Aversion Therapy
Little bit of Harry smacking the emo out of Kalin, although that only comes in about halfway through.
XXxXX
Reality Bites
The sky was dark, and the stars shone bright over Harry's head. He wasn't really focused on them though. It had been a while since he had really focused on anything, and stars, though pretty, weren't likely to cause problems, not like people did. His magic hummed lowly around the brunette wizard, light, relaxed, but still active and twined around her master, waiting for his call. No matter how long he slept, Harry's magic would always be sharp and waiting, never as deeply asleep as he.
There was then a steady thud echoing in his dreams that was completely out of place, Harry mused as he sat by the lake, watching stars. Really, he had no reason to be dreaming of thuds, and he was dreaming, because it had been a long, long time since he hadn't been and he'd know if he was awake. He'd be staring at the inside of a coffin, for one. Quite a fancy coffin, granted, but still a rather claustrophobic little box.
The world was shaking now, and the thuds were getting steadily louder. Harry frowned as the stars and the lake began to disintegrate. He'd been enjoying this dream. It was peaceful. Still, no matter how peaceful, loud crashes and being flung around like a rag doll would bring any dream to an end. It would also piss anyone off, and so it was understandable that Harry, who had never been a morning person, was in a foul mood and ready to come up cursing when he woke for the first time in about who knows how many years.
He was not expecting to be met with muffled shouting and darkness and a low, hollow cold that lived in deep caves everywhere though.
Shit, the wizard thought as his spell-light revealed nothing but rock. Just how long have I been out?
XXxXX
A long time, Harry found out as he eavesdropped on the remaining miners, hidden by his Invisibility Cloak-turned Coat and copious use of silencing spells. The wizard was fairly sure that this had been a magical, if not Wizarding, area when he'd gone to sleep. The place had reeked of raw, natural magic then; it had been why he'd picked it in the first place. Now, although there was magic, it was changed, faded and almost warped, as though it had been bound to something far from its original form but still recognisable as the base.
And there were people. Yet another reason Harry had chosen this place, which had most certainly not been a mountain last he'd seen it, was the utter lack of irritating cretins that made up the human race. Now the place was practically flooded, although the wizard did take the time to notice that most did not seem to be there willingly, if the collars and jumpsuits were to go by. Maybe this was some form of prison. The quiet desperate depression that hung in the stale air certainly suggested so.
After being thoroughly confused listening to the people going on about monsters and duelling and other people (the first two were odd, did people harness monsters to do their fighting now? How...boring) Harry gave up and slipped around the miners (prisoners?) easily. He strolled soundlessly up the tunnel, musing on how lax security seemed to be around here (not prison then, or maybe it was, and these people were just shit at escaping). Finally reaching the exit, he inhaled, wanting to taste life and magic in the air for the first time in centuries, and froze. There was nothing. No life, no peace, and what little magic there was here was barely clinging on. Harry opened his eyes and stared at the desert stretched out before him.
What the hell have you done to my planet?
XXxXX
It took days to reach the nearest town. Three days of wandering, with only magic to point him in the right direction, and the changed landscape making him not trust apparition. Though Harry's magic had been eager, practically crackling, to be out and used after so many decades of rest, Harry still needed food and water, and hadn't quite gotten over the shock of a nearly lifeless desert and being woken up so suddenly.
So it was a very bitchy wizard that staggered into town. Gods but he hated sand. It got fucking everywhere. He just wanted to find some food and a bed. Maybe a bath too, there was only so much cleaning and freshening charms could do, especially since he'd never been very good at them. Instead he was met by a pair of thugs that clearly had no survival instincts and thus shouldn't have been let out into a sand box, let alone a desert, without supervision.
"Fuck off, I'm not in the mood," Harry bit out before any of them could get a word out.
The leading man, a stocky guy who was already losing his hair, swelled with anger. He opened his mouth, but Harry cut him off.
