Title: Unrealized Realities
Disclaimer: I own nothing, much to my everlasting regret, because owning Farscape would be out of this world and to own Harry Potter would be a great accomplishment.
Summary: AU. When Harry Potter finds himself trapped on the other side of the universe he discovers everything he knew and everything he valued changed beyond recognition, where good and evil have no clearly defined boundaries and sometimes the lines between friend and foe become meaningless.
Author: Stars in the Void
A Matter of Translation
He awoke slowly, pain rippling throughout his body, his head thumping in what felt like his heartbeat. He kept his eyes closed as he pushed himself up slightly and allowed his head to relax on the leather headrest. His throat felt dry and course and his body seemed sluggish to move as he willed however the image of a rippling, blue and black tunnel haunted his mind until at last he opened his eyes to rid himself of it and suddenly everything seemed to drop away.
It was the sight that lay before him that took his very breath away, it filled him with trepidation, fear and exhilaration. It was the perfect combination of beauty and destruction, capturing the majesty of space itself, the brilliant illumination of the emerging star that banished the darkness of the planet below and revealed the rings that had encircled the nameless planet, yet trapped within those rings was a broken ship.
It was a spectacularly unforgettable image.
The fallen ship jutted out the enshrouding rings, lifeless and still, with much of the hull hidden and veiled beneath the swirling dust that made up the prison that had caged this broken ship. Lifting his hands seemed to take more effort than usual, but his attention was fixed on what lay before him and so he quickly manipulated his controls and his own ship accelerated towards the ruined vessel
It was as his own ship drew closer that he was able to make out the pieces of floating wreckage, orbiting the lifeless ship, made visible against the back drop of illuminated rings the wreckage lay scattered about, but relatively close to the ship that it once belonged to.
His awe was only increased when his ship passed a ruined gun battery that had been ripped from the ship that lay ahead, a large circular shape supporting a number of large cannons, yet the sheer size of the gun battery served only show how small his own ship really was. He doubted, even with all the enchantments he had placed on his ship that it would survive even one hit from one of those cannons.
A troubling thought entered his mind as he flew past the gun battery, that these cannons served only to highlight and heighten the dangerous nature of the ship ahead, that there was someone even stronger and more powerful than those who had commanded this ship was a chilling thought indeed.
Regardless he pushed his ship past the debris, intend on reaching the ship itself, until it seemed that he was about to be swallowed by the blackened bones of this tomb. His own ship was dwarfed so completely he felt like his ship was but a grain of sand in comparison. Studying the ship as closely as he could, it appeared that the higher levels of the starboard side of this ship were intact, while much as the bottom of the ship had been completely destroyed, however there were places in the ship's hull that had blown away and now laid open to space.
Surveying the exterior for the second time he found that there were a number of hangers, docking ports and service entries scatted across the ship, with many of the hangers filled with wreckage and debris and almost all were completely open to space. His own ship had never been designed to even encounter an alien vessel let alone dock with one of them and those service entries meant he would have to leave his own ship to get inside.
It appeared, for the moment, that he was stuck outside.
Manoeuvring his ship in as close to the hull as he dared, he closed his eyes, quickly freeing his mind from all distractions, and slowly extended out his senses outwards, enhanced by his own elditch magic. He encountered nothing but cold metal and the harshly bitter feel of space. He sighed, somewhat annoyed that it hadn't worked out the first time, but realistically he should expect it, and with that thought he set off in search for another part of the hull to try again.
It was on his fifth attempt that he detected something other than bitter cold, he sensed the presence of water, the feel of air and the light throb of power. His eyes opened and a small smile curved his lips up slightly, but that quickly vanished when he realized that he didn't have any means of getting across.
And while there was some small part of him wishing he could just teleport directly into the ship he knew to do so could instantly mean his death.
He had just about given on this section of the hull when he spotted a single gap in the hull and by moving his ship closer towards the gap he was able to get a better look and to his surprise and amazement it was exactly what he was looking for. It appeared to be an airlock however it seemed that the door on his side had been jammed open, something that he could possibly solve.
He allowed himself to sink back into his chair and closed his eyes, again freeing his mind from all distractions, and considering what he was about to do was risky to say the least he needed to prepare himself. He took one deep final breath before opening his mind and calling forth his elditch energy.
"Agathys." He cried out, and was rewarded by a tingling sensation that soon enveloped his entire body.
