Bound through the Ages
A/N; I got carried away in a certain part of this chapter and wrote a proper NC-17 scene that was way beyond the M-rating allowed on ffnet. To fix this I simply removed the part that I felt took it above that rating. See the bold notes in the chapter for more information. Even so I think it'll be safer to simply say 'There is an NC-17 scene in this chapter - if you do not like slash then please skip between the bold notes and don't ask me to email you the deleted section.'
Chapter 8; Sir Guardian
Macalania Temple - Fayth's Antechamber
Harry watched soberly as Zara faded from sight along with those two last bomb shells and Harry found himself far more worried about whether he would kill Tidus to prevent another Great Summoning than he was troubled by the approach of Sin. In truth he really didn't know whether he would kill Tidus or not. He felt for the young man but it was the case of these few people's lives compared to millions. Mass genocide was something unheard of in this world. Sin only killed thousands. There was no concept of the Holocaust that had killed millions in World War two. Thousands of deaths, like the defeat of Maester Zacath's army, were well known but the millions that had died when he had last been summoned had been forgotten.
He had always just brushed away the idea of having to kill Yuna, Tidus and the others, finding it less than likely that they would find out about him. It was true that Tidus had upset the normal run of things but he'd still found it unlikely that they would discover that Aeon and force Harry's hand. Now though, Seymour had told Yuna about the Aeon and Yuna was the type to want to use it.
"Harry?" Tidus spoke up from the wall where he was helping Lulu heal Wakka with a stout potion. "What do we do now?"
"There is little we can do." Harry told him before turning to eye Yuna and Seymour. "Don't go getting ideas into your head, Lady Yuna. He's a traitor and that's that."
"But what he told me?" Yuna straightened defiantly as if she was squaring off against an opponent. "Was that true?"
"What's she talking about?" Rikku asked.
"No matter what he said you shouldn't believe him, Yuna." Harry ignored the Al-bhed girl. "He was desperate and power hungry. Send him and lets get out of here. Sin is approaching."
"How do you know that?" Auron instantly tensed to prepare to move out.
"Shiva told him." Yuna told them all before eyeing Harry. It was another cause for concern for them all that Harry knew all of the Fayths. Though none had a clue that Harry was a Fayth.
"Send him." Auron agreed with Harry.
"Lord Seymour!" Harry's sword was in his hand in an instant as he turned to face the Guado Aide, Tromell. "What happened?"
"I'm afraid you won't get many answers out of him." Harry pointed out dryly.
"It's not our fault!" Tidus headed off the accusation desperately. "He's the bad guy!"
"You did this?" Tromell rounded on Tidus even as the others looked at him in irritation that he had owned up to their crime. Harry just chuckled in amusement though he was worried. He could kill all of the ten Guado that had come with Tromell but maybe not before they killed one of the others.
"Yuna." Harry growled seeing where this could go. "Send him!"
She turned to Seymour's body and pulled out her rod. "No! Stop!" Tromell yelled and instantly four of the Guado had rushed down to Seymour's body to protect it from harm. "Stay away from him, Traitors."
"You can't brand me a traitor twice, Tromell." Harry swaggered forwards incidentally protecting Tidus and the others from any attack from the retreating Guado. He wasn't disappointed either since Tromell glared at him. He signalled sharply with his hand and two of the Guado stopped retreating just as the others were out of the door.
One raised his arms and a lightning blast ripped from where his joined hands towards Rikku just behind and to the left of Harry. Harry snapped out his left arm and the powerful Thunder spell was absorbed into his bracer. Tidus was at his side with his sword in hand and Kimahri was on his left, both ready to attack. Harry simply sheathed his sword.
He eyed Yuna off to the left of the battle as she seemed to be wondering whether to resummon Shiva. A chill went down Harry's back and he had to shut his eyes to retain his concentration over the Myst that was a part of his being. Sin was approaching and he was coming fast. Harry's eyes snapped open and with a colossal gust of wind he summoned two Death spells into being. The air seemed to be rendered as the two Guado went rigid. The air rippled as it seemed to flow into them before tearing away ripping their souls out of their bodies.
Lulu gaped at him in horror and Yuna looked outright petrified. "We don't have time for this. We pull out all the stops." Harry told them all as he walked out of the door with them close on his trail.
The others were all rather pale at his display of power and he knew why. Most people were only successful with every other Death spell cast, if it wasn't less than that. But even the best Mages known to man could never cast the spell twice in the same instant against two different targets.
The trip back through the Cloister of Trials was rather uneventful since Zara hadn't reset the Ice Bridge, probably despite Tromell's attempts to do just that. Harry got onto the lift and grinned impishly at Tidus who eyed the metal device with apprehension clear on his face. Harry spent the trip up to the surface assessing each of the group. Yuna was clearly the most shocked in the group. Not only had her Aeon just killed Seymour, on Harry's order or not didn't matter, but she'd been told by Seymour that Harry was the designated protector of an Aeon more powerful than Sin itself. What else Seymour had told her would have to wait until they were clear of the Temple and more importantly Sin. She seemed to be trying to assess what of it was true and not be spotted in her efforts to keep Harry as far away from her as possible.
Kimahri seemed to be the one to realise this and belied his loyalty to the Summoner by staying right at her side. He didn't seem to have a problem with Harry personally but he kept a watch over him regardless. It was the much the same for Auron, the old Warrior Monk, had been getting more and more suspicious of Harry especially since his casual avoidance of Guadosalam and especially since he'd revealed that he had known Cid and couldn't possibly be as young as he looked.
Rikku had been shocked by Harry's revelation that morning after meeting Brother and she seemed confused more than anything. The death of a Yevonite Maester didn't bother her like it did the others but it was clear that Harry's casual attitude in all of this was worrying her. She could go either of two ways, either she'd side with the others against Harry in a fight or she'd see Harry's powers as a way of fighting Sin without having to sacrifice Yuna.
Lulu and Wakka seemed of the same mind. They both were in shock over the murder, required or not, of a Maester and Wakka especially seemed to want to blame it solely on Harry who had spoken out against their beliefs for as long as they had known him. They were both clearly petrified about his fighting skills and his magic and they were clearly guarding Yuna from him as well as everybody else.
That brought him finally to Tidus. He was the only reason he wasn't planning on doing a runner as soon as they were clear of the Temple. Whereas he wasn't frightened by the others trying to attack him he did not need the added aggravation of having to fight Yevon and these Guardians. Tidus was clearly torn between siding with the others and letting himself fall into the mystery that was Harry. He knew that Harry was immortal and the fact he hadn't told all of the others was a good thing but it wouldn't take long before Yuna said something and Tidus blurted something out.
Tidus knew more about him than anybody beyond Simon and Harry worried about what the young man would do when they finally reached Gagazet Mountains and the source of the Sleeper's World was revealed to him. All he knew was that he couldn't get Zara's words out of his head. Would he kill Tidus as well as the others to stop them from getting to his Aeon? He felt his fingers brushing the key he always wore and noticed Tidus watching him carefully. He yanked his fingers away from the key and gave the young man a level gaze.
The lift came to a stop and Harry let the others all leave before he followed them out into the Temple where they were confronted by Tromell and a score of Guado soldiers. Harry stepped up to Tidus' side protectively without thinking about it and inadvertently joined the confrontation.
"Please!" Yuna begged looking rather desperate.
"Let us explain!" Auron ordered rather than asked.
"No need, I already know what I'll tell the other Maesters." Tromell bragged and Harry felt his eyes narrow and his fists clench. He hated people like Tromell and Seymour beyond all others. Either you told the truth or you refused to speak. He hated people who bent the truth to their own ends for power or position.
"Meaning?" Auron hissed.
"Maester Seymour was the leader of the Guado before becoming a Maester." Tromell pointed out as if it explained everything.
"You're not letting us go?" Tidus asked rather pointlessly.
"Let you go?" Tromell seemed shocked by the concept. "Maester Seymour would never forgive us if we did that."
"Wait!" Rikky grabbed Harry's arm. "Jyscal's sphere, we can show it to them!"
"You mean this?" Tromell smirked lifting the sphere from his pocket. They were rather flimsy things really and Guado were known for their strong grip. The glass dome that held the memory-video shattered and he dropped the useless contraption to the ground. "The Guado take care of Guado affairs."
"I've heard that one before." Harry pointed out as he stepped between Tromell and the others. He glanced over his shoulder at Auron and narrowed his eyes.
"Run!"
"Harry?" Tidus paused at his shoulder as Kimahri and Auron barged through the surprised Guado soldiers.
"I'll catch up." Harry smirked and sent the young man running before he pulled his sword from it's sheath and dodged through the crowd to prevent any of the Guado from giving chase. He turned back to them and with a flourish turned his left hand palm upwards and a concentrated Fira spell appeared over his hand. The doors slammed shut behind him and he smirked in satisfaction before letting the Fira loose on his enemies.
