Sick-cycle Carousel

Sick-cycle Carousel
By Maya Brisa

Disclaimer: All characters, names, and places are © Square-Enix and Testsuya Nomura.

Prologue

In the past month, the sacred Farplane received a many guest. Some were human, some Al Bhed, perhaps a few Ronso… and yet, the most received were the Guado. In the other tribes, the lives were lost as a result of the wrong place at the wrong time. The Guado, however, their losses were sacrificial… most of them had tossed themselves to the Farplane… in Seymour’s name, like sheep blindly following their shepherd.
After Seymour’s demise, and long awaited sending, the Guado fell into a state of disarray. Tromell-Guado, Seymour’s former advisor, thought that the Guado were doomed without a leader. Navara, one of the Guado youth and captain of the Guado Glories, was striving to become the leader. He patiently waited for Seymour to get out of the way. He wished to become the Lord of Guadosalam.
Tromell did not want the Guado to suffer, appointing a new Lord would remedy much of his people’s sorrow, and yet, he and the other elder Guado didn’t want a young blitzer to rule. The elder’s feared that, should a young Guado become Lord, their ancient tongue would be destroyed, their ancient traditions corrupted… and so on. Now comes a new breed...

Act I: Morning Glory

“Do you honestly believe that you can become the leader of our tribe by taking the cup?” Pah asked.
“Of course, it’s all in the bag.” Nav replied, draping one of his lanky arms over his own lap. Pah looked at his captain with curiosity as he sat across from him on one of the many benches in the locker room. Auda stepped over from his locker and plopped down beside Pah, staring at Nav.
“You know, the elders will look down on you for the rest of their lives.” There was a moment of silence, it took the rest of them a while to register what Auda just said. Auda began to snicker, then the others followed suit. The elders didn’t have much time left. Noy broke the laughter with a question. He was in the middle of stretching, he always had been the most serious on the team. Well, other than Nav.
“Where are Zazi and Giera? The game will start soon…” Navara turned slightly on his bench to address Noy.
“I sent Zazi to register our team at the front desk, and Giera went with him.”
“Hum… they should have been back by now.” Noy resumed his stretches, but then looked up, “Knowing my brother, he’s probably running laps around the docks.”
“Yeah, he probably dragged Giera along with him. The fool can’t seem to do anything without him.” Pah chuckled as he stood to pop his shoulders. The team began to wander toward the doors to the Sphere Pool entrance. Suddenly, the huddle formation was interrupted by Giera and Zazi, as they came through the other door.
“We miss anything important?” Zazi asked, grabbing a near-by towel to dry his sweat dewed forehead.
“Not really, we were just about to think you guys had gotten lost, tsk, almost called the whole game off.” Nav replied, casting a suspicious glare at Zazi.
“Are you serious?” Giera squeaked, feeling bad already.
“Just kidding,” Nav smirked, he watched relief wash over Giera’s features. “What took you guys so long? Are we registered?”
“Yeah, a long time ago. Giera and I were running laps along the docks.” Zazi grinned and tossed the towel to Giera. Pah and Noy couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Zazi asked, he always had to know everything, whether it was trivial or not. Navara laughed as well and pointed his thumb in their direction.
“Noy and Pah here, know you pretty well.” Nav gave a cheesy smile and motioned for Zazi and Giera to join the huddle.
“All right. This is the first game in the league. If we win this whole thing, recognition for all of us. If we lose… well, that’s a Fira spell on all your asses!” he smiled and continued, “Now, what are the Guado Glories going to do for the upcoming games in the league?”
“Win!” shouted Noy, Pah, Auda and Giera. Zazi being the difficult team member that he is, shouted. “Lose!” Navara shot Zazi a wicked glare and yelled, “Traitor!! Tack’im, boys.” Moments later, the four that had shouted “win”, each grabbed one of Zazi’s limbs. Navara stood before the detained, difficult, team member, “You do this every time. When will you learn? But… we do know you have the hots for Bickson!” Nav laughed and reached his hand to the top of Zazi’s head; he doubled it and pushed out three knuckles. “Ah, you know we love ya, Zaz. Regrettably, you didn’t answer my question…” he sighed deeply, as if it were a very serious matter, “What are the Guado Glories going to do?” He proceeded to give Zazi’s head, the noogie of its lifetime. Zazi grunted in discomfort but remained all the more stubborn to answer correctly.
“Come on, Zaz, I can’t hear you! What are the Guado Glories going to do?” Nav heightened the level of the noogie so that it was painful. The other Guado just stood there, holding Zazi. They all four had shit-eating grins on their faces. Zazi squirmed in their tight grips. Finally, he could take no more ridicule, and began whining.
“Oww! Okay-okay! Win! The Guado Glories are gonna win!!!!?
“Thank you.” Navara sneered, discontinuing the treacherous noogie. “We have two minutes, let’s get out there and do our magic! Usual game plan, get the ball, give’em a swim workout, and goal. Work together.” Nav nodded, his leader qualities and confidence were always to be admired. “When we get on D, Flat-line them. It’s all good. Let’s go!” He clapped his hands and stepped over to open the door to the lower level of the stadium. He smiled at his players, even though they were the least popular of the Blitz Ball teams, they walked and played with pride. Nothing could take that away. May the best team win.

