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batsutousaiTitle: Twin Blades
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Final Fantasy X
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta:tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: M/R
Pairings: Harry/Tidus (with a side of practically everybody/Harry)
Warnings: OoC, AU, playboy!Harry, NON-SPARKLY-vampire!Harry
Summary: Harry was shunned by his own people because of a bitter vampire and continued living long after England was just a pile of rubble. He watches his world become Spira and finally sets out again to save the world.
Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers and Square Enix. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.
A/N: There is some Al Bhed in this chapter which isn't actually translated, though the basic meaning is explained. If you really want to know what it says, word-for-word, use a translator. ^.~
-0-
Depth
-0-
Wakka might have resisted more, but it had gotten dark and the younger travellers were all tired by the time they reached the Al Bhed shop. Wakka had taken a moment to stare up at the sign above the shop and managed to say, "But this is an Al Bh–" before Harry reached over and shoved Wakka just enough to make him fall over, which wasn't very hard.
"You only get rights to complain about our chosen rest stop if you can keep walking to a new one," Harry said drily, then reached down and pulled Wakka to his feet, where he swayed a bit. "Go inside. Come on..." Harry sighed and led the man into the shop, Lulu trailing behind. Auron had gone ahead of them with Tidus, Yuna and Kimahri, and they'd already gotten rooms together.
Harry handed Wakka off to Kimahri, who led the four younger travellers back to the two rooms they'd gotten. Auron turned to Harry and motioned him outside, where they came to a stop in a small hill overlooking the ocean. "Yes?" the red-clad warrior asked, having guessed that Harry wanted to ask something when he didn't take Wakka back himself.
Harry flopped down on the hill. "You know this road better than I do," he admitted, "so I'm wondering if you know the next best place to rest." He glanced up at Auron. "And keep in mind that those kids probably can't manage another day like these past few have been."
Auron nodded. "I'm almost considering letting them rest for a day," he said. "Even Kimahri could use the rest at this point. The next good stopping point on this road is Djose, and I know we can't make it there in a day. Certainly not with Yuna, Wakka, Lulu and Tidus."
Harry nodded. "So we'll have to camp out at least one night anyway. Might as well give them a day of rest before roughing it." He rubbed at his forehead. "In which case, I might go disappear for a day."
Auron frowned. "Why?"
"There's a cave series that you can, technically, only get to from the ocean, and even then it's perilous. Some people who got out of Zanarkand before I went to sleep decided to hide out there, including a couple friends of mine. I want to go see if that colony survived Sin."
"How do you intend to get to them without a boat?" Auron asked.
Harry grinned. "I can climb the cliffs, though a normal human wouldn't be able to manage it, and not just because a misstep could mean their death."
Auron nodded. "I will tell the others tomorrow that you're on another side trip, then."
"Excellent!" Harry hopped to his feet and pulled out his map of Spira. "Now, maybe you can tell me what is right here?"
Auron looked over the map. "Mushroom Rock Road. I was under the assumption that it existed in your time."
Harry cocked his head at the map. "Probably did," he agreed, "but Bevelle's guard watched the roads around here, because of Luca, and I never made it up much farther than this before I would get shot and tossed into the ocean." He snorted. "Paranoid bastards."
Auron blinked. "How were they able to recognise you?"
Harry shrugged. "Yu made me a diplomat practically as soon as he was voted in as our leader. I would assume, after the first time Bevelle had me killed for suggesting they stop hostilities and I came back, they made sure every one of their people knew my face. Presumably to shoot me a couple times and toss me back in the river." He chuckled.
Auron shook his head. "Mushroom Rock Road meets Mi'ihen about here," he said, pointing down at Harry's map. "There's a small gate there, but they don't make a policy of stopping travellers, and it's not like you're a wanted man now..."
Harry nodded and folded his map back up. "Brilliant. Okay, then I'll see everyone tomorrow-ish. And if Tidus and Yuna start freaking out again," he rolled his eyes while Auron chuckled, "shoot them with a sleeping spell and they'll get over it."
Auron nodded. "Go on. Before you're late."
Harry snickered, then dashed off into the night, leaving Auron shaking his head behind him.
-0-0-0-
At the gate, one of the sleepy Crusaders told him that one of the roads were out, but there was another way across, so Harry decided to not worry about it until he came by with the party. He did thank the man, though, before hurrying down the path.
It didn't take him long to find an unoccupied section of wall, especially so late at night, and quickly started scaling it, occasionally having to shoot a fiend that thought he looked like easy prey.
At the top of the rocks, he took a moment to figure out where he really was, then made for the section of wall against the ocean he knew the colony had been placed in.
The cliff seemed much thinner than he'd remembered thinking it was when he first saw the caves from the ocean, but that didn't mean it actually was, and with the sun coming up at his back, he couldn't hope to see through the shadows. So Harry shrugged and started down the cliff.
About halfway down the cliff, he transferred his weight to a rock he couldn't see, but had thought was steady, and the rock promptly fell out from under him. Harry just sort of groaned as he plummeted to his death.
Out of nowhere, a hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping his decent. Harry used his free hand to pull himself up on to the ledge, where he was met with curious green eyes with a swirl inside.
"Al Bhed?" he murmured, blinking. He wished he'd taken the time to learn more Al Bhed than he had when he lived in Zanarkand, but he honestly hadn't considered it to be important at the time.
"Yna oui risyh, un veaht?" the man asked.
Harry blinked and rubbed at his forehead. He knew 'oui' meant you, and he was pretty sure 'risyh' meant human, but beyond that, he was lost. So he just decided to go with the one word he knew without a doubt, friend: "Vneaht." He pointed at himself, then sighed and said, "I don't suppose you have anyone who speaks Common?"
The man blinked at him, then turned around and yelled, "Maki!"
An older woman with long white hair toddled forward and blinked slowly at Harry. "You speak only Common?"
Harry sighed in relief and nodded. "I learned about, oh, six words of Al Bhed a few years ago, but that's it."
Maki nodded, then turned to the man who had grabbed Harry. "Ra'c risyh, yht caasc cyva. Caa ev oui lyh kad res cusa vuut."
"Oac!" the man replied easily, then hurried back into the shadows of the cave.
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the woman. "Please tell me you told him to get me some food, not make me into food?"
Maki laughed and waved him forward. "He was concerned you were a fiend," she explained. "I told him you were human and then, yes, asked him to get you some food."
Harry chuckled. "Brilliant."
"Come," Maki requested. "Tell me what brings you falling into our arms."
Harry followed her to a stone table and took a seat with her. "Some survivors of Zanarkand came here before Sin destroyed it," he explained, "and I came to see if they were still alive."
Maki nodded. "I am descended from them," she replied, then continued, expecting Harry's next question, "An Al Bhed boat crashed against the reef below almost three centuries ago and the people here brought them in. So most of us are half-human, half-Al Bhed."
Harry smiled. "Ah. I had wondered how else you all were going to survive a thousand years of inbreeding." He grimaced. "How many are you, now? I believe the starting colony consisted of thirty people."
Maki blinked in surprise. "We're about sixty strong now," she said. "But, how did you know how many were here when the colony started off? Our records have no numbers, and we know that all record of this colony was supposed to be destroyed, so Bevelle never found out."
"Ah... And so it was," Harry agreed, then turned to the man who brought him a bowl of stew and thanked him in Al Bhed before turning back to the old woman. "Please, forgive me my manners. I'm Lord Harry Potter, diplomat of Zanarkand to Bevelle."
Maki stared for a long moment, then shook her head in disbelief. "Our records said there was a Lord of Zanarkand who was supposedly immortal, but we'd thought he was a myth..."
Harry chuckled. "I'm afraid not. I would have come by sooner to check on the colony, but I've been sleeping by Besaid for the past thousand years." He shrugged. "I promised one of the original colonists, Reis, that I would come check on the colony after the war was over, but neither of us thought it would take me so long." He rubbed at his face. "For that, I'm sorry."
Maki shook her head, more awed than disbelieving. "Reis was my ancestor," she whispered. "She often spoke of a 'Harry' in her journals. My family and I had long wondered if it was the same as the immortal Lord Harry, but we weren't sure." She smiled. "She spoke so fondly of you."
"And I of her," Harry admitted. "Reis was one of my two closest friends in Zanarkand, Yu Yevon being the other." He shook his head. "Was she happy here? In the end?"
Maki nodded. "She was, my Lord."
Harry shook his head. "No, no, please! The only people who use my title now are the fayth, and that's only because I haven't been able to talk them out of it." He smiled grimly. "The Zanarkand I was a Lord of is long gone now, and I don't much wish to be a Lord of ruins."
Maki sighed. "So the Al Bhed spoke true? Zanarkand was destroyed?"
Harry nodded. "That's what the fayth tell me, at least. I'm journeying there now, with a summoner on her pilgrimage. I intend to see it for myself."
Maki sighed sadly. "Would that I could see it myself," she whispered. "But I'm afraid I will die here, in these stones." She smiled at him. "Not all of us can scale walls without the fear of death, Lord Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes at the title, but let it go, as he had with Cary. "I'll try and find a way to get you out of here," he promised. "It's the least I can do, for leaving you here for so long."
Maki inclined her head. "For myself, I am content," she said, "but if you can find a way to get the children and the younger adults from here, I would be very grateful."
Harry nodded. "I'll do my best. Now, why don't you show me around? And perhaps teach me some more Al Bhed! I seem to be meeting them a lot more now than I did a thousand years ago."
Maki laughed and slowly climbed to her feet. "I think I can do that," she agreed.
-0-0-0-
Harry had ended up spending the night with the Al Bhed and human colony, as the introductions and the learning of the Al Bhed language had taken long enough for the sun to start setting, and Harry was talked out of climbing back up the cliff by the Al Bhed man who had caught him, Rivhen.
However, once everyone in the camp had fallen asleep, Harry left a note next to Maki's pad and left, scaling the cliffs with much more ease than he'd had while going down them.
While he'd been on top of the rocks the day before, he'd seen what had appeared to be a much shorter drop, so Harry made his way over and dropped to a ledge with a pile of bones next to it. "Lovely," he muttered, then walked over to where a magical elevator waiting to take him back down to the main level of the road sat.