As the mainly sword to sword fight carried on he used his bracer to shield himself from the Guado's main arsenal of strikes but he knew at least three of the Guado had gotten passed him.
He took his opportunity to run when, after killing half the Guado detachment, the Temple Priest summoned Shiva to help the Guado. To the poor priest's shock however, Shiva covered Harry and sent a wave of ice shards at the Guado and then refused to be dismissed. Harry laughed his thanks before ducking out of the doors.
It took twenty minutes for him to catch up to even the Guado soldiers who had managed to slip passed him and he was annoyed that they'd managed to overtake Tidus and the others in the middle of the ice that covered the city below. The two Guado had summoned a four armed critter that normally belonged in the Gagazet mountains and while not difficult to deal with if they'd found it after more training it was keeping the whole group at bay with it's massive attacks. The fact that the two Guado soldiers were occasionally attacking by magic didn't help matters and they were being protected by Shell and Protect shields. Rather strong ones.
Harry took one look at the battle and made his move. His approach was long but the Guado had made the mistake of ignoring their backs in favour of watching the Summoner and her six Guardians. Harry slipped up to the battle and in a smooth motion he clapped his hands. His Dispel rippled away from him in every direction banishing the Shell and Protect on the two Guado soldiers and their creature. It did also take off the Immunities that Yuna had cast on everyone but that wouldn't matter for much longer.
The Guado scrambled to cast their spells again but Harry was faster. His sword sunk straight through one of the Guado from behind and the Soldier slumped forwards off of the sword. Harry hefted his sword towards the second soldier who was too busy casting a Shell shield to dodge the flying object. It sliced straight into his chest and lodged there.
The creature spun with unexpected speed and threw a punch at Harry even as Tidus and Kimahri lunged at his exposed back. Harry, knowing he couldn't dodge something that big went down onto one knee and cast his most powerful protect spell over him. The creature's fists came down over his head and his shield almost crumpled. Harry's joints groaned as the shield deflected most of the attack.
Tidus saw Harry kneel down to the ground and saw the blue spell flicker over him moments before the creature's fists smashed into it. A growl of anger ripped from his throat as he saw Harry, someone he trusted and, if he admitted it, was beginning to really like, take such a blow. He felt the blade in his hand shift without his intention and he felt like he had before when he had fought for this very blade. The feeling wasn't exactly the same though and without realising what he was doing he was feeding his magic, something he barely knew existed, with his stores of adrenaline which had been building ever since they started running from the temple.
"Tidus!" Yuna yelled at him and he realised his eyes were closed. He opened them and found her face. She was looking up at him. He was floating. His arms out to the sides and the Shifting Glacier held horizontally to one side though it barely seemed necessary for this attack.
The clouds darkened over his head and he found it hard to focus through the air around him though he could just about make out Harry's worried looking face but the man was forced to concentrate on the protect shield that was taking a beating from the creature while the others were too distracted by what Tidus was doing to come to his rescue.
In fact they were backing away. Tidus looked up at the clouds above his head expecting to see storm clouds only to see a mass of shimmering air that looked like wispy clouds. Something Harry had told him down in the Temple came to mind. Harry had said that he had used Myst to aide his attacks against the sword-creature and that it had confused Harry because he'd never met anybody, other than himself, that had used Myst in a strike. Were these clouds Myst and was he then surrounded in it?
Before he could contemplate it further the very air around him seemed to harden into a hard shield as more of the clouds over his head slide to join the Myst around him. Then without warning hundreds of pieces shattered out of the outer edge and shot towards the ground. It took Tidus a few seconds to realise what was happening but he was too late as the shots struck empty space and the ice under them all groaned under the attack. He focused everything he had on directing the attack and in a sudden heart-rendering crack the shell around him shattered and a thousand shards of this strange substance shot towards the creature.
They slammed into him and passed straight through carrying a trail of pyre flies with them as the thousands of shards shredded the creature which died almost instantly. Tidus found himself able to focus on the outside world fully once more and he fell unceremoniously to the ground.
Harry stood regally and shook his arms and legs as the ache of defending against such powerful strikes caught up with him. He eyed the clouds of rapidly dissipating Myst rather worriedly before making his way to where Tidus was kneeling on the ground with Lulu, Rikku and Yuna fussing over him.
"Things are never boring around him, you must admit." Auron spoke up from his shoulder.
"At least he decided to help me." Harry snapped with a sharp glare at the man.
"You looked fine to me and I thought I should let him learn." Auron didn't seem apologetic.
"I'll remember that the next time you're in the same situation." Harry retorted before eyeing the growing group around Tidus. He felt a shudder through his feet and looked at the ice they stood on just as he felt a lurch. "Oh crap."
"Indeed." Auron just about managed before there was a massive lurch and the slab of ice they all stood on dropped about a foot. Yuna and Rikku both screamed but there was little any of them could do. Harry could have levitated himself out with a controlled Aero spell but that would leave the others to drop the hundred feet to the ground below.
A second later his choices were severely limited as the slab shattered into a dozen pieces. Harry twisted upright as he fell and he channelled a massive blast of air up at them to slow their descent so when they hit the ice covered ground it was with a less lethal blow. Harry landed as gracefully as he could which meant hitting an iced column about four feet from the ground before rolling off and onto the ground below. Harry groaned and pushed himself to his feet.
"Is everyone ok?" He heard several groans from around him in answer. "Damnit! Answer me properly so I know who's dead!"
This got them moving and both Auron and Kimahri lurched upright. Kimahri dashed off to find Yuna while the others tried to push themselves up. "I'm alright!" Rikku declared as she pushed herself up to her knees.
"What happened?" Lulu asked as she too stood.
"Yuna's here!" Kimahri announced from where he knelt behind an icy outcropping which hide Yuna.
"Tidus and Wakka?" Harry asked.
"Let's not do that again." Wakka declared from behind him as he and Tidus came up behind Harry. Harry spun on Tidus with a worried look on his face and Tidus seemed shocked to see it there.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine, just tired but that's from whatever I did." Tidus sighed and sat on a small ledge on a small wall beside him. Harry eyed the surroundings and winced but decided not to mention where they were to anybody else especially since he could feel Sin so close. He wasn't yet there though.
"What happened?" Lulu asked for the second time.
"Tidus' attack weakened the Ice right under us." Harry informed them. "It broke, we fell."
Wakka looked up and whistled. "That's a long way."
"How are we all alive?" Lulu asked.
"It got really windy?" Harry offered with a smirk. She eyed him but nodded in understanding.
"Where are we?" Rikku asked.
"On the bed of the ice lake." Auron declared as he joined the group with Kimahri and Yuna in tow.
"Where's the lake?" Wakka asked.
"There was never a lake here." Harry spoke quietly. "The ice up there is just called that. People prefer not to know what's down here."
"And what is that?" Yuna asked with sarcasm. "Or are you going to keep that a secret too?"
"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Lady Summoner." Harry retorted without expression.
"You have some explaining to do!" Yuna demanded.
Harry mock bowed. "Of course, My Lady. Who would dream of not giving in to your childish demands? Especially when our lives hang in the balance." Harry retorted. She went red with anger.
"Yuna! Chill!" Tidus tried to step in but she ignored him.
"What are you?" She demanded.
"Yuna!" Lulu sounded shocked by the wording.
"No!" Yuna snapped. "I've had enough. Seymour may have been a traitor but he told me about Harry. He's older than he looks and he knows a way to defeat Sin once and for all."
"Then he lied!" Harry snapped. Tidus backed away in silence knowing that Harry was lying though he wasn't stepping in against Harry which was a good thing.
"I don't think so!" Yuna closed the distance between them and jabbed Harry in the chest. "Tell us the truth or we'll hand you over to Yevon. I'm sure they'll take our word that you were the one that killed Seymour."
"Oh, you'll hand me over?" Harry laughed before taking a step towards her pulling himself up to his full height. His eyes glowed fiercely and Yuna took a surprised step backwards and tumbled over a rock on the ground. Harry chuckled. "I'm so scared."
"Harry?" Tidus asked and he turned to look at the young man. "Go easy would you? They have a point. We barely know you and you're not exactly forthcoming."
Harry eyed him but nodded. "Are you going to tell us anything?" Lulu asked.
"No." Harry told her bluntly before closing his eyes to listened to the ever louder Hymn of the Fayth to calm him down. He opened his eyes again to find Yuna still on the ground though she seemed to not notice what was rising from the ground right next to her head. "Yuna?"
"What!?" She snapped.
"Get up slowly and don't look at the ground." Harry told her. He almost laughed as before getting up she looked around and straight into the frozen hand reaching up from the ground she lay on. She screamed and bolted up and into Tidus who caught her without thought. "I did warn you."
