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batsutousaiTitle: Fallen Night
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Radiata Stories
Chapter: 6 of 11
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta:tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: T
Pairings: Harry/Jack
Warnings: OoC, AU, slash, non-human arc
Summary: Harry slipped when he was standing a little too close, and the next thing he knew, he was far away from everything he'd ever known, with something like eternity waiting for him.
Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers, Square Enix and tri-Ace. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.
A/N: So, I did some serious re-writing of the 'strategy meeting' in Fort Helencia. There wasn't much actual planning for the war at that meeting in the game – really, it was more there to explain the dragons and their part in the world to the player – so I made stuff up. (It was just like, let's invite Parsec to lead the meeting, but all he does is tell them about the dragons, tell the group to follow their convictions, tell Jack to go to Goblin Haven and then announce he'd be going to see Aphelion and, no, they couldn't help him with that. Bye. *face palm* And after all that, any time you talk to people in the meeting room, they're pouring over a map, wondering when the humans will make their next move. Be proactive, fairy creatures! Don't just sit there and take it!)
This chapter would have been up hours ago, but LJ was down, and I only just realised it was back up. *shifty eyes*
-0-
Chapter Six - Ways of the Dragons
-0-
"You really care for him," Ridley commented as she walked into the room the elves had set aside for Harry and Jack to sleep in inside Fort Helencia. Jack hadn't moved from Harry's bedside since they'd moved him there late that morning. Coco had made it to the City of Flowers about ten minutes after Harry had fainted to tell them that Cepheid had been killed by the humans. Zane had then ordered that all elves that could fight were to report to Fort Helencia, where they beat back the humans and readied the place to use as a base for the fairy creatures. By mid-afternoon, four dwarves had joined them and the elves had decided who would be staying in their home villages and who would remain in the fort.
Jack glanced up towards the doorway tiredly. "Oh, hey, Ridley."
Ridley bit her lip, then walked over to Jack. "Hovering won't do anything more than make you sick," she told him, tugging on his arm. "You need something to eat and to stretch your legs."
Jack resisted her for a moment, then sighed and let her pull him up. "Do you think he'll be okay?" he wondered, glancing back at the sleeping mage even as Ridley led him from the room.
"He'll be fine," Ridley promised, then shoved him in a chair in the makeshift cafeteria and got him something to eat. She sat down across from him as he picked at his food, looking despondent. It broke her heart to see him looking so down and she wanted nothing more than for him to smile again. Crack another stupid joke.
When Jack couldn't stomach anything more, he shoved the plate away and started to stand, only to wobble a bit as the world slid out of focus. "Whoa..."
Ridley hurried around the table and grabbed his elbow. "You need to sleep," she told him.
Jack shook his head. "Can't." He pulled away from her and walked out into the courtyard, where he proceeded to walk the perimeter.
Ridley sighed. He was always so difficult!
One of the dark elves stopped at her elbow and considered the boy walking the perimeter. "I was sent to tell you that they're gathering in the meeting room, if you still want to sit in."
Ridley nodded. "Thanks. You're... Hyann? Right?"
The boy smiled up at her. "Yeah!"
Ridley smiled down at him. "I'll be in shortly."
Hyann nodded and looked back at Jack, who had stopped to eye the weapons Vladimir, the dwarven shop owner, had for sale. "Are you going to try and drag him along?"
Ridley sighed. "Maybe the meeting will bore him to sleep," she grumbled, making Hyann giggle, then walked over to Jack. "There's a strategy meeting starting soon, if you wanted to sit in on it?"
Jack turned to her with wide eyes. "Oh. But..."
Ridley shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on. I can't be the only human in that room."
When Ridley and Jack entered the room, Zane nodded to the two open stools at the far end of the makeshift table. Ridley steered Jack that way even as she felt sorrow at the knowledge that Zane really did want nothing to do with humans, even if he showed deference to Harry. (And wasn't that a mystery...)
They'd been waiting in silence for almost ten minutes when Jack jumped to his feet, smacking his hands on the crates they were using in lieu of a table. "Come on. When is this meeting supposed to start, anyway?"
Zane frowned at him. "Be patient. We are waiting for the guest of honour."
Jack frowned in confusion. "Guest of honour?"
"If it is who I think it is," a tired voice commented from the doorway, "he'll probably be a little late."
Jack didn't even stop to think about it, he just dashed over to Harry. "Are you okay? You should still be in bed."
Harry's smile was fond, though tired. "I've had quite enough laying in bed for the day, Jack," he commented, then pushed off from the doorway and started over to where Clarence was getting up from his stool, Jack hovering behind him. "Sit back down, Clarence," Harry said, motioning with his hand. Some junk against the far wall floated over and turned into a stool, which Harry sat down on.
Jack took his original stool next to Ridley, a part of him relieved that Harry was both up, and had chosen to sit next to him, even if he was actually on the dark elves' side.
"Why do you think he might be late?" Zane asked.
Harry shrugged. "If he felt Cepheid's death like I did..."
"Why did you react so badly?" Gil asked. "No one else was affected like that."
"He's a stupid newborn, that's why," an accented voice said from the doorway. Everyone turned to watch as Parsec walked over to a grimacing Harry. "Stop using magic like a human."
"But... I thought he was human?" Ridley said. She looked around the table, but she was the only one apparently surprised by Parsec's statement. Not even Jack looked like this was news to him.
"He's not human," Parsec said to Ridley.
"Parsec," Harry hissed.
Parsec frowned at him even as Clarence asked, "Not human? I was under the impression you were, even though..." He trailed off, looking nervously at the two humans at the end of the table. So far as he knew, Harry had never told a human his secret, after all, and Clarence wasn't about to be the one to do it for him.
"Oh, he was," Parsec agreed, ignoring Harry's scowl. "But he's a dragon, now."
"A dragon!?" most of the elves exclaimed, all staring at Parsec, then turning wide eyes on Harry.
Harry scowled at them and tapped a finger on top of the crate he was sitting next to. "Yeah. And if it leaves this room..." He let the warning trail off as the fairy creatures paled and nodded.
"So, wait, I was under the impression that you've been using magic like humans for centuries," Jack said, not the least bit fazed, even when the elves and Ridley all turned to stare at him in surprise. "You weren't so badly affected when Dad killed the Water Dragon, right? And I know Mikey said you weren't feeling well when the Earth Dragon crumbled..."
Parsec shrugged. "Using magic like humans opens your sensitivity to the planet's magic," he explained, "and since a dragon's magic sensitivity is so different from a normal human's, the backlash is greater when something happens."
"I hadn't visited the human world for almost thirty years before Cairn fought Kelvin," Harry commented quietly. "None of the humans I knew could tell the difference, so I'd been using my own magic. I knew when it happened, but..."
"So why were you knocked out when Cepheid died, but were only a bit off when Baade did?" Jack asked, looking up at Parsec for the answer.