Curious, he went the extra distance to see the reason for the other road being out and stared in horror at the mess. There were a few dead bodies still – clearly there hadn't been a summoner around when the devastation occurred – as well as the mess of a command tent under some rocks and a large lightning cannon at his feet, probably salvaged from somewhere in Bevelle.
"Here," an old man said from next to Harry, "the Crusaders and the Al Bhed joined forces to destroy Sin, but it was too much for them, leaving behind this..."
Harry glanced over at the old story-teller, Maechen. He vaguely remembered the man from Zanarkand, and he had a feeling he was dead, like Auron. "Did they expect it to work?" he asked.
"They hoped it would. But the Maesters of Yevon, despite appearing to back the program up, laughed over the dead afterwards, saying it was worth it to be rid of a few unbelievers."
Harry hissed angrily. "There must be something about Bevelle," he growled, "that attracts the bastards of society."
"Yes," Maechen agreed. "This is not the first time Bevelle has hosted a party bent on destroying a people."
Harry jerked his head back away from the beach again to look at the story-teller. "Bevelle is attempting to destroy another people?"
"Yevon's maesters intend to obliterate the Al Bhed Home within the week. They are tired of the machina, and the Al Bhed's refusal to bow to them." Maechen smiled sadly. "They are also the most likely suspects for the kidnapping of summoners, and the people of Spira clamour for something to be done."
Harry closed his eyes. "Another people, another way of life, gone..." he whispered. "And there's nothing I can do about it!" He kicked a rock angrily onto the beach.
Maechen rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. "Are not your companions staying even now at an Al Bhed travel agency?"
Harry turned to stare at the man, wide-eyed, then leaned forward and kissed him on his nose. "Maechen, you're brilliant!" he declared, then turned and ran back towards the little travel agency.
-0-0-0-
Harry made it back just as the sun was rising, and dashed into the building. He stopped at the counter, waving a hello back to the members of his party who were already up, then demanded of the woman standing there, "Is the shop's owner here?"
The woman blinked at him in shock, then nodded. "Yes, but he's probably sleeping."
"This is urgent," Harry insisted. "It may very well mean the future of his people."
The woman gasped, then turned and hurried away from the counter.
"Harry?" Yuna asked, coming to stand at his elbow. Behind her, he could see Auron, Kimahri and Lulu. "What's going on?"
"Bevelle is trying to start another war," he said grimly, then turned back to where the woman was leading out a tired man with blond hair. "You are the owner?" he asked.
The man nodded. "I am Rin."
"Do you have a way to get in contact with Home?" Harry asked, smiling grimly when the man's eyes widened. "I heard a rumour that Yevon is planning an attack on it, for various reasons that sound like their sort."
"Is rumour sufficient cause for waking Master Rin from bed?" the woman demanded.
Harry met Rin's gaze firmly, then said, "I heard it from a reliable source. Please. I can't see another people destroyed," in Al Bhed. He stumbled a bit over his pronunciation, but felt it was pretty good, considering he'd only spent a day with people who spoke it. Admittedly, Al Bhed wasn't that hard to learn, just pronounce.
Rin stiffened, then nodded. "I will send word," he agreed.
Harry nodded, then turned to Yuna and gently led her back to where they'd been sitting when he came in. Once everyone had taken seats, he said, "Yuna, do you remember when those Al Bhed kidnapped you during the game?" Yuna nodded while the other three guardians narrowed their eyes. "It's not the first time a summoner has been kidnapped, and while Yevon has no proof, who would most people assume were kidnapping summoners?"
"The Al Bhed," Lulu answered when Yuna just shook her head. "They use the forbidden machina, and turned from Yevon."
Harry nodded grimly. "Exactly. There was recently a battle with Sin on Mushroom Rock Road – we'll be passing it, I'm afraid – and the Crusaders and Al Bhed used machina." He closed his eyes. "They were destroyed."
"Surely the maesters wouldn't have allowed–"
"According to Maechen, there were maesters there," Harry said softly, cutting the summoner off. "They laughed over the loss of lives, only because they died using machina." He looked up at Lulu. "Forbidden machina."
"Proof that Yevon is right," Auron commented. "To use machina means you'll be killed. The faithful will survive."
Harry laughed bitterly. "Bevelle, back in the Machina Wars, had been known to 'accidently' bomb one of the towns on their side because they weren't supportive enough. It was a bit of a joke in Junon about whether that was the real cause behind the misaimed missile that destroyed most of the original city."
"That's horrible," Yuna whispered.
Harry offered her a crooked smile. "Very little wasn't, then. It was war, and war is always horrible to behold. My people had a saying, 'All's fair in love and war'."
They all sat in silence for a long while before Tidus finally came out and hurried over, saying, "Harry! You're back!"
Harry grinned at the teen. "Did you miss me while I was gone?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, completely ignoring the exasperated look on Lulu's face.
Tidus just rolled his eyes and took a seat. "So, did you find what you were looking for? Auron wouldn't say why you left."
Harry chuckled and nodded. "Yes. A colony descended from some of the people who managed to get out of Zanarkand before the end. Some Al Bhed washed up near their caves at one point, so now they're all part Al Bhed, as well. It's quite the interesting community."
"Awesome!"
"Wait, so is that where you learned Al Bhed?" Yuna asked.
Harry nodded. "Only one or two of the colonists know Common, so it was kind of important for me to learn a bit more. I knew, oh, five or six words from Zanarkand, but the Al Bhed mostly stayed out of the war, helping neither side, so it wasn't vital." He chuckled. "Probably the wisest of all of us."
"You said you can't get to the colony except from the water?" Auron asked.
Harry sobered and nodded. "Those Al Bhed are the only people they've seen since Yu decided to leave them there. I promised to find a way to get them out."
"We could rent a boat from Luca," Yuna suggested.
Harry shook his head. "The boats of today won't be able to reach them. Not without tearing out the keel. There's a reef beneath the entrances. No, we'd probably either need a set of grappling hooks set up over the cliff edge. If there were still airships, I'd suggest that, but there aren't any, so we'll have to find another way."
"Did you get them in there by airship?" Tidus asked.
Harry snorted. "Are you kidding? If we came into their airspace, Bevelle would have shot us down." He shook his head. "No. The ocean was higher then, by just enough, and we made boats differently, too. They managed it one night when the tide was in, but it was a close thing."
"So we need an airship," Tidus said, nodding. "I'll keep an eye out."
Harry chuckled and leaned over to hug the boy, making him squawk. "You are just too cute!"
"Lemme go!"
The fun was interrupted by Wakka, who chose then to come out and ask about breakfast. Since Harry and Tidus hadn't had anything yet, either, they all got a couple pastries to go and started back on their way towards Mushroom Rock Road.
-0-0-0-
They made camp at the gate between the two roads and Harry passed on his warning about the state of the beach to Tidus and Wakka. After everyone but Auron was asleep, Harry wandered off to find a nameless stranger to feed from, then came back to sleep himself, ignoring Auron's amused look.
The next morning, they set out again, passing the Crusaders with a nod to their warnings. They kept a brisk pace, because Auron said there wasn't a good place to camp along the road until they got to Djose, and Yuna wanted to get the the temple at a reasonable time, so she could pray for the next aeon without having to wake the monks. Harry told her she was too nice, but she just ignored him.
When they came upon the beach, Harry was relieved to see that the few leftover bodies had finally passed on – or succumbed to becoming fiends – so that was one less horror for his party to see yet again.
"This is horrible," Yuna whispered from where they were standing atop the fallen lightning cannon and looking over the beach.
"I'm sure the immediate aftermath was worse," Auron decided quietly, then started down the cannon to where someone had stacked some crates they could climb down to the beach.
The party quietly followed the red-clad man, but they quickly realised that neither Lulu nor Yuna could comfortably climb down the boxes with their skirts, so Kimahri hopped down and helped the girls over the side. Once everyone was on the beach, Auron took the lead back to the other half of the road and they kept going.
Djose temple looked like they'd spent the days after the battle caring for the wounded, but they happily opened their arms to the summoner's party and promised to have rooms ready when they got back from the fayth.
The Cloister of Trials, Harry decided, was the most amazing thing ever. He cheerfully let himself get shocked seven or eight times, much to the horror and amusement of the party. Once Yuna had gotten Ixion, Harry bemoaned the lost chance at playing with his favourite power source.
"We still have to cross the Thunder Plains," Auron drily pointed out as they walked towards the rooms the monks led them to. "There's always a storm there."
Harry's eyes lit up. "Lightning?" he half-pleaded.
"Constantly," Auron assured him.
Harry did a little happy dance in the hallway, making the monk look at him oddly, while the males of the party shook their heads and walked into their room. The girls had already left them at that point, shown to their own room by another monk.
Once they were all situated and ready to sleep, Tidus walked over to Harry and asked, "How are you? For blood?"
Harry blinked at the teen, then grinned. "You are just too cute!" he decided, and kissed Tidus on the cheek.
Tidus bore the indignity with the air of someone who was starting to get used to it. Across the room, however, Wakka called, "Take your displays outside!"
Harry snickered. "If it bothers you, Wakka, you can ignore us. Unless you're jealous?" He had to duck the red-head's blitzball at that. Chuckling, he looked back at Tidus. "I'm fine, thank you."
Tidus frowned at him. "Did you feed from someone else?" he demanded quietly.
Harry's eyes sparkled. "Are you jealous?"
Tidus opened and closed his mouth a few times before spinning around and starting towards his own bed.
Harry hurried around the boy and stopped him, raising his chin to meet the murky blue eyes, then sighed. "You are," he murmured. "Oh, Tidus..." He shook his head, not sure how to explain his need to do more than just grind against his partner sometimes, or the fact that humans didn't regenerate blood fast enough for Tidus to be his only donor.
Tidus tugged his head away. "It's doesn't matter," he groused.
Harry huffed. "It does," he insisted, then used the boy's chin again to lift his head up to a place where he could reach his mouth and kissed him.
Tidus almost considered pulling away, but ended up kissing back instead, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, feeling his long braid brush against his fingers.
After a moment, Harry pulled away and waved a hand at the light switch to turn it off, to chuckles from Auron and a relieved sigh from Wakka. Harry just rolled his eyes at their travelling companions before unerringly leading Tidus to the boy's bed and laying down with him. "Just sleep with me?" he asked.
