Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy X - This is Our Story ❯ Pleasure Cruise ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The ship had just sailed out of Besaid Harbor. In the sky, the sun was right above them, pouring down the light of noon. They were making great time, as this was the perfect weather for sailing. The wind was fair, the waters were calm, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. If that wasn’t peaceful enough, dolphins were jumping about the water every few moments, squeaking excitedly.

The ship wasn’t anything special. It was just a tiny passenger vessel, with two harpoon cannons for defense, and a sail it didn’t really need because of its engine. ‘S.S. Liki’ was written on the side of the plain, gray ship in orange lettering, and even that was beginning to chip away because of the splashing water.

‘The last time I was on a ship, Sin had attacked. I’d been fortunate enough that time, but I doubt many people survive Sin twice.’

Bilus decided that the trek across Besaid had more than tired him out. He was sweaty, flushed, and his hair was sticking to his face; he really needed a nap. He was at the back of the ship, and the entrance to the sleeping quarters was at the front of the deck, so he began making his way for the deck.

“‘Scuse me, sir,” someone above him said. “You’re in my way.” Bilus looked up, and saw that a man was clinging to the mast of the ship by one of the ropes, with a pair of binoculars in hand. He was smirking like a lecher, and he wasn’t wearing much over his tanned muscular skin besides a patched up pair of pants and a bandana.

He had a sleazy aura about him, so Bilus didn’t trust him with a pair of binoculars. “What are you doing?” he called up to the man, leaning against the railing of the ship.

“Checkin’ out the babes, of course! Somethin’ about island girls that get my blood goin’, he-he-he-he,” the man snickered perversely. He was about to look through the lenses of his binoculars again, before Bilus kicked at the mast with all his might, knocking the man off balance and dropping his binocs.

Bilus picked them up, surveying them carefully as he turned them over in his hands. “Hmm,” he grunted, holding them carelessly.

“Hey! No fair!” the perverted man yelled tempestuously.

The Crusader grinned up at him, turning around and taking a gander through the eyepiece. He looked around the boat through the lense, looking for something to stare at. First, his vision fell on the island not too far from them, Kilika. It was still some ways off, so it wasn’t all that big even when he looked through the binoculars.

He decided to scope out the boat instead, and almost instantly, his vision fell on Briruru. The black-clad girl was leaning against the wall of the captain’s cabin, her eyes closed and her breathing slowly. Bilus almost thought she was asleep. He took this opportunity to check the mage out, looking her over from top to bottom. His gaze traveled up her legs, over the curves of her thighs, and stopped at her chest, lingering at her cleavage.

Bilus started blushing, and decided to look elsewhere. Soon, he found Aaroka, who was chatting up some of the female hands on deck. The man was obviously flirting with the women, trying desperately to get a date, or maybe, just maybe, Bilus thought the gunner was asking for a few one-night stands. Aaroka was boring, so he turned the binoculars to someone else.

Eventually, after searching the boat a few times, he saw a familiar image of white pass by his sight. He followed it, trying to keep up with the quick walking summoner. Finally, the teen stopped, and stood facing the direction of the Crusader. He brought the position of the lens up until he could see the boy’s face, which was smiling. Shana waved at his guardian, giggling.

His view was taken away abruptly. He looked to his side and saw Kimari, staring down at the guardian disapprovingly. Bilus scratched the back of his head sheepishly, while Kimari growled.

‘Aaroka was girl-crazy. Anyone could call that. Briruru was...well, she was either extremely happy, extremely matronly, or extremely angry. No happy mediums. Kimari...well, I didn’t quite understand her yet. And Shana...’

Bilus decided his nap could wait a bit, and tried to figure out where on the boat he had seen Shana. He wasn’t against the railing of the ship like he was just a few moments ago, but he decided that was as good a place to start as any. He walked around the hulking Kimari, who was still glaring at the shorter guardian menacingly, and made his way toward the right side of the ship.