He opened his eyes and found himself looking through a blue sheen, a sheen that covered his entire body. He quickly pushed himself off and out of his chair, passing through the cockpit shield as if it wasn't even there. Until at last he floating dangerously above his ship's cockpit, his every breath a loud rumbling thunder in his ears, he carefully positioned himself and using his legs he kicked off from the cockpit shield and was launched in the direction of the airlock.
After a few terrifying seconds of floating between the only two constants he managed to slip into the airlock, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud an action he instantly regretted as the sound roared deafeningly within his ears. Spinning around he carefully approached the airlock door leading into space and after a few seconds of searching he found a small console, oddly decorated in black, red and white. He started touched the console at random and with a squeal of protest the outer airlock door started to descend, and briefly it seemed that the door would indeed permanently jam but it finally managed to shudder itself closed.
After a few seconds the inner airlock door opened and the he released his concentration and the blue sheen disappeared completely. He stepped through the airlock door and out into a corridor.
The corridor was enclosed, dark and depressing, the constant sound of dripping water was the only thing echoing through the ship. Still he couldn't help but feel excited about the fact that he was the first human to be aboard an alien spaceship. However that excitement was dulled instantly when he heard a faint crash and the possibility of somebody or something on this ship with him scared him more than he would've like to admit.
He flicked his hand and immediately closed his hand around the rod that appeared out of thin air, it was long and slender and covered with carved arcane symbols, a faint pulsing blue light throbbed within each of the symbols. The pulsing light was cold and distant, and like the arcane symbols carved into the wood, the light gave off an aura that seemed to suggest that it didn't naturally belong here.
His journey along the seemingly endless corridors was slow and cautious, his feet ready to spring into action, his emerald eyes were as wide as they could possibly go as he studied everything illuminated by the glowing light. His fear that he was not alone was never fully extinguished despite the fact that he had not heard anything in quite some time. His eyes noted the skeletons that lay scattered across the floor, he tried to ignore the fact that so many of the skeletons appeared human.
It was as he was travelling down another corridor that he finally spotted the entrance to a adjoining room and slowly made his way to that entrance, the echo of his footsteps preceding him. He tightened his grip on his rod, his attention and focus split between watching the doorway that lay ahead of him and preparing enough destructive magic to defend himself if necessary.
Once ready he stepped up the entrance to the room.
And found what looked like a command centre, of sorts, the metal on both the walls and nearby desks had become twisted and distorted, wires and pipes hung limply in the air or carelessly on the floor, all ripped from their casings, the corpses of the crew decorated the floor, their crimson uniforms dulled with age and damp.
He stepped over the threshold and entered the room fully.
At the very back of the room was what appeared to be a large symbol, coloured black, red and white, much like the console decoration back at the airlock he noted absently, it was clearly of some importance to the people aboard this ship given its size and when he looked at that symbol it conjured images of power from within the depths of his imagination.
He moved closer to one of the nearby consoles, internally debating whether or not to touch the distorted metal, and given the thin layer of dust that coated the surface it clearly hadn't been used in quite some time, still he was definitely feeling reluctant. Despite not touching he moved around the room slowly taking in every detail, trying to discover something that had not been completely destroyed or damaged in any way. Something, anything, that could tell him about this ship and it's crew.
It just as he came across a console where a number of small lights that he felt rather than saw moment behind him. Spinning he pointed his rod at the door.
"Ulban." He intoned, his voice barely recognizable.
The creature in the room ran into the open doorway and bounced back as if she had run into a wall, and was quickly trying to regain it's balance and scramble to it's feet giving him enough time to move in closer. It was all he could do to conceal his shock, the creature that had been trying to escape looked exactly like a female human.
"Thuban." This time his voice didn't drop so low as before, but this time the woman who had just regained her feet froze completely.
Lowering his rod, he circled around the woman until he was facing her directly, she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Messy blonde hair, covering a somewhat tanned face and muddy green eyes. Her eyes revealed the level of panic that coursed through them but some of that panic turned to fear and confusion when she finally met his eyes. Clearly he wasn't she expected which was only fair given that she was nothing like what he expected alien life to look like.
He waved his rod over her, and by manipulating the elditch energy that held her in place, he was able to free her head from the trapping enchantment.
"Can you understand me?" Harry asked intently.
The woman in front of him started to speak, clearly surprised at being able to speak and to move her head, but it instantly clear that she was speaking another language.