Tidus buried his face against the vampire's bare chest and nodded, so Harry wrapped his arms around the younger guardian and closed his eyes, easily drifting off.
-0-0-0-
Harry was up before Tidus again, but his absence meant Auron couldn't tease them, so Tidus decided not to be bothered by it. Anyway, he reasoned, Harry didn't need as much sleep, so he was always going to get up sooner or go to sleep later.
They started out for the Moonflow shortly before noon and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon. When it started getting dark, they made camp and sat around the fire, chattering happily about their childhoods. Harry shared fond memories of his school years, while Tidus and Wakka talked blitzball and Yuna exclaimed over her memories of growing up in Besaid. If anyone noticed Auron, Kimahri and Lulu's silence, they didn't mention it.
The next morning, they reached the Moonflow. Tidus exclaimed over it, while Harry looked the river over with a frown.
Eventually, Yuna noticed her oldest guardian's frown and said, "Harry? What's wrong?"
Harry motioned to the river. "There used to be a beautiful city here," he said. "Aquaria."
"That's because they built it over a river, ya?" Wakka offered. "It broke. Just goes to show you, there's no reason to build a city across water, other than proving you could."
Harry rose and eyebrow at the red-head. "Are you done?" he asked, once Wakka was finished with his rant.
"Were you ever in Aquaria?" Tidus asked.
Harry smiled. "I was. It was neutral ground in the war, because they were able to grow superior fruits and vegetables here – something to do with the river," he adding, eyeing Wakka. "The bridges which the city was built on, you might be interested to know, where originally meant to help people cross the Moonflow, because it's too narrow for a boat in parts. Eventually, the people of Spira came through here so often, a city grew up, and there wasn't room on the banks without cutting down the trees, so they built it on the river."
"That's kind of cool," Yuna admitted. "Do you really think the bridges broke, though?"
Harry nodded. "I've no doubt. The bridges weren't meant to hold a city – as I said, they were built for foot traffic – and while the people of Aquaria did shore them up a lot, we all knew it wouldn't last." He shrugged. "If Bevelle and Zanarkand hadn't been so busy trying to kill each other, they might have found an actual solution."
Wakka huffed. "Well, who cares their reason. It was still stupid."
Harry shook his head in amusement and cast a few spells on himself to keep his things from getting destroyed, then said, "I'll meet you lot on the other side, yeah?"
"Another fayth?" Kimahri guessed.
Harry grinned madly. "Yup!" Then he ran through the group and dove into the water.
Auron shook his head. "Let's keep moving," he decided.
Laughing or rolling their eyes, the rest of the party followed.
-0-0-0-
Harry had to slash a few fiends in the water, but it was otherwise pretty calm. He did have some trouble figuring out where things were, however, as the city was now underwater and he'd only visited it once. When he finally did figure out where things were again, he swam towards the other bank, where the temple had been located.
Partway there, Harry came across a functional submersill, which had been used in places like Aquaria to fix the supports underwater or put in sewage pipes. But finding one down here, after the city had fallen, meant someone was using one, and Harry only knew of one people who used machina.
Harry swam over to the back door of the machina and used a bit of magic to open it, then swam in. He waited for the water to drain then, pulling out a gun, opened the door and stepped into the control room.
There was no one there, so Harry put his gun away and moved quickly to the control panel. The writing was in a shorthand used only in Bevelle, but Harry had studied it enough that he was easily able to figure the machine out. He opened the viewer for the front and back of the vehicle, then set about locking the controls to only answer to a passphrase, which he made his son's name, since no Al Bhed would know it.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see a woman in a red water suit swimming towards him with a passed out Yuna. Eyes narrowed, Harry turned in the chair and cocked both of his guns at the door where the two females would have to come through.
When the door opened, Harry commented, "You might want to let the summoner go, before I shoot you."
The Al Bhed gently set Yuna to one side and held her hands up. "I don't mean her any harm. And how did you get down here so fast?!"
Harry chuckled and waved a spell at Yuna to wake her, keeping his guns aimed at the Al Bhed. When he heard a groan, he asked, "Okay there, sweetheart?"
"Harry! Thank goodness!" Yuna replied, sitting up and looking around. "Where are we?"
"This would be an old Bevelle submersill," Harry replied easily.
"You mean they actually have a name?" the Al Bhed exclaimed.
Harry and Yuna both blinked in surprise. "You speak Common?" the summoner demanded.
The Al Bhed nodded, then pointed nervously behind Harry. "We've got company."
Harry half turned, keeping one gun on the woman. When he saw Wakka and Tidus, he sat one of his guns in his lap and rapidly typed out a few orders, then said, "Tidus, Wakka? If you can hear me, give this damned machina a thumbs up."
Tidus and Wakka both stopped, looking surprised, then glanced at each other, shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up.
Harry chuckled. "Brilliant. Wasn't sure this sound system would work. I've got Yuna, she's fine, but I'm not fond of sending her back up through the water. Will you two go back up to the... oh, hell, what are they called?" He glanced over at Yuna.
"Shoopuf," she supplied.
"Right, the shoopuf. Let everyone else know we're fine and we'll meet them on the other bank."
In the water, Tidus and Wakka looked at each other again. After a moment, Tidus looked back at the machina and motioned to himself, then to where Harry and party was.
Harry considered the request: Tidus coming with would make the place rather cramped, but it would be nice to have someone keeping an eye on the Al Bhed so Harry could use both hands. "Yeah, come on in. There's a door in the back that should be unlocked. Wakka, good luck."
Wakka saluted, then made again for the surface, while Tidus swam around to the back door.
Once the water had drained, Harry opened the door to the cabin and said, "Sorry for the cramped space."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Tidus replied, slipping around the Al Bhed.
Harry grinned at him, then handed the boy his gun. "Keep this pointed at her head," he ordered. "If she starts acting up, pull the trigger."
Tidus grimaced, but took the gun anyway. "Don't act up," he suggested to the girl.
The Al Bhed girl sighed. "Can I take off my suit, at least?" she requested.
Harry spun in his chair and considered her for a long moment before nodding.
The girl was about half undressed when Tidus squeaked, "Rikku?!"
"You know her?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Yeah. When I first got to Spira, she rescued me from some ruins."
"Hmm..." Harry leaned back in the chair. "Okay, Rikku, what were you doing, trying to kidnap Yuna?"
Rikku finished pulling off her suit and looked around at the three watching her. "We're trying to protect the summoners," she said.
"How is kidnapping them protecting them?" Tidus demanded.
Rikku swallowed nervously. "When the summoner fights Sin with the Final Aeon, they die, you know? We don't want–"
"What?" Tidus asked while Harry sighed and closed his eyes.
Yuna cleared her throat. "It's true," she admitted. "I didn't... I'm sorry, Tidus."
"So you kidnap them to keep them from getting killed," Harry said softly. "You know, that almost makes sense."
"Harry!" Tidus snapped. "How can you take this so calmly?"
"I'd wondered," Harry admitted, "when Cary told me how Yunalesca had died, but I didn't know for sure."
"Tidus, please don't be mad?" Yuna requested. "I... You were so happy! I couldn't ruin that for you."
"So you lied to me!" Tidus spat.
"Tidus!" Harry grabbed the gun from the boy's hand before he could accidently set it off. "Calm down!"
"How can you be so fucking calm?!" Tidus shouted in Harry's face.
Harry frowned at him. "Because I understand what it means to sacrifice yourself for the happiness of others," he replied softly, and Tidus jerked back, looking like he'd been hit.
Harry turned back to the controls and input his passphrase, then started the machina up.
"You're really good at driving this," Rikku offered into the silence.
"I've driven one before," Harry replied, then sighed. "Yuna, I didn't get to see if the temple was still in one piece. Do you still want to check, or would you prefer to skip it?"
Yuna leaned over Harry's shoulder, looking down at the commands on the control panel. "You know this aeon, what do you suggest?"
Harry considered the question. "Leviathan is strong in the water element," he said. "He's a powerful aeon, considering, but if you're not near water he has a lot of trouble."
Yuna nodded. "Do you think he's lonely?"
Harry chuckled. "I've no doubt, assuming his crystal didn't break."
Yuna nodded again. "I would like to stop, then."
"Consider it done," Harry agreed, quickly changing their course just slightly. "We're probably going to have to go down there, of course, but there's a bubble attached to the top of this that can be detached. Is it okay if we put you in there and bring the bubble down to the crystal?"
Yuna smiled. "I think that would be best. I never bothered with the magic that the blitzball players have to hold their breath longer."
"Right." Harry hit a few controls on the panel and a hatch opened above them. "That's the pod. There's a radio in there that we can use to communicate with each other, so you can let me know if there are any problems." He glanced back at where Yuna was eyeing the opening nervously. "Will you be okay alone?"
Yuna nodded. "I'll be fine," she said firmly.
Harry eyed her for a moment, then turned to where Tidus was sitting, looking grumpy. "Tidus, will you go with her?"
Tidus glared at him for a long moment, then nodded tightly and stood to get up in the hatch. Harry grabbed the boy's shirt and tugged him around to face him. Tidus glared at him for a long moment before finally looking away from Harry's calm stare. "I'll behave," he grumbled.
Harry sighed and stood, then pulled the boy into a kiss. When Tidus finally relaxed a bit, Harry pulled away and said, "We'll talk later, okay?"
Tidus nodded, then jumped up into the hole and pulled himself through to the bubble. His hand reached down to Yuna, who was smiling at Harry. "Yuna, come on," the boy said, sounding calmer.
"Do I get a kiss?" the girl asked of Harry.
Harry pretended to look around for Lulu and Kimahri, then nodded and kissed the girl's cheek. "Now go, you little brat."
Yuna gave him a mock hurt look. "That's all I get?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know why the lovely Lulu and Big Blue seem so determined to think I'll corrupt you," he commented, then smacked her bum, making her squeak. "Up."
Yuna stuck her tongue out at him, but took Tidus' hand and, with some help from Rikku, managed to get into the pod.
Harry closed the door and turned on the comm. "If you can hear me, press the blue button next to the door to respond," he told them.