The ocean breeze was playing with the guardian’s hair, moving his sweaty mane about in the wind. He almost wished some water would rise up and descend on him like rain, washing the soils of battle away. When he finally reached the spot he had seen the younger boy, he was met only with other passengers of the ship. A tanned girl wearing a bandana with flippy hair similar to Shana’s was talking to a darker man with dread locks, and they were deeply rooted in their conversation. Bilus was going to pass on beside them when he heard a certain cleric and summoner’s name arise in the discussion.

“Ya’ know, I heard the summoner’s the son of one of High Summoner Lord Way’s guardians,” the dread locked man said offhandedly, waving his large, calloused hands in reference to the boy in question. The guardian made an intrigued noise, bending over closer to get a good earful.

“You don’t say! Do you think his mother is that one woman people say Lord Way traveled with?” bandana girl asked, holding a finger to her lip thoughtfully. “And that’s another thing! Why is it that everyone knows Sir Luther’s name, Sir Drake’s name, Sir Jet’s name, but no one knows the ‘mysterious female guardian’s’ name?” the girl complained, beginning her rant. Bilus didn’t feel like hearing any feminist’s ravings, so he quickly hurried onto the front of the ship.

He had heard some people say that Lord Way and the ‘mysterious female guardian’ were lovers, while some said that she was the wife to one of his other guardians, and that she had followed her husband for half of the pilgrimage until they discovered her and took her along. True, he, too, was curious over the guardian lost to history, but there were far more important matters at hand. Like figuring out which guardian Shana was fathered by.

As if in answer to his prayers, he bumped into Aaroka. He was walking away from a cute little number tanning in a two-piece, with his head hung in shame and his presence reeking of sulking. Aaroka was so down that he didn’t even notice the Crusader-turned-Guardian walking beside him, at least not until the wavy haired youth tapped him on the shoulder. “Oh,” he sighed, looking up, “it’s you.”

“Nice to see you too,” Bilus replied, his sarcasm going over the other guardian’s head. “I’ve been meaning to ask you... Which guardian was Shana’s father?” he prodded, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. The dark-skinned man scratched at the fabric on his head, making a sagely sound in his throat.

“Shana’s dad was Sir Luther Lunette,” he stated matter-of-factly, nodding as if he knew all there was to know in Spira. He took in a breath, prepping himself to continue when he was cut off by a familiar female voice.

“Sir Luther was a Crusader like you, Billy Boy. He went to the temple daily, helped my parents with everything they could, and was a master of the broadsword. When Lord Way came to Besaid from Bevelle, seeking guardians, Shana’s father was the first and only to volunteer. Alongside Sir Jet and Sir Drake, the three guarded him all the way to the Holy City of the Dead, Zanarkand,” Briruru explained, finally finishing her lengthy history lesson. The girl patted Aaroka on the back, smirking mischievously. “Is that what you were gonna say, Aar?”

Aaroka bayed like an annoyed, raspy sheep, and flailed his arms hopelessly as he trudged away from the other two guardians. Bilus watched the man walk off, and laughed, while Briruru giggled quietly.

‘Sir Jet Roque was a young gang-leader, fourteen at the time, who was arrested and held in Bevelle’s prison cells. He was given the option of jail-time, or guarding a summoner. Obviously, he chose guarding. The other guardian of Lord Way is almost as unknown as the nameless female protector. Next to nothing is known about him besides his first name being Drake. Sir Luther Lunette was well known because he stuck out so much, supposedly. Everyone said he wore heavy armor like a knight, covered in holy runes of Yevon. They were a ragtag group of characters, but they defeated Sin, regardless.’





Bilus finally found his charge. Shana was resting his head on his arms, which were folded on the railing of the front of the deck. The way he was bent over allowed the slit in his robe to dance in the wind, showing his leg and the knee-high boot he wore. Red and white moved about wildly in the salty breeze, while the golden cord keeping his robe snugly on his hips whipped about like it was alive. The guardian thought back to when he first saw the boy, about how he had clumsily fell down the stairs leading to the Chamber. He wondered if the fall was exhaustion, clumsiness, or if he had simply tripped over his long ceremonial robes.