Suddenly everyone was looking around and their surroundings were obvious for what they were. The icy outcroppings were buildings and against them were people. Some of them seemed to have frozen in the act of running but some were going about their daily business. Tidus croaked out a weak complaint and looked at Harry who was the only one of them who hadn't moved from the very centre of the clearing in all the time they'd been down here.
"What is this!?" Wakka asked. "How many are there?"
"Ten's of thousands." Harry told him emotionlessly. "All killed in an instant. Spira's tomb-city."
"This is horrible." Tidus looked down at the sword still in his hand and sheathed it so he didn't have to look at it anymore.
"Zara." Harry whispered in pity. Yet again others knew of her crime. "Sometimes people do things they don't intend but when it's done it's done and then they have to face the punishment."
The others all looked at him trying not to look around at all the staring faces frozen in ice for over a thousand years. "Who did this?" Rikku shivered.
"The force that Yevon is so proud of." Harry mocked. "The Fayths all committed a crime like this. A crime beyond human ability to punish."
"Shiva?" Yuna stared up at the Temple in silence where it hung over their heads in the distance.
Harry snapped up his head to look but only because in that instant he realised that the Hymn had stopped. "We're out of time." Harry hissed. A flicker of movement rippled from the edge of his vision and Harry looked over into the distance to see what he had thought was a continuation of the city moved. If he had thought about it he would have realised that that was where the City's docks had been. Now Sin stood there.
"Sin!" Auron cried as he spotted the same thing.
"It's too late." Harry told them as he felt the air change ever so slowly. They wouldn't get a few metres before the Toxin struck them. He watched Rikku, Auron and Kimahri collapse as the Toxin knocked them unconscious and felt the Myst erupting from his skin in an attempt to fight it. He felt the rising power flowing through him just as Wakka, Lulu, Yuna and finally Tidus collapsed at his feet.
He felt a presence against his mind and he reached out with a sense of recognition before his own eyes blurred. His powers reached out to block it again and Harry knew everyone around him would die at the Myst's attempts to summon his Aeon from within if he didn't do something. A low grumble shook the city as Sin recognised what was happening and prepared to attack him, presumably to stop him from killing Tidus. Harry did the only thing he could think of at the time. He summoned a Death spell and turned it inward.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Bikanel Island
The first thing Harry realised was that he was lying face down on hot ground. As he regained control of his body he shot up. He hated doing that, killing himself with a Death spell. It was one of the first things he had tried to do to get out of this unending punishment but he'd simply woken up sore and tired afterwards. He'd used it twice since then, once to escape a prison cell almost eight hundred years ago and then in the same manner he had just done about five hundred years ago.
He was normally quite good at avoiding Sin but he couldn't always avoid the great beast and the only way to stop the Myst from killing those around him was to kill himself. He looked around at the endless sand that spread in all directions but couldn't make out which direction to go in at this time of day. He settled down on his haunches glad that he didn't need water or food like most caught out here.
Obviously Sin had brought him to Bikanel Island since that was the only place in Spira with this type of sand. Fine white-yellow sand that moved like a great sea. The only things out here which were permanent were the few lakes of warm water, the navigational markers that he Al-bhed had placed and of course Home. The city of the Al-bhed which Harry had helped Cid to create almost thirty years ago.
Harry studied the horizon for the distinct signs of life. He'd lived out here for a hundred of so years when he decided he wanted nothing to do with the world. That had been before Sin had been created and he'd only left when people had migrated here and built a city which had then been destroyed in the wars between Bevelle and Zanarkand.
Basically he knew everything there was to know about navigating through a Desert. The first thing was working out which way was North which was a little harder to do since it was noon and Bikanel was on the equator. He'd have to wait a while and see which way the sun went. After that it was finding one of the Navigational markers that the Al-bhed had placed as stoic landmarks within the moving sea of sand. They all had directions on them but you had to know the pattern in order to use them to find Home. They did point the way to the nearest shelter or Oasis though for anybody.
Finally the sun had moved enough towards what he know knew was the western horizon for him to work out which way was North and hence the general direction to Home and he started out. Bikanel wasn't an uninhabited place when it came to fiends but most of the creatures that would have attacked travellers saw him as the powerful predator he was and only a couple of times did he have to call magic into existence to kill a few Fiends.
He was rather grateful when he caught the slight change in heat haze that marked the presence of a Navigational marker and he made his way towards it. The sign had three signs on it. Two of the signs pointed out to the East with the Al-bhed for water and shelter on them but the last sign pointed to all four cardinal marks. Each was faded but still held the four colours. He found the code cipher on the base of the pole and since it was a small picture of a bird he looked out to the North East, between the red and green cardinal signs. That was where Home was.
He knew that, and any Al-bhed would know that, but that didn't mean the others would. He had no doubt that Sin had brought the others here as well and only Rikku would know the way to Home. He decided to go East, to the shelter and Oasis. Tidus had learnt enough Al-bhed in secret from Rikku in the last week or so to have a crude understanding of the words and would probably have gone to the Oasis. Also there was very little wind at the moment so he could find their tracks if he was lucky. Plus it wouldn't be a bad thing if he got some water in his dry throat. Like he'd said before, he hated casting the Death spell on himself.
It was almost three hours later when he came across promising tracks. Actually they were only promising up to a point. Somebody had lain in the sand and then gotten up and begun walking into the East. He followed the tracks until they were intercepted by tyre tracks. Or more specifically, caterpillar tracks. A Dune buggy. The buggy had stopped and the foot prints had joined them before the buggy had left for the North East. He studied the prints carefully. Common placed sandals, well worn by travel, but light. Rikku and Tidus both wore completely different shoes. Kimahri only wore very basic sandals and Auron and himself wore boots. That left Wakka, Lulu and Yuna, assuming the tracks weren't just coincidental. Wakka was too heavy for these tracks so that left Lulu and Yuna.
Either way they were safe with the Al-bhed for the time being and the others possibly weren't that safe. He continued to the East following his original plan and it was another couple of hours before he stumbled across the rest of the group. He found the shelter the sign had pointed to along with another sign. Somebody had rested here for quite a while until three had joined them from the East and the four had left towards the North which was where the sign pointed to Home. Rikku's prints weren't here so he wasn't convinced that they knew where they were going so he took off after them after drinking from the well dug under the shelter. He vaguely wondered whether to put out for the Oasis but figured that he could always check it out if the group weren't all together.
It wasn't a ten minute jog along the tracks before they intercepted two other sets of tracks. One was Rikku's and the other was Kimahri's. That meant that the rest of the group was together. Auron, Tidus and Wakka were definitely in the first group with Rikku and Kimahri now with them. The only question was whether it was Lulu or Yuna with them.
Obviously Rikku had yet to find a Navigational marker though since she had led the group out into the North West. Until she stumbled on a marker she wouldn't be able to adjust her course, she was guessing that they were somewhere in the centre of the Island and since Home was on the Northwest corner that was her best bet. The problem was that they were already directly south of Home and she was leading them out into the desert.
Harry took off after them but it was still another two hours before he caught up with them and it was starting to get rather dim. They wouldn't be able to reach Home until tomorrow. It would get too dangerous to walk at night time. They were pausing in their walking to discuss where to stay for the night and Harry smiled as he crested the top of a dune and looked down at them. He was about to call out to them when a twitch of movement caught his eye.
The Dune to their right moved even without wind and Harry saw a trace of a fin sliding through it. A Sand Worm. "Rikku!" He shouted before switching to Al-bhed. "On your right, a Sand Worm!"
"Run!" Rikku yelled and tugged Tidus up the dune Harry stood on just as the Sand Worm lunged out of the dune, showering them with sand. Wakka chucked his blitzball weapon at it's head but it barely even made the thing twitch. There was really only one way to deal with these. Harry slashed his hands forwards as Tidus and Rikku collapsed onto the sand at his sides. A horrible musty smell spread through the area before completely vanishing. The worm groaned in pain before slouching onto it's side as Harry's Bio spell worked.
The poison wouldn't last long and unless they stuck around to finish it off it would recover over time but it wouldn't bother anything for the next few days. "Where have you been?" Tidus asked rather rudely though there was affection in his eyes as he looked up at Harry.
"I woke up at about noon off in that general direction. Tracked East to the shelter you guys met at." Harry shrugged. "I've been following you for two hours."
"Have you seen Yuna?" Lulu asked answering Harry's question about who it was that the Al-bhed had picked up.
"I found her tracks about four hours ago. She was picked up by a Sand Buggy and taken North." Harry told them.
"She's at Home!" Rikku punched the air happily.
"Shame you're heading in the wrong direction." Harry told her.
"I couldn't find a marker!" Rikku complained.
