Hey everyone, NeoRyu777 here! I know, I know, it's been ages and ages since the last true update. But hey, I have one right here! Not quite up to my usual standard of 20 pages, but 16 isn't bad, and I just could not help but leave it where it was.
Disclaimer: As far as I know, JKR has never worked with Squaresoft. And I, a lowly help desk worker, definitely has not. So any work that involves Final Fantasy and Harry Potter is definitely not mine.
OK, I just realized that a brief summary would be very useful, so...
Worldly Prisoners Abridged!
Harry saves Sirius early in his third year at Hogwarts, gains Remus as an ally, and loses Wormtail due to scores of dementors intervening. Not long later, Voldemort discovers that he could hop into our hero's head. After an initial discovery that there was a portal in the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort makes a concentrated effort and learns the temporary portal ritual.
Dumbledore realizes that Harry broke the memory charm, and faces off with him, and Harry pranks all of Hogwarts by pretending to be Snape's familiar in his Storm Phoenix form.
To ensure that he wouldn't cease to exist on Terra, Voldemort goes to retrieve Slytherin's locket, and is brought to Grimmauld Place when he discovers Regulus Black's treachery. He faces off against Harry, and manages to escape thanks to Kreacher. Harry takes his friends to Terra, where they train. He gives Quetz to Ginny to protect her, teams up with Squall to save Rinoa from being sealed, and then goes and acquires an extremely irritable and proud Bahamut.
Due to overstraining himself in the battle against the King of Dragons, Harry undergoes a Burning Day, and ends up much stronger for it, able to use up to his Advanced level spells without damaging his ability to learn wizard magic, as well as the occasional Ultimate spell.
Harry and his friends from both Terra and Earth face off against Ultimecia and Seifer, and while they defeat Seifer, Ultimecia (wearing Slytherin's Locket) manages to use Hermione's Time-Turner with her own powers over time to summon Voldemort's original body from immediately after he failed to kill Harry at age one. Time Compression ensues, and Voldemort is whole once more.
Without further ado, here we go, NEXT CHAPTER!
Chapter 9: The Castle
Harry and the others now stood upon the huge chain that bound the castle to the beach by the Orphanage, a few hours after having arrived in the Time Compressed world. They had gone up the chain, only to come across a few self-sustaining portals. Through a bit of experimentation – namely, Harry going through each one and back to make sure that he could get back using a portal of his own if necessary – the large party discovered that the portals led to various points around the world.
Harry shifted into his 17-year-old form and kindly created a portal to Balamb Garden, and everyone was delighted to discover that it, and the Ragnarok, had made it through the Time Compression unscathed. Oddly enough, the towns were inaccessible, blocked by some sort of white field that not even Harry's portals could get through. Harry guessed they were trapped in dimensional flux.
Returning to Balamb Garden to prepare, everyone upgraded their weapons with Shugui, not wanting them to break against whatever was in the castle. Now, Harry and Squall were proud owners of Lionheart gunblades, the ultimate model. Likewise, everyone else had the best versions of their own weapons.
Back to the present in this warped, Time Compressed World, Harry's eyes narrowed as he stared forward into the dark castle. "Let's go." All twelve of them resumed walking up the huge chain, which were made of links taller and wider than any man. Soon, they reached the castle, and stepped through the door.
Instantly, a weird sensation went over everyone. "Magic," Harry realized. "Some sort of ward…"
"I don't feel any different," Hermione muttered.
"Same here," Zell replied slowly. "Everyone alright?"
"Think so…"
Rinoa gasped, immediately drawing attention to herself. "I can't access my Sorceress magic! Or any of my drawn magics!"
"What?!" Squall cried. A moment later, his eyes widened. "I can't feel my magic either!"
"Well, we have our Guardian Forces, right?" Quistis asked. Only a second later, however, she gasped as well. "Leviathan says a block has been put on us, and we can't draw magic or summon GFs either!"
Harry took a deep breath. "Well, not being able to cast Terran spells, or summon our GFs is bad, but not crippling. There's probably some beast we need to kill to unlock them. We'll just need to do it the old fashioned way."
"HARRY!" Ginny suddenly cried, tears falling down her face.
Harry whirled, his wand in hand. "Ginny, what's wrong?!"
"I… I can't call up my own magic. Not just my Terran spells, but my own magic!" Ginny sobbed.