“Hey!” the Crusader shouted. He walked briskly toward the summoner, his footfalls making a rhythmic thudding on the wooden deck. Shana’s head perked up at the call of the older male, and he looked over his shoulder, spotting the guardian and smiling. His face lit up as if he had just received the best gift in the world, and Bilus took the opportunity to capture that smiling face in his memory for posterity.

‘That’s how he looked each time we talked. It didn’t matter if he was sad, if he was angry, or if he was turning so red his ears looked like they were aflame. He always smiled.’

The shorter man reached Shana, stopping behind the summoner to smile back at him. He wondered if the boy had gotten his smile from his mother, or Sir Luther? Sadly, he doubted he’d know anytime this life. He walked around the boy slowly, finally reaching the rail of the deck, and rested against it like Shana was. The two boys took in the salty sea air, sharing glances at each other as unnoticeable bits of moisture wetted their face.

Bilus yawned, standing upright and stretching his arms out. He shook his head, trying to shake off the haze of sleepiness slowly taking him in. The tanned guardian turned around, resting his back against the rail as he looked heavenward, starting at the clouds and passing gulls. The latter of which was cawing hungrily, for some reason.

Attempting to start a conversation, Shana sighed lazily. “The breeze... It feels really good,” he said. Bilus looked over to him, curious. He said nothing for a few moments, trying to figure out what the younger boy was saying. After getting enough of the wet breeze as he could, he looked back down to the summoner. Shana started giggling, then began to rise to a chuckle, finally climaxing as a loud laugh, which Bilus soon joined in on.

“How are your injuries?” Shana asked, getting his amusement under control.

“Hmm?” Bilus hummed in reply, looking inquisitively at the boy once more. Shana giggled again, closing his eyes sleepily as he nuzzled his face into his sleeve.

“When we found you outside the village, you were wounded. I used white magic on you to close the wounds and remove some of Sin’s toxins,” Shana said into the white fabric, getting sleepier every minute. “Before then, most of my spells were... Less than successful, we’ll say.”

Bilus chuckled, easing closer to the summoner as he got drowsier. “So, you saved me, and then I saved you? Guess we’re pretty even so far, huh?” Bilus mumbled, turning around once again so that he was resting his arms and head on the rope rail. After a few more moments of silence, Bilus turned his head so that he was facing the other boy. “So, your father was one of Lord Way’s guardians?”

Shana stood up, nodding in reply. He backed away some, holding his hands behind him and smiling. “Yes. My father was Luther Lunette,” he said proudly. He held his hands together, moving them farther away from him before holding them to the side and bringing them back together again in a circle, bending over. He was performing the prayer of Yevon in honor of his father.

“Whatever happened to him?” Bilus asked, standing upright and leaning on the safety rope around the edge of the deck once again. Shana’s face grew a little sadder, but he managed a smile nonetheless.

“I don’t know. Once word spread that Sin had been defeated, and Father never came home, I assumed he had died... The only guardian anyone has seen since their pilgrimage is Sir Jet,” Shana said grimly.

Bilus regretted asking now. He felt bad for bringing any sadness to the summoner, and bowed his head in an apology. “Oh...I’m sorry. Well, I never knew my father either. Or my mother. I was left at the Crusader’s Headquarters in Luca when I was younger,” Bilus began, closing his eyes as he remembered. “I was wrapped up in a red and gold scarf. It’s what I have tied around my sword, Fraternity’s handle. There was a note saying that my name was Bilus Dracon, and that I was a few months old.” Bilus motioned his hand to the sword and sheath at his side, and the red scarf around the hilt.

“Dracon... That seems so familiar,” Shana said, perplexedly. He moved closer to the railing, leaning against it much like Bilus was, and yawned.

Meanwhile, on the small platform over the captain’s cabin, Kimari spotted the two boys resting against the railing, discussing their parents, or lack there of. She scowled, her muscles tightening in protective fury and her eyes narrowing in a glare. She looked down at the binoculars still clinched in her almost clawlike fingers, and got an idea. She prepared to chuck the object at the dark-haired guardian, but as she was about to, she was knocked off balance.