"We need to track back to the shelter you met at." Harry told them. "We won't get far tonight."
"We have to hurry." Wakka demanded. "We can't leave Yuna alone with those heathens."
"Wakka." Lulu warned.
"You're welcome to try on your own. It's that way." Harry pointed just East of North. "Have fun."
Harry smirked as Wakka went slightly pale at the idea of walking around a desert on his own. "It'll be dark soon." Auron spoke up for the first time.
"Keen observation." Harry chuckled. It didn't take them long to backtrack to the shelter and even as it got dark they could follow their own tracks. Even so it was an exhausted group that collapsed into the shelter. Harry was tired beyond the others and he collapsed against the wall.
"You're exhausted." Tidus sat next to him letting the others clear the sand out of the shelter and sort out food.
"I have a bad reaction against Sin." Harry told him the truth. "I cast a Death spell on myself so I didn't react. Then I woke up at noon and I've been walking without much to drink since then."
Tidus gave him a sad look. "Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine." He flopped sideways onto the floor and lay on his side knowing that they'd be cramped for room as it was.
Tidus stood and met the others while Harry dropped into sleep. "What's up with him?" Wakka asked.
"He's been walking all day and he's tired." Harry heard Tidus tell them.
"Can we trust him?" Harry had to strain to hear Lulu's voice but they obviously thought he was already asleep. He shut his eyes to lead them on in that belief.
"I don't know." Auron muttered. "He's always been a bit of a risk but we need his skills at the moment and I'm not sure if we can defeat him in a fight or not."
"Well I think we can trust him." Tidus told him. "I'm not going to abandon him just because you think he's keeping secrets!"
"That's just because you're attracted to him." Rikku blurted out rather louder than she meant to. There was a pause, probably as they all watched Harry to see if he'd heard her.
"And what if I am?" Tidus retorted. Harry couldn't help but grin a bit at those words. "You don't trust me to realise a threat just because I like him?"
"It's not that we don't trust your judgement, Tidus." Lulu argued. "It's just we know so little about him and you're new to this world."
"I think we're all new to this world compared to him." Auron pointed out. Harry lost his slight grin. There was no hiding it now, they definitely knew he was older than he looked.
"That doesn't change who he is." Tidus argued.
"We're all tired and as Auron pointed out there isn't much we can do at the moment anyway. He's too powerful." Lulu told them.
"Powerful or not, if you all gang up on him I'm siding with him." Tidus stated angrily.
"I'm not sure if I'd go against him. He did help my father unite the Al-bhed after all." Rikku was obviously leaning towards Tidus' view in this argument.
"Let's just sleep." Lulu said. There was movement as everybody headed towards Harry and lay down around the shelter. "Tidus, just be careful. He'd not what he seems."
"I know he isn't but I still like him." Tidus told her sincerely and Harry felt himself grin again. Harry was about to fall asleep when he felt somebody lie next to him. He opened his eyes to see Lulu guarding the entrance while Tidus was lying staring at the ceiling above them. Harry reached out a hand even as he shut his eyes again. He felt Tidus' hand and grabbed it in his own. Tidus jerked and Harry opened his eyes a little to look at him. "You were awake the whole time?"
Harry smirked and nodded. Tidus squeezed his hand and Harry's smirk turned into a smile. "Thanks." He told the young man gently so the others wouldn't hear.
Tidus smiled back and in a smooth motion turned away from Harry, keeping hold of his hand so it circled his waist as he scooted backwards so his back was to Harry's chest. Harry kissed Tidus lightly on the exposed back of his neck before falling asleep.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The next morning
Harry, as always, woke first and he couldn't help feeling pleased with the fact that Tidus was snuggled up against him just like when they had fallen asleep. Harry was surrounded in people that didn't trust him and people were starting to discover his Aeon. Despite all of that he felt warm and happy. Normally he would have risen and relieved whoever was on watch but instead he stayed where he was knowing that any attempt at getting up would wake the young man and he had been put through so much recently that Harry didn't want to strain him.
It wasn't for another half an hour before Tidus slowly came awake. He tensed as he felt Harry behind him before relaxing and unconsciously wriggled back into him. "Morning."
"Last time I woke up like this I'd spent the night drinking." Tidus shuddered slightly. "God, the world's changed."
"Tell me about it." Harry chuckled feeling a jealous pang at the mention of one of Tidus' past lovers. "Come on, I need to get up. I'm stiff from the magic yesterday."
"Just from the magic yesterday?" Tidus smirked over at him. Harry rolled his eyes at him before pausing. He found himself staring into Tidus' mirth filled eyes and was about to lean over and kiss him when he remembered where they were. He saw a brief flash of disappointment in Tidus' eyes as he pulled back and moved to get up. Tidus followed him out of the shelter where they found Rikku studying the brightening desert around them.
"Go get another hour sleep, Rikku." Harry told her as she turned to look at them. She looked between the two of them before a smirk spread across her face. Harry stared her down and she laughed.
"I'll give you some privacy." She chuckled at Tidus' blushing face.
"You do that." Harry snapped. She ducked into the shelter with one last amused look.
"I swear you don't ever care what people think of you." Tidus shook his head derisively before flopping down onto the top of the rock that the shelter was built into the lee of. Harry climbed up behind him to look around them.
"Not really. It's never mattered to me before. People can only hate me as long as their alive." Harry pointed out.
"What about me? Do you care what I think?" Tidus asked.
"I think so." Harry said after sitting himself down next to him.
"You think so?" Tidus spluttered.
"It's been a while since I've tried to think of anyone that way." Harry pointed out.
"I think I get it." Tidus told him. "I don't really understand how somebody could not want people to care about them but I'm not two thousand years old."
They sat in silence for a time before Tidus lay back onto the stone. "Harry?"
"Tidus?" Harry responded instantly.
"I know I'm not Simon." Tidus paused. "But I'd like to try this."
Harry eyed him for a moment before sighing. "Are you sure?"
"I know I'm new to this world and everything but who better to keep an eye on me than somebody with your experience?" Tidus gave him a small smile. "I've never felt attracted to somebody like I do with you and even after everything you've told me that hasn't changed."
Harry paused and lay down next to the young man. He closed his eyes and sighed wondering what Simon would tell him. Really he didn't need to wonder since Simon had already told him he should go for it. "I'd like that." He said eventually. He opened his eyes as he felt Tidus shoot up into a sitting position and looked at him in amusement.
"Really?" Tidus asked.
"Really." Harry laughed before lifting an arm in invitation. Tidus grinned happily and in one smooth motion he was straddling Harry's stomach as he leaned down to catch Harry's lips in a passionate kiss that banished any remaining doubt on Harry's part.
Harry didn't know how long they kissed nor how long they simply sat together afterwards but as the sun came up Tidus lifted his head from his chest to talk. "You've been here before then?"
"I helped build Home." Harry told him with a small chuckle.
"Rikku said you knew her father." Tidus warned him. "She said he told her about a man who helped him to unite all the factions. She said he was called Harry and saved her father's life quite a few times."
"More times than I can count." Harry chuckled. "He's a rather reckless man. Happy to jump into the grinder without warning."
"The grinder?" Tidus frowned.
"Never mind." Harry smiled in amusement. "I met him passing through Macalania Forest after he'd been badly poisoned. I took him to Macalania Temple and watched over him until he had recovered. He didn't speak a word of English at the time so was rather glad to find somebody he could talk to."
"English?" Tidus frowned. "What's that?"
Harry actually laughed then and had to sit up to breathe properly. "You're speaking it!"
"What?" Tidus frowned. "This is Common." He seemed to struggle over the words.
"But it started as English." Harry explained. "One of the oldest of the countries on Earth was called England. They created the language and by the time of the Great Cataclysm almost eighty percent of the world spoke it. They renamed it Common after that as it was among the only languages people knew."
"Oh." Tidus smiled slightly. "What happened then?"
"We travelled together for a while." Harry continued his story. "It was fun to travel through Spira with somebody that didn't really like Yevon. It was refreshing. He told me about his dream of uniting the Al-bhed and creating a home for them. Of course I knew where most of the factions lived or roamed so I offered my help. We sought them all out and I showed them to this place."
"So you've been here before that?" Tidus asked.
"I lived as a hermit on this island for the better part of two hundred years." Harry sighed. "That was before I moved to Zanarkand. People knew what I was back then."
"What you were?" Tidus asked.
"Another time, Tidus." Harry was saved from further argument as Wakka and Lulu emerged from below them with a snickering Rikku in tow.
"Are you two love birds ready to go?" Rikku asked.
Harry pulled himself up and in one smooth motion vaulted off of the top of the shelter. Tidus followed him with a blush on his face. "Yes." Harry told the small girl bluntly. "And keep that mouth of yours shut or I'll tell your father on you."