"No. I do not care if there is a toll or some kind of challenge that you want me to pass. I just spent three days stumbling through that imitation Hell you've decided to set up in without food or water. I'm tired, I need a bath, and if I don't get something to eat I may just resort to cannibalism. Now, if you want to do this again tomorrow, I may be a bit more accommodating, but for now, I repeat, fuck off."
"You can't do that!" the first guy spluttered, going red. "This here is Radley territory! You can't just swan in here and get away with-
"What he means is that this is our land. You wanna stay, you gotta duel."One of the others, wiry, but not as twitchy as the first, sneered. They all screamed low level thug. Harry could feel what little patience he had left evaporating.
"Ah, no. I'm going to sleep. On a bed. In this town, because it's the only one around for miles. I'm tired. And, for the record, what you call duelling and what I call duelling are so completely different it's not even funny. I'd probably just kill you. I might just anyway."
Harry, for the record, was not very diplomatic at the best of times. He could just about manage it when he needed to, but immortality and a magical core the size of Mexico pre-last battle had kind of shot the need for it. When he was tired though, he tended to slip straight to violence. The little part of his mind that was somewhat detached from the rest, to part that tended to make sarcastic comments while the rest was busy actually doing something, was kind of impressed that he was giving any warning at all.
They all seemed to take this the wrong way. "Oh that's it, bastard. You'll be shipped off to the mountain before you can scream! Dra-" Before the first man could reach for what looked like a gun he was airborne. He crashed to the ground just as the third, silent thug received a fist to the gut and he doubled over.
The wiry man, so far untouched, jerked violently as he was pinned by bright green eyes. White teeth flashed in a parody of a grin. Harry couldn't help himself then.
"Go ahead punk, make my day." He was running before Harry dropped the last word.
Harry straightened and allowed his grin to fade into an easy, more natural looking smile. Catching sight of wide eyes staring at him from a doorway, he raised his hand. "Evening, miss. You wouldn't know where a traveller could get a meal and a bed around here, would you?"
She squeaked and vanished back inside. All Harry could do was blink and shrug. Maybe getting into a fight a few minutes after getting into town wasn't his brightest idea.
XXxXX
Harry had, after much coaxing and his best, most charming smile, managed to wrangle a room and dinner at the local hostel/inn/bar-type place. It hadn't been too hard to find, but he'd been stared at from the second he'd walked in. Years of practice made it easy to ignore, but he'd still wolfed down his sparse meal and dragged himself to his room as fast as he could. The room itself was nothing special, all cracked, unvarnished wood, and was fairly small, but there was a mattress and, no matter how lumpy, that was all Harry was really looking for. It had been gods only knew how long since he'd slept in anything other than a coffin. Lying back, the wizard snorted. The first time he wakes up, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Gods, he sounded like a teenager.
Just before closing his eyes, Harry wondered how much schmoozing it would take to get decent info on this world without looking crazy.
XXxXX
Harry snapped awake just as the sun streamed through cracked shutters. He lay there completely disoriented, for a moment forgetting where he was and what he was doing there. It took a few minutes for the events and revelations of the past few days to sink in. Harry shut his eyes tightly when he was a little more with it. He was awake now, in a strange society, but all he could do was live with it. The question was how to do so without looking like a lunatic or being arrested.
Half an hour later Harry strolled down the stairs to the saloon. Seeing it mostly empty except for two men bent over a table and one young woman at the bar, Harry fixed on his most friendly smile and headed over to the woman.
"Morning, miss. Seems like a lovely day." Manners got you everywhere, even here.
"Good morning sir. Yes, it does seem nice. Not as hot as yesterday." She smiled at him. It was small, tentative, but it was a start.
They chatted mindlessly about the weather for a while, until the subject of duelling finally arose, and the reason the woman was so much more relaxed around him became clear.
"But the duel last night was something shocking. Six turns, and another of the Radley Bunch sent off to the mountain! I don't think anyone's seen anything so quick!" The woman, girl really, she didn't look more than eighteen, exclaimed.
Harry shot her a blank look and she blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, of course you weren't there, and being new and all... Well, everyone figured you were a hired deck."