Daphne dropped her daggers in shock. "No… this can't be…"
Blaise frowned. "I can still feel my magic… Expelliarmus!" Nothing happened. "Interesting… it seems everything but our physical strength has been blocked…"
"Not everything," Squall corrected. "We can still junction magic to passively help us."
"But I'm not as strong as you are!" Ginny screamed in frustration. "I'm useless! My only weapon is my magic, and my only other backup is Quetz, and I can't use either!"
Harry's frown deepened. That IS a problem. "Well, we can't leave you out there all alone; you might be attacked. So you're still coming with us, just don't attack anything, ok? We'll unlock the magic soon enough. "
Ginny nodded, sniffling. "Thanks, Harry."
"So, to summarize our situation, we're about to fight our way through the castle, with a severe handicap of being able to use nothing but junctions and physical fighting, and we're a man, or rather, woman down," Squall stated. "Be prepared. Check your Item Bags for Hi-Potions and Remedies."
Harry obligingly reached into his Item Bag, but frowned. His expression was echoed by everyone with an Item Bag. "I suppose it's safe to say we can't access our items either?" he asked dryly.
"Well, damn. That puts us in a pickle," Irvine commented. "Only one way through, though, and that's killing whatever's blocking us."
"It's got to be somewhere in here," Harry said thoughtfully. "There are probably going to be several sub-boss-level opponents, each individually maintaining a portion of the ward."
"Only one way to find out," Selphie replied darkly, and stepped through the next door, quickly followed by the others.
They emerged into what appeared to be a ghastly version of a great hall, with what would have been elegant stairs leading up to the second level, with black portraits on the nearby walls. No doors were immediately visible, but not everything could be seen as of yet, as it was relatively dark.
However, there was one thing that stood out. "Is that a Sphinx?" Theo asked slowly. In the center of the room, completely stiff, was what resembled a Sphinx, if you ignored the unusual red and blue-green color scheme, and the two apparently ornamental yet no less impressive adornments on the rear end. It was impossible to tell if it was wearing a crown, or if it was actually part of the head, as the colors blended seamlessly.
"I'm not sure," Hermione replied. "All the books I've read state that Sphinxes are supposed to be a sort of golden yellow. Not teal and maroon. And I'm certain that Sphinxes don't normally have those two things attached to their hindquarters… I hesitate to call them tails…"
"It's probably some variation, then," Harry stated knowledgably. "Most likely a very vicious, strong variant, but we could probably take it down."
"Hold up!" Hermione firmly ordered. "If it's a variant of a Sphinx, it might let us pass without a fight if we answer its riddle. Make no aggressive moves, and maybe we can get through this without having to fight it."
Squall looked at Harry. "What do you think, Harry?"
"Hermione's the most knowledgeable young woman I know," Harry answered confidently. "And we stand nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by trying. We'll give her way a shot. After all, we need to save our strength for the Sorceress."
Zell and Irvine nodded. "He's got a good point," Zell conceded.
"Give it a shot then, Hermione," Irvine encouraged.
Hermione approached, slowly, and the Sphinx-like beast stared at her. "I am the Guardian of the Item Ward, Sphinxara," the now-identified Sphinxara rumbled. "Answer my riddle correctly on the first try, and I will release the ward. Answer incorrectly, and I will attack. Walk away, and I will do nothing."
Harry whistled. Damn am I glad Hermione came along! If anyone can answer a riddle, she can! "You can do it, Hermione!"
Everyone else bellowed out similar encouragement, and Hermione picked up her bravery enough to ask, "May I hear the riddle?"
The Sphinxara nodded.
"I am a river, always flowing,
I am sand, always falling.
I am immaterial, yet always measured,
One's grasp on me, easily severed.
Never ending, yet there is never enough,
I can be smooth, or I can be rough.
Steady in movement, yet variant in perception,
I only ever move in one direction.
Now take these clues, on them rely,
And tell me, what am I?"
"Oh dear," Hermione murmured. "I have never heard that one before… May I hear it again?" The Sphinxara repeated the riddle, and after puzzling over it for several minutes, mumbling incoherently to herself, Hermione nodded decisively. "I think I've got it. You are Time. Time always flows in one direction, and is often represented as sand falling in an hourglass. Time is immaterial, yet always measured in some fashion, such as the rising and setting of the sun. It is quite easy to lose track of time. Time will never end, yet there is never enough time in our lives to do everything we want. Times can be smooth or rough, depending on our situation, and our perception of the passage of time varies upon our awareness of it."