She blanched and Tidus chuckled. Wakka and Lulu gave him suspicious looks but Harry ignored them. He didn't care what they knew as truth or speculation. They could be confused for all he cared.
Tidus stood close at his side and trailed his hand across his back. Harry turned to look at him with a smile and got one in return.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The trek into the North took them well passed noon and it was almost half way through the afternoon before Harry saw the first signs of the rocky mountains that shielded Home from the strong Easterly winds that moved the sand. He stopped as he heard a very quiet screech and motioned for silence.
For once nobody argued and in the silence they heard the distinct sound of far off explosions. "No!" Rikku cried as she dashed forwards up the slope. Harry took off after them and they all crested the ridge together. Home was a very industrial city with a ring of towers surrounding a larger central crane that could access all parts of the city's surface. Most of the city was actually underground.
Harry hissed as even as they watched the main crane crumpled and tipped off of the central tower and down onto the docks and yards below. Creatures flew around the city and they could hear howling from below. Rikku took off down the slope without a second thought and Tidus dashed after her.
"Wakka!" Harry spun on the man before anybody else could follow them. "Al-bhed or not these people need our help. Can you do that objectively or should I string you up and leave you here?"
Wakka glared at him but nodded. "Yuna's down there." Lulu pointed out.
"Let's go." Harry snapped and turned to sprint after the two younger Guardians. It took fifteen minutes of running to get to the city entrance and what they saw was complete devastation. Creatures littered the area as well as Al-bhed and not five metres from them Rikku knelt crying over a body. Harry walked up to her and glanced briefly at Tidus who was guarding her. Harry looked at the man and recognised him from about fifteen years ago though his features had massively changed since then. It was one of Cid's sons, Rikku's brother.
"It's the Guado." Tidus told him. Harry looked up with furious eyes just as two birds flew overhead. He went to bring up his hands to destroy them but Auron stopped him.
"We find Yuna first. Then you can attract attention all you like." Auron ordered. Harry glared at him but let his hands drop to the sides.
"A war?" Lulu frowned. "Between the Yevon and the Al-bhed."
"That is wrong!" A voice spoke up from the main doorway and Harry looked up to see and older Cid followed by three or four others. "The Guado go for the Summoners."
"Father!" Rikku stood up shakily. Cid stopped over his son's body and sighed before looking at Rikku and then at the others before his eyes settled on Harry who smirked at him.
"Cid." Harry greeted. "You've done it again. Maybe next time you plan something like this and bring Yevon down on your head, you'll warn me so I can help."
Cid, despite everything, laughed and grasped Harry into a welcoming hug. "Oh, how I've missed that sarcasm. Harry, my old friend, you haven't aged a day."
"So, I've noticed, but we can discuss that at a later time." Harry told him before gesturing at the others.
"You Rikku and Harry's friends?" Cid asked before turning to the doors. "Well, don't just stand there. Let's go kick these Guado out of our Home!"
Harry caught up to the man before he could run off. "Home is lost is it not." Cid sighed and nodded. "What then is your plan?"
"We found an Airship."
"I heard." Harry told him dryly.
"It's working. Find the Summoners then get to the air dock." Cid told him. "Rikku knows the way."
Harry nodded and lead the others through the door and deeper into the facility. "Rikku, lead the way." Harry told her.
"Where are we going?" Tidus asked him.
"To where the Al-bhed have been keeping the Summoners." Harry told him as they ran down a corridor.
"Why were they kidnapping them?" Tidus asked.
"Later, Tidus." Harry told him. "Focus on fighting for the time being."
As if to prove his words and wolf jumped around the corridor. Harry rolled forwards to dodge it's claws and was yet again impressed by Tidus' speed as his sword killed it instantly.
Harry kicked it out of the way before noticing it's owner standing at the end of the hall. Kimahri evidently saw him too as he dashed forwards swinging his halberd violently in an upper cut that would cleave an elephant in two. If there were such things anymore.
The Guado gaped down at his chest and the perturbing weapon in surprise before he slumped dead to the ground. Rikku edged around him trying to stay as far from him as possible but Harry simply stepped over him and continued down the corridors heading deeper into the complex. Tidus caught up to him and Harry smiled gently at him though only to cover the worry he had that Tidus was about to discover something about the Pilgrimage that he wouldn't like. Over the whole of the trip the others had been avoiding the topic of Yuna's sacrifice. Harry didn't want to be the one to tell him but it was harsh that the others hadn't. Harry had already told Tidus so much and he'd probably be the one to tell him about the Sleeper's World and he didn't particularly want to be the one to tell him about this as well.
They ran across another three teams of Guado soldiers and their summoned troops but even Harry alone could have dealt with them easily let alone with seven Guardians with a very diverse set of attacks. Regardless of the rush Harry took the time to lecture Lulu in a new spell.
"The spell you used against the Guado in the Temple." Lulu asked him coming up on his left as he and Tidus followed Kimahri and Rikku down through the levels. "It was the Death Spell was it not."
"It was." Harry told her bluntly.
"I've never seen it cast before." Lulu told him.
"It's a hard spell to cast. One of the worst." Harry agreed knowing she, as a Mage, would already know this.
"Worst?" Tidus asked since he didn't have the basic magical training. "Don't you mean hardest?"
"It is a pretty hard spell but no harder than the high-level elemental spells like Firaga or Waterga." Harry told him.
"It is the intention that is the problem." Lulu told him. "You have to want the person you fight to be dead for it to work."
"I don't understand." Tidus frowned. "What's wrong with that?"
"Tidus, you see a Guado and you kill him." Harry said before looking at him. "Why?"
"What do you mean?" Tidus frowned. "Because we have to."
"But why do you have to?" Harry asked.
"Because he'd kill us." Tidus told him.
"Precisely." Harry nodded. "You kill him to protect yourself or others."
"Not because you want him dead." Lulu finished off. "You have to want the person to die. Of course it's easier against Fiends. Very few people can cast it against another person."
"Even I have trouble casting it against a person if I focus on them. I tend to picture a Fiend. Of course I have plenty of experience with people that I wanted dead to be able to use that." Harry told him.
"So that makes it hard." Tidus stated. "But you said worst."
"Sharp." Harry complimented. "It's addictive, more dark magic than just simply black. It feeds off of your emotions but it also pushes you to use it again. The more you use it the stronger that compulsion becomes. With most it is only a lingering affect of triumph and victory over your dead enemy that will fade in a matter of hours or even minutes but with some it has been known to turn them into murderous villains."
"Is there any way to block it?" Tidus asked.
"If the enemy casts it on you successfully then no. But the spell depend on many things to work." Harry half turned to Lulu to teach her to use it. "You have to want the enemy dead more than they want to live which is hard to do but it's basically a battle of wills. It's easier to cast on Fiends because they have a much simpler idea of survival. People have loved ones, families and so on to strengthen their desire to survive."
"Can you dodge it?" Tidus asked.
"Not once it's cast but it's quite hard to cast it against a moving target since you have to picture the target and direct the spell." Harry told him. "A shell shield doesn't help but a reflect spell takes more to overcome. Obviously it isn't reflected since no person wants them selves to die."
Harry came to a stop as they entered an intersection of tunnels. Rikku and Kimahri had stopped to confront multiple enemies from different entrances. "Watch what I do and try it, Lulu." Harry ordered before snapping his hand up towards one of the Guado hiding behind the enemy. Harry went slowly and the Guado realised what was happening as the air began to ripple around him. His friend sent a spell at Harry which Harry shocked them both by being able to reflect it back with a shield and maintain his concentration. He slowly brought his will to bare and the Guado's eyes widened as his own desire to survive was completely overwhelmed. He collapsed into a heap as his body allowed the flow of magically charged air to ripe out his soul. "Try it on one of the creatures." Harry told her before letting the fight carry on around him as Lulu focused all of her magic on the Chimera that was still being controlled by the remaining Guado on their side.
Since Lulu and Harry were their major magical defence Harry had to defend the rest of the part from the magical attacks that they couldn't defeat themselves and he killed a Fire Bomb and a Flan with well placed elemental strikes just as Lulu misdirected her spell and it vanished into the air. Harry eyed the magical flows he felt from her before nodding.
"Good for a first time. You just lost your desire to kill it." Harry told her. He let her try again but after failing again she sagged slightly. It took a lot out of you. Harry, who could cast even the Ultima spell without a focus barely even noticed it unless he was out of practice but Lulu still used a small focus in the form of a cactus doll and the Death spell required more unfocused energy than most others.
Harry stepped forwards with his blade in hand and in three strokes he killed the Chimera in the physical way before Tidus slipped around him in the confusion and killed the last Guado from the side while he was trying to bring up a defence against Harry who had obviously petrified the poor Guado with his casual use of magic.