There was a moment of silence, then, "We're here," Yuna said.
Harry grinned. "Brilliant. Okay, we're just above where I think the temple should be, assuming it didn't drift when everything fell. I'm going to try clearing away the rubble a bit, see if I can't find the crystal."
"Let us know when you do," Tidus replied.
"Oiy! You two behave up there! I know how teenagers are in enclosed spaces."
"Rather like you, I would assume," Tidus said drily.
"You mean I can't kiss him?" Yuna added cheekily.
Harry sighed. "Merlin, lovely Lulu's going to kill me," he said to himself, then brought the mechanical arms online and pulled out a visor to help his focus better. "If any of the bars on the right start going into the red, tell me," he ordered Rikku, who he could feel just over his left shoulder.
"Right."
Harry pulled out the joysticks and set about cleaning off the top of what he recognised as the temple. It took him a little extra time, because he'd started digging too far to the east, but he eventually uncovered a giant crystal which was, miraculously, unbroken. When a ghostly form appeared over it of a hardy man in a fishing outfit, Harry made one of the arms wave, then reached up to the pod and said, "Got it. I'm taking you two down, okay?"
"Finally," Tidus gasped. "She won't stop trying to kiss me!"
Harry rolled his eyes behind the visor. "Yuna, act like a summoner, not a randy teenager."
"I'm not– Eek!" Yuna said back, crying out when the bubble moved.
Harry chuckled. "Sorry about that. It tends to be a little rough."
"Jerk!" Yuna snapped.
Harry just chuckled again and tried to gently bring them down to where the fayth was waiting for them. He slipped into the bubble and talked with the two teens for a long moment before nodding and disappearing into Yuna.
"We're good!" Tidus called.
Harry nodded and brought the bubble back to its resting point. "Give me a moment to shut down the arms and open the hatch," he told the teens, then set about doing just that.
Once everyone was back in the compartment, Harry made his way towards the bank where, hopefully, their party was waiting for them.
"What are you going to do with me?" Rikku asked as they got closer to their meeting spot.
Harry sighed and glanced over at her. "I can't let you take Yuna," he told her, "even if it might save her life. You have to understand that."
Rikku nodded. "I know," she said.
"She can come with us!" Yuna decided, eyes bright.
"Come with..." Rikku trailed off, looking the summoner over.
"Yeah! That way, you can keep an eye on me and try and talk me out of sacrificing myself, right?" Yuna smiled. "I don't think it'll work, but you can try, right?"
Rikku blinked. "Oh. Yeah! Sure!"
Harry chuckled. "Wakka's going to have an aneurism."
"A what?" Rikku said.
Harry groaned. "Right, shit medical knowledge," he muttered to himself, then said, "He's going to yell a lot."
"Uh-oh..." Yuna said.
"Can't we pretend she's not Al Bhed?" Tidus suggested.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Then what happened to the Al Bhed who kidnapped Yuna?"
"Uhm.... You shot him?"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the boy.
"What?! You've done it before, right?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Where's the body?"
"I sent it," Yuna quickly supplied. "Better that then letting it become a fiend, right?"
"And where did Rikku come from, then?" Harry inquired, amused by their story.
"I was already onboard," Rikku decided. "That Al Bhed had kidnapped me on the bank because I saw his submersill, and he didn't want me blabbing to anyone what I'd seen."
Harry chuckled. "Oh, all right. If you can get Wakka to believe that, Rikku can come with us."
"Thank you, Harry!" Yuna exclaimed, leaning over to kiss Harry's cheek.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Ah, we're here," he added as the bottom of the submersill bumped the bottom of the sloping ground up to the surface. "Hold on," he warned them, then hit a few controls to bring out the wheels and roll them up the slope and onto solid ground. They saw the party not far from them, but also of concern were the ten or so men who immediately turned their guns on the machina. "Oh, bugger."
"Not good?" Tidus suggested.
Harry shook his head. "Stay in here, the submersill will be safer," he ordered, then turned the chair and walked towards the door.
"You'll be killed!" Rikku shouted.
Harry grinned at her. "Won't be the first time," he commented, then walked into the water lock and let the door slide shut behind him.
The three teens turned towards the cameras of the surrounding area which were still up, Rikku clutching Yuna's arm. "What did he mean by that? He's been killed before?"
"Harry's immortal," Tidus whispered, clenching his fists helplessly.
Harry walked around the back of the machina with his hands up in peace. "Please don't shoot?"
"Harry!" Wakka shouted.
"That's one of our fellow guardians," Auron said firmly. "Which means the other one and our summoner is inside the machina."
"How do we know he's not the Al Bhed?" one of the men demanded, still pointing his gun at Harry's chest.
Harry huffed. "Jeeze, you people must be fun at home. Look, what colour's my hair?"
"Black," one of the other men helpfully replied.
"Al Bhed always have blond hair," Harry said.
"Oh no!" Rikku whispered back on board.
"Harry'll pass muster, but Rikku won't," Tidus realised.
Yuna looked quickly around the room, but didn't see anything but their weapons, themselves and the controls she couldn't begin to understand. "Can we find something to disguise her?" she asked.
"Your goggles," Tidus said, pointing at the goggles around Rikku's neck.
"Only Al Bhed wear goggles," Yuna replied, shaking her head.
Rikku quickly took her goggles from around her neck and shoved them in a pouch at her side. She drew some paint out of another pocket and handed it to Yuna. "Here, use this in my hair," she said, sitting in the chair so the other girl could reach it.
Yuna and Tidus traded wide-eyed looks, then both set about changing the colour of Rikku's hair from blonde to a light red. "Done!" Yuna declared, and not a moment too soon, as one of the guards was just saying, "Yeah, fine, go get them, then," once Harry had finished explaining their trip under the water.
"My eyes," Rikku whispered. "If they look..."
Tidus bit his lip and said, "Forgive me," then took Yuna's staff and smashed it into the back of Rikku's head, making her faint just as the door to the water lock opened.
"Tidus!" Yuna hissed.
Harry blinked in surprise at the scene of the two teens he'd been travelling with holding up a girl with red hair who resembled Rikku. "Hm, good thinking," he said about the hair. Then he blinked, realising the girl was out. "You hit her to knock her out?" he asked Tidus.
Tidus nodded. "Couldn't think of another way to hide her eyes."
Harry chuckled and reached forward to pick the girl up. "I can accept that," he replied, then led the way out.
The guards looked them all over and, once sufficiently assured none of the group were Al Bhed, let them by, then set about destroying the submersill.
Harry rolled his eyes at the guards as they joined the party, Lulu, Kimahri and Wakka all checking over Yuna in concern.
Auron sidled up next to Harry, who was still holding Rikku. "Is she the Al Bhed?" he asked quietly.
Harry nodded. "She's promised to not try and run off with Yuna again, but she does want to try and talk her out of summoning the Final Aeon." He chuckled. "Yuna and Tidus seem to have hit it off with her."
Auron nodded. "Very well," he agreed.
"I would very much like to put some distance between ourselves and those armed men," Harry added. "Preferably before Rikku wakes up."
Auron nodded again, then went to round up the party. They set off again, Kimahri wordlessly taking Rikku from Harry, much to the vampire's relief.
They ended up making camp in the forest a little ways from the shoopuf crossing. Yuna got Lulu and Auron to distract Wakka while she sat with the rest of the party and woke Rikku.
The Al Bhed jerked up and turned to glare at Tidus. "That hurt, you big meanie!"
Tidus shrugged. "They didn't see your eyes," he replied.
Rikku huffed angrily, then turned to the new member of the circle. "Oh, hi!"
Kimahri nodded wordlessly.
"Let's introduce you around," Yuna decided, standing and holding out a hand to help the Al Bhed girl to her feet.
"All right!" Rikku replied, jumping up and following Yuna towards the other party members, Kimahri following.
When Tidus also made to follow, Harry set a hand on his arm to stop him. "Walk with me," he requested.
Tidus nodded and the two turned away from the camp, into the trees some. When they were far enough away that there was no chance of them being heard by their companions, Tidus said, "This is about what happened on the submersill, isn't it?"
Harry nodded and sat on the mossy ground, patting a spot next to him. Once Tidus had taken the offered seat, Harry said, "You've seen what Sin can do."
Tidus nodded, remembering Kilika. "Yeah."
Harry smiled bitterly. "Imagine, if you can, having lived with the knowledge that your home could be attacked and destroyed at any moment, and you had the power to stop the thing that's destroying it. Wouldn't you be willing to give your life to do that? Let your friends, your family, have peace?"
"I would, but... Lulu said the Calm only lasts seven to ten years. That's not a lot of time!"
Harry nodded. "No, it's not," he agreed sadly. "And if I knew another way, I would suggest that. But this is the only way these people have to bring peace, and even a few years of peace is better than none, wouldn't you say?"
Tidus looked away. "It doesn't seem right," he whispered. "Dying for seven years of peace that you'll never enjoy."
"No," Harry agreed, "it doesn't."
Tidus leaned his head against Harry's shoulder and felt the vampire's arms slide around him. "I want to find another way," he whispered. "I don't want Yuna to die."
Harry rested his cheek against Tidus' head. "Then we'll just have to keep thinking of a way, won't we?"
Tidus nodded. "Yeah."
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: This chapter just kept going. (I can hear your sorrow from here. *sarcasm* )
Yes, yes, I know. The Calm supposedly only lasts a couple of months. (Or, well, it did for Yunalesca, etc.) but I'll always think of it as lasting then years, because that's how much time passed between the start of the last Calm and Yuna's pilgrimage. So, XP.
~Bats ^.^x
Chapters:
1 - Washed Up ||| 2 - Forgotten Fayth ||| 3 - The Broken Town
4 - The Abyss |||5 - Depth ||| 6 - Ghosts
7 - Maybes Are Nevers ||| 8 - Extremes ||| 9 - Regret
10 - Fred ||| 11 - Vampyre ||| 12 - Blood
..
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Final Fantasy X
Author:
batsutousaiBeta:
tsuki_no_suzuRating: M/R
Pairings: Harry/Tidus (with a side of practically everybody/Harry)
Warnings: OoC, AU, playboy!Harry, NON-SPARKLY-vampire!Harry
Summary: Harry was shunned by his own people because of a bitter vampire and continued living long after England was just a pile of rubble. He watches his world become Spira and finally sets out again to save the world.
Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers and Square Enix. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.
A/N: There is some Al Bhed in this chapter which isn't actually translated, though the basic meaning is explained. If you really want to know what it says, word-for-word, use a translator. ^.~
Depth
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Wakka might have resisted more, but it had gotten dark and the younger travellers were all tired by the time they reached the Al Bhed shop. Wakka had taken a moment to stare up at the sign above the shop and managed to say, "But this is an Al Bh–" before Harry reached over and shoved Wakka just enough to make him fall over, which wasn't very hard.
"You only get rights to complain about our chosen rest stop if you can keep walking to a new one," Harry said drily, then reached down and pulled Wakka to his feet, where he swayed a bit. "Go inside. Come on..." Harry sighed and led the man into the shop, Lulu trailing behind. Auron had gone ahead of them with Tidus, Yuna and Kimahri, and they'd already gotten rooms together.
Harry handed Wakka off to Kimahri, who led the four younger travellers back to the two rooms they'd gotten. Auron turned to Harry and motioned him outside, where they came to a stop in a small hill overlooking the ocean. "Yes?" the red-clad warrior asked, having guessed that Harry wanted to ask something when he didn't take Wakka back himself.
Harry flopped down on the hill. "You know this road better than I do," he admitted, "so I'm wondering if you know the next best place to rest." He glanced up at Auron. "And keep in mind that those kids probably can't manage another day like these past few have been."
Auron nodded. "I'm almost considering letting them rest for a day," he said. "Even Kimahri could use the rest at this point. The next good stopping point on this road is Djose, and I know we can't make it there in a day. Certainly not with Yuna, Wakka, Lulu and Tidus."
Harry nodded. "So we'll have to camp out at least one night anyway. Might as well give them a day of rest before roughing it." He rubbed at his forehead. "In which case, I might go disappear for a day."
Auron frowned. "Why?"
"There's a cave series that you can, technically, only get to from the ocean, and even then it's perilous. Some people who got out of Zanarkand before I went to sleep decided to hide out there, including a couple friends of mine. I want to go see if that colony survived Sin."
"How do you intend to get to them without a boat?" Auron asked.
Harry grinned. "I can climb the cliffs, though a normal human wouldn't be able to manage it, and not just because a misstep could mean their death."
Auron nodded. "I will tell the others tomorrow that you're on another side trip, then."
"Excellent!" Harry hopped to his feet and pulled out his map of Spira. "Now, maybe you can tell me what is right here?"
Auron looked over the map. "Mushroom Rock Road. I was under the assumption that it existed in your time."
Harry cocked his head at the map. "Probably did," he agreed, "but Bevelle's guard watched the roads around here, because of Luca, and I never made it up much farther than this before I would get shot and tossed into the ocean." He snorted. "Paranoid bastards."
Auron blinked. "How were they able to recognise you?"
Harry shrugged. "Yu made me a diplomat practically as soon as he was voted in as our leader. I would assume, after the first time Bevelle had me killed for suggesting they stop hostilities and I came back, they made sure every one of their people knew my face. Presumably to shoot me a couple times and toss me back in the river." He chuckled.
Auron shook his head. "Mushroom Rock Road meets Mi'ihen about here," he said, pointing down at Harry's map. "There's a small gate there, but they don't make a policy of stopping travellers, and it's not like you're a wanted man now..."
Harry nodded and folded his map back up. "Brilliant. Okay, then I'll see everyone tomorrow-ish. And if Tidus and Yuna start freaking out again," he rolled his eyes while Auron chuckled, "shoot them with a sleeping spell and they'll get over it."
Auron nodded. "Go on. Before you're late."
Harry snickered, then dashed off into the night, leaving Auron shaking his head behind him.
At the gate, one of the sleepy Crusaders told him that one of the roads were out, but there was another way across, so Harry decided to not worry about it until he came by with the party. He did thank the man, though, before hurrying down the path.
It didn't take him long to find an unoccupied section of wall, especially so late at night, and quickly started scaling it, occasionally having to shoot a fiend that thought he looked like easy prey.
At the top of the rocks, he took a moment to figure out where he really was, then made for the section of wall against the ocean he knew the colony had been placed in.
The cliff seemed much thinner than he'd remembered thinking it was when he first saw the caves from the ocean, but that didn't mean it actually was, and with the sun coming up at his back, he couldn't hope to see through the shadows. So Harry shrugged and started down the cliff.
About halfway down the cliff, he transferred his weight to a rock he couldn't see, but had thought was steady, and the rock promptly fell out from under him. Harry just sort of groaned as he plummeted to his death.
Out of nowhere, a hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping his decent. Harry used his free hand to pull himself up on to the ledge, where he was met with curious green eyes with a swirl inside.
"Al Bhed?" he murmured, blinking. He wished he'd taken the time to learn more Al Bhed than he had when he lived in Zanarkand, but he honestly hadn't considered it to be important at the time.
"Yna oui risyh, un veaht?" the man asked.
Harry blinked and rubbed at his forehead. He knew 'oui' meant you, and he was pretty sure 'risyh' meant human, but beyond that, he was lost. So he just decided to go with the one word he knew without a doubt, friend: "Vneaht." He pointed at himself, then sighed and said, "I don't suppose you have anyone who speaks Common?"
The man blinked at him, then turned around and yelled, "Maki!"
An older woman with long white hair toddled forward and blinked slowly at Harry. "You speak only Common?"
Harry sighed in relief and nodded. "I learned about, oh, six words of Al Bhed a few years ago, but that's it."
Maki nodded, then turned to the man who had grabbed Harry. "Ra'c risyh, yht caasc cyva. Caa ev oui lyh kad res cusa vuut."
"Oac!" the man replied easily, then hurried back into the shadows of the cave.
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the woman. "Please tell me you told him to get me some food, not make me into food?"
Maki laughed and waved him forward. "He was concerned you were a fiend," she explained. "I told him you were human and then, yes, asked him to get you some food."
Harry chuckled. "Brilliant."
"Come," Maki requested. "Tell me what brings you falling into our arms."
Harry followed her to a stone table and took a seat with her. "Some survivors of Zanarkand came here before Sin destroyed it," he explained, "and I came to see if they were still alive."
Maki nodded. "I am descended from them," she replied, then continued, expecting Harry's next question, "An Al Bhed boat crashed against the reef below almost three centuries ago and the people here brought them in. So most of us are half-human, half-Al Bhed."
Harry smiled. "Ah. I had wondered how else you all were going to survive a thousand years of inbreeding." He grimaced. "How many are you, now? I believe the starting colony consisted of thirty people."
Maki blinked in surprise. "We're about sixty strong now," she said. "But, how did you know how many were here when the colony started off? Our records have no numbers, and we know that all record of this colony was supposed to be destroyed, so Bevelle never found out."
"Ah... And so it was," Harry agreed, then turned to the man who brought him a bowl of stew and thanked him in Al Bhed before turning back to the old woman. "Please, forgive me my manners. I'm Lord Harry Potter, diplomat of Zanarkand to Bevelle."
Maki stared for a long moment, then shook her head in disbelief. "Our records said there was a Lord of Zanarkand who was supposedly immortal, but we'd thought he was a myth..."
Harry chuckled. "I'm afraid not. I would have come by sooner to check on the colony, but I've been sleeping by Besaid for the past thousand years." He shrugged. "I promised one of the original colonists, Reis, that I would come check on the colony after the war was over, but neither of us thought it would take me so long." He rubbed at his face. "For that, I'm sorry."
Maki shook her head, more awed than disbelieving. "Reis was my ancestor," she whispered. "She often spoke of a 'Harry' in her journals. My family and I had long wondered if it was the same as the immortal Lord Harry, but we weren't sure." She smiled. "She spoke so fondly of you."
"And I of her," Harry admitted. "Reis was one of my two closest friends in Zanarkand, Yu Yevon being the other." He shook his head. "Was she happy here? In the end?"
Maki nodded. "She was, my Lord."
Harry shook his head. "No, no, please! The only people who use my title now are the fayth, and that's only because I haven't been able to talk them out of it." He smiled grimly. "The Zanarkand I was a Lord of is long gone now, and I don't much wish to be a Lord of ruins."
Maki sighed. "So the Al Bhed spoke true? Zanarkand was destroyed?"
Harry nodded. "That's what the fayth tell me, at least. I'm journeying there now, with a summoner on her pilgrimage. I intend to see it for myself."
Maki sighed sadly. "Would that I could see it myself," she whispered. "But I'm afraid I will die here, in these stones." She smiled at him. "Not all of us can scale walls without the fear of death, Lord Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes at the title, but let it go, as he had with Cary. "I'll try and find a way to get you out of here," he promised. "It's the least I can do, for leaving you here for so long."
Maki inclined her head. "For myself, I am content," she said, "but if you can find a way to get the children and the younger adults from here, I would be very grateful."
Harry nodded. "I'll do my best. Now, why don't you show me around? And perhaps teach me some more Al Bhed! I seem to be meeting them a lot more now than I did a thousand years ago."
Maki laughed and slowly climbed to her feet. "I think I can do that," she agreed.
Harry had ended up spending the night with the Al Bhed and human colony, as the introductions and the learning of the Al Bhed language had taken long enough for the sun to start setting, and Harry was talked out of climbing back up the cliff by the Al Bhed man who had caught him, Rivhen.
However, once everyone in the camp had fallen asleep, Harry left a note next to Maki's pad and left, scaling the cliffs with much more ease than he'd had while going down them.
While he'd been on top of the rocks the day before, he'd seen what had appeared to be a much shorter drop, so Harry made his way over and dropped to a ledge with a pile of bones next to it. "Lovely," he muttered, then walked over to where a magical elevator waiting to take him back down to the main level of the road sat.
Curious, he went the extra distance to see the reason for the other road being out and stared in horror at the mess. There were a few dead bodies still – clearly there hadn't been a summoner around when the devastation occurred – as well as the mess of a command tent under some rocks and a large lightning cannon at his feet, probably salvaged from somewhere in Bevelle.