The sea had grown rough. Unforgiving waters rocked the boat this way and that, becoming so turbulent that it made the vessel airborne for a few seconds before it hit the water once more. The ship rocked back and forth, causing the crates and other things below deck to scoot to the opposite side of the room and then back again. Yevon help the person stuck in a room with anything not strapped down.

As the boat rumbled and shook, Shana lost his footing. The summoner shrieked a loud, sharp cry of surprise as he fell over, toppling to the wooden floor beneath him, landing with an audible thud. He started to slip down the deck as the ship hit a wave, riding up it like a wagon would a hill, causing the deck to become very vertical. Just as the boy was about to slip out of his reach, Bilus reached forward, stretching his arm to the limit. He thought he wasn’t going to be able to grasp the younger boy’s hand, but just as the ship reached the end of the swell of water, and dropped back onto the rocky waters below, he wrapped his fingers tightly around the younger boy’s.

Passengers on the boat were screaming in terror. Several of them had fallen down, and those close to the ship’s edge were clinging to the rope rail desperately. Aaroka was on his rear, dazed and confused as the boat tossed and turned. Briruru was clinging to a rope wrapped around the ship’s mast, fighting to hang onto it for her own safety. The boat hit the water, and water splashed onto the deck and soaked most of the people on board thoroughly.

As they landed back onto the ocean, Shana crashed into Bilus roughly, pushing the Crusader up against the rope. As the water tilted the boat to one side, the summoner’s grip began to weaken. He latched his other hand to the railing as he slowly sled to his knees, and farther and farther away from Bilus. Finally, his finger’s slipped out of Bilus’s tight hold, and he fell toward the side of the ship. He shrilled an ear piercing shriek as he landed on one of the ship’s harpoon guns, all the wind in his body escaping him in a grunt of pain. Kimari jumped down from the platform above the cabin, jumping from spot to spot like a jackrabbit until she reached the cleric, and clung to the shorter teen.

As the ship leveled out, another swell of water arose from the ocean. It grew larger and larger until finally, a giant, abhorrent grey fin erupted from the waters, sending another wave of water crashing down onto the deck. The little S.S. Liki sailed alongside the giant fin momentarily, while the people onboard regained their balance and moved about the ship curiously, gawking at the giant appendage while the brighter passengers went below deck in fear.

“Sin!”

‘Sin? Not again. I sure hope my theory about people not surviving Sin twice was wrong.’

Several of the passengers gasped, scurrying to get below deck. A shirtless, muscular man with a sun tattoo on his arm ran for one of the harpoon cannons, grasping the handle and positioning it carefully before a very wet looking Aaroka jogged up to him, crying for him to stop.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, wiping beads of water from his face. “If you harpoon him, we’ll all die!” he said indignantly.

The shirtless man looked at the guardian over his shoulder, his face filled with aguish as he turned away, hanging his head. “Sin is going for Kilika! We gotta distract it!” he shouted hopelessly, banging his calloused hands on the cannon. Shana, with the aid of Kimari, and Bilus had approached the arguing pair, and looked to the tattooed man. “My lover... Our families! They live in Kilika! Please forgive me, Lord Summoner,” he said, his voice laced with regret.

Shana looked from the man to his guardians, which were now complete with the arrival of Briruru. Aaroka was mouthing ‘no’ to him, while Briruru and Bilus nodded sympathetically. He turned back to the man at the harpoon, and nodded. “WAIT!” Aaroka shouted, but it was far too late.

The tattooed man pulled on the cannon, falling back as the recoil knocked him down forcefully. “Oh man...” Aaroka groaned, covering his eyes with his faded yellow sleeve. The harpoon flew through the air, a large, thick chain right behind it. It struck the fin, digging into the repulsive looking flesh with a sickening ripping sound.

The ship shook with a start. It was pulled along at a much greater speed than it had been going, and rumbled violently. Water surged onto the deck once more as it accelerated with the speed of Sin’s fin. Just as Aaroka had said, the boat began to submerge than normal, but none of the deck, thankfully. Shana, Bilus and Kimari ran to the center of the deck as a wall of water crashed onto the deck, with Aaroka and Briruru hot on their tails. The shirtless man was clinging to the harpoon cannon once more, trying to keep it from being pulled off.