It was only a two minute walk to the Summoners Sanctum from that battle but the group stopped outside of it. "Rikku?" Lulu paused. "What is the Summoners Sanctum?"
"The Summoners Sanctum is where we keep the Summoners. We keep them safe there." Rikku told them quietly.
"You kidnapped them!" Wakka accused.
"I know it's against the teachings and all…" Rikku trailed off.
"I get why you did it, but…" Wakka told her but was interrupted as Tidus grasped onto that comment. He evidently wasn't going to be left out again.
"Well, I sure don't get it, Wakka." Tidus glared. "They might get hurt on their pilgrimage so you kidnap them? I mean, if the Summoners don't do their job, then who will beat Sin? You want to protect them, I know. But guardians are there for that. If guardians do their job well, Summoners will be safe! Right? Right?"
Harry stared hard at Tidus as the others avoided his gaze. His eyes promised answers but also told Tidus to wait for all to be explained. He stepped forwards as the others watched. "It's Yuna's place to explain not ours."
"But what if she won't tell me?" Tidus asked.
"Then I will but she must make that decision." Harry told him. "She should be through there."
Harry led Tidus through into the Summoners Sanctum but the sight inside even made Harry wince. There were dead Fiends rapidly decaying everywhere but amongst the bodies were at least a score of Al-bhed and Guado. The Al-bhed had been out fought but had obviously fought fiercely to protect the Summoners. Harry glanced over the surviving occupants of the room. He recognised them all. Dona was kneeling beside one of the Al-bhed guards laying him more peacefully while Isaaru was putting away his Summoner's staff with a final air. He'd obviously been the one to finish the fighting. His two brothers stood nearby.
"Yuna!" Kimahri yelled into the room regardless of the obvious fact she wasn't there.
Dona looked up at them quickly having obviously not noticed them before hand. She scrambled to her feet as she saw Harry and drew her Summoning Staff. Harry narrowed his eyes but instead of trying to summon against him like he, and evidently Tidus, believed she swirled it down to the floor in salute before bowing to him.
Harry hadn't been saluted like that since he had used the name Simon Kem. Only a Guardian who had completely the pilgrimage more than five times could be saluted that way. That meant only eight people known in history including both the actual Simon Kem and Harry on his own. He touched Tidus on the shoulder and guided him to the side.
"Sir Guardian!" Isaaru was suddenly beside Dona and saluted and bowed in the same way. Lulu, Wakka and even Auron gasped in shock and Rikku and Kimahri were surprised.
"What do you mean by this?" Harry demanded.
"They have spoken to us. Warned us of what is coming. You who knew Simon Kem have but to ask anything from us." Harry flinched at Dona's words.
"Bloody Fayths!" Harry cursed. They'd obviously decided to act. They would all know what Seymour had told Yuna and had obviously decided that his team needed to know the truth. Or at least that was what Harry guessed. The Fayths had been known to tell the Summoner he guarded about him on occasion. He straightened up and bowed to the both of them as was expected.
"Sir Guardian?" Tidus frowned.
"It is a title almost equal to that of High Summoner." Lulu explained without taking her eyes off of Harry.
"Like Auron?" Tidus asked. "He's Sir right?"
"You are a Guardian," Isaaru told Tidus. "If you complete the pilgrimage and protect your Summoner you will become a Sir but only if you complete the Pilgrimage another four times can you take the term Sir Guardian."
"The Summoner doesn't have to succeed in the final battle." Lulu sighed.
"Simon Kem?" Auron asked in horror. His idols name was being used in front of him and he obviously didn't know what to think. To find out that Harry knew Simon Kem obviously troubled his opinion some.
Tidus glanced at Harry but Harry just eyed the two Summoners with narrowed eyes. "Do we not have better things to do then fall to the whims of over excited Fayths?"
Dona and Isaaru looked around them at the numerous bodies and nodded at him. "Please wait here while we perform the Sending." Dona requested before the two Summoners headed off in different directions.
"We need to talk." Auron told Harry and he looked so confused that Harry almost pitied him. Everybody was staring at him, even Tidus though his stare was one of concern that Harry's secrets were spilling out without Harry's control.
"We have more important things at the moment." Harry snapped. "Once this is over we can sit around and share stories at our leisure. Or perhaps you have all forgotten about your Summoner?"
This seemed to spur them into activity as they split apart to search through the bodies for signs of what had happened. Harry stared up at the ceiling for a moment as he seethed. What the hell did the Fayths think they were doing? What were his ancient friends doing to him?
He growled and in a sudden jerk he sent a spike of basic lightning at the ceiling. The rooms occupants stared at him in shock for a moment but he glared them all down in a wide gaze around the room. They turned their attention away from him and Harry proceeded to take his anger out on the nearest dead Fiend. He kicked it rather solidly in the head. This was all Seymour's fault. If he hadn't gotten himself killed then they wouldn't have this problem.
A hand grabbed his own and Harry jumped around in shock to find himself facing Tidus. "Are you ok?" The young man asked him.
Harry sighed and nodded slightly. "The Fayth obviously decided that my secrets aren't my own."
"Why did they do that?" Tidus frowned.
"Because of whatever Seymour told Yuna probably. The Fayths know everything that their Summoners do and told these two obviously to stop people from attacking me if they believe Seymour over me." Harry sighed. "They're rarely wrong in these things but it's irritating."
Tidus ran his thumb over the back of Harry's hand but Harry was prevented from responding in any way when the little boy, Pacce, appeared at Tidus' elbow. Tidus turned to look down at him. "Hey, what's sacrificed?" He asked making Harry wince. "The Al-bhed said Summoners were being sacrificed. That Summoners shouldn't have to do a pilgrimage."
"Why couldn't they trust us to protect them?" Tidus looked at Harry without answering Pacce's question. He looked desperate and on the verge of betrayal. "What right did they have?"
"The Pilgrimages have to stop!" Rikku yelled and suddenly she was standing not five metres from them staring at all of the dead Al-bhed around her. "If they don't, and they get to Zanarkand they might defeat Sin. Yunie could...but then she... Yunie will die, you know? You know, don't you?"
Tidus blanched violently and his hand shot out of Harry's. Rikku was in no fit state to continue so Harry drew in his breath to explain. "The Final Aeon can defeat Sin but it comes at a price." Harry said quietly though his voice sounded everywhere in the room. "The Summoner's life. Yuna could defeat Sin but in the process she will die."
"Was I the only one that didn't know?" Tidus glared at Harry. "Tell me why! Why were you hiding it?"
"I wasn't." Harry told him. "It was Yuna's task to tell you and nobody else could take that from her. She wanted somebody to believe in a future for her."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tidus rounded on Lulu angrily, barely hearing Harry's logic.
"We weren't hiding it." Wakka sighed.
"It was just too hard to say." Lulu sighed.
"Lulu! How could you?" Tidus gasped out. "How could you? Isn't she like a sister to you? I thought you were family! Why don't you do something, Wakka."
"Tidus!" Harry shouted and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't put this on them. They both tried to talk her out of it but it's her decision not theirs."
"Yuna knew what she was doing when she chose to battle Sin." Wakka pleaded with the young man. "She knew."
"But Wakka! That's just totally wrong." Rikku argued. "Summoners shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves just so the rest of Spira can be happy."
"But that is our choice." Isaaru spoke up and the two Summoners joined them quietly. "A world without Sin. That is the dream of all Spira's children. And we will use our power, even if it means our lives."
Out of the Pyreflies rising from around them Harry saw Valefor, Ifrit, Ixion and Shiva appear around them. He eyed them distastefully and they avoiding his gaze. Tidus saw Valefor and launched himself at her. Wakka flinched to stop him but was too slow. It didn't really matter though since the Aeon barely even moved as Tidus punched her in the chest.
"And I've been telling Yuna 'Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's beat Sin!'" Tidus cried. "I told her all the things we could...we could... And all along, the whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna, she'd...just smile."
Valefor lowered her neck to try to soothe Tidus but Tidus ripped himself away. Hermione gazed at Harry with sad eyes before she and the others faded as they dismissed themselves. "I can't let her die!" Tidus turned on Harry with crazed eyes. "You know a way."
"No!" Harry snapped and Tidus recoiled. "There is no other way, Tidus. That goes for you too, Rikku. Not once in a thousand years has anybody managed to even dent Sin without the Final Summoning. There is no other option. Don't you think I've tried, Tidus? Do you really think I would have taken so many Summoners to Zanarkand if there was another way?"
Tidus was looking at him in shock and everybody had moved away from him. Harry shuttered his eyes before turning to the rear door of the Sanctum. He didn't wait to see if they were following him as he swept from the room. He really couldn't care what they all knew of him. It was getting so complicated as it was. Admitting to some of it wasn't going to hurt that much though he found himself wishing he hadn't snapped at Tidus so much. The young man was in pain already without thinking Harry was angry at him.