"Here," an old man said from next to Harry, "the Crusaders and the Al Bhed joined forces to destroy Sin, but it was too much for them, leaving behind this..."
Harry glanced over at the old story-teller, Maechen. He vaguely remembered the man from Zanarkand, and he had a feeling he was dead, like Auron. "Did they expect it to work?" he asked.
"They hoped it would. But the Maesters of Yevon, despite appearing to back the program up, laughed over the dead afterwards, saying it was worth it to be rid of a few unbelievers."
Harry hissed angrily. "There must be something about Bevelle," he growled, "that attracts the bastards of society."
"Yes," Maechen agreed. "This is not the first time Bevelle has hosted a party bent on destroying a people."
Harry jerked his head back away from the beach again to look at the story-teller. "Bevelle is attempting to destroy another people?"
"Yevon's maesters intend to obliterate the Al Bhed Home within the week. They are tired of the machina, and the Al Bhed's refusal to bow to them." Maechen smiled sadly. "They are also the most likely suspects for the kidnapping of summoners, and the people of Spira clamour for something to be done."
Harry closed his eyes. "Another people, another way of life, gone..." he whispered. "And there's nothing I can do about it!" He kicked a rock angrily onto the beach.
Maechen rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. "Are not your companions staying even now at an Al Bhed travel agency?"
Harry turned to stare at the man, wide-eyed, then leaned forward and kissed him on his nose. "Maechen, you're brilliant!" he declared, then turned and ran back towards the little travel agency.
Harry made it back just as the sun was rising, and dashed into the building. He stopped at the counter, waving a hello back to the members of his party who were already up, then demanded of the woman standing there, "Is the shop's owner here?"
The woman blinked at him in shock, then nodded. "Yes, but he's probably sleeping."
"This is urgent," Harry insisted. "It may very well mean the future of his people."
The woman gasped, then turned and hurried away from the counter.
"Harry?" Yuna asked, coming to stand at his elbow. Behind her, he could see Auron, Kimahri and Lulu. "What's going on?"
"Bevelle is trying to start another war," he said grimly, then turned back to where the woman was leading out a tired man with blond hair. "You are the owner?" he asked.
The man nodded. "I am Rin."
"Do you have a way to get in contact with Home?" Harry asked, smiling grimly when the man's eyes widened. "I heard a rumour that Yevon is planning an attack on it, for various reasons that sound like their sort."
"Is rumour sufficient cause for waking Master Rin from bed?" the woman demanded.
Harry met Rin's gaze firmly, then said, "I heard it from a reliable source. Please. I can't see another people destroyed," in Al Bhed. He stumbled a bit over his pronunciation, but felt it was pretty good, considering he'd only spent a day with people who spoke it. Admittedly, Al Bhed wasn't that hard to learn, just pronounce.
Rin stiffened, then nodded. "I will send word," he agreed.
Harry nodded, then turned to Yuna and gently led her back to where they'd been sitting when he came in. Once everyone had taken seats, he said, "Yuna, do you remember when those Al Bhed kidnapped you during the game?" Yuna nodded while the other three guardians narrowed their eyes. "It's not the first time a summoner has been kidnapped, and while Yevon has no proof, who would most people assume were kidnapping summoners?"
"The Al Bhed," Lulu answered when Yuna just shook her head. "They use the forbidden machina, and turned from Yevon."
Harry nodded grimly. "Exactly. There was recently a battle with Sin on Mushroom Rock Road – we'll be passing it, I'm afraid – and the Crusaders and Al Bhed used machina." He closed his eyes. "They were destroyed."
"Surely the maesters wouldn't have allowed–"
"According to Maechen, there were maesters there," Harry said softly, cutting the summoner off. "They laughed over the loss of lives, only because they died using machina." He looked up at Lulu. "Forbidden machina."
"Proof that Yevon is right," Auron commented. "To use machina means you'll be killed. The faithful will survive."
Harry laughed bitterly. "Bevelle, back in the Machina Wars, had been known to 'accidently' bomb one of the towns on their side because they weren't supportive enough. It was a bit of a joke in Junon about whether that was the real cause behind the misaimed missile that destroyed most of the original city."
"That's horrible," Yuna whispered.
Harry offered her a crooked smile. "Very little wasn't, then. It was war, and war is always horrible to behold. My people had a saying, 'All's fair in love and war'."
They all sat in silence for a long while before Tidus finally came out and hurried over, saying, "Harry! You're back!"
Harry grinned at the teen. "Did you miss me while I was gone?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, completely ignoring the exasperated look on Lulu's face.
Tidus just rolled his eyes and took a seat. "So, did you find what you were looking for? Auron wouldn't say why you left."
Harry chuckled and nodded. "Yes. A colony descended from some of the people who managed to get out of Zanarkand before the end. Some Al Bhed washed up near their caves at one point, so now they're all part Al Bhed, as well. It's quite the interesting community."
"Awesome!"
"Wait, so is that where you learned Al Bhed?" Yuna asked.
Harry nodded. "Only one or two of the colonists know Common, so it was kind of important for me to learn a bit more. I knew, oh, five or six words from Zanarkand, but the Al Bhed mostly stayed out of the war, helping neither side, so it wasn't vital." He chuckled. "Probably the wisest of all of us."
"You said you can't get to the colony except from the water?" Auron asked.
Harry sobered and nodded. "Those Al Bhed are the only people they've seen since Yu decided to leave them there. I promised to find a way to get them out."
"We could rent a boat from Luca," Yuna suggested.
Harry shook his head. "The boats of today won't be able to reach them. Not without tearing out the keel. There's a reef beneath the entrances. No, we'd probably either need a set of grappling hooks set up over the cliff edge. If there were still airships, I'd suggest that, but there aren't any, so we'll have to find another way."
"Did you get them in there by airship?" Tidus asked.
Harry snorted. "Are you kidding? If we came into their airspace, Bevelle would have shot us down." He shook his head. "No. The ocean was higher then, by just enough, and we made boats differently, too. They managed it one night when the tide was in, but it was a close thing."
"So we need an airship," Tidus said, nodding. "I'll keep an eye out."
Harry chuckled and leaned over to hug the boy, making him squawk. "You are just too cute!"
"Lemme go!"
The fun was interrupted by Wakka, who chose then to come out and ask about breakfast. Since Harry and Tidus hadn't had anything yet, either, they all got a couple pastries to go and started back on their way towards Mushroom Rock Road.
They made camp at the gate between the two roads and Harry passed on his warning about the state of the beach to Tidus and Wakka. After everyone but Auron was asleep, Harry wandered off to find a nameless stranger to feed from, then came back to sleep himself, ignoring Auron's amused look.
The next morning, they set out again, passing the Crusaders with a nod to their warnings. They kept a brisk pace, because Auron said there wasn't a good place to camp along the road until they got to Djose, and Yuna wanted to get the the temple at a reasonable time, so she could pray for the next aeon without having to wake the monks. Harry told her she was too nice, but she just ignored him.
When they came upon the beach, Harry was relieved to see that the few leftover bodies had finally passed on – or succumbed to becoming fiends – so that was one less horror for his party to see yet again.
"This is horrible," Yuna whispered from where they were standing atop the fallen lightning cannon and looking over the beach.
"I'm sure the immediate aftermath was worse," Auron decided quietly, then started down the cannon to where someone had stacked some crates they could climb down to the beach.
The party quietly followed the red-clad man, but they quickly realised that neither Lulu nor Yuna could comfortably climb down the boxes with their skirts, so Kimahri hopped down and helped the girls over the side. Once everyone was on the beach, Auron took the lead back to the other half of the road and they kept going.
Djose temple looked like they'd spent the days after the battle caring for the wounded, but they happily opened their arms to the summoner's party and promised to have rooms ready when they got back from the fayth.
The Cloister of Trials, Harry decided, was the most amazing thing ever. He cheerfully let himself get shocked seven or eight times, much to the horror and amusement of the party. Once Yuna had gotten Ixion, Harry bemoaned the lost chance at playing with his favourite power source.
"We still have to cross the Thunder Plains," Auron drily pointed out as they walked towards the rooms the monks led them to. "There's always a storm there."
Harry's eyes lit up. "Lightning?" he half-pleaded.
"Constantly," Auron assured him.
Harry did a little happy dance in the hallway, making the monk look at him oddly, while the males of the party shook their heads and walked into their room. The girls had already left them at that point, shown to their own room by another monk.
Once they were all situated and ready to sleep, Tidus walked over to Harry and asked, "How are you? For blood?"
Harry blinked at the teen, then grinned. "You are just too cute!" he decided, and kissed Tidus on the cheek.
Tidus bore the indignity with the air of someone who was starting to get used to it. Across the room, however, Wakka called, "Take your displays outside!"
Harry snickered. "If it bothers you, Wakka, you can ignore us. Unless you're jealous?" He had to duck the red-head's blitzball at that. Chuckling, he looked back at Tidus. "I'm fine, thank you."
Tidus frowned at him. "Did you feed from someone else?" he demanded quietly.
Harry's eyes sparkled. "Are you jealous?"
Tidus opened and closed his mouth a few times before spinning around and starting towards his own bed.
Harry hurried around the boy and stopped him, raising his chin to meet the murky blue eyes, then sighed. "You are," he murmured. "Oh, Tidus..." He shook his head, not sure how to explain his need to do more than just grind against his partner sometimes, or the fact that humans didn't regenerate blood fast enough for Tidus to be his only donor.
Tidus tugged his head away. "It's doesn't matter," he groused.
Harry huffed. "It does," he insisted, then used the boy's chin again to lift his head up to a place where he could reach his mouth and kissed him.
Tidus almost considered pulling away, but ended up kissing back instead, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, feeling his long braid brush against his fingers.
After a moment, Harry pulled away and waved a hand at the light switch to turn it off, to chuckles from Auron and a relieved sigh from Wakka. Harry just rolled his eyes at their travelling companions before unerringly leading Tidus to the boy's bed and laying down with him. "Just sleep with me?" he asked.
Tidus buried his face against the vampire's bare chest and nodded, so Harry wrapped his arms around the younger guardian and closed his eyes, easily drifting off.