The Sphinxara nodded, and roared loudly. Everyone felt the change, and upon testing, Harry was relieved to be able to use his items once again. Its duty complete, the Sphinxara faded away. "Well!" Theo said, relieved, "glad we didn't have to fight that one. You were great, Hermione!"
"What made you realize the answer was time?" Quistis queried.
"Well, 'I am sand, always falling' kept nagging at me, because it seemed like a huge hint. Sand shifts or is blown in the desert, it doesn't fall all the time… except in hourglasses. It was a short stretch from there from hourglasses to time itself, and I realized that time fit the bill," Hermione explained.
"Nicely done," Daphne complimented.
"Yes, well done, Hermione. Now, we must move on," Harry stated, pointing at the door which had been illuminated as the Sphinxara disappeared.
Several hours later… "There, we've finally unlocked everything," Rinoa pointed out tiredly.
"Good. Let's take a break, and make sure we're well rested before we face Ultimecia," Harry proposed. He was not very tired, but he had been letting his friends do a lot of the fighting, only stepping in when they seemed extremely overwhelmed. Primarily he had been support, using Cura and Curaga on his friends. After all, what better way to get stronger than to fight for your life against an opponent who you should not be able to defeat? Harry's spells made sure that his friends did not die, while also healing their torn and weary muscles so they could continue fighting, which had the fortunate side effect of building their muscles back stronger than before. Harry had from his Item Bag quite a few protein supplements that he had his friends consume before and after every battle so the healing spells had protein to work with to build up their strength.
This combined with the trait known as 'Experience' to most SeeD. What Harry's friends knew theoretically from training with Harry and Shugui that killing monsters gave them a miniscule portion of their life energy, their strength, boosting the effects of training. However, the Guardians and high-level monsters in the castle had enormous power, so that 'miniscule portion' had a large result on Harry's friends.
As a result, their experience had made them much faster and stronger, which was especially visible when they were fighting the occasional monster on the way to the next Guardian. At first, they had struggled with killing it, and Harry couldn't blame them; it was on a much higher level than they were used to. However, by the last Guardian, they were killing the monsters with much more ease, though still not as easily as Squall's party.
Theo, Daphne and Blaise were not the only ones who had fought under Harry's command, either; a couple of the Guardians were large enough that Hermione and Ginny joined in as well without interfering with the others' fighting styles. Harry also had them also swapping out with the others when they needed a breather.
It turned out that more had been sealed away than just Items, Terran Magic, Earth Magic, Guardian Force Summoning, and Drawing. Limit Breaks, and Resurrection, a special ability of a few of the Guardian Forces, had also been sealed. Seven Guardians, each on a much higher level than what Harry's Earth friends could handle, and four of them had been defeated by only Harry's friends, with Harry as backup. He was very proud of them.
"Harry, your party should ALWAYS come with us whenever we foray into a new castle," Selphie said happily. "Without you, we would never have found all of the Guardians."
"Yeah," Theo grouched, collapsing to the floor and rubbing his sore arms. "If you hadn't looked at every single portrait in that one room and then realized what the other one had to be named…"
"Hey, look who's talking, Mister-Hey-Look-It's-A-Key! If you hadn't spotted every single shiny key and then rushed off to unlock the door it went to, we wouldn't have had to fight so often," Daphne accused, exhaustedly falling to the floor herself.
"Hey, hey, relax!" Ginny tried to calm them down. "It's good that we unlocked everything quickly, really!"
"Yeah. That means Voldemort has had less time to prepare. We can only hope he isn't at full strength," Harry agreed grimly.
"We must rest," Blaise stated firmly. "We cannot afford fighting between ourselves right now. Harry, may we each have a Hi-Potion to help our muscles heal and recover?"
Harry shrugged, and tossed one to each of his friends, and they quickly downed them, immediately perking up. "I never get tired of those things," Theo said, more energetic now. "It's like a cross between a Pepper-Up Potion and a Cure spell with a nice aftertaste too!"
"What's a Pepper-Up Potion?" Quistis asked curiously.
"It's a potion from our world that can re-energize you and heats you up nicely. It also works well against the common cold," Hermione informed.