The group, now including a silent Dona, Isaaru, Muroda and Pacce, moved quickly through the deserted halls that led to the Airship dock though Rikku was leading them rather than Harry since it was a new inclusion to Home's blueprints. The ship design more than the ship itself was familiar to Harry. It's short stubby look showed it as more of a ship designed for parade than war. In fact this model hadn't been used in that fateful battle between Bevelle and Zanarkand where the Summoners had taken that last, disastrous, step. They had been withdrawn from the military and used as a last stop against invasion and evidently this one had been sent to guard his core energies.
It's discovery marked the closest anybody had ever come to discovering the location of his Aeon self. He boarded without preamble and effortlessly twisted through the corridors to reach the control deck. He didn't get too many odd looks from the others since he was following Rikku but he also found that he didn't really care what they knew now. As long as they didn't discover that he was actually a Fayth then he didn't care.
The control deck was as he remembered it and only the odd sign of weathering showed through the work that the Al-bhed had obviously put into the ship in the last few months since this had all started. A high central area was backed by two semi-circular banks of monitors and benches while in the centre was a combat-control hologram that he doubted the Al-bhed really knew how to use. In front of the central area were three walkways. The central, and higher, of the three led to the pilots chair while the two side ones led down slightly and controlled weapons and navigation.
"Are you ready to get this thing moving Cid or should I get out and push?" Harry snapped making the older looking man jump around to see the new arrivals though Dona, Isaaru, Muroda and Pacce had stopped out in the corridors to do what they could for the injured.
"Alright, alright." Cid grouched. "We're doing it."
"Good, I don't fancy having to watch this." Harry told the man seeing the pain in Cid eyes that was probably reflected in his own. "I'm going to find myself a cabin."
With that Harry walked out of the room. Even if he said he wasn't going to watch he found a Cabin with windows to the outside and watched out of them as Cid launched a full battery of missiles out across the rapidly passing desert. An explosion rocked the horizon and evidently triggered something under Home since the following explosion always managed to catch up to them. Harry stared out until the surroundings had settled as the ship set herself onto a course and then let himself settle back onto the bed in the centre of the room. He let his elbows fall onto his knees and his head to drop.
He didn't know how long he sat there trying to sort out a plan but he was interrupted as the door opened behind him before quietly shutting. He thought for a moment that the intruder had seen the room was occupied and left but then he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eyes. Tidus moved further into his line of vision before slowly unstrapping his two swords from his back and placing them against the wall.
"Are you ok?" Tidus asked.
"You have to be kidding!" Harry almost laughed. "What about you?"
"I shouldn't have blamed you for not telling me." Tidus explained in way of answering. "You're right, it was Yuna's choice whether I knew or not and I can sort of see why she didn't tell me."
"What do you think about it?" Harry asked.
"Like I've been led on under false pretences." Tidus told him with a distinct sagging of his shoulders.
"Tidus." Harry sighed and looked down at the floor. He looked back up after a moment and saw that Tidus was shrugging off his boots with a relieved sigh.
"It feels good to get rid of those after all this time on the trip." Tidus told him relaxing his feet on the soft material of the floor. "I plan on relaxing. I told the others I was going to get some peace and quiet."
Harry smiled at him gratefully before speaking. "Door lock, engage." There was a distinct click from the door.
"I was about to do that." Tidus smiled.
"Recognise this ship then?" Harry asked curiously.
"No, but I recognise the door locks." Tidus told him before loosening the straps on his Gauntlet and then unzipped and took off the lower part of this vest leaving his toned stomach exposed. His outer jacket flapped slightly like an open shirt. Harry found himself regretful when Tidus stopped there. Tidus chuckled at him before sagging onto the bed beside him. Harry turned and pulled a leg up onto the bed and undid the straps on the inside of his own bracer and let it fall to the floor beside the bed.
"I'm going to be come almost completely clean with you Tidus." Harry declared in a quiet voice.
"Almost completely clean?" Tidus frowned at him.
"I won't keep anything from you apart from when it's to do with either of two things. The first is what I did during the Great Cataclysm and why I'm stuck like I am. I can't bare you knowing that right now. The second is about your Zanarkand."
"Why not about Zanarkand?" Tidus asked looking desperate.
"It won't be that long until you find that out for yourself." Harry told him. "And when that happens I'll try my hardest to be there with you."
"Why won't you tell me about the Great Cataclysm?" Tidus asked with a sigh. "I don't care what you did two thousand years ago."
"But you might and I want a bit of happiness before then." Harry told him but continued when he saw Tidus' face take on that stubborn look Harry secretly liked. "Please, Tidus. Just let me have a bit of happiness beforehand. If you let me have that then I'll never ask you for anything else after you find out."
"Simon loved you even after you told him the truth." Tidus told him. "I only want to know because it obviously hurts you so much. If you want it this way around then I'll give you that."
(I did write this next scene as an NC-17 one but after some thought I realised that it was well above the M rating possible on ffnet. Instead of downplaying the scene I have removed a couple of paragraphs to bring it down to M. If anybody would like to read the extra parts you can find them by following my homepage link on my profile.)
Tidus' hands came up to Harry's high-shielded collar and ran around to the zip that ran up the front before he ran it down to loosen the zip. Harry, after so many years didn't feel the cold as much as most people and preferred to travel light. The cold, whilst uncomfortable, couldn't kill him so he only wore the sleeveless gilet. The red leather came apart at the front and Tidus pushed the two halves to the sides to place his hands on Harry's stomach. He looked up from his concentration and Harry met his eyes with permission shining from them.
Harry pulled the top off his arms and let it fall off the edge of the bed to cover his sword's sheath. His boots and socks joined them, and finally the key chained around his neck before he pulled himself away from Tidus to sit against the wall at the end of the bed. He placed his back against the wall and motioned to Tidus who smiled at the invitation and knelt on either side of Harry's legs before sitting on Harry's lap facing the man.
Harry ran his hands up Tidus' stomach and helped the young man out of his own jacket. Tidus leaned forwards and caught Harry's lips in a tender kiss like they had shared only that morning on the top of the shelter and Harry ran his hands up the young man's arms and onto his shoulders before running them down his back.
Tidus shivered slightly at the tender touch and Harry pulled back before kissing his chin lightly. "Maybe Simon was right." Harry spoke quietly as he pulled back.
"About what?"
"That I should let him go and move on." Harry told Tidus. "He said to seize life."
"Well I'm glad you decided to try that with me." Tidus grinned impishly before swooping down to kiss Harry's collar bone. Harry chuckled before bring up his hands to hold Tidus' hair as he forced his head up so he could delve into the younger man's mouth in a passionate kiss that Harry knew was affecting Tidus as much as it was him. Tidus shifted forwards on Harry's lap as the kiss went on under he pressed against Harry's hardened cock restrained by his leather combat trousers. Instead of stopping, Tidus just pressed his chest into Harry's as his hands ran down to the hem of Harry's trousers. Harry ran his fingers down Tidus' back till he found the other man's own trousers and he stopped for a moment just as Tidus managed to undo the clasp that held the top of his trousers together.
They were both breathing heavily as they broke their kiss and stared at each other. "Are you sure you want this now?" Harry asked him.
Tidus nodded furiously. "We'll be travelling with the others for heaven knows how long. I want this and I don't want to waste the opportunity."
(Edited scene due to content above an M-rating)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
A few minutes later
Tidus collapsed onto Harry as soon as their orgasms had subsided and Harry brought his arms up to hold Tidus' shivering form against him. They didn't care what mess they were in as they came down off of their high and they were happier than they had been in so many years. "I haven't felt this content since before Simon died." Harry whispered in Tidus' ear.
Tidus nodded against his neck before raising himself up slightly. They were both a mess and they both knew they'd have to show up sooner of later even though they both wanted nothing more than to stay here in this room. Perhaps wait for a while before doing it again. "Let's get cleaned up." Tidus went to stand but Harry grabbed him and pulled him back down with a sappy smile.
"Thanks, Tidus." Harry told him and got a confused look. "For being understanding. For saying you'll accept me regardless."
"Can this go on?" Tidus asked after leaning down to steal a kiss from Harry. "I mean between us."
"For as long as you want." Harry told him feeling a slight pang at the fact that in fifty or even seventy year Tidus would die and Harry would be alone again. At least for the time being he could be content.
"No matter what." Tidus told him sincerely before standing and pulling Harry up too. They washed up and even helped each other back into their clothing and finally reattached their weapons. It was decided that Tidus should keep the sword Wakka gifted him for the time being since there were a few Fiends that the Shifting Glacier wouldn't be that effective against. Water and Lightning elementals for example. It was still effective against Ice Fiends because it absorbed ice magic for itself and it's user so at least it wouldn't heal anything later in the pilgrimage.