"The less dragons there are actively holding the world's magic in place, the worse the backlash," Harry answered. "When Baade was forced asleep, Parsec and Cepheid were both still awake to hold the magic. Now only Parsec is left."
"Wait, asleep?" Serva asked from the far side of Clarence. "But they were killed..."
Harry shook his head. "Dragons don't die, they can be forced to sleep, but they can't be killed like, say, humans can. Uhm..." Harry rubbed the back of his head as Parsec, smiling, walked over to the stool Zane had left for him at the other end of the table. "Okay, think of it like the act of killing a dragon also activates an innate transpiritation, which moves their soul to another body which is formed of their element and awaiting them in a safe place. Their current body is gone, but they live on."
"It's been sixteen years," Jack pointed out. "Why hasn't Kelvin woken back up?"
"Oh, I think I can answer that," Parsec offered, making Harry breathe in relief. "It takes time for the soul and magic to recover from a transpiritation, anyone at this table could tell you that," he said and everyone nodded, even Ridley. "For a dragon, the recovery time takes years, not days. It used to be we'd sleep for maybe ten years and wake, but when Quasar and Aphelion were created, it was agreed that any dragon sent into sleep would remain there until it was time for the other brother to awaken, as it was clearly too dangerous to be awake if something was about sending dragons to sleep.
"The only problem is, of course, that a dragon who's asleep can't consciously control the magic, so things normally under their control tend to go all out of balance. We other dragons can make a conscious effort to balance the elements some, but it's not easy, especially since it means we're working with an element we don't have any real skill with. The only dragons who have skill with all the elements are Aphelion and Quasar, and since Aphelion hasn't been helping..."
"What about Harry?" Clarence wondered, glancing back at the youngest dragon. "You've never favoured an element."
"I only realised I was a dragon a week ago," Harry replied drily. "The only dragon-like things I can do include turning into one and roaring really loud."
The light elves all laughed weakly, remembering Harry roaring at them for silence last night.
"You found your form?" Jack asked, eyes bright. When Harry nodded, the boy squirmed in his seat. "I want to see!"
"Not right now," Harry told him, rolling his eyes.
"Not anytime soon," Parsec corrected. When Harry and Jack both turned to blink at him, he explained, "When we're done with this meeting, I'll be taking Harry to learn to be more... dragon-like." He smiled at the term. When Jack opened his mouth to say he could come along, Parsec added, "No humans, Jack."
Jack's mouth snapped shut and he looked like someone had just smashed his favourite sword. Harry leaned over and whispered, "I'll be safe from the orb this way, Jack, so don't worry about me. You have a war to fight right now."
"Jack," Parsec called. When Jack glanced up towards him, still looking a little sad, he continued, "I think you should go to the Goblin Haven. Take the lass there with you."
"Goblin Haven?" Jack repeated.
"I agree," Harry said. "There's someone there would could use some sense knocked into him, and you're just the man to do it." He smiled at the pleased look taking over Jack's face.
"But what about the war?" Ridley wondered. "Shouldn't we be here to help?"
"This is helping," Harry replied. "And there's not a whole lot to do here right now. The humans will be in Radiata, making plans and regrouping for the moment. I've heard they took major losses during the fight with Baade, and I'm sure Cepheid depleted their forces even more. With villages in the Tria Region asking for guards, those needed to watch over Earth Valley and the group posted between here and the city, they're going to be running thin. I'm sure they'll hire out the guilds, but they'll still need to recruit people to the knights to fill in the gaps. It'll be a couple of weeks before we see any action from them."
"For now," Zane agreed, "we need to add to our own forces. That means sending people to the goblin villages for help. We'll also look into freeing more dwarves. Depending on how low the human numbers are at Earth Valley, we might be able to win that back."
"It's been almost a hundred years since our last war with the humans," Gil offered. "Everyone could do with some training, so we'll be running a lot of drills out by the back entrance. You two, though," he pointed at Jack and Ridley, "you've been fighting recently, so you shouldn't need the practise. You can take trips to the goblin villages instead."
"I know some of the goblins in Shangri La," Jack offered. "We can go there after we've visited the Goblin Haven, yeah?" He glanced over at Ridley questioningly.
"Oh, yes. That sounds good," Ridley agreed.
"I'll pick some people to help with watching the humans' movements," Clarence offered, having been a spy for many decades already. "With any luck, we'll know about any attacks well before hand."
Zane nodded. "Excellent. I'll be in here, collecting any information we get in. If there's word of an attack, I'll give the announcement about when and where."
"Sir!" the elves all agreed. At the far end of the table, the two humans and Harry nodded their agreement.
"Then this meeting is now adjourned," Parsec announced. "Harry, grab anything you might need for a week and meet me by the pig statue."
Harry nodded to him and hurried from the room. He grabbed his potions bag and something to work on, though he doubted he'd have any downtime, then turned to leave. He stopped when he saw Jack standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey." He considered the boy a little closer than he had before and frowned. "You look like you haven't slept."
"Couldn't," Jack admitted.
"Hm. Well, get some rest before you head out, then. You need to be sharp if you're going through the Sediche Region. It's cold, and the mushrooms up there are quick and easy with afflictions. You and Ridley will probably need to find some warmer clothing to wear under your armour."
Jack nodded. "Okay."
Harry sighed and stepped over to Jack, then pointed at the empty bed he figured was the boy's. "Sleep. You'll soon be plenty busy, and I'll be back before you realise I've been gone." When Jack's gloomy expression didn't lighten, Harry sighed again and grabbed the boy's arm to tug him over to the open bed. "Come on. I'll make sure Ridley knows you're sleeping."
"You'll be okay?" Jack asked, sitting on the edge of his makeshift bed.
"I'll be fine," Harry promised. "And if you haven't won over loads of goblins to fight for us by the time I've returned, I'll be most disappointed in you. Understood?"
Jack managed a faint smile at that and nodded. "Okay. I'll get lots of them, and whoever it is you and Parsec want me to talk to. I promise."
"Good. Now, sleep," Harry ordered and silently cast a spell to make the human fall asleep. When it knocked him right out, Harry gently lowered him down on the bed and tucked him in, then hurried out of the room.
Ridley was in the courtyard, talking to Coco, and Harry made a slight detour to stop next to them. "Jack is sleeping, so you'll have to wait until the morning to head out."
Ridley smiled. "Finally. How'd you manage to get him to sleep? I've been trying all day."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "I used magic."
Coco smiled just the slightest bit and explained, "Lord Harry is really good with affliction-based magic."
Harry snorted. "That's me. I poison people to death." He rolled his eyes when Ridley laughed. "It's a timed sleep, at any rate, so he should be out for eight hours. Also, I told him and I'll tell you, if you're going through the Sediche Region, you're going to want to find something warm to wear under your armour. It's a bloody ice-box up there year-round. And the mushroom creatures like to knock you with afflictions, so make sure you're prepared."
Ridley nodded. "Thanks."
