#well she'll be a big hit with the aurochs i'm sure

[straane]

Motherworld (Ch.3/?)

Title: Motherworld

Author: strane-stelle

Fandom: Final Fantasy X

Central characters: Tidus

Rating: 12+

Chapters: 3/?  Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 4

Word count: 2809

Summary: “The fayth said it’s pointless to keep dreaming. The dream will disappear, he said. What did he mean?” After a long journey, Tidus finally gets to go home.

Warnings: Ton of OCs; idk, drug references??

Other comments: credit goes to @shuyiin​ for the idea.(or virtually the star player himself @leviathkand)  

Chapter 3 – Go with the Flow

"Someone order a wacko? With a side of 'runs in the family'?"

To be sure, it was a clichéd line, but it certainly got the attention of all seven Abes, as Tidus joined them a couple of minutes late in the changing room. Not that he wouldn't have turned heads in any case – he would, everywhere he went – but he'd fallen right back into his old bad habit of listening in.  

Nella shot up from the bench at once, beaming; to throw her arms around him. Tidus fell back about two steps – she was a head taller, and made of hard tricep and nothing else. There was a great sincerity about the gesture, hefty as it was – she was one of the two who had not uttered one bad word about their now scandal-ridden teammate. At worst, she had seemed worried.  

"Welcome back!"

Feeling ever so slightly patronized, and not for the first time today, Tidus quickly broke away and responded with a simple thanks. Granted, he knew that the extremely kind and extremely talented midfielder had meant no disrespect. Nella gave a wide smile – with something resembling relief or anticipation; perhaps both. She had changed her hairstyle, from shoulder-reaching dark curls to clipped darker curls with red streaks.

"Look, we're sorry," a less keen voice breathed over Nella's vast shoulder, irritated. The voice belonged to Edge – also the owner of a well-suited name. Everything about the man was pointed and pallid: eyes, hair, face, personality. The eldest on the team, at 36; he was hardly any sage or father figure, more like a drunk grandpa – disapproving of anything and everything, and starting petty disputes over anything and everything – sometimes, it seemed, his own opinion. In the pool, inexplicably, he'd then transform into a fantastic team player. "What'd you want us to say? What do you think everyone else is saying?"

Tidus didn't have to think, nor did anyone in the room. Teri shifted awkwardly in the corner, moving a strand of her inky short hair; with others mirroring her movements – there was never any telling whether their capable if rather reticent captain was about to say something. But this time Edge beat her to it, adding with a more placid tone, "Well, it's good to see you alive."

Everyone gave approving nods, and resumed practice preparations in a collective synchronized motion, encouraging Tidus to claim his usual spot on the bench as well. Although, after receiving a couple more welcome-backs and a domino effect of apologies, he'd barely gotten around to pulling the zipper on his bag, when he felt obliged to stand up again and spare a few more words. And again the room went frozen and silent.

Tidus rubbed his temples. "Hey, guys... I know it's a lot to ask, but can we not do this whole 'awkward' thing? You know I liked it a lot better when I was just the... y'know, talentless new kid who made the team 'cuz of his dad and nothing else..."

"That was almost two years ago," Nella reminded him, suddenly defensive. "You've more than proven yourself since and you know th--"

"Yeah, I know that," Tidus agreed. "And that was the fun part, proving myself to you guys! Because I knew I could! Just give me another chance, okay? Or even better... let's just focus on practice and not me, okay? Those Duggles are going down," he slammed a fist into his palm, with half-earnest enthusiasm, "right?"

There was a string of half-hearted nods, and a couple of excited ones. That was good enough for Tidus.

Lately, Tidus had began to compartmentalize. Sure, he had witnessed an eerie sight on his very doorstep less than a week ago – heard it talk, even – and if nothing else; for Tidus himself, it had served as a final confirmation; vanquisher of all remaining doubt: Spira was real. He had not hallucinated anything, nor indulged an escapist fantasy or started to believe his own lies – it was all real. And sure, he still missed that place – terribly – this was about as far as he could look back, before it simply became too much. And sure, his life here remained unchanged; messy and vaguely melancholic; with new rumors sprouting up at every turn like Sinspawn; his recently expanded PR team refusing some 90 interviews per day; his plentiful caretakers studying his very breathing for signs – any signs. Even all positive remainders of his old life would appear exactly that: old. Worn-down. Ill-fitting.  

But what was he to do? Since the fleeting encounter with the fiend from the other side, he'd not had the pleasure of beholding any additional otherwordly visions, nor had he heard voices or run into any mystical hooded children telling him not to cry (and boy, did he at times want to). So what if a dying demonic animal had transcended time and space just to tell him hi, how did that help him in any way? He'd certainly not been able to help the poor soul. If he didn't know how to reverse the stunt, what was the point of chewing it over?