Harry nearly choked before his mind sorted out the words from the accent, and didn't bother hiding his confusion as he cut in, "Forgive me miss, but I walked in here yesterday with no idea of where I was. I've no idea what you mean." Please, please don't mean...
"Oh of course you don't, I'm sorry. Mining at the mountain is controlled by two gangs, under Radley and Malcom. They get labour by duelling at sunset, loser gets sent off to the mines. The gangs sometimes hire in duellist so they have a better chance at winning. Most people that come through here come looking to make money from these duels. After the scuffle you had with some of Radley's boys yesterday we all figured Malcom brought you in, but then you slept through sunset, so..." She trailed off with a small smile that was happy and worried at the same time.
"Well now," Harry grinned at her, still confused but with more knowledge than he'd started with. "Truth told I'm not much of a dueller. I don't mind watching when I've got the time though." True, he'd never been one for the official rules of duelling. He'd always been better at melee and open warfare. It was so much easier to cheat.
The girl looked a bit more worried at that. "You might have some trouble then, as Radley's not gonna like what you did to his boys. Malcom's not gonna have reason to take you on either."
"Don't worry about me. It's nothing I can't handle." Really, gang warfare had nothing on mage wars. "Now, I don't suppose you could direct me to a decent bath?"
XXxXX
The inevitable clash was quick and bloody. Harry had lost all hesitance when it came to violence at pretty much the same time he turned sixteen, and he wasn't about to suddenly lose years worth of training and instinct over a few half-baked idiots looking to pick a fight. He was practically dancing as he meted out violence with a ruthless efficiency that had earned him the fear of the Dark.
His magic sang around him, but beneath it an endless sense of cold whispered and pressed, wishing to be just as free. Harry restrained his death instinct, and kept his attacks mild, the injuries superficial. It wouldn't do to be run out of the town for murder, now would it? The whispers were ignored, and the once-wizard kept to his own primary magic.
It was a more relaxed Harry that strolled back into the town centre at dusk. His quite humming was soon interrupted by the roar of engines however, and the brunette mage turned away from the setting sun, facing the approaching gang. Harry's smile didn't fade nor did he remove his hands from his pockets as the group came to a stop.
The leading man practically threw himself off his bike and wrenched off his helmet.
"What the hell is this supposed to be? Radley send you out? He too scared to come out and fight?" Rage and suspicion was evident, and the weedy looking man was almost hopping around.
"Radley has found himself... indisposed. I believe he's decided to take a long holiday. Not a bad idea really." Green eyes gleamed as the sky streaked red. The gang leader took no notice though.
"He baled? That bastard! Thinks he can run away? This here is a duel town." Harry watched with mild interest as the man before him turned a shade of purple he hadn't seen since Vernon Dursley choked to death. The ranting continued for another ten minutes, enough time for a sizable crowd to gather, and Harry took note of a cart pulling up out of the corner of his eye.
"Um, boss-" an idiot from the back was shoved forward, and cringed as he interrupted the slew of threats. "What we gonna do? There's still that guy..."
The rat-like leader's attention was forced back to 'that guy' standing casually in front of him. Harry raised an eyebrow, not bothering to hide his amusement. The other man didn't seem to see the funny side of the situation though, and if anything he just grew angrier.
"Well if the bastard won't show himself then we'll just have to use you. Don't think we'll bother with duellin' it out though, since him not comin' 's'a forfeit!" There was a tone of vindictive smugness.
"'Use me'? Ah, you mean the mountain. No. No, I don't think so. I just woke up. So much to catch up on. So why don't you lot just run off back to your hole, maybe take a holiday too. Might do you some good. This place doesn't seem to be doing your blood pressure any favours."
"Ye think you can just turn up, talk like that an' walk away? You little shit, you don't got a choice"
"There's always a choice."
Hmm. He'd never tangled with a biker gang before. Should be fun.
"Besides, who said I was walking away?"