Tidus' had an interesting time lifting Harry's own sword onto his back since he was obviously exhausted from their activities but Harry let the man clip it on without comment. "We'd best go and find out if they've found Yuna yet."
"Harry?" Tidus stopped them before they left the room. "What do they all know?"
"Obviously the Fayth's told Dona and Isaaru that I'm older than I look. That I knew Simon Kem but I think Seymour told Yuna that I'm the Keeper of the Aeon." Harry sighed.
"How did he find out about that?" Tidus frowned recalling Harry's words about that before they reached the Moon Flow what seemed like a century ago. "I thought nobody knew about that Aeon?"
"Nobody should but I think Anima must had told him about another Aeon and he found out about me from somewhere. Probably from wherever he found out about me being the Destroyer." Harry sighed. "That explains why the Warrior Monks are trying to capture me rather than just killing me like they were ten years ago. He wanted me to help him find it."
"To defeat Sin?" Tidus asked.
"Maybe." Harry sighed and saw the look in the man's eye. "Tidus, please believe me. I've witnessed that Aeon. It destroyed my world twice. Nothing is worth summoning that thing for. Not even to save thousands."
"I believe you." Tidus told him desperately. "I just think the Pilgrimage is wrong."
"So do I." Harry shocked him by saying. "But so is Sin. Do you think your father should have become Sin? None of it is right."
Tidus looked at him sharply at the mention of his father. The first time Harry had outright admitted to knowing where Jecht was even though Tidus had accepted that he did so long ago. He shook his head before turning to the door. Harry pulled him back and gave him a kiss. One that promised a future for the two of them. A light, loving one that Tidus warmed into.
"Next time," Tidus smirked at him. "We switch places."
"Looking forward to it." Harry grinned at the young man.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Control deck
Harry and Tidus walked into the room and whereas Wakka and Auron were as clueless as ever and Kimahri simply didn't care, Lulu and Rikku gave them knowing looks that rapidly fled when Harry glared at them. They probably didn't realise just what had happened between them and Harry didn't fancy giving them the details either.
"So, have you found her yet?" Harry asked looking to Cid who was fussing over the Tactical Hologram in the centre of the room.
"No, this infernal thing is harder to use than the damn ship." Cid said using a curse that he learnt from Harry even as he spoke in Al-bhed.
"That's because your searching near contacts." Harry told him bluntly.
"Oh, I suppose you know how to use it then?" Cid asked rather sarcastically.
"Yes." Harry chuckled. "But it won't do you much good if she's not in front of a sphere-camera."
"What are you talking about?" Tidus asked.
"A sphere-finder." Harry told him using the old Zanarkand layman's term for the device before he turned back to Cid. "You are intent on doing things the hard way aren't you?"
"Hard way?" Cid asked in surprised Common. "We're here to find Yuna, no matter what!"
"Then why don't you just ask?" Harry rolled his eyes before turning to Rikku who would know her way around the ship much better than the others. "Kindly go find either of our Summoners."
"What are you going to do?" Wakka asked nervously. One did not just order a Summoner to come to you.
"Ask them?" Harry suggested.
"How are they supposed to know?" Cid asked.
"They are all linked by the same entities." Harry informed them.
"They are just Aeons." Cid pointed out.
"They are as aware of this world as the Summoners that channel them." Harry told him sharply. "Each Aeon knows everything that each of it's current Summoners are doing."
Rikku interrupted further conversation when she came back into the room dragging a downtrodden Dona behind her. "Isaaru doesn't want to leave his youngest brother at the moment." Rikku told Harry apologetically. "He said he would though if the Sir Guardian had no other choice."
Harry snorted as Dona looked up sharply coming a little bit more alive. "Why are you so depressed, Lady Dona?" Harry asked as he narrowed his eyes.
"I am reassessing my place in the Pilgrimage." Dona told him quietly.
"Well that would be a mistake." Harry said shortly before changing track when she gave him a startled look. "I need you to ask one of your Fayths where Lady Yuna is."
A slightly rebellious look crossed her face and Harry knew he had spurred her back into her Pilgrimage with that small challenge. She almost seemed to want to refuse in helping Yuna and her Guardians but Harry had only ever been nice to her, defended her in Djose Temple and he was a Sir Guardian on top of that. She shuttered her eyes for a full minute but shook her head in irritation. "They speak too much."
"You'll have to summon one." Harry told her.
"I hear them the same whether they are summoned or not." Dona apologised. Harry was surprised not many Summoners could concentrate on their other Fayths when they had an Aeon summoned but when they could they couldn't not do it.
"No matter, I can talk to them when they're summoned." Dona gave him a shocked look. "An Aeon has the ability to talk to any person, they just don't. You could say that they have a measure of respect for me."
She looked around the room gauging it's size before nodding in acceptance. "I'll summon Bahamut."
"Actually I'd rather you summoned Valefor or Ifrit." Harry told her gently.
"But Bahamut is more powerful." Wakka complained obviously wanting to find Yuna as quickly as possible.
"But Valefor and Ifrit are older than the others." Dona pointed out primly. "They were born before our History books. Nobody knows how old they are."
Harry glanced at Tidus with a glint in his eyes before moving back to permit Dona some extra room. His bringing out of her knowledge and his need of her powers had brought back her confident side and the Dona that had walked into the room so depressed and unsure of herself had completely vanished. She brought her staff to bear and an imprint of Neville's symbol etched itself into the floor temporarily. She stepped out of it before drawing her staff in towards her to complete the Summoning. There was no explosion of earth and fire that normally heralded Ifrit's arrival. Instead fire erupted from the ground and formed into his form.
He growled as he flexed his muscles and looked around the control deck with a snarl that made everyone there back away a few steps baring Harry and Dona. Harry stepped into Neville's personal space. "Hello again old friend." Harry spoke getting Ifrit's attention.
'Hermione's going to be pissed that you didn't get Lady Dona to summon her.'
Harry smiled and let his hand come up to rub the side of Ifrit's head. He paused as soon as he felt the heat against his hand within inches of his old friend's skin. There was a collective gasp around the room as they saw the motion and worried for Harry but then the flames seemed to dwindle around Ifrit and Harry dropped his hand onto the hot skin and rubbed gently. "She always did appreciate me coming to her for advice."
'I don't know if I want to tell you where Lady Yuna is.' Ifrit told him. They'd obviously all listened to the conversation through Dona. 'We don't want you running into Bevelle and getting hurt, especially since your Aeon is unstable. It wants out and it's becoming harder for us to not help it.'
"I know, I can feel it." Harry sighed. He hadn't even admitted it to himself until now. With every day that feeling of needing to use his Myst grew. And he dreamt of flying through the air, jumping through mountain ranges and swimming through the oceans, free of restraints in his Aeon form. "Please don't give in."
'There is something else here though, Harry.' Neville told him. 'Something Bahamut refuses to share even when faced with all of our anger. Something about the Sleeper's World.'
"And Tidus." Harry whispered so the others didn't hear. Ifrit nodded and pushed his head into Harry's hand. "I wish I could free you old friend."
'Maybe one day they'll decided we have suffered enough.' Neville told him sadly before drawing himself up and away from Harry's soothing hand. 'She is in Bevelle. She has agreed to marry the undead Seymour for a chance to Send him. The wedding is set for mid morning tomorrow.'
Harry snarled at the idea that Seymour was still alive but thanked his friend before stepping back to allow him to be dismissed. Before he vanished though he turned his head on Tidus and jumped forwards. Tidus smacked backwards into the railing behind him with a pale look on his face. 'Look after him, Tidus, or we'll all come after you.' His words echoed in both Harry's and Tidus' minds and Harry smiled rather warmly at Tidus as Ifrit vanished from the control deck.
"Yuna is in Bevelle." Harry told them all.
"What were you talking about?" Lulu asked.
"Things." Harry told her bluntly. "She has agreed to marry for a chance to Send Seymour."
A round of gasps rocked the room but Cid looked confused. "We killed him in Macalania Temple." Rikku told him.
"And he doesn't seem to have taken the hint that he's not wanted anymore." Harry growled. "I hate Maesters." He muttered under his breath. "The wedding won't be until mid morning so I suggest everybody gets some rest for the night."
"Agreed." Auron took control and Harry bowed gently to Dona before passing her to leave. Tidus caught up to him quickly and they walked together in silence to the room they'd used earlier. They locked the door, helped each other to undress until they were both completely stripped and fell into bed. They were both too tired to do anything but curl up together but Harry found that just as good as sex. He kissed Tidus gently before spooning up behind him and hugging him close.
"I'll look after you, Harry." Tidus told him in a whisper.
"Thanks." Harry laughed. "I think I'll need it."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
End Chapter