And just the day before, in a passing moment of clarity, Tidus had finally found a solution. He had finally resolved in his heart to do what he should have done from day one. What Leo referred to as damage control, he would dub making the best of here and now. He would once again let go, surrender to the flow; tag along on a journey he'd never planned to take. He would moderate his responses to Dr. Cidron's questions; eventually phase them into retraction and denial. He would nod along as needed. He would heed Leo's every command. He would play with the Abes again. He would live a life; he would be his old self again.

In the depths of his soul, he would know the truth; in his heart; he would always treasure Yuna. But for now, to save his skin – he'd wear his old one. He didn't have a choice; it was the only thing he could do – he'd give in, he'd accept, he'd believe. He'd allow it to be true.

This was his new reality, and he was stuck in it for good.

--

The post-storm reconstruction had recently extended over to the pool area as well. The Abes' temporary practice field turned out to be a quite a far cry from what they were used to: a far smaller and simpler watery orb – a puddle almost – filled with; seemingly; lower-quality liquids. The proportions, the layout, Tidus observed; trying hard not to get snobby at a time like this; were all almost beginner-level. Not a lot of room for improvement, he couldn't help but indulge a smidge of that snobbiness, quite literally! Oh well, he then figured, wasn't going back to the basics his plan in any case?

They'd been marching to the pool entrance in a near-perfect line; the air still a bit strained for casual chat, when Frion suddenly broke the formation and ran to Tidus's side. Tidus turned his head in anticipation, and the white-haired youth hesitated a moment before whispering, just as they reached the gateway, "You cleared all the... tests, right?"

There was one thing that Tidus was determined never to 'confess'; not even to steer suspicions; or to give an easy excuse, and it was forbidden substances. He'd done well with Sin's toxin back on Besaid – and here it was again on everyone's lips, whether he liked it or not – but these were totally taboo; his no-good drunkard dad would've disapproved. Well before his own breakthrough; as Tidus vaguely recalled; there had been one case with a particularly nasty sort; one that would simultaneously enchance performance and cause hallucinations. In the end, the offender; a slightly older player if his memory served; had barely lived, and happily admitted to having made a terrible mistake. The incident had since been swept under the rug – mercifully – as a dirty black spot in the oft-glamorized blitz history. But for every blitz fan and every sports magazine that tried their best to forget, there was also one of each that remembered – and that wanted to know the truth about the more recent events; the truth about 'the toxin'.      

"You think I'd be here if I didn't?"

Leo, Bern, Dr. Cidron and even Evy were all watching from the stands; Leo looking as though he wanted to produce a forbidden substance from his person right away; Bern buried in a book, sparing a listless glance now and then; Dr. Cidron trying to decide whether to cheer or worry or both; and Evy most definitely settled on cheering – she was as big a fan as ever.

Shortly before Tidus's disappearance, the blitzball powers-that-be had approved for test runs a new type of game-supplementary machina: a set of minuscule earphones and mouthpieces that allowed the players to communicate during the game. As it turned out, the technology had been freshly confirmed as official equipment to be used at the coming Jecht Legacy Cup (a Jecht Memorial Cup relaunch). Tidus had actually conducted one of the test runs himself – a mere week pre-Spira – naturally; as not too long ago he'd been the go-to poster boy of the new blitz generation. On that account, figuring out how the device worked was not the problem – and there wasn't really a problem – only a momentary feeling of mixed nostalgia and detachment as Teri very deliberately handed the headset to Tidus at the pool entrance. He really was back.

Technically, Teri was only the team captain, not the coach – but she effectively did double duty just as Wakka had, as their actual coach was far more interested in his 90% ownership of the team. Hirans, who in Tidus's opinion bore a striking resemblance to Kinoc, was neither a sportsman or even sportsmanlike in any way imaginable, and it was only by some clever navigation through bureaucratic technicalities that he'd been able to snatch the title of coach at all. He'd also been notably absent from Tidus's now infamous press conference, and had since practically gone into hiding, by the looks of it. Dreams or not, Tidus mused, people here sure loved to pretend: fake coach, nominal agent, lazy bodyguard.

"Alright, hope everyone's loving the widgets," Teri addressed the team as they swam into the pool, her own expression betraying a certain level of reservation. There were some cautious murmurs of approval, echoing through everyone's heads – Edge and Arret were covering their ears, apparently fearing that the microscopic gizmo would fall right off at the first wrong movement. Tidus could hardly believe that in something at least, he was actually ahead of the curve (and definitely no thanks to Spira). Juggling two blitzballs above his head, while others still bombarded Teri with questions, he was as ready for some tussle as could be.