"Stop. I can't understand you." Harry raised his voice loud enough to interrupt the woman. "Just hold on for a second and let me think."
The woman fell silent, but continued to watch him as if he were about to snap and kill her. He spun away from those accusing eyes and stared at the distorted metal wall, trying to think.
"Can you understand me? What I am saying, do you understand?" He asked, spinning back around to face her. "Just nod if you can."
She nodded her head slowly, her expression still fearful.
"That's good, good that you can understand me, not good that I can't understand you, but still good." He spoke rapidly, but he couldn't help himself, the idea that he was speaking to an actual alien was indescribable. "I still can't believe it. I mean this is all so incredible, you, this ship, everything."
He started to gesture wildly, as if his words alone couldn't adequately express what it was he was feeling, he was brought back to reality somewhat by the woman's native tongue.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, here let me release you." He, wordlessly, waved his rod over her and the enchantment that bound her fell away. "I didn't mean to leave you trapped like that and I certainly didn't to trap you here. It, uh, I...just got caught up in it all, you know."
The woman nodded slowly, still watching him careful as he gazed around the room, his eyes jumping from one thing to another, much like his mind, and it was only when he turned back to ask something of her that he noticed her swaying slightly.
"Forgive me for saying this, but you look like your about to drop, here let me help you." The woman said something in her native tongue, but immediately stepped back in fear, her expression was of somebody preparing to run when he lifted his rod.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to conjure up some supplies." He said lowering his rod as soon as he saw the effect it was having on her. "Please let me help you."
He waited patiently for her nod before raising his rod and he made sure that it wasn't pointing anywhere near her. Using his rod he drew a number of arcane symbols in the air, and with each gesture and each flick of the wrist the rod left behind a roiling, burning flame hanging in the air.
"Just a simple matter for you guys I'd imagine, matter conversion, but still I think this should just about do the trick."
"There we go." Had he been paying attention to the woman he could have easily seen the expression of shock and awe that she wore as he drew his arcane symbols on the air.
He gave his rod one final twist and those burning arcane symbols flared out dramatically before fading away and after a few seconds, in their place was a medium sized silver goblet, almost overflowing with crystal clear water, and alongside that was a small silver platter covered in assorted delicacies.
"Please help yourself, it's only water I'm afraid, but these magical delicacies should have you feeling tiptop in no time at all" He gestured towards the floating goblet and platter, but she refused to move.
"Go on have something, you look like your about to drop." He offered her an easy smile and repeated the friendly gesture. "And personally I would like to make the best possible impression I can." He added in a much more serious tone of voice.
He met her eyes fully, without reservation or hesitation, and after a few seconds of staring at each other she moved forward slowly and cautiously. He stepped back as she drew closer to offered food and water, perhaps allowing her the illusion of eating without the presence of somebody looming over her, and offered her a gentle smile.
She snatched the goblet out of the air as if expected it to fall and she peered within it's depths as if trying to discern the truth of how it was made. However she quickly drained the goblet of it's contents before turning to the floating platter of treats and she started to attack them without mercy.
She paused, after first eating one of the special fey treats that he had conjured, and let loose a moan that caused him to blush mighty. Embarrassment decorated her face as she clapped her two hands to her mouth in horror.
"Don't worry too much everybody has that reaction when they first try stuff like that." He tried to sounded comforting, but was unsure of his level of success given he couldn't even meet her eyes.
She started to eat once again, but it was clear that she was much more aware of the sounds she made, until at last the entire platter had been cleared. Her cry of surprise immediately caught his attention.
"What is it?" He asked forgetting that he couldn't understand her answers. She answered in her native tongue, but when he shook his head to show that he didn't understand, she grabbed the goblet and showed it to him. It has been refilled. "What's wrong with it?"
She shook the goblet again, but carefully enough to make sure that the liquid didn't spill. He looked at her, puzzled."It's only a simple refill spell." He stated and watched as a look of surprise appeared once more on her face.
Shaking her head she once again drained the goblet although this time she continued to stare into it's depths and let out a small gasp when the goblet began to refill. He smiled, somewhat amused by her reaction, which faded sharply when he realized once again where he was.
He noticed that the woman had begun to look better, a little more alert and responsive than before, and was no longer swaying on her feet.
"Are you feeling better?" He asked curiously.
She nodded and offered a smile of her own, a smile he couldn't help but return. After a few seconds he nodded to himself and started twirling his rod around, and the woman quickly took a step back and he stopped quickly.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you, it's just a bit of a habit I have I guess." He apologized.