Harry was up before Tidus again, but his absence meant Auron couldn't tease them, so Tidus decided not to be bothered by it. Anyway, he reasoned, Harry didn't need as much sleep, so he was always going to get up sooner or go to sleep later.
They started out for the Moonflow shortly before noon and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon. When it started getting dark, they made camp and sat around the fire, chattering happily about their childhoods. Harry shared fond memories of his school years, while Tidus and Wakka talked blitzball and Yuna exclaimed over her memories of growing up in Besaid. If anyone noticed Auron, Kimahri and Lulu's silence, they didn't mention it.
The next morning, they reached the Moonflow. Tidus exclaimed over it, while Harry looked the river over with a frown.
Eventually, Yuna noticed her oldest guardian's frown and said, "Harry? What's wrong?"
Harry motioned to the river. "There used to be a beautiful city here," he said. "Aquaria."
"That's because they built it over a river, ya?" Wakka offered. "It broke. Just goes to show you, there's no reason to build a city across water, other than proving you could."
Harry rose and eyebrow at the red-head. "Are you done?" he asked, once Wakka was finished with his rant.
"Were you ever in Aquaria?" Tidus asked.
Harry smiled. "I was. It was neutral ground in the war, because they were able to grow superior fruits and vegetables here – something to do with the river," he adding, eyeing Wakka. "The bridges which the city was built on, you might be interested to know, where originally meant to help people cross the Moonflow, because it's too narrow for a boat in parts. Eventually, the people of Spira came through here so often, a city grew up, and there wasn't room on the banks without cutting down the trees, so they built it on the river."
"That's kind of cool," Yuna admitted. "Do you really think the bridges broke, though?"
Harry nodded. "I've no doubt. The bridges weren't meant to hold a city – as I said, they were built for foot traffic – and while the people of Aquaria did shore them up a lot, we all knew it wouldn't last." He shrugged. "If Bevelle and Zanarkand hadn't been so busy trying to kill each other, they might have found an actual solution."
Wakka huffed. "Well, who cares their reason. It was still stupid."
Harry shook his head in amusement and cast a few spells on himself to keep his things from getting destroyed, then said, "I'll meet you lot on the other side, yeah?"
"Another fayth?" Kimahri guessed.
Harry grinned madly. "Yup!" Then he ran through the group and dove into the water.
Auron shook his head. "Let's keep moving," he decided.
Laughing or rolling their eyes, the rest of the party followed.
Harry had to slash a few fiends in the water, but it was otherwise pretty calm. He did have some trouble figuring out where things were, however, as the city was now underwater and he'd only visited it once. When he finally did figure out where things were again, he swam towards the other bank, where the temple had been located.
Partway there, Harry came across a functional submersill, which had been used in places like Aquaria to fix the supports underwater or put in sewage pipes. But finding one down here, after the city had fallen, meant someone was using one, and Harry only knew of one people who used machina.
Harry swam over to the back door of the machina and used a bit of magic to open it, then swam in. He waited for the water to drain then, pulling out a gun, opened the door and stepped into the control room.
There was no one there, so Harry put his gun away and moved quickly to the control panel. The writing was in a shorthand used only in Bevelle, but Harry had studied it enough that he was easily able to figure the machine out. He opened the viewer for the front and back of the vehicle, then set about locking the controls to only answer to a passphrase, which he made his son's name, since no Al Bhed would know it.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see a woman in a red water suit swimming towards him with a passed out Yuna. Eyes narrowed, Harry turned in the chair and cocked both of his guns at the door where the two females would have to come through.
When the door opened, Harry commented, "You might want to let the summoner go, before I shoot you."
The Al Bhed gently set Yuna to one side and held her hands up. "I don't mean her any harm. And how did you get down here so fast?!"
Harry chuckled and waved a spell at Yuna to wake her, keeping his guns aimed at the Al Bhed. When he heard a groan, he asked, "Okay there, sweetheart?"
"Harry! Thank goodness!" Yuna replied, sitting up and looking around. "Where are we?"
"This would be an old Bevelle submersill," Harry replied easily.
"You mean they actually have a name?" the Al Bhed exclaimed.
Harry and Yuna both blinked in surprise. "You speak Common?" the summoner demanded.
The Al Bhed nodded, then pointed nervously behind Harry. "We've got company."
Harry half turned, keeping one gun on the woman. When he saw Wakka and Tidus, he sat one of his guns in his lap and rapidly typed out a few orders, then said, "Tidus, Wakka? If you can hear me, give this damned machina a thumbs up."
Tidus and Wakka both stopped, looking surprised, then glanced at each other, shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up.
Harry chuckled. "Brilliant. Wasn't sure this sound system would work. I've got Yuna, she's fine, but I'm not fond of sending her back up through the water. Will you two go back up to the... oh, hell, what are they called?" He glanced over at Yuna.
"Shoopuf," she supplied.
"Right, the shoopuf. Let everyone else know we're fine and we'll meet them on the other bank."
In the water, Tidus and Wakka looked at each other again. After a moment, Tidus looked back at the machina and motioned to himself, then to where Harry and party was.
Harry considered the request: Tidus coming with would make the place rather cramped, but it would be nice to have someone keeping an eye on the Al Bhed so Harry could use both hands. "Yeah, come on in. There's a door in the back that should be unlocked. Wakka, good luck."
Wakka saluted, then made again for the surface, while Tidus swam around to the back door.
Once the water had drained, Harry opened the door to the cabin and said, "Sorry for the cramped space."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Tidus replied, slipping around the Al Bhed.
Harry grinned at him, then handed the boy his gun. "Keep this pointed at her head," he ordered. "If she starts acting up, pull the trigger."
Tidus grimaced, but took the gun anyway. "Don't act up," he suggested to the girl.
The Al Bhed girl sighed. "Can I take off my suit, at least?" she requested.
Harry spun in his chair and considered her for a long moment before nodding.
The girl was about half undressed when Tidus squeaked, "Rikku?!"
"You know her?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Yeah. When I first got to Spira, she rescued me from some ruins."
"Hmm..." Harry leaned back in the chair. "Okay, Rikku, what were you doing, trying to kidnap Yuna?"
Rikku finished pulling off her suit and looked around at the three watching her. "We're trying to protect the summoners," she said.
"How is kidnapping them protecting them?" Tidus demanded.
Rikku swallowed nervously. "When the summoner fights Sin with the Final Aeon, they die, you know? We don't want–"
"What?" Tidus asked while Harry sighed and closed his eyes.
Yuna cleared her throat. "It's true," she admitted. "I didn't... I'm sorry, Tidus."
"So you kidnap them to keep them from getting killed," Harry said softly. "You know, that almost makes sense."
"Harry!" Tidus snapped. "How can you take this so calmly?"
"I'd wondered," Harry admitted, "when Cary told me how Yunalesca had died, but I didn't know for sure."
"Tidus, please don't be mad?" Yuna requested. "I... You were so happy! I couldn't ruin that for you."
"So you lied to me!" Tidus spat.
"Tidus!" Harry grabbed the gun from the boy's hand before he could accidently set it off. "Calm down!"
"How can you be so fucking calm?!" Tidus shouted in Harry's face.
Harry frowned at him. "Because I understand what it means to sacrifice yourself for the happiness of others," he replied softly, and Tidus jerked back, looking like he'd been hit.
Harry turned back to the controls and input his passphrase, then started the machina up.
"You're really good at driving this," Rikku offered into the silence.
"I've driven one before," Harry replied, then sighed. "Yuna, I didn't get to see if the temple was still in one piece. Do you still want to check, or would you prefer to skip it?"
Yuna leaned over Harry's shoulder, looking down at the commands on the control panel. "You know this aeon, what do you suggest?"
Harry considered the question. "Leviathan is strong in the water element," he said. "He's a powerful aeon, considering, but if you're not near water he has a lot of trouble."
Yuna nodded. "Do you think he's lonely?"
Harry chuckled. "I've no doubt, assuming his crystal didn't break."
Yuna nodded again. "I would like to stop, then."
"Consider it done," Harry agreed, quickly changing their course just slightly. "We're probably going to have to go down there, of course, but there's a bubble attached to the top of this that can be detached. Is it okay if we put you in there and bring the bubble down to the crystal?"
Yuna smiled. "I think that would be best. I never bothered with the magic that the blitzball players have to hold their breath longer."
"Right." Harry hit a few controls on the panel and a hatch opened above them. "That's the pod. There's a radio in there that we can use to communicate with each other, so you can let me know if there are any problems." He glanced back at where Yuna was eyeing the opening nervously. "Will you be okay alone?"
Yuna nodded. "I'll be fine," she said firmly.
Harry eyed her for a moment, then turned to where Tidus was sitting, looking grumpy. "Tidus, will you go with her?"
Tidus glared at him for a long moment, then nodded tightly and stood to get up in the hatch. Harry grabbed the boy's shirt and tugged him around to face him. Tidus glared at him for a long moment before finally looking away from Harry's calm stare. "I'll behave," he grumbled.
Harry sighed and stood, then pulled the boy into a kiss. When Tidus finally relaxed a bit, Harry pulled away and said, "We'll talk later, okay?"
Tidus nodded, then jumped up into the hole and pulled himself through to the bubble. His hand reached down to Yuna, who was smiling at Harry. "Yuna, come on," the boy said, sounding calmer.
"Do I get a kiss?" the girl asked of Harry.
Harry pretended to look around for Lulu and Kimahri, then nodded and kissed the girl's cheek. "Now go, you little brat."
Yuna gave him a mock hurt look. "That's all I get?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know why the lovely Lulu and Big Blue seem so determined to think I'll corrupt you," he commented, then smacked her bum, making her squeak. "Up."
Yuna stuck her tongue out at him, but took Tidus' hand and, with some help from Rikku, managed to get into the pod.
Harry closed the door and turned on the comm. "If you can hear me, press the blue button next to the door to respond," he told them.
There was a moment of silence, then, "We're here," Yuna said.
Harry grinned. "Brilliant. Okay, we're just above where I think the temple should be, assuming it didn't drift when everything fell. I'm going to try clearing away the rubble a bit, see if I can't find the crystal."
"Let us know when you do," Tidus replied.
"Oiy! You two behave up there! I know how teenagers are in enclosed spaces."