"Take care of yourself," Harry told her, then made for the exit.
Parsec was waiting for him at the pig, as promised. When Harry stopped next to him, he handed over a roll stuffed with meat, which Harry made quick work of, then said, "Take my arm and I'll transport us there."
"There's not a pig?" Harry asked, even as he grabbed Parsec's arm.
Parsec rose an eyebrow at him. "Only dragons are allowed where we're going."
"And you lot never bother with the pigs," Harry agreed.
"There's never one quite where you need it," Parsec replied.
"Yeah, well, I tried."
Parsec chuckled, then concentrated. There was a burst of fire around them – Harry likened this mode of transportation to phoenix travel, though he'd never actually used that mode of travel himself – and when it dissipated, they were in a large cave with multiple exits. They were standing on a symbol that Harry had only seen before in an old elven text. "It's fire," Parsec explained, seeing Harry looking down at it.
"Oh." Harry glanced around. "I should try to learn the old elven language one of these days. Merlin knows I've enough time."
"One day, you will tell me about this 'Merlin' you're always swearing by," Parsec replied, leading the way to another symbol, one which Harry had never seen before.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, eyeing the symbol on the ground in front of them.
"This is the Dragon Lair Cave," Parsec explained. "This is our home, where we go to sleep." He motioned to one of the other exits and Harry realised it was closed off.
"Huh." Harry looked back at the open doorway ahead. "And here? Is this Aphelion and Quasar's room?"
"No. They're through there," Parsec pointed to a pillar behind them, which held a dark opening, "this is the room of the first dragon."
"The first...?"
"He'll teach you everything you need to know."
"What about you?" Harry glanced up at Parsec questioningly.
Parsec smiled. "I've a date with Aphelion. He's been hiding in Radiata Castle."
"Be careful, then."
Parsec's smile turned almost menacing. "I'll be fine. You on the other hand..." He trailed off while Harry eyed the opening to the first dragon's room with trepidation. "Don't keep him waiting, now," Parsec warned, then transported away with a blast of heat.
Harry swallowed. "Well, here goes nothing," he said to himself, then started down the hallway.
-0-0-0-
Jack woke feeling somehow both refreshed and groggy. He took a moment to stare around him, trying to remember where he was. His eyes were drawn to the second bed and, even though there was nothing special about it, it brought back all of the events of the past thirty-six hours.
Jack sat up in bed and grabbed for his sword, which stood against a crate with restorative items and his two bangles on it. Once he'd strapped his sword on, he put on his two bangles and shoved his things in the empty sack that had been kicked into a corner. When he was sure he had everything, he went in search of breakfast, which was served in the form of an egg sandwich. He munched on it on his way to the courtyard, looking around for Ridley or their guide, Coco.
Coco was waiting by the exit and Ridley joined them not long after Jack settled in to wait. She had a couple of warm over coats with her that were just the right size to be worn over their armour and not get in the way in a fight.
"This was the best I could find," she explained as Jack pulled on his. "It won't survive as well as something under our armour, but it'll keep us warm enough for a while."
Jack grinned at her. "This is fine. Thanks, Ridley. I'd completely forgotten."
"You sort of crashed," Ridley replied. "I told you to get some sleep."
"Huh. You know, I don't even remember falling asleep. I was just sitting there, talking to Harry..." Jack trailed off, then groused, "That jerk! He put me to sleep!"
"You needed it," Ridley replied. "Now, come on. Goblin Haven."
Coco quickly took the lead into the Nowem Region and Jack asked, "Okay, so, what is the Goblin Haven? I know it's a village for goblins, okay, so don't give me that look, but... Don't they have Shangri La?"
"The Goblin Haven is home to the black goblins," Coco explained.
"Huh. Okay."
They were silent for quite some time after that, only talking when there was a creature attacking them to call out warnings and the such. Coco, as it turned out, was quite the able magic-user, knocking out fire and lightning spells without pause. His spells weren't quite as damaging as Ridley and Jack's in-your-face attacks, but the dark elf was good for catching enemies off balance from a distance, giving the two fighters time to turn their weapons on anything incoming.
As they were starting across the impossible bridge of mushrooms between the Nowem and Sediche Regions, Ridley asked, "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Why weren't you surprised that Harry was a dragon?"
Coco glanced back, also curious. "And you knew he was older than he looks. Lord Harry doesn't tell humans that."
Jack shrugged. "Parsec," he replied. At their continued curious looks, he added, "He came to Radiata a little over a week ago to find Aphelion. I helped him for a bit, then showed him to Harry. They got to talking and Harry mentioned an incident that happened sixty years ago and I wanted to know how he could have been alive for that. So he explained things, and Parsec came to the conclusion that Harry must be a dragon, since he's so old and stuff."
"A little over a week ago was when Lord Harry came back looking upset," Coco commented, hopping off the last of the mushroom bridge. A minor forest of mushrooms rose ahead of them and the two humans grimaced in distaste at the knowledge that they'd probably be climbing and walking on them some more.
Jack shrugged in response to Coco's statement. Maybe it had been his fault that Harry had been upset, sure, but Jack hadn't done well himself after he left. They were okay now, though, and that was all that mattered. Wasn't that what friends did, anyway? You fought and you made up and you were better friends for it. (Anyway, they'd both sort of been in the wrong. Harry had been hiding something big about himself and Jack had over-reacted.)
They did, in fact, have to walk on more mushrooms to get to Goblin Haven. Better yet, they had to fight on mushrooms.
"Thank the dragons, they have a pig," Jack said once they reached their destination.
" 'Thank the dragons'?" Ridley replied.
"What? The elves say that. Am I not allowed to, now?"
Ridley just shook her head.
Coco stopped next to the pig statue and wished them good luck, then fled from the smell.
"Harry could have warned us to bring masks or something," Jack muttered as they walked into the building.
"Take it up with him when he gets back," Ridley muttered, ripping a bit off her ragged coat and tying it around her face.
Jack tore a strip off his own coat and followed her example, then they walked inside. Since they didn't know exactly who Parsec and Harry had sent them to talk to, they agreed to split up and talked to everyone. Pretty much all the black goblins agreed to help the two teens, especially when they proved that they could kick everyone's butt, even when four goblins ganged up and rushed Jack and Ridley when their backs were turned.
The whole thing had been a lot of fun, but they were both exhausted and were glad for the offer from the chieftain to take an empty room in the back of the village to sleep. They were walking that way – going through an empty area – when they were attacked: Jack was pulled off his feet and had a weapon held to his throat.
"Jack!" Ridley shouted, turning to stare at the man who'd grabbed her friend. Another human in Goblin Haven?
Jack lashed out, trying to step on the man's feet, but the man was too quick and moved out of the way at the same time as he tightened the weapon against Jack's throat. Jack held up his hands in defeat and the weapon was loosened, letting him breathe again.
"Who are you?" the man demanded. "What are you doing here?"