"Hey," Nella suddenly gave Tidus a gentle nudge on the shoulder – startling him, and making him lose the ball, "you belong here. You always have." Tidus tried to scrabble for the runaway ball with his both arms and one leg, too; only to fumble the attempt. He gave her a nervous chuckle, which she returned. He appreciated the sentiment – but there was something about the passing moment of clumsiness that suddenly filled him with stress.

The first half of the practice was just alright. Tidus was on the same team with all of his harshest doubters, who also happened to be the ones struggling the most with the new technology. He was hardly at the top of his game himself, still feeling a little disconnected with the environment, and not only because it had recently shrunken in size. The other team, in turn, almost seemed to be going easy on them – or him – sometimes bordering on unprofessional levels. (This was not going unnoticed by Leo, either, judging by his rather lively body language.) The teams mostly relied on basic commands such as 'Catch!', 'No!', 'Come on!', 'Go Riona!' – which would've been easy enough to convey by the traditional non-verbal methods – and at times there was confusion as to who was addressing whom. The first ten minutes were far from a disaster, just markedly tame and tortuous at the same time – and goal-free. Goal-attempt-free, if one squinted – and not because there had been such high-caliber, evenly matched skill on display.

Bern, Dr. Cidron and Evy all departed for work after the first half – of course, Tidus would've been the work, had it not been for Leo's request to meet the boy in private after the practice. Tidus thought he saw the agent exchange a few words with Evy before she turned to leave – an apology for the press conference? The man could feel empathy?

Inexplicably, even the more skeptic fellow Abes seemed to have warmed up to Tidus by the half-time break – after he'd done literally nothing to deserve it. Perhaps nothing was more than enough – whether they'd been expecting him to start selling bags of powder mid-match, or just have a customary nervous breakdown, Tidus wasn't sure, but they were all giving him pats on the shoulder and even sparing some compliments, 'Still got it!'; 'Well, you are full of surprises!' What 'it' and 'surprises' referred to; and how exactly they'd been involved in the most uneventful practice session of all time; Tidus also wasn't sure, but he did feel heartened by the very subtle clap of hands that Edge indicated towards him.  

The second half began in somewhat more vigorous spirits, when the opposing side went on the maximum offensive within the first ten seconds. Tidus finally got something to do as he near single-handedly managed to fend off the first scoring attempt, by throwing himself hard against one of the goalposts – and poor Nella, who'd been floating right up there stalking the goal area. Even with the increased resistance from the lower-quality liquids, and her matching if not greater body weight, she was flung quite a distance across the field, all the way to the pool entrance; which she thankfully didn't hit.

"Nella!" Tidus yelped after her, along with the others. "Are you okay?"

They never got a clear answer. From the other side of the pool, they could just see Nella straightening her back, unharmed; shaking her head a little and then starting towards them – only to lose sight of her completely, when there was a sudden outpour of something swift and green, swimming up from behind her and towards them. The headsets immediately turned into a hearing hazard.

"What...?! What are-- are those... fiends?!"

"How'd they get in? Wha-- I haven't seen one in years!"

"Nella!" Tidus shrieked, but there was no time to wait for a reply. Neither was there time to think – the swarm was huge, huge enough to block their single exit – and the fish's apparent entry point. But his fellow Abes were no cowards, and Frion had already grabbed one of the four practice blitzballs floating about – it was time Tidus took a leaf out of Wakka's book as well. Out of the corner of his eye, Tidus could see Leo in the stands, tearing out his hair in absolute horror.  

The battle with the aquatic beasts was brief and chaotic. Tidus and Frion took out at least a dozen each, Riona joined in with a third ball after a failed escape attempt, and Teri had just located the fourth makeshift weapon when – just as quickly as they had emerged –  the swarm began to vanish; dissolve into those bright, tailed lights.

This time, there we no parting words – the creatures faded away in near-complete silence, with only a distant sound of streaming water flowing through their technologically enhanced ears. Everyone seemed to be doubting their own senses – what exactly had happened, and why were they having an adrenaline rush?

"Hey," a shaky voice then spoke, and nobody seemed to care who it was exactly, "where's Nella?"

Tidus whirled around wildly. All eyes were on him.

"I..."

But she was gone. Nella was gone; without a trace, as abruptly and as definitively as the swarm of infernal fish that had ambushed her. The pool gate loomed bleakly on the other side of the field, not too far from them in the tiny watery sphere, tightly shut and empty of intruders.  

Tidus felt a sudden thwack against his back, then another, and then; with one grip of his collar; Edge span Tidus around, tightening his grab as he struck his teammate on the chest, "You what?! What'd you do?! Where is she?!"  

Teri tried to break the two apart, but her arms were still trembling, and she received a thump on the shoulder as well.

Tidus was as shocked as anyone. The blows had barely hurt.

"I... I think she went to Spira."