Kimari’s elfish ears twitched. She heard an odd screeching sound, and her head snapped around to figure out what exactly it was. On Sin’s fin, some of its revolting looking scales peeled off, changing shape in the air and turning into bug-like fiends. They glided on the wind, landing on the deck with a bang, destroying planks of wood.

Grasping the hilt of Fraternity, Bilus pulled the watery bladed sword from its sheath, holding it in front of him without fear. Aaroka pulled out his guns, and cocked them as he took aim at the monstrous fin. Briruru clung to her little puppet, Juliette, holding it like a small child as it held onto her as if it was frightened. Kimari readied her spear, steadying the long polearm as she growled. Shana took hold of his staff, and held it before him peacefully as he prayed for victory.
“Go!” Bilus shouted, pointing his sword at the three Sinscales in declaration of war.

The deck became a hectic scene of battle. Kimari rushed to the rightmost Sinscale, plunging her spear into its flesh. She twisted the blade of her weapon mercilessly, before she pulled it upward with all her might, splitting the bug-like fiend in two. She smiled, happy with her victory.

“Kim! Look out!” Briruru shouted.

Kimari turned to another of the scales just in time to be knocked over by a flurry of energy needles. They stung like hell, shoving her backwards a few feet. She howled in pain, falling over with the force of the spines. Aaroka readied one of his guns, aiming it at the Sinscale responsible for Kimari’s injury before he pulled the trigger.

“Elementillery!” he shouted, as the bullet soared through the air. He smiled as it struck the monster, erupting in flame. His ammo was bewitched, imbued with magical energy. He was about to blow the smoke from his gun proudly when he was hit with a wave of spines like Kimari had been.

“Shana!” Bilus shouted, looking over to the summoner. He was indicating for his charge to summon Valefor and end this battle. The brunette nodded, smiling.

“Right!” He shouted in reply. He twirled his staff around gracefully, the name of his Aeon just about to pass his lips. He danced around, waving his weapon around as the large purplish and greenish symbol of Besaid began to appear on the deck beneath him. He never got to finish the summoning, however. Another spine attack struck him, knocking him out of the magic of the summoning, and off of the ship. He screamed, before his body plummeted into the water with a loud splashing sound.

His four guardians gasped, shocked that the boy had fallen from the boat. Bilus yelled the summoner’s name, before he ran for the ship’s edge and jumped overboard. Soon, the remaining three guardians heard the splash of the Crusader hitting the water as well. Not too long afterward, the tattooed man fell from the harpoon cannon, falling backwards as it was ripped from the ship and into the ocean. The gigantic fin moved farther and farther away from the ship, getting closer to the island of Kilika.

Briruru looked over to the surviving Sinscale, her eyes filled with rage and the air around her swirling with magic. Fury coursed through her being, and she glared daggers at the offending buggy fiend before her. “This ends now,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. She dropped Juliette, letting the little marionette stand on her own two feet. They both took two steps forward, and the mage held her hands in front of her, focusing. Juliette copied her movements to a T, her yellow eyes closed like her master.

“Fire!”

Master and slave raised their hands to the heavens, fading behind a whirlwind of magic. Burst after burst of flame erupted from beneath the fiend, toasting, roasting, and melting its body until nothing was left. Once all that remained was a cloud of sighing pyreflies, the black mage ran to the ship’s rail, looking down at the ocean below, searching frantically for her summoner and the Crusader. Soon, she was joined by Aaroka and Kimari.





Not too far away from the ship, Shana was floating face up in the now calm waters. A few feet away, Bilus surfaced, looking around for the boy worriedly. His curly dark locks were wet and stuck to his face, and he had to blink his eyes a few times to adjust his vision. Finally, he spotted the summoner, who was knocked out and floating on the water’s surface.