Act II: Let the Games Begin

The Blitz Ball game started poorly. Noy was lagging quite heavily at the goal, and Zazi and Giera just didn’t have their minds in the game. First half seemed like a disaster. The opposing team was the Ronso Fangs, they were the bulkiest team on the roster. In previous games, at the exhibitions, the Guado Glories never paid heed to their mass, they knew that they were fast enough to swim donuts around the Ronso.
Pah and Auda were working double time, trying to make up for the others’ slacking. Nav acted as if he was oblivious to the whole failure of his team. He’d let them think that he didn’t know. Even if they were aware, they all knew what hell they would witness in the privacy of the locker room.
Zazi’s duty was to get the ball at the start of every round, but he was missing his opportunity most of the time. When he did get the ball, he passed it off to Giera who was way back in right field, the distance was great. Zazi took the pass anyway. Giera went to catch it, but the speed of the pass had depleted too much and he fumbled it, giving the Ronso the offense.
When the Glories received defense, Navara signaled for Flat-Line. This technique was more of a desperate attempt to keep the Ronso from scoring. To his weary eyes, the tech worked. The Glories got the offense back, and scored. The score-board now showed: Ronso Fangs: 3 and the Guado Glories: 1. Zazi scrambled up and managed to get the ball again, this time, he passed it to Pah in left field. Pah swam the ball to Navara, with half of the Ronso team behind him. The Glories had scurried about the sphere pool, to create another offense. Nav received the ball and quickly darted to the goal.
There were no Ronso in his way, all but the goal keeper. It was a stand off… Nav narrowed his eyes, he could hear his heart beat inside his head. The thick loud current of the oncoming regime of Ronso were not far behind him… he raised his arms-with ball in hand, and drew his right leg back. Navara took the shot. The announcer, Bobba, could be heard from his commentator box, yelling. “Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaal!”
Nav smiled, they weren’t winning, like they should have been… but at least they had a chance in the second half. His smile faded as his golden eyes caught view of Zazi… he snarled and quickly got his team into formation to exit the pool.
Halftime was a scary moment for the Glories. Even of they were winning… Nav could still pin-point mistakes. Nav always showed his true self in the locker room during half time-a fire-breathing dragon.
“What in the blue fuck was that?! We looked like those stupid-ass percussionists from the Yevon band! It was a circus out there!” As stated before, Nav seemed like a dragon, the words spouting from his mouth like fire. “Pah, I need you to do some smoother passing, you’re a little slow today too. Remember our practices!” he cleared his throat, “Auda, you’re doing great, keep it up!” his face shifted from player to player, to address them accordingly.
“Noy, get the damn anvils off of your feet, I want to see some catching! The Fangs cannot score anymore! We’re losing!” he paused before he craned his head toward the others, he remained silent as if taking a moment to ignite the torch in his throat. “Zazi and Giera!!!!” the fire was twice as violent, “I don’t even want to know what you two have been smoking! You’re both pathetic! Gi, you fumbled four passes… not all your fault…” he directed his fiery golden eyes toward Zazi, “If Zazi had been making acceptable passes!!!! You idiot! Since when do we pass to someone who is an