"Rather like you, I would assume," Tidus said drily.
"You mean I can't kiss him?" Yuna added cheekily.
Harry sighed. "Merlin, lovely Lulu's going to kill me," he said to himself, then brought the mechanical arms online and pulled out a visor to help his focus better. "If any of the bars on the right start going into the red, tell me," he ordered Rikku, who he could feel just over his left shoulder.
"Right."
Harry pulled out the joysticks and set about cleaning off the top of what he recognised as the temple. It took him a little extra time, because he'd started digging too far to the east, but he eventually uncovered a giant crystal which was, miraculously, unbroken. When a ghostly form appeared over it of a hardy man in a fishing outfit, Harry made one of the arms wave, then reached up to the pod and said, "Got it. I'm taking you two down, okay?"
"Finally," Tidus gasped. "She won't stop trying to kiss me!"
Harry rolled his eyes behind the visor. "Yuna, act like a summoner, not a randy teenager."
"I'm not– Eek!" Yuna said back, crying out when the bubble moved.
Harry chuckled. "Sorry about that. It tends to be a little rough."
"Jerk!" Yuna snapped.
Harry just chuckled again and tried to gently bring them down to where the fayth was waiting for them. He slipped into the bubble and talked with the two teens for a long moment before nodding and disappearing into Yuna.
"We're good!" Tidus called.
Harry nodded and brought the bubble back to its resting point. "Give me a moment to shut down the arms and open the hatch," he told the teens, then set about doing just that.
Once everyone was back in the compartment, Harry made his way towards the bank where, hopefully, their party was waiting for them.
"What are you going to do with me?" Rikku asked as they got closer to their meeting spot.
Harry sighed and glanced over at her. "I can't let you take Yuna," he told her, "even if it might save her life. You have to understand that."
Rikku nodded. "I know," she said.
"She can come with us!" Yuna decided, eyes bright.
"Come with..." Rikku trailed off, looking the summoner over.
"Yeah! That way, you can keep an eye on me and try and talk me out of sacrificing myself, right?" Yuna smiled. "I don't think it'll work, but you can try, right?"
Rikku blinked. "Oh. Yeah! Sure!"
Harry chuckled. "Wakka's going to have an aneurism."
"A what?" Rikku said.
Harry groaned. "Right, shit medical knowledge," he muttered to himself, then said, "He's going to yell a lot."
"Uh-oh..." Yuna said.
"Can't we pretend she's not Al Bhed?" Tidus suggested.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Then what happened to the Al Bhed who kidnapped Yuna?"
"Uhm.... You shot him?"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at the boy.
"What?! You've done it before, right?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Where's the body?"
"I sent it," Yuna quickly supplied. "Better that then letting it become a fiend, right?"
"And where did Rikku come from, then?" Harry inquired, amused by their story.
"I was already onboard," Rikku decided. "That Al Bhed had kidnapped me on the bank because I saw his submersill, and he didn't want me blabbing to anyone what I'd seen."
Harry chuckled. "Oh, all right. If you can get Wakka to believe that, Rikku can come with us."
"Thank you, Harry!" Yuna exclaimed, leaning over to kiss Harry's cheek.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Ah, we're here," he added as the bottom of the submersill bumped the bottom of the sloping ground up to the surface. "Hold on," he warned them, then hit a few controls to bring out the wheels and roll them up the slope and onto solid ground. They saw the party not far from them, but also of concern were the ten or so men who immediately turned their guns on the machina. "Oh, bugger."
"Not good?" Tidus suggested.
Harry shook his head. "Stay in here, the submersill will be safer," he ordered, then turned the chair and walked towards the door.
"You'll be killed!" Rikku shouted.
Harry grinned at her. "Won't be the first time," he commented, then walked into the water lock and let the door slide shut behind him.
The three teens turned towards the cameras of the surrounding area which were still up, Rikku clutching Yuna's arm. "What did he mean by that? He's been killed before?"
"Harry's immortal," Tidus whispered, clenching his fists helplessly.
Harry walked around the back of the machina with his hands up in peace. "Please don't shoot?"
"Harry!" Wakka shouted.
"That's one of our fellow guardians," Auron said firmly. "Which means the other one and our summoner is inside the machina."
"How do we know he's not the Al Bhed?" one of the men demanded, still pointing his gun at Harry's chest.
Harry huffed. "Jeeze, you people must be fun at home. Look, what colour's my hair?"
"Black," one of the other men helpfully replied.
"Al Bhed always have blond hair," Harry said.
"Oh no!" Rikku whispered back on board.
"Harry'll pass muster, but Rikku won't," Tidus realised.
Yuna looked quickly around the room, but didn't see anything but their weapons, themselves and the controls she couldn't begin to understand. "Can we find something to disguise her?" she asked.
"Your goggles," Tidus said, pointing at the goggles around Rikku's neck.
"Only Al Bhed wear goggles," Yuna replied, shaking her head.
Rikku quickly took her goggles from around her neck and shoved them in a pouch at her side. She drew some paint out of another pocket and handed it to Yuna. "Here, use this in my hair," she said, sitting in the chair so the other girl could reach it.
Yuna and Tidus traded wide-eyed looks, then both set about changing the colour of Rikku's hair from blonde to a light red. "Done!" Yuna declared, and not a moment too soon, as one of the guards was just saying, "Yeah, fine, go get them, then," once Harry had finished explaining their trip under the water.
"My eyes," Rikku whispered. "If they look..."
Tidus bit his lip and said, "Forgive me," then took Yuna's staff and smashed it into the back of Rikku's head, making her faint just as the door to the water lock opened.
"Tidus!" Yuna hissed.
Harry blinked in surprise at the scene of the two teens he'd been travelling with holding up a girl with red hair who resembled Rikku. "Hm, good thinking," he said about the hair. Then he blinked, realising the girl was out. "You hit her to knock her out?" he asked Tidus.
Tidus nodded. "Couldn't think of another way to hide her eyes."
Harry chuckled and reached forward to pick the girl up. "I can accept that," he replied, then led the way out.
The guards looked them all over and, once sufficiently assured none of the group were Al Bhed, let them by, then set about destroying the submersill.
Harry rolled his eyes at the guards as they joined the party, Lulu, Kimahri and Wakka all checking over Yuna in concern.
Auron sidled up next to Harry, who was still holding Rikku. "Is she the Al Bhed?" he asked quietly.
Harry nodded. "She's promised to not try and run off with Yuna again, but she does want to try and talk her out of summoning the Final Aeon." He chuckled. "Yuna and Tidus seem to have hit it off with her."
Auron nodded. "Very well," he agreed.
"I would very much like to put some distance between ourselves and those armed men," Harry added. "Preferably before Rikku wakes up."
Auron nodded again, then went to round up the party. They set off again, Kimahri wordlessly taking Rikku from Harry, much to the vampire's relief.
They ended up making camp in the forest a little ways from the shoopuf crossing. Yuna got Lulu and Auron to distract Wakka while she sat with the rest of the party and woke Rikku.
The Al Bhed jerked up and turned to glare at Tidus. "That hurt, you big meanie!"
Tidus shrugged. "They didn't see your eyes," he replied.
Rikku huffed angrily, then turned to the new member of the circle. "Oh, hi!"
Kimahri nodded wordlessly.
"Let's introduce you around," Yuna decided, standing and holding out a hand to help the Al Bhed girl to her feet.
"All right!" Rikku replied, jumping up and following Yuna towards the other party members, Kimahri following.
When Tidus also made to follow, Harry set a hand on his arm to stop him. "Walk with me," he requested.
Tidus nodded and the two turned away from the camp, into the trees some. When they were far enough away that there was no chance of them being heard by their companions, Tidus said, "This is about what happened on the submersill, isn't it?"
Harry nodded and sat on the mossy ground, patting a spot next to him. Once Tidus had taken the offered seat, Harry said, "You've seen what Sin can do."
Tidus nodded, remembering Kilika. "Yeah."
Harry smiled bitterly. "Imagine, if you can, having lived with the knowledge that your home could be attacked and destroyed at any moment, and you had the power to stop the thing that's destroying it. Wouldn't you be willing to give your life to do that? Let your friends, your family, have peace?"
"I would, but... Lulu said the Calm only lasts seven to ten years. That's not a lot of time!"
Harry nodded. "No, it's not," he agreed sadly. "And if I knew another way, I would suggest that. But this is the only way these people have to bring peace, and even a few years of peace is better than none, wouldn't you say?"
Tidus looked away. "It doesn't seem right," he whispered. "Dying for seven years of peace that you'll never enjoy."
"No," Harry agreed, "it doesn't."
Tidus leaned his head against Harry's shoulder and felt the vampire's arms slide around him. "I want to find another way," he whispered. "I don't want Yuna to die."
Harry rested his cheek against Tidus' head. "Then we'll just have to keep thinking of a way, won't we?"
Tidus nodded. "Yeah."
A/N: This chapter just kept going. (I can hear your sorrow from here. *sarcasm* )
Yes, yes, I know. The Calm supposedly only lasts a couple of months. (Or, well, it did for Yunalesca, etc.) but I'll always think of it as lasting then years, because that's how much time passed between the start of the last Calm and Yuna's pilgrimage. So, XP.
~Bats ^.^x
1 - Washed Up ||| 2 - Forgotten Fayth ||| 3 - The Broken Town
4 - The Abyss |||
7 - Maybes Are Nevers ||| 8 - Extremes ||| 9 - Regret
10 - Fred ||| 11 - Vampyre ||| 12 - Blood
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no subject
Date: 8/2/10 03:34 (UTC)I think it was approximately 3 centuries later Gandof becomes High Summoner and brings about the 3rd Calm, and 200 years later that Lady Yocun becomes the first female summoner to achieve this momentous task. Finally, a mere 10 years before present times, Braska, brings about the last Calm.
It's not that Sin wasn't around, but he just didn't show up in those ten years to terrorize people. By that time Sin was Jecht and had happily went about watching his son and destroying the "dream" they lived in.
BTW Another marvelous chapter you~ And thanks for the recs last chapter. Your first dabble was fast-paced, but very well for a first dabble. I've always loved FFX, so I was surprised at your knowledge just by reading the Game walkthroughs. :D