She drew in a little closer, but still wary of him and the rod in his hands.
"I figure we'll need some way of communicating agreed." He looked at her and waited for her nod before continuing. "Now if I remember my elditch formulas correctly it's possible to construct a translation matrix using the correct sequence of arcane symbols." She had no response, but she did stare at him, appraising him.
"Is it alright to proceed?" He asked.
When she finally nodded he began to twirl his rod around once more, and countless specks of light flew out of the tip, some almost dropping to the floor while others soared above him, until he was completely surrounded by tiny pinpricks of light and then he released his rod which disappeared before it touched the ground.
He reached out and touched one of the specks of light and it immediately grew into a arcane symbol. "You see, this arcane symbol is a universal constant, at least in magical equations, and it is always the starting point in any equation."
He started to touch other pinpricks of light and they to turned into various arcane symbols and after a short while those symbols started to come together.
"It'll take a little while to get this right, fortunately for me I recently had to make another matrix that was very similar to the translation matrix and with just a few adjustments I should be able to come up with the correct sequence or at least something close enough." He was talking out loud, something he had always found very comforting when faced with a puzzle or faced with awkward situations.
"Oh, God, I haven't even introduced myself yet have I?" He asked, spinning to face the woman, and she shook her, biting her lip as if trying to stop herself from smiling. "My name's Harry Potter and it's a pleasure to meet you." He offered her his hand and laughed when she just looked at him blankly. "Sorry, it's a greeting ritual where I come from, we shake hands to show trust and acknowledgement."
He was just about to turn back to his work when the woman stuck her hand out and after a few seconds Harry reached out and gripped it, offering up a genuine smile and getting one in return.
He turned back to the glowing symbols, and quickly touched another five pinpricks of light and watched as the new symbols floated up to join the others. "Now that should be about it." He said confidently. "Now I just have to complete the containment field and it should be about finished."
He flicked his wrist and his rod instantly reappeared in his hand, twirling in a very dramatic fashion, he pointed the tip towards the floating arcane symbols.
"Shax." He spoke, but this time his voice carried a hint of musical quality and it sounded ominously dark, yet filled with a strange sense of life.
The glowing arcane symbols started to swirl, faster and faster, until they became a blur and all of sudden the symbols collided with each other and there was a bright flash of light, forcing them both to look away, and then it was gone.
He swung back around and found a small flute, hovering in the air. As he drew closer to the object he could make details and it seemed that the entire structure of the flute had been made up of the arcane symbols he had chosen, all interconnected and all pulsating with energy.
"It worked." He yelled, unable to contain his excitement and pleasure. "Let's see if it will do the trick." It was then he noticed that as he spoke the magical flute began to play, and while the music was dark and troubling, he couldn't deny that it held a particular soothing quality to it.
Regardless he turned to the woman, gesturing for her to start speaking, she started off slowly and was clearly unsure of herself, but it was as she was speaking that the flute started to play a different piece of music, something with a bit more bounce.
She stopped after a short while and looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a deeply sceptical look, to which he could only helpless shrug.
"I'm sure I calibrated the spell parameters to the accept foreign sounds and languages." He paused and studied the flute, tracing the symbols with his finger. "Magical resonance and frequency look solid, the intricacy pattern matrix appears stable." He looked up at the puzzled expression of the woman standing a few feet away. "Then again I suppose it could be my fault, maybe I didn't fully adjust the containment fields properly."
He stepped back and found a place on the floor behind him that was relatively free from debris, and he allowed himself to sit, at least for the moment, propped up against one of the ancient consoles.
"I don't suppose you have any ideas." He asked the blond woman, not really expecting an answer.
"...erstand what you were doing in the first place." She answered, and it took a second before he could fully process that she actually answered, but he leapt to his feet in surprise although his action made her back away from him slightly.
"I understood you just now." He said excitedly, whilst meeting her eyes, a genuine smile tugged furiously at his lips.
"Really." The woman queried, a little hesitantly.
"Yeah. I can understand you now." He couldn't help but laugh in relief, however he allowed his mirth to subside and focused on being serious. "So before you could understand me, completely?" He waited for her nod before continuing. "Good, that's good, that's good. So you know my name's..."
"Harry Potter." He nodded in confirmation. "My name is Gilina Renaez. What...What are you doing here on the Zelbinion?"