"Sounds incredibly useful," Quistis observed.
"It is," Theo assured her. "Sad thing is, it tastes god-awful, just like every other potion we've come across. Except Terran brands, these things are great!"
"It's probably the ingredients," Hermione postulated.
"Probably," Daphne agreed absently, obviously lost in thought.
"What's up, Daph?" Theo asked, noticing her preoccupation.
"I'm just worried," Daphne confessed. "We're about to face off against the most powerful Dark Lord in centuries, who's teamed up with an immensely powerful Sorceress from the future with Merlin knows how much raw power. Hell, her name is Ultimecia! Does the word 'Ultimate' come to mind to anyone else?!"
Ginny looked up. "We know, Daphne. Merlin's beard, we know. But we don't have much other choice. We may be young, but right now we're our world's only hope. Dumbledore's getting old, and we can't trust him anyway. It has to be us."
"We have to fight him now, before he has the chance to grow even more powerful with the possibilities here on Terra," Harry murmured quietly. "Before he recovers his full strength. Remember, the body Ultimecia recovered for him had just taken a Killing Curse rebounded from me, powered with the strength and purification of Holy. Ultimecia may have brought it back to life with a Full-Life spell, but there's no denying Voldemort has been without a body for twelve long years, excluding his possessions. It may take him a while to reacquaint himself with his own body." Now, assuming that my Terran friends will deal with the Terran threat, how will we handle Voldemort? Hmm… Ginny would only be a liability in battle. Her spellcasting speed is not nearly up to par, and she has a very limited selection that will be blocked quite easily. Her only use is as a healer… Harry's perception of his surroundings faded to almost nothing as he plotted.
"Huh? A Full-Life spell?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Yeah, it'll resurrect and completely heal someone as long as they've been dead less than five minutes," Zell explained. "It's an Ultimate level spell, but I doubt that Ultimecia will even blink at using those."
Harry looked up from his internal musings when he felt several glares laced with killer intent aimed his way. "Huh? What's wrong?"
"Harry…" Daphne started with a dangerous tone threatening extreme maiming if she didn't get an answer she liked, "when were you going to tell us that you could bring back the dead with a Full-Life spell?"
Harry blinked, then glared at the guilty-looking Zell. "Why did you tell them that?"
"Hey, you're the one that let out there was such a spell!" Zell retorted. "I thought they already knew!"
Harry sighed. No getting out of this one. "The Full-Life spell is rather rare," he began. "Like Zell probably mentioned, it's an Ultimate level spell. It takes me quite some time to replicate those. Also, I didn't want you to go and do suicidal tactics to win; that's counterproductive, and besides, Full-Life doesn't always work. For instance, if you're cut in half and each part is separated from each other, there's almost no chance of being brought back. However, if you died from blood loss, or a piercing injury of some sort, then Full-Life will work every time," Harry explained.
"How long does it take for you to generate your spells?" Ginny inquired.
Harry shrugged. "Depends on the level of the spell, really. Beginner level spells take a couple of weeks to duplicate. Intermediate level takes a month, Advanced takes two months, and Ultimate takes four. I have essentially infinite of every type except Ultimate, as my body can't handle more than one hundred and fifty of those at a time, currently. Or at least, that's how it was before my Burning Day, I'd have to experiment a bit to find my current limit," Harry added as an afterthought.
"Will a Full-Life spell counteract a Killing Curse?" Hermione queried.
"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," Harry replied firmly. "So don't get caught by any in the near future, got it?" Everyone nodded their assent.
"Harry, can I have a word?" Squall stated more than asked, but Harry nodded anyway, getting up and walking out of earshot with the Terran leader.
"What's up?"
"We need to decide how we're going to deal with Ultimecia and Voldemort."
Harry had thought as much. "I'd prefer it if we could separate them and let my group handle Voldemort. Our world is more familiar with his type of attacks, and Voldemort isn't nearly as fast or as powerful as Ultimecia, which gives us a fighting chance. Quite frankly, my Earth friends aren't ready to face off against Ultimecia."
"Are you sure? Your world's spells were extremely useful against Adel, as I recall," Squall countered. "You might actually win because she won't know how to counter them."
"It's all rather simple, just using Dispel or Shell will block most of them, I imagine," Harry replied, shaking his head. "You're gonna need speed to defeat her, and that is something my friends don't have enough of yet. You guys do."