"We're here as friends," Ridley tried. "I'm Ridley Silverlake."
The man eyed her with some surprise. "Silverlake? Of the Great Eagle of the North?"
Ridley nodded. "Yes, though I've recently left my family. And that's Jack Russell."
"Jack... Russell?" the man repeated, grip slackening in his surprise.
Jack wasted no time in slipping out of the man's hold and dashing over to stand in front of Ridley, sword drawn. "Who are you?" he asked, tightening his grip on his sword as the man rested his weapon next to him. "And what gives you the right to go around attacking people that the black goblins think are okay?"
The man eyed him with something like sorrow glimmering in his eyes. "All right, son of Cairn. My name is Gawain. Gawain Rothschild."
"You... You're Sir Gawain?" Ridley whispered.
Jack blinked, then lowered his sword. "Huh. So... Why'd you attack us, then?"
Gawain looked floored. "I– You–"
Jack's lips twitched and he sheathed his sword. "You didn't kill my father," he commented, "an elf assassin did that. You weren't even on the council that sent the assassin. The only thing you did was hold your tongue, and, after hearing what algandars does to humans, I don't think that's really such a bad thing."
"I took your father from you," Gawain whispered.
Jack shook his head. "That council, that assassin, they took my father from me. I forgave them weeks ago." He turned to Ridley, who was smiling. "I'm tired. Let's go find this empty room."
Ridley nodded. "Okay."
"Jack, where did you hear the truth?" Gawain called after them before they could leave the empty cavern-like room.
Jack glanced back at him. "A mutual friend: Harry."
Jack and Ridley had made themselves comfortable in the piles of blankets that were in the room and were relaxing to sleep when Ridley suddenly said, "He's good for you."
Jack let out a sleep-filled sound of enquiry.
"Harry is," Ridley clarified. "Before you met him, you were always ready to get into a fight, but now you're sort of... I don't know. You stop. You're not so hot-tempered."
"No need to be," Jack replied, shifting in his blankets so he could look in the direction he knew Ridley lay. "No one here wants to hurt us."
Ridley shook her head. "No. I mean... Jack, when we were knights together, you were always trying to prove how great you were. You always thought you were the best warrior and that you could take on anything. But..."
"I lost," Jack said quietly, and Ridley fell silent to see if he would say anything more. Jack gathered his thoughts, then said, "I lost to you in the trials, and you almost died when we faced that blood orc. When I joined Theatre Vancoor, I faced Deputy Chief Gerald and lost again. And we faced some people from Void that even Gerald couldn't take down." He shrugged. "There are better fighters than me out there. I... I know that. But, if I keep fighting, I can only get better, and maybe, someday, I can be the best."
"Better than Harry?"
Jack snorted. "I can't best Harry."
"Then you'll never be the best."
Jack considered that, then replied, "If I'm just second best..." He smiled to himself. "I'm okay with that." He turned over, back to his companion. "Night, Ridley."
Ridley stared into the darkness of the room, in turns jealous and happy. "Good night, Jack," she whispered back.
-0-0-0-
When Jack woke the next morning, he found Gawain sitting in the doorway of the room, watching him. Jack blinked at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to his presence, and eventually decided to just ignore him. He climbed out of bed and pulled on his armour and the ragged coat, as well as all his accessories and item pouch. He paused to consider the sleeping Ridley for a moment, then picked up his sword and made for the door. Ridley looked tired, and it was pretty safe here. He'd let her wake on her own.
Gawain rose as Jack reached him, then turned and led the way through the back halls and out into the empty cavern they'd met him in the night before. Now, there were a few black goblins milling around, one of whom was making a soup which didn't smell too bad, considering what the goblins normally ate.
Both humans got some of the soup, then found a pile of mushrooms to sit on. They sipped the meal for a long moment in silence, but it was eventually broken by Gawain asking, "You know Harry, then?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. He saved some of us from a blood orc and I met back up with him again in Radiata. We're friends."
"How is he?"
Jack smiled. "He's fine. Going head-to-head with Lord Zane over every little thing."
Gawain chuckled. "He and the light elves never did really see eye-to-eye about most things. Lord Zane was particularly bad. Lord Nogueira would always have to..." Gawain trailed off, noticing the pained turn of Jack's mouth. "What is it?"
"Lord Nogueira died of algandars a couple weeks ago."
"Ah..." Gawain looked down into his empty bowl. "Ah..."
They both fell silent again.
Jack finished his soup and stared down into his bowl for a long moment, then glanced up at Gawain. "Have you heard about Earth Valley?"
Gawain looked over at him. "I have heard rumours that the knights killed Baade..." He trailed off as Jack nodded. "Not rumours, then."
"No." Jack set his bowl on the ground next to him and looked up at the ceiling far above them. "About a week ago, the knights took Earth Valley prisoner and forced the dwarves to mine, constantly. Baade came down and faced the brigade that was there, but one of the Knights, Cross, had an orb that destroyed him."
"An orb, you say?"
Jack looked over at him, frowning. "Yeah. Know anything about it?"
Gawain was rubbing his chin. "When we first heard that Kelvin had intentions to attack Radiata, Cairn mentioned a stone of magic that could be created to destroy a dragon of a particular element. But the ability to make them..." He met Jack's eyes. "Only the other dragons know it."
"I don't know how that could be the same orb, then," Jack replied. "Cross couldn't possibly have managed to make one." He shook his head. "Anyway, I hear he's the one who killed Cepheid, as well."
"Cepheid is also dead?"
Jack nodded. "Only Parsec and Aphelion are left, and no one knows where Aphelion is."
"We're doomed," Gawain moaned, and he looked so dramatically hopeless that Jack couldn't help but laugh. "This is no laughing matter, Jack!"
Jack sobered at that. "I know," he whispered, looking away. "I know what this means for the world. Harry told me." He bit his bottom lip and looked over at Gawain with determination shining in his eyes. "That's why we're going to war. All the fairy creatures and Ridley and me. We're going to fight the humans until they can't do any more damage."
Gawain looked over the young man next to him and saw an echo of his best friend. He smiled and held out his hand. "If you will have me, I would like to join you, Jack."
Jack blinked in surprise, then reached out and grabbed Gawain's hand, returning his smile. "I'd hoped you'd say that."
Gawain laughed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: A part of me wants to find some way to put in the scene with Jarvis and Daniel, since it was such a turning point for Jack at this point in the game – and I love Daniel... *sniffs* – but this Jack doesn't really need that assurance that he's picked the right path; he got that at Fort Helencia.
I dunno. I'll look into putting them in later, somehow. We'll see.
~Bats ^.^x
Chapters:
Prologue - Falling
1 - Elves ||| 2 - Humans ||| 3 - Let It Go
4 - And If It Returns ||| 5 - It Was Meant to Be |||6 - Ways of the Dragons
7 - To Build an Army ||| 8 - Power Over Life ||| 9 - Arbitrator
10 - Blood-Filled Days ||| 11 - Hic Sunt Dracones
...