XXxXX
"You don't understand. You can't understand. I hurt people. I did some terrible things, unforgivable things. Now all I can look for is punishment. I deserve it. So please, what is there for me to do but keep going?" Yellow-gold eyes shone with desperation as they stared at the ground, still standing in the middle of the trail.
"Move."
That single snorted word snapped Kalin's attention back to the young-looking man before him.
"Look," Green eyes held no disgust, no fear or condemnation, just exasperation. "Get busy living or get busy dying, but get the fuck out of the way whatever you do. This thing is bloody heavy, and I've got to drop off a few things around town."
Kalin stared, stunned, until a raised eyebrow had him jumping to the side.
"Good boy. There's a decent inn in the middle of town. Place smells a bit of alcohol and sweat, but then everything does around here. And don't you dare kill yourself around here, I just finished clearing up the last gang."
With that Harry hefted the bundle of metal rods back onto his shoulder and walked past the white-haired man. Kalin hesitated, still completely blindsided by the other man's reaction. He had expected suspicion, hostility, maybe even disgust and hatred, but that man... He hadn't seemed to care at all.
The sun was setting, and the heat of the day was just starting to fade away.
Well... it wasn't like he was getting anywhere else that night.
XXxXX
"So you turned up then. At least you're not completely hopeless." Ah familiar voice came from behind the white-haired duellist, although it took him a second to place.
"Oh Harry, leave the guy alone! He's not been here one day yet. At least give him time to settle in before you send him running for the hills." The bar maid was smiling as the brunette from the night before slid onto the stool to Kalin's right.
"But Marie, if he's going to stay here then he's got to be able to handle a little torture right? What's a little teasing between soon-to-be friends?"
Marie just laughed before moving to serve another customer, and stopped to chat, leaving the two men alone.
"Soon-to-be-friends?" Kalin broke the silence between them, as the other seemed content to just let it go on.
"You stand in the middle of the road, make melodramatic mini-speeches about deserving punishment and past crimes, and yet you haven't offed yourself yet, instead coming to a town where you think you'll be able to duel, but always with the barest hint of danger. Face it, you're not here for redemption or whatever. You're an adrenaline junkie running away from something. What, I don't really care." All this was said in a relaxed, casual tone, as if they were discussing the weather. Harry hadn't even bothered to look up from his drink.
It took Kalin a moment to realise that he was shaking. "How...?"
"You think you're alone in the world? Everyone makes mistakes, Kalin. Some have a bigger impact than others, yeah. All you're doing now though is running away. I can tell right off that cowardice doesn't suit you. You look more like a 'hit it head on' kinda guy. So, in the spirit of past mentors, I'm going to drag you out of whiney-bitchdom. Because I spent about a year like that once, before anyone bothered to drag me out. Call it karma. 'Sides, I wanna see what it's like to be the guy holding the crowbar."
"You're insane." The words slipped out before Kalin even realised, but the words were slowly sinking into his mind. They still didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it seemed like this man, this unnaturally pale, willowy man, was offering...What? Help?
"Quite probably. And I'm offering nothing, Ghost. I need to channel my 'saving-people' thing somewhere. Congratulations, you just happen to be my next rescue-ee." Harry had finally turned to look at him, and Kalin found himself confronted with gleaming green eyes and a light-hearted grin.
Kalin opened his mouth, intending to refuse, wanting to, except he didn't want to. Those eyes chased whatever resistance out of his mind, and all arguments died on his lips.
"I...Alright," He said eventually.
Harry's grin suddenly turned predatory. "Excellent."
Kalin couldn't suppress a shiver, as a feeling of doom settled over him.
XXxXX
His arms trembled, muscles screaming as the rock was held aloft. Oddly enough, this all faded into the background roaring in his ears.
"It's not so much about living as it is not dying, really. S'the difference between those poor bastards that plan each second and those that just let it go. What's there to live for if the routine will kill you?"
There was a strange burning behind his eyes as they focused on something only he could see. How long had he been standing here? It felt like hours.
"You want to atone? Ok, we can do that. Punish those that deserve it, and all that. We'll have to do it properly, though."