"I suppose you're right," Squall admitted. "Same tactics as before? One healer group and our two combat groups?"
"Makes sense to me," Harry agreed. "Now for the specifics… Ultimecia is a full-time spell user, which means straight-on fast and furious physical attacks seems best. She might have a Guardian Force, however… be careful. Voldemort, by comparison, is much easier, as he definitely doesn't have a Guardian Force."
"But Earth type magic has more variety than Terran magic does," Squall pointed out.
"True. He's probably performed some rituals to make his body faster and stronger than normal," Harry concurred. "Both opponents will be troublesome to say the least."
"What do we do if they start working together?" Squall questioned.
Harry paused, then laughed out loud. "Ha! It'd never work. Voldemort was arrogant as a bodiless spirit, when he has his body back he'll be so cocky he'd never condescend to working with someone, let alone a woman!"
Squall stifled a chuckle as well, imagining it. "Well, we've had a nice break, but we should go face them now, d'ya think?"
Harry's face turned pensive for a moment before giving a sharp nod. "Yeah. We can't give them any more recovery time than we absolutely have to. Let's go."
A few minutes later, everyone was standing ready at the door that led to Voldemort and Ultimecia, grimly determined to fight for their lives one last time. Harry took a deep breath and readied his gunblade, verifying that his strongest magics were junctioned and ready. He had drawn as many Ultimate level spells from his Storm Phoenix form as he could comfortably, which now numbered about two hundred of each.
Squall stood beside Harry at the front of the group. "Let's get this over with," Squall murmured.
Harry mentally shook his head. Squall was not one for speeches, and normally SeeD didn't need them. But his friends weren't SeeD, and needed a pep talk before facing what could quite easily become their worst nightmare. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he turned to face everyone. "Beyond this door, stand our mortal enemies. There is no one else capable and willing to fight them. Be prepared for their incredible magical strength. They shall show you no mercy, so let's show them none in return! Now, let's kill them and go home!" Harry cried. Without waiting for a response, he turned around and shoved open the overly-large door.
Harry strode inside confidently alongside Squall, and Harry was gratified to hear everyone follow with strong, solid footsteps. Quickly looking around to take in his new surroundings, Harry frowned. The door had taken them outside into a small clearing. There were two golden elaborate thrones, side by side approximately 20 feet up in the air, right in front of him. Around the thrones, circling back to the door, were golden pillars, ornately carved. About a hundred yards beyond the throne was a sharp drop that also circled around. Much further away were the walls of the castle.
A woman, presumably Sorceress Ultimecia, sat on the left throne, garbed in what Harry imagined a warrior queen would wear. On the right was a rather handsome looking young man, looking between the ages of 25 and 35, with the same shade of raven-colored hair as Harry, only shorter and sleeker. The man wore robes as black as pitch, with green and silver lining, and his right hand held a yew wand loosely. He could have been mistaken for many men in Diagon Alley, until one saw his eyes.
The whites of his eyes had been exchanged for a bloody crimson that shed a very light glow on the bridge of his nose and around his eyes, giving him a very menacingly evil look. The red seemed to almost swirl, catching one's eyes easily to make eye contact, almost certainly for Legilimency. This... was Voldemort.
"Blimey," Theo muttered. "He looks almost like an older you, Harry!"
"Don't remind me…" Harry replied in just as low a tone.
"SeeD…" Ultimecia suddenly said. "SeeD, SeeD, SeeD! Curse you all! You're as a plague, swarming like locusts across generations! You disgust me…"
"So these are the SeeD you were telling me about?" Voldemort asked, resting his chin on intertwined hands, looking down at Harry's and Squall's groups. "Hmph! Half of them appear to be children!" He took a closer look. "Oh look, I was followed by children across the dimensions. Judging from the hair and freckles, there's a Weasley blood traitor… and if I'm not mistaken, you're Nott's boy," he commented, pointing at an increasingly pale Theo. "Are you honestly siding with them?"
"Y-y-yes…" Theo stuttered.
"How disappointing. I thought your father raised you better than that," Voldemort chided. "Oh well, he'll just have to come up with a new heir. And you… you're the spitting image of Zabini! Are you also going to side with Mudbloods and blood traitors?" Blaise said nothing, but readied his double-headed axe. "I see. I don't recognize the rest of you Mudbloods. I would have thought Harry Potter would have joined you, at least. Or did he die in the transfer to this Time Compressed world?" he asked amusedly. Then he spotted Harry in his adult form. Voldemort's eyes widened as he pointed an accusing finger. "James Potter! How in Salazar's name did you get here?!"
