Snippet #1548081

When the Al Bhed came on board, Hizashi was furious. Not only did those heathens have the nerve to harass decent passengers, they were actually flaunting their machina right in front of a summoner! Obviously they didn't know that this was a holy pilgrimage, but they should have just stayed away. Edge wouldn't mind, because he was pretty relaxed about the Al Bhed, but there was a principle at stake.

No one liked the Al Bhed, anyway. They were good at fixing mechanical things and always had rare items on sale, but it was all due to their obsession with their devil machines. They were the reason that Sin kept coming back, and it was their fault that good people had to die fighting Sin - Summoners like Edge, and Crusaders like Hizashi's father. If the Al Bhed had just given up their infernal devices and respected the teachings of Yevon, maybe the Eternal Calm would have come by now.

When they first boarded the ship, Hizashi was ready for a fight, but the Al Bhed stopped and struck up a conversation with Cyrille, who replied in their ugly language. So she is an Al Bhed after all, Hizashi thought, a sick feeling in his stomach as he remembered how he had touched her. I should have let her drown. As the conversation went on, though, it became clear that Cyrille was not actually an Al Bhed, but someone who had spent quite a bit of time with them. She translated the Al Bhed speech for the benefit of the other passengers.

When the word 'machina' was mentioned, Hizashi spat. It was a risky move in front of the Al Bhed, but he wanted to send them the message that they couldn't just do whatever they liked and expect people to turn a blind eye. At one point in the conversation, the Al Bhed took an interest in Edge, and the word 'summoner' cropped up. Hizashi stepped protectively in front of Edge and folded his arms, glaring at the Al Bhed, his pulse racing. They would take Edge over Hizashi's dead body.

Cyrille spoke to them, though, and they seemed to lose interest and left.

We survived, thought Hizashi. Maybe Yevon is watching over us. But he still felt as though something bad was going to happen.

Night deepened, and the dancing ocean around them was mirrored above by a sea of brilliant stars.

Something struck the ship with enough force to make it tremble.

Hizashi dashed out of his cabin and ran in search of Edge.