entire sphere pool away?!” Zazi interrupted, trying to defend himself, “Well, I---!” Nav overpowered his meek little attempt, and shouted. “WE DON’T! Get your fuckin’ acts together!” he glanced at the clock; one minute left. “Now let’s get out there… and kick some Ronso ass!!” The whole team nodded, yes, even Zazi. The pep talk seemed to be very effective. The details of second half are as follows: “The Guado Glories made a come back in the sphere pool during second half. Their speed and passing game went unmatched to the Ronso Fangs. I don’t think I want to know what happened in that locker room, Jimma… Whatever it was, good job, and good luck to the Glories!” Nav’s team won the first game in the league. There were only nine more until the grand tournament would ensue!
After the game, Navara thought it would be nice if he treated his team to a drink at the café. The victory had been well earned after all. The Luca docks werewdedwded with people from all over Spira. Most of them were fans of the Luca Goers. The Glories paid no heed, they didn’t need fans, and they simply loved to win. They would receive no praise upon returning home to Guadosalam, most were still shaken by the past few months. It was understandable, of course, a lot had happened… and yet, some just needed to get over the personal losses and move on. Sin was gone, what could be more wonderful than that?
“Okay, it looks like you guys pulled your heads out of your asses just in time.” Nav curled his lips into a winning grin, “Who’s up for a drink at the Sports Bar?” all but Zazi waved a hand. He had other plans. Nav shrugged as he noted that Zazi didn’t want to join. Which was fine, more alcohol for himself. “Suit yourself. Catch ya later at the Inn.” Donned in his Guado robes, he walked out of the locker room, the team not far behind… Giera was just about to follow the others out, when a hand belonging to Zazi snapped out around his wrist. “Hey?! Za---Oh!?” Giera squeaked, getting dragged back ithe the locker room. The door slammed shut, not another sound was heard.
“Giera?” asked Pah, turning to look back. “Odd…” he shrugged and then jogged to catch up with his team mates, who were in quite a rush to get to the Bar.
“Giera didn’t want to come either?” Auda asked, walking beside Pah.
“I guess not, maybe he isn’t feeling well… Nav did rip their heads off.”
“Yeah…” Auda looked at the ground. “Hey… have you noticed that Zazi and Giera are always… well… together?”
“Now that you mention it… I have. I wonder what’s going on?” Pah narrowed his eyes. Auda took a moment to reply… he didn’t know any answers.
“Who knows… it’s none of our business anyway.” Auda concluded, Pah then nodded in agreement. Pah’s mind drifted into the realms of possibility though. Zazi has never passed up an opportunity to go to the bar, especially when some one else is paying. Perhaps Zazi is practicing in the pool… but, he couldn’t be today, they shut it down early. What is Giera doing? He isn’t one to pass up the bar either… Is it just coincidence that they both happened to pass it up? Pah shook his head and continued to follow his captain through the Lucan walkways. The others just don’t seem to care, or suspect anything for that matter. They know that once they arrive at the bar, they can wash the worries of the day away, with a few drinks. Pah could already see what was going to happen. Nav and Noy would probably get smashed while bragging about the victory… Pah realized that maybe it was a good thing that Zazi wasn’t coming today… he had started many bar room brawls in the past. He never did know when to keep his mouth shut.