Gods, but this was almost worse than having to wade through that rancid water all day, or having to pin down that line on the side of the mountain. If he just knew why-
"Think that's enough then?" A voice echoed from his left. Kalin felt that his shaking limbs more than spoke for themselves, though, and couldn't answer, too focused on not collapsing.
"Alright, let it drop."
Kalin nearly sobbed as the rock fell from above his head and he staggered back. He collided with a firm body, and only the hand on his shoulder stopped him from falling.
"Easy. Sit down for a bit and stretch your arms, or they'll cramp up awfully. Well, they'll do that anyway, but it'll be worse if you don't."
Kalin slid to the ground and did as he was told. After a few seconds Harry crouched down beside him and, taking one of the outstretched arms, began to massage it lightly.
"So, you hated my interpretation of the three agonies, then?"
"What?"
"What? Oh, right, middle of nowhere. Don't know how I keep forgetting. Do you feel punished enough?"
Kalin tilted his head and stared at the raven-haired man. Harry wasn't looking at him, focusing instead on the arm stilled held in his grasp.
"That was for the town. It needed doing. It was hard, but not-"
"Don't be thick, little ghost, it doesn't suit you. Why the hell would holding up a rock for ages be useful? Maybe if you wanted to build upper body strength in a completely stupid way, but for the town? They need rocks like idiots need guns."
Butterscotch eyes were blown wide, and he gaped at the former wizard, before choking. "But- you-"
"Shut up a sec and listen to a story then. One of the ancient societies was really big on stories of their hell. Actually, most societies are, so ignore that bit. Anyway, three 'sinners', three punishments, the Three Agonies. A guy is pinned to a rock on the side of a mountain and has his liver pecked out and regrown every day. Another stands up to his neck in a pond but every time he goes to drink the water drains away. Another pushes a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back, and he must do so forever. Sound familiar?"
"You were punishing me."
"You told me to, little ghost. You practically begged me to. You wanted to atone for past wrongdoings, past mistakes. Having you help around town wasn't going to cut it, not when you kept believing that you needed to suffer. So now you've suffered. You've had your own personal Hell adapted just for you. So do you feel you've suffered enough?"
Silence followed Harry's question, and he returned to rubbing Kalin's arms methodically. Kalin, meanwhile, stared into space, turning everything said over in his mind. Had he suffered enough? He was so tired of feeling guilty...
"Kalin." The man addressed started as he found his arms hanging limply and his companion standing above him. "You don't have to let it go completely. Just, ease up a little."
"The thing about penance and redemption is that it's not so much about being forgiven as it is about forgiving yourself."
XXxXX
"I was broken, Yusei. There's no way I could ever make up for- ack!" Kalin pitched forward, planting face first into the ground.
"I didn't even-!" he cried out, albeit muffled.
"Don't care," came the nonchalant voice of the slender figure that stood behind him. "Five laps. Now."
Yusei stared as his old friend climbed to his feet and started running. He then turned and met amused green eyes.
"Aversion therapy," came the light explanation. "Seems to be working."
XXxXX
Yusei saw something flash through his friend's eyes as Harry walked past and Kalin climbed to his feet, again. He opened his mouth to ask why Kalin was allowing this to happen to himself when he noticed the other man's attention was elsewhere. Following the golden gaze, Yusei's eyes landed on Harry's retreating back. Or rather, something a little lower... Something clicked, and his eyes widened.
"You're doing this on purpose!" he exclaimed incredulously.
Kalin glanced down with a hint of guilt. "Maybe just a little."
XXxXX
The two bits at the end come a fair bit after the rest, but I couldn't think of much to go in between. Maybe another time.
The idea has been knocking about for a bit, but I'm having a bit of trouble dragging it together. So for now you get snippet view while I beg for ideas for more scenes.
All are welcome, so review and let me know what you think 8D
Edt. : emails not coming through from ff, and hits and all aren't showing up on traffic either, so if you alert/fav/review and I don't get it, know that I love you anyway and will scream at and threaten my laptop until it's fixed and coughs out everything.