"Keh!" Harry scoffed, making sure to morph his eyes into blue and keeping his scar out of sight, easily ignoring its burning. "How do you think, Tom? I followed you here to Terra. Did you really think I'd just let you go once you left Grimmauld Place? You will die here and now!"
Voldemort laughed cruelly. "Whatever magic saved you last time, Potter, will not save you here!" He leapt forward out of his throne far faster than a normal human could react in time to, his wand aimed directly for Harry's heart. "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry sidestepped neatly, his gunblade flashing at he swung at Voldemort. The Dark Lord merely narrowed his eyes and his forward lunge turned into an upwards ascent, flying without a broom. "I see you've gained some small skill with the blade," Voldemort observed with a smirk. "But no Muggle skill will defeat magic!"
A shot rang through the air, and everyone turned to Irvine and his still-smoking gun. Following the path his bullet would have followed, Voldemort saw a bullet, only inches away from his head, and a green shield shimmering as the bullet disintegrated before his eyes. "I can't have my newest ally die that quickly," Ultimecia chided as she stood in her chair and floated in the air next to Voldemort. "Do be more careful."
Voldemort grit his teeth angrily. How DARE they make me look like an incompetent fool! I am the HEIR OF SLYTHERIN! NO ONE can defeat me! "Avada Kedavra!" he spat, firing back at Irvine.
"Move! That's the unblockable Killing Curse!" Harry roared at the gunslinger, whose eyes widened as he dove out of the way instead of casting Reflect like he had meant to. I'm in no mood to test whether the Killing Curse will be repelled by Terran spells.
"Unblockable you say?" Ultimecia asked, intrigued. "Let me try, then. Avada Kedavra!" To everyone's amazement, she managed the unprecedented: a wandless Killing Curse. Her spell rocketed towards Squall, who merely leapt over it. Everyone was still until the Killing Curse exploded against the castle walls. With the explosive sound, the true battle began.
Harry leapt at Voldemort, gunblade swept across his body ready for a diagonal stroke. At the same moment, Ultimecia waved her hand, causing a green barrier to erupt directly behind Harry, keeping his friends from joining him in the attack, and another green barrier to keep Voldemort's spells from interfering with her own fight. Harry, however, paid no mind. "Die!"
"You first, Potter!" Voldemort screamed, firing a silent but lethal-looking purplish-black curse at Harry, who touched down on the ground and dashed left, circling around Voldemort with speed enhanced by years of training and the power of one thousand junctioned Triple spells.
Voldemort matched pace with him in turning around to face his opponent, though barely, making Harry frown. As I thought… his body has been enhanced by rituals. Let's see who is stronger! Bahamut roared his approval within, echoing in Harry's mind as he lunged at the Dark Lord.
Voldemort, instead of blocking like Harry thought he might, instead opened his mouth wide. Harry felt Voldemort shaping his magic without his wand, and was therefore impressed when a roar of fire emerged from Voldemort's mouth. "Good!" Harry complimented, before emerging right in front of Voldemort, fire engulfing not burning him, thanks once again to his Reflect ability junctioned to his elemental defense, allowing him to be completely unaffected the magical fire. "But… not good enough!"
By junctioning his near-thousand number of Reflects onto his elemental defense, Harry was immune to all elements as long as they were powered by magic at the moment of striking him. Non-elemental attacks, and non-magical elemental attacks – such as triggering a volcano with Earthquake and creating a superheated firestorm from the lava and a Tornado spell – would be completely unaffected, however.
Harry went for a killing blow, a stab to the heart, but Voldemort had not risen to the status of Dark Lord through being easily shocked. Instead of being frozen stiff with surprise, Voldemort merely widened his eyes even as he threw himself out of the way. He was not completely successful in dodging, however, and the gunblade succeeded in nicking his side, and slicing a chunk of his bicep off. Before the pain hit the Dark Lord, however, Harry had pulled the trigger on his gunblade, causing a mild explosion of energy in the form of Harry's elemental attack junction, which at the moment happened to be Flare.