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Radiata Stories
Chapter: 6 of 11
Author:
batsutousaiBeta:
tsuki_no_suzuRating: T
Pairings: Harry/Jack
Warnings: OoC, AU, slash, non-human arc
Summary: Harry slipped when he was standing a little too close, and the next thing he knew, he was far away from everything he'd ever known, with something like eternity waiting for him.
Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers, Square Enix and tri-Ace. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.
A/N: So, I did some serious re-writing of the 'strategy meeting' in Fort Helencia. There wasn't much actual planning for the war at that meeting in the game – really, it was more there to explain the dragons and their part in the world to the player – so I made stuff up. (It was just like, let's invite Parsec to lead the meeting, but all he does is tell them about the dragons, tell the group to follow their convictions, tell Jack to go to Goblin Haven and then announce he'd be going to see Aphelion and, no, they couldn't help him with that. Bye. *face palm* And after all that, any time you talk to people in the meeting room, they're pouring over a map, wondering when the humans will make their next move. Be proactive, fairy creatures! Don't just sit there and take it!)
This chapter would have been up hours ago, but LJ was down, and I only just realised it was back up. *shifty eyes*
Chapter Six - Ways of the Dragons
-0-
"You really care for him," Ridley commented as she walked into the room the elves had set aside for Harry and Jack to sleep in inside Fort Helencia. Jack hadn't moved from Harry's bedside since they'd moved him there late that morning. Coco had made it to the City of Flowers about ten minutes after Harry had fainted to tell them that Cepheid had been killed by the humans. Zane had then ordered that all elves that could fight were to report to Fort Helencia, where they beat back the humans and readied the place to use as a base for the fairy creatures. By mid-afternoon, four dwarves had joined them and the elves had decided who would be staying in their home villages and who would remain in the fort.
Jack glanced up towards the doorway tiredly. "Oh, hey, Ridley."
Ridley bit her lip, then walked over to Jack. "Hovering won't do anything more than make you sick," she told him, tugging on his arm. "You need something to eat and to stretch your legs."
Jack resisted her for a moment, then sighed and let her pull him up. "Do you think he'll be okay?" he wondered, glancing back at the sleeping mage even as Ridley led him from the room.
"He'll be fine," Ridley promised, then shoved him in a chair in the makeshift cafeteria and got him something to eat. She sat down across from him as he picked at his food, looking despondent. It broke her heart to see him looking so down and she wanted nothing more than for him to smile again. Crack another stupid joke.
When Jack couldn't stomach anything more, he shoved the plate away and started to stand, only to wobble a bit as the world slid out of focus. "Whoa..."
Ridley hurried around the table and grabbed his elbow. "You need to sleep," she told him.
Jack shook his head. "Can't." He pulled away from her and walked out into the courtyard, where he proceeded to walk the perimeter.
Ridley sighed. He was always so difficult!
One of the dark elves stopped at her elbow and considered the boy walking the perimeter. "I was sent to tell you that they're gathering in the meeting room, if you still want to sit in."
Ridley nodded. "Thanks. You're... Hyann? Right?"
The boy smiled up at her. "Yeah!"
Ridley smiled down at him. "I'll be in shortly."
Hyann nodded and looked back at Jack, who had stopped to eye the weapons Vladimir, the dwarven shop owner, had for sale. "Are you going to try and drag him along?"
Ridley sighed. "Maybe the meeting will bore him to sleep," she grumbled, making Hyann giggle, then walked over to Jack. "There's a strategy meeting starting soon, if you wanted to sit in on it?"
Jack turned to her with wide eyes. "Oh. But..."
Ridley shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on. I can't be the only human in that room."
When Ridley and Jack entered the room, Zane nodded to the two open stools at the far end of the makeshift table. Ridley steered Jack that way even as she felt sorrow at the knowledge that Zane really did want nothing to do with humans, even if he showed deference to Harry. (And wasn't that a mystery...)
They'd been waiting in silence for almost ten minutes when Jack jumped to his feet, smacking his hands on the crates they were using in lieu of a table. "Come on. When is this meeting supposed to start, anyway?"
Zane frowned at him. "Be patient. We are waiting for the guest of honour."
Jack frowned in confusion. "Guest of honour?"
"If it is who I think it is," a tired voice commented from the doorway, "he'll probably be a little late."
Jack didn't even stop to think about it, he just dashed over to Harry. "Are you okay? You should still be in bed."
Harry's smile was fond, though tired. "I've had quite enough laying in bed for the day, Jack," he commented, then pushed off from the doorway and started over to where Clarence was getting up from his stool, Jack hovering behind him. "Sit back down, Clarence," Harry said, motioning with his hand. Some junk against the far wall floated over and turned into a stool, which Harry sat down on.
Jack took his original stool next to Ridley, a part of him relieved that Harry was both up, and had chosen to sit next to him, even if he was actually on the dark elves' side.
"Why do you think he might be late?" Zane asked.
Harry shrugged. "If he felt Cepheid's death like I did..."
"Why did you react so badly?" Gil asked. "No one else was affected like that."
"He's a stupid newborn, that's why," an accented voice said from the doorway. Everyone turned to watch as Parsec walked over to a grimacing Harry. "Stop using magic like a human."
"But... I thought he was human?" Ridley said. She looked around the table, but she was the only one apparently surprised by Parsec's statement. Not even Jack looked like this was news to him.
"He's not human," Parsec said to Ridley.
"Parsec," Harry hissed.
Parsec frowned at him even as Clarence asked, "Not human? I was under the impression you were, even though..." He trailed off, looking nervously at the two humans at the end of the table. So far as he knew, Harry had never told a human his secret, after all, and Clarence wasn't about to be the one to do it for him.
"Oh, he was," Parsec agreed, ignoring Harry's scowl. "But he's a dragon, now."
"A dragon!?" most of the elves exclaimed, all staring at Parsec, then turning wide eyes on Harry.
Harry scowled at them and tapped a finger on top of the crate he was sitting next to. "Yeah. And if it leaves this room..." He let the warning trail off as the fairy creatures paled and nodded.
"So, wait, I was under the impression that you've been using magic like humans for centuries," Jack said, not the least bit fazed, even when the elves and Ridley all turned to stare at him in surprise. "You weren't so badly affected when Dad killed the Water Dragon, right? And I know Mikey said you weren't feeling well when the Earth Dragon crumbled..."
Parsec shrugged. "Using magic like humans opens your sensitivity to the planet's magic," he explained, "and since a dragon's magic sensitivity is so different from a normal human's, the backlash is greater when something happens."
"I hadn't visited the human world for almost thirty years before Cairn fought Kelvin," Harry commented quietly. "None of the humans I knew could tell the difference, so I'd been using my own magic. I knew when it happened, but..."
"So why were you knocked out when Cepheid died, but were only a bit off when Baade did?" Jack asked, looking up at Parsec for the answer.
