tight and be sure not to let go!"
With all her might, Ranma swum against the intense current, until she got a hold of Tidus. She grabbed him tightly, as Carbuncle told her to.
Then a giant wave propelled both of them up to the surface. They barely had any time to took a breath when another wave crashed down onto them.
And then the currents swept them far, far away from the Al Bhed ship.
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(Posted Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:32)
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