He swam over to the unconscious Shana, and surveyed him for injury. He didn’t find any, but he reached into his pocket anyway, finding what he was looking for. He had a potion from the priest he had stashed securely in his back pocket, and now seemed like as good a time as any to use it. He tossed the small bottle into the air, and sliced at it with his sword, which he was still clinging to after the battle. The glass shattered, and the magical liquid within rained down on the guardian and the unconscious boy, glowing with white magic as it healed their wounds and restored their bodies.

Shana sputtered, coughing up water as he regained awareness. He tried to sit up, but sunk under the water a bit, and surfaced with another choking fit. Bilus grabbed the younger boy’s shoulders, calming him down enough for him to quit panicking. “B-Bilus, where’s the boat? Where are we?” he asked, frightened.

Bilus pointed over to the ship, which was a short swim away. “See?” Shana nodded, and followed the dark-haired boy as he swam toward the ship.





Meanwhile, in the village of Kilika, a young woman was outside enjoying the sunset with her children. She was sitting on a wooden bench overlooking the ocean, cradling her youngest, a baby girl, and watched as her twin sons played with a ball. The setting sun was painting the sky scarlet and lavender, and the small family was so enthralled with their outing that they did not notice the black shadow slowly looming over them.

In the ocean, no further than a few miles away, Sin was approaching. The large demonic creature was covered in a massive shield of water, hiding its form behind a tidal wave as he grew closer and closer toward the seaside village of Kilika. As the demon was finally close enough, he sent powerful shockwaves down his barrier of seawater, which connected with the ocean around him and spread out over the village.

The waves swallowed the boardwalk overlooking the ocean, and soon spread out over the rest of the village. As the walls of water tore the wooden docks apart, Sin’s demonic powers caused the debris to be absorbed toward it. When a wave decimated a house, the debris, and any unlucky victim within was sucked into the sky. A few villagers tried with all of their might to outrun the devastation, but eventually the dock beneath them was ripped out from under them, and they, too, were absorbed into the mayhem.

Soon, most of the city was engulfed in water. Anything capable of it was sucked into the air, joining a swirling whirlwind of corpses and debris above the demon, which was now out of ‘bubble’ for the survivors to see. He was a large, greyish mass of beast, with large jutting appendages and a giant fin coming from the top of its back, like a giant demonic shark. On its head were three tower-like structures, and it had about a million eyes located on its head. It floated above the surface of water, unmoving as the spiral of death slowed to a macabre eddy. All the while, a single ball floated along the now calm waters where a bench overlooking the ocean once was.





‘When Sin attacked that day, I had survived. But, today, I think a part of me died with Kilika. I had never witnessed firsthand the destructive power of Sin. It horrified me.’

Onboard the S.S. Liki, which was slowly approaching the ruins of Kilika, those with the will strong enough to look at the devastation were sitting or standing on the dock. Amongst them were a few passengers, who were dry because they had hid below deck when Sin first appeared.

Near the Captain’s Cabin, Shana sat, wearing next to nothing. His robes were drying, having been soaked by his trip into the sea. Though his white shirt and black briefs were no less wet, he didn’t feel like sitting around with a bunch of drenched robes clinging to him. His usually flippy hair was soaked and flat, and his once happy face was replaced by a dazed mask. In his lap sat his guardian Bilus, laying down on the summoner face up with his head in his lap. He, too, was letting his garments dry, resting and drying on the deck in a pair of blue undergarments.

If anyone had looked at the two, they might have said something as a joke, or possibly even cruel, but not right now. There was no time for amusement or spitefulness. The summoner stared out at the ruins of a once large seaside village, a tear falling down his cheek. He closed his eyes, and bowed his head. “I will defeat Sin. I have to defeat Sin.”

‘It was then, underneath the hot sun, out on the sea, almost naked and soaked like a drowned cat, that I realized I could have died. I could have died without knowing my past, without guarding Shana, or worse, I could have failed at guarding him. What if he had died? I don’t know what his other guardians would have done. But I do know I would have felt very broken. Even if we had only known each other a day or two, I believe his death would have hurt me. I don’t know if it was because he was my responsibility, or what, but it would have hurt.’
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