"The less dragons there are actively holding the world's magic in place, the worse the backlash," Harry answered. "When Baade was forced asleep, Parsec and Cepheid were both still awake to hold the magic. Now only Parsec is left."
"Wait, asleep?" Serva asked from the far side of Clarence. "But they were killed..."
Harry shook his head. "Dragons don't die, they can be forced to sleep, but they can't be killed like, say, humans can. Uhm..." Harry rubbed the back of his head as Parsec, smiling, walked over to the stool Zane had left for him at the other end of the table. "Okay, think of it like the act of killing a dragon also activates an innate transpiritation, which moves their soul to another body which is formed of their element and awaiting them in a safe place. Their current body is gone, but they live on."
"It's been sixteen years," Jack pointed out. "Why hasn't Kelvin woken back up?"
"Oh, I think I can answer that," Parsec offered, making Harry breathe in relief. "It takes time for the soul and magic to recover from a transpiritation, anyone at this table could tell you that," he said and everyone nodded, even Ridley. "For a dragon, the recovery time takes years, not days. It used to be we'd sleep for maybe ten years and wake, but when Quasar and Aphelion were created, it was agreed that any dragon sent into sleep would remain there until it was time for the other brother to awaken, as it was clearly too dangerous to be awake if something was about sending dragons to sleep.
"The only problem is, of course, that a dragon who's asleep can't consciously control the magic, so things normally under their control tend to go all out of balance. We other dragons can make a conscious effort to balance the elements some, but it's not easy, especially since it means we're working with an element we don't have any real skill with. The only dragons who have skill with all the elements are Aphelion and Quasar, and since Aphelion hasn't been helping..."
"What about Harry?" Clarence wondered, glancing back at the youngest dragon. "You've never favoured an element."
"I only realised I was a dragon a week ago," Harry replied drily. "The only dragon-like things I can do include turning into one and roaring really loud."
The light elves all laughed weakly, remembering Harry roaring at them for silence last night.
"You found your form?" Jack asked, eyes bright. When Harry nodded, the boy squirmed in his seat. "I want to see!"
"Not right now," Harry told him, rolling his eyes.
"Not anytime soon," Parsec corrected. When Harry and Jack both turned to blink at him, he explained, "When we're done with this meeting, I'll be taking Harry to learn to be more... dragon-like." He smiled at the term. When Jack opened his mouth to say he could come along, Parsec added, "No humans, Jack."
Jack's mouth snapped shut and he looked like someone had just smashed his favourite sword. Harry leaned over and whispered, "I'll be safe from the orb this way, Jack, so don't worry about me. You have a war to fight right now."
"Jack," Parsec called. When Jack glanced up towards him, still looking a little sad, he continued, "I think you should go to the Goblin Haven. Take the lass there with you."
"Goblin Haven?" Jack repeated.
"I agree," Harry said. "There's someone there would could use some sense knocked into him, and you're just the man to do it." He smiled at the pleased look taking over Jack's face.
"But what about the war?" Ridley wondered. "Shouldn't we be here to help?"
"This is helping," Harry replied. "And there's not a whole lot to do here right now. The humans will be in Radiata, making plans and regrouping for the moment. I've heard they took major losses during the fight with Baade, and I'm sure Cepheid depleted their forces even more. With villages in the Tria Region asking for guards, those needed to watch over Earth Valley and the group posted between here and the city, they're going to be running thin. I'm sure they'll hire out the guilds, but they'll still need to recruit people to the knights to fill in the gaps. It'll be a couple of weeks before we see any action from them."
"For now," Zane agreed, "we need to add to our own forces. That means sending people to the goblin villages for help. We'll also look into freeing more dwarves. Depending on how low the human numbers are at Earth Valley, we might be able to win that back."
"It's been almost a hundred years since our last war with the humans," Gil offered. "Everyone could do with some training, so we'll be running a lot of drills out by the back entrance. You two, though," he pointed at Jack and Ridley, "you've been fighting recently, so you shouldn't need the practise. You can take trips to the goblin villages instead."
"I know some of the goblins in Shangri La," Jack offered. "We can go there after we've visited the Goblin Haven, yeah?" He glanced over at Ridley questioningly.
"Oh, yes. That sounds good," Ridley agreed.
"I'll pick some people to help with watching the humans' movements," Clarence offered, having been a spy for many decades already. "With any luck, we'll know about any attacks well before hand."
Zane nodded. "Excellent. I'll be in here, collecting any information we get in. If there's word of an attack, I'll give the announcement about when and where."
"Sir!" the elves all agreed. At the far end of the table, the two humans and Harry nodded their agreement.
"Then this meeting is now adjourned," Parsec announced. "Harry, grab anything you might need for a week and meet me by the pig statue."
Harry nodded to him and hurried from the room. He grabbed his potions bag and something to work on, though he doubted he'd have any downtime, then turned to leave. He stopped when he saw Jack standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey." He considered the boy a little closer than he had before and frowned. "You look like you haven't slept."
"Couldn't," Jack admitted.
"Hm. Well, get some rest before you head out, then. You need to be sharp if you're going through the Sediche Region. It's cold, and the mushrooms up there are quick and easy with afflictions. You and Ridley will probably need to find some warmer clothing to wear under your armour."
Jack nodded. "Okay."
Harry sighed and stepped over to Jack, then pointed at the empty bed he figured was the boy's. "Sleep. You'll soon be plenty busy, and I'll be back before you realise I've been gone." When Jack's gloomy expression didn't lighten, Harry sighed again and grabbed the boy's arm to tug him over to the open bed. "Come on. I'll make sure Ridley knows you're sleeping."
"You'll be okay?" Jack asked, sitting on the edge of his makeshift bed.
"I'll be fine," Harry promised. "And if you haven't won over loads of goblins to fight for us by the time I've returned, I'll be most disappointed in you. Understood?"
Jack managed a faint smile at that and nodded. "Okay. I'll get lots of them, and whoever it is you and Parsec want me to talk to. I promise."
"Good. Now, sleep," Harry ordered and silently cast a spell to make the human fall asleep. When it knocked him right out, Harry gently lowered him down on the bed and tucked him in, then hurried out of the room.
Ridley was in the courtyard, talking to Coco, and Harry made a slight detour to stop next to them. "Jack is sleeping, so you'll have to wait until the morning to head out."
Ridley smiled. "Finally. How'd you manage to get him to sleep? I've been trying all day."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "I used magic."
Coco smiled just the slightest bit and explained, "Lord Harry is really good with affliction-based magic."
Harry snorted. "That's me. I poison people to death." He rolled his eyes when Ridley laughed. "It's a timed sleep, at any rate, so he should be out for eight hours. Also, I told him and I'll tell you, if you're going through the Sediche Region, you're going to want to find something warm to wear under your armour. It's a bloody ice-box up there year-round. And the mushroom creatures like to knock you with afflictions, so make sure you're prepared."
Ridley nodded. "Thanks."
"Take care of yourself," Harry told her, then made for the exit.
Parsec was waiting for him at the pig, as promised. When Harry stopped next to him, he handed over a roll stuffed with meat, which Harry made quick work of, then said, "Take my arm and I'll transport us there."
"There's not a pig?" Harry asked, even as he grabbed Parsec's arm.
Parsec rose an eyebrow at him. "Only dragons are allowed where we're going."
"And you lot never bother with the pigs," Harry agreed.
"There's never one quite where you need it," Parsec replied.
"Yeah, well, I tried."
Parsec chuckled, then concentrated. There was a burst of fire around them – Harry likened this mode of transportation to phoenix travel, though he'd never actually used that mode of travel himself – and when it dissipated, they were in a large cave with multiple exits. They were standing on a symbol that Harry had only seen before in an old elven text. "It's fire," Parsec explained, seeing Harry looking down at it.
"Oh." Harry glanced around. "I should try to learn the old elven language one of these days. Merlin knows I've enough time."
"One day, you will tell me about this 'Merlin' you're always swearing by," Parsec replied, leading the way to another symbol, one which Harry had never seen before.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, eyeing the symbol on the ground in front of them.
"This is the Dragon Lair Cave," Parsec explained. "This is our home, where we go to sleep." He motioned to one of the other exits and Harry realised it was closed off.
"Huh." Harry looked back at the open doorway ahead. "And here? Is this Aphelion and Quasar's room?"
"No. They're through there," Parsec pointed to a pillar behind them, which held a dark opening, "this is the room of the first dragon."
"The first...?"
"He'll teach you everything you need to know."
"What about you?" Harry glanced up at Parsec questioningly.
Parsec smiled. "I've a date with Aphelion. He's been hiding in Radiata Castle."
"Be careful, then."
Parsec's smile turned almost menacing. "I'll be fine. You on the other hand..." He trailed off while Harry eyed the opening to the first dragon's room with trepidation. "Don't keep him waiting, now," Parsec warned, then transported away with a blast of heat.
Harry swallowed. "Well, here goes nothing," he said to himself, then started down the hallway.
Jack woke feeling somehow both refreshed and groggy. He took a moment to stare around him, trying to remember where he was. His eyes were drawn to the second bed and, even though there was nothing special about it, it brought back all of the events of the past thirty-six hours.
Jack sat up in bed and grabbed for his sword, which stood against a crate with restorative items and his two bangles on it. Once he'd strapped his sword on, he put on his two bangles and shoved his things in the empty sack that had been kicked into a corner. When he was sure he had everything, he went in search of breakfast, which was served in the form of an egg sandwich. He munched on it on his way to the courtyard, looking around for Ridley or their guide, Coco.
Coco was waiting by the exit and Ridley joined them not long after Jack settled in to wait. She had a couple of warm over coats with her that were just the right size to be worn over their armour and not get in the way in a fight.
"This was the best I could find," she explained as Jack pulled on his. "It won't survive as well as something under our armour, but it'll keep us warm enough for a while."
Jack grinned at her. "This is fine. Thanks, Ridley. I'd completely forgotten."
"You sort of crashed," Ridley replied. "I told you to get some sleep."
"Huh. You know, I don't even remember falling asleep. I was just sitting there, talking to Harry..." Jack trailed off, then groused, "That jerk! He put me to sleep!"
"You needed it," Ridley replied. "Now, come on. Goblin Haven."
Coco quickly took the lead into the Nowem Region and Jack asked, "Okay, so, what is the Goblin Haven? I know it's a village for goblins, okay, so don't give me that look, but... Don't they have Shangri La?"
"The Goblin Haven is home to the black goblins," Coco explained.
"Huh. Okay."
They were silent for quite some time after that, only talking when there was a creature attacking them to call out warnings and the such. Coco, as it turned out, was quite the able magic-user, knocking out fire and lightning spells without pause. His spells weren't quite as damaging as Ridley and Jack's in-your-face attacks, but the dark elf was good for catching enemies off balance from a distance, giving the two fighters time to turn their weapons on anything incoming.
As they were starting across the impossible bridge of mushrooms between the Nowem and Sediche Regions, Ridley asked, "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Why weren't you surprised that Harry was a dragon?"
Coco glanced back, also curious. "And you knew he was older than he looks. Lord Harry doesn't tell humans that."
Jack shrugged. "Parsec," he replied. At their continued curious looks, he added, "He came to Radiata a little over a week ago to find Aphelion. I helped him for a bit, then showed him to Harry. They got to talking and Harry mentioned an incident that happened sixty years ago and I wanted to know how he could have been alive for that. So he explained things, and Parsec came to the conclusion that Harry must be a dragon, since he's so old and stuff."
"A little over a week ago was when Lord Harry came back looking upset," Coco commented, hopping off the last of the mushroom bridge. A minor forest of mushrooms rose ahead of them and the two humans grimaced in distaste at the knowledge that they'd probably be climbing and walking on them some more.
Jack shrugged in response to Coco's statement. Maybe it had been his fault that Harry had been upset, sure, but Jack hadn't done well himself after he left. They were okay now, though, and that was all that mattered. Wasn't that what friends did, anyway? You fought and you made up and you were better friends for it. (Anyway, they'd both sort of been in the wrong. Harry had been hiding something big about himself and Jack had over-reacted.)
They did, in fact, have to walk on more mushrooms to get to Goblin Haven. Better yet, they had to fight on mushrooms.
"Thank the dragons, they have a pig," Jack said once they reached their destination.
" 'Thank the dragons'?" Ridley replied.
"What? The elves say that. Am I not allowed to, now?"
Ridley just shook her head.
Coco stopped next to the pig statue and wished them good luck, then fled from the smell.
"Harry could have warned us to bring masks or something," Jack muttered as they walked into the building.
"Take it up with him when he gets back," Ridley muttered, ripping a bit off her ragged coat and tying it around her face.
Jack tore a strip off his own coat and followed her example, then they walked inside. Since they didn't know exactly who Parsec and Harry had sent them to talk to, they agreed to split up and talked to everyone. Pretty much all the black goblins agreed to help the two teens, especially when they proved that they could kick everyone's butt, even when four goblins ganged up and rushed Jack and Ridley when their backs were turned.
The whole thing had been a lot of fun, but they were both exhausted and were glad for the offer from the chieftain to take an empty room in the back of the village to sleep. They were walking that way – going through an empty area – when they were attacked: Jack was pulled off his feet and had a weapon held to his throat.
"Jack!" Ridley shouted, turning to stare at the man who'd grabbed her friend. Another human in Goblin Haven?
Jack lashed out, trying to step on the man's feet, but the man was too quick and moved out of the way at the same time as he tightened the weapon against Jack's throat. Jack held up his hands in defeat and the weapon was loosened, letting him breathe again.
"Who are you?" the man demanded. "What are you doing here?"
"We're here as friends," Ridley tried. "I'm Ridley Silverlake."
The man eyed her with some surprise. "Silverlake? Of the Great Eagle of the North?"
Ridley nodded. "Yes, though I've recently left my family. And that's Jack Russell."
"Jack... Russell?" the man repeated, grip slackening in his surprise.
Jack wasted no time in slipping out of the man's hold and dashing over to stand in front of Ridley, sword drawn. "Who are you?" he asked, tightening his grip on his sword as the man rested his weapon next to him. "And what gives you the right to go around attacking people that the black goblins think are okay?"
The man eyed him with something like sorrow glimmering in his eyes. "All right, son of Cairn. My name is Gawain. Gawain Rothschild."
"You... You're Sir Gawain?" Ridley whispered.
Jack blinked, then lowered his sword. "Huh. So... Why'd you attack us, then?"
Gawain looked floored. "I– You–"
Jack's lips twitched and he sheathed his sword. "You didn't kill my father," he commented, "an elf assassin did that. You weren't even on the council that sent the assassin. The only thing you did was hold your tongue, and, after hearing what algandars does to humans, I don't think that's really such a bad thing."
"I took your father from you," Gawain whispered.
Jack shook his head. "That council, that assassin, they took my father from me. I forgave them weeks ago." He turned to Ridley, who was smiling. "I'm tired. Let's go find this empty room."
Ridley nodded. "Okay."
"Jack, where did you hear the truth?" Gawain called after them before they could leave the empty cavern-like room.
Jack glanced back at him. "A mutual friend: Harry."
Jack and Ridley had made themselves comfortable in the piles of blankets that were in the room and were relaxing to sleep when Ridley suddenly said, "He's good for you."
Jack let out a sleep-filled sound of enquiry.
"Harry is," Ridley clarified. "Before you met him, you were always ready to get into a fight, but now you're sort of... I don't know. You stop. You're not so hot-tempered."
"No need to be," Jack replied, shifting in his blankets so he could look in the direction he knew Ridley lay. "No one here wants to hurt us."
Ridley shook her head. "No. I mean... Jack, when we were knights together, you were always trying to prove how great you were. You always thought you were the best warrior and that you could take on anything. But..."
"I lost," Jack said quietly, and Ridley fell silent to see if he would say anything more. Jack gathered his thoughts, then said, "I lost to you in the trials, and you almost died when we faced that blood orc. When I joined Theatre Vancoor, I faced Deputy Chief Gerald and lost again. And we faced some people from Void that even Gerald couldn't take down." He shrugged. "There are better fighters than me out there. I... I know that. But, if I keep fighting, I can only get better, and maybe, someday, I can be the best."
"Better than Harry?"
Jack snorted. "I can't best Harry."
"Then you'll never be the best."
Jack considered that, then replied, "If I'm just second best..." He smiled to himself. "I'm okay with that." He turned over, back to his companion. "Night, Ridley."
Ridley stared into the darkness of the room, in turns jealous and happy. "Good night, Jack," she whispered back.
When Jack woke the next morning, he found Gawain sitting in the doorway of the room, watching him. Jack blinked at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to his presence, and eventually decided to just ignore him. He climbed out of bed and pulled on his armour and the ragged coat, as well as all his accessories and item pouch. He paused to consider the sleeping Ridley for a moment, then picked up his sword and made for the door. Ridley looked tired, and it was pretty safe here. He'd let her wake on her own.
Gawain rose as Jack reached him, then turned and led the way through the back halls and out into the empty cavern they'd met him in the night before. Now, there were a few black goblins milling around, one of whom was making a soup which didn't smell too bad, considering what the goblins normally ate.
Both humans got some of the soup, then found a pile of mushrooms to sit on. They sipped the meal for a long moment in silence, but it was eventually broken by Gawain asking, "You know Harry, then?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. He saved some of us from a blood orc and I met back up with him again in Radiata. We're friends."
"How is he?"
Jack smiled. "He's fine. Going head-to-head with Lord Zane over every little thing."
Gawain chuckled. "He and the light elves never did really see eye-to-eye about most things. Lord Zane was particularly bad. Lord Nogueira would always have to..." Gawain trailed off, noticing the pained turn of Jack's mouth. "What is it?"
"Lord Nogueira died of algandars a couple weeks ago."
"Ah..." Gawain looked down into his empty bowl. "Ah..."
They both fell silent again.
Jack finished his soup and stared down into his bowl for a long moment, then glanced up at Gawain. "Have you heard about Earth Valley?"
Gawain looked over at him. "I have heard rumours that the knights killed Baade..." He trailed off as Jack nodded. "Not rumours, then."
"No." Jack set his bowl on the ground next to him and looked up at the ceiling far above them. "About a week ago, the knights took Earth Valley prisoner and forced the dwarves to mine, constantly. Baade came down and faced the brigade that was there, but one of the Knights, Cross, had an orb that destroyed him."
"An orb, you say?"
Jack looked over at him, frowning. "Yeah. Know anything about it?"
Gawain was rubbing his chin. "When we first heard that Kelvin had intentions to attack Radiata, Cairn mentioned a stone of magic that could be created to destroy a dragon of a particular element. But the ability to make them..." He met Jack's eyes. "Only the other dragons know it."
"I don't know how that could be the same orb, then," Jack replied. "Cross couldn't possibly have managed to make one." He shook his head. "Anyway, I hear he's the one who killed Cepheid, as well."
"Cepheid is also dead?"
Jack nodded. "Only Parsec and Aphelion are left, and no one knows where Aphelion is."
"We're doomed," Gawain moaned, and he looked so dramatically hopeless that Jack couldn't help but laugh. "This is no laughing matter, Jack!"
Jack sobered at that. "I know," he whispered, looking away. "I know what this means for the world. Harry told me." He bit his bottom lip and looked over at Gawain with determination shining in his eyes. "That's why we're going to war. All the fairy creatures and Ridley and me. We're going to fight the humans until they can't do any more damage."
Gawain looked over the young man next to him and saw an echo of his best friend. He smiled and held out his hand. "If you will have me, I would like to join you, Jack."
Jack blinked in surprise, then reached out and grabbed Gawain's hand, returning his smile. "I'd hoped you'd say that."
Gawain laughed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: A part of me wants to find some way to put in the scene with Jarvis and Daniel, since it was such a turning point for Jack at this point in the game – and I love Daniel... *sniffs* – but this Jack doesn't really need that assurance that he's picked the right path; he got that at Fort Helencia.
I dunno. I'll look into putting them in later, somehow. We'll see.
~Bats ^.^x
Prologue - Falling
1 - Elves ||| 2 - Humans ||| 3 - Let It Go
4 - And If It Returns ||| 5 - It Was Meant to Be |||
7 - To Build an Army ||| 8 - Power Over Life ||| 9 - Arbitrator
10 - Blood-Filled Days ||| 11 - Hic Sunt Dracones
...