Flare, being an Ultimate spell, and a combination Fire-Ice-Electric element spell at that, was extremely devastating when cast, but even junctioned, it was no less deadly. Being channeled through a weapon meant that when it landed a successful blow, it had several effects. Firstly, it would leave second-degree burns that would blister very quickly. Secondly, it would freeze the area, chancing frostbite, and keeping blood from reaching to and from the area quickly. Muscles would get tired more quickly. Thirdly, an electric shock would course around the area, leaving electric burns, which were so much harder to deal with than heat burns, and scrambling nerve signals, resulting in the struck area being near-useless for a short time. A deep enough cut on the chest could trigger a heart attack.
The gunblade, too, was a very special weapon, capable of channeling and expelling energy in a minor explosive maneuver by pulling the trigger at the right time. Since Flare was the spell being channeled through the gunblade from Harry's elemental attack junction, the explosion was akin to a miniature Flare being cast, except Harry's stock of Flare didn't change. Extreme heat for a brief instant, followed by an arctic blast of cold, and then finished off with a severe electrical discharge.
Jumping back to not be caught in the blast, Harry smirked as Voldemort's high voice screamed in pain. "What did you DO to ME?!" Voldemort screeched, clutching his arm.
"Why the hell should I tell you?" Harry replied coolly. "All it will do is give you time to recover and figure out a way to counter it. Time to finish this!"
Harry leapt at Voldemort again, only to get hit in the gut by a high-powered, silent Bludgeoning Charm that Voldemort managed to get off before Harry could change direction. Harry winced, falling to one knee for a brief moment to recover. That HURT. I need to keep my eye on him, he's better than I expected. I'm just lucky Voldemort couldn't summon the focus for a Killing Curse in that blow, I might've died there. I might need to start duel-wielding sword and wand.
Voldemort took the opportunity to use a few healing charms on his injuries, almost in an instant returning him to as good as new. Even so, he watched Potter warily with a grudging respect. Potter is rather skilled with that weapon of his. If I can just separate him from it I will have won! But that will be easier said than done. He is a wizard and can easily just Accio it back. I would have to either destroy it, or stay on the offense and keep him from having that opportunity. According to my previous encounters with James Potter, he is exceptionally skilled in Transfiguration, yet he hasn't used it once here. In fact, he hasn't used his wand at all. He has at least one trump card then. Not to mention those extraordinary creatures the children can summon.
He spared a millisecond to glance at the children, who were watching him with hatred, and Potter with awe. It seems though that they will be of no help to Potter, thankfully. He looked at the raven-haired man's blue eyes. Looks like he's ready to attack. Voldemort readied himself for the next assault, raising his wand, his crimson eyes narrowed in focus.
"The most powerful GF…" Ultimecia's words rung with power, and both Voldemort and Harry couldn't help but look away from each other in favor seeing just what had happened. The barrier that Ultimcia had put up had blocked everything from opposite sides of the field. Sound as well as sorcery was kept outside the barrier. They had seen people's lips move to words briefly in their brief altercation, but heard nothing.
Ultimecia must've taken down her barrier at will… or been forced to… Harry and Voldemort thought at the same time, not knowing just how synchronized they were as they looked as one to see what had befallen her.
Ultimecia was bleeding badly, clutching her bloody right shoulder. Her legs were torn up, as were some places on her arms, and her clothes were much less regal than before. The area looked like a barren wasteland; there were ashes strewn about, which led Harry to believe either Ifrit had paid a visit, or there had been some Firagas thrown around. Squall was glowing however, and Harry recognized it as an Aura spell. Excellent idea, Harry applauded mentally. By casting Aura on Squall, he can use Renzokuken – Continuous Blade – well, continuously! And he can combine it with whatever else his new Lionheart gunblade can cook up. Not even Ultimecia could withstand a persistent assault like that, even with her magic consciously strengthening her against physical blows. With that combined with support from the others, it's a wonderfully thought out strategy.
"You shall SUFFER!" Ultimecia spat as she started to float. Everyone just stood and watched as she prepared to bring out some trump card.
"You IDIOTS!" Harry bellowed. "Kill her and be done with it!"
But it was too late. By the time Irvine had aimed his gun, by the time Squall had tensed for a lunge, by the time Rinoa's magic was ready… Ultimecia finished the summoning. "GRIEVER!" A white ball of light shot downwards from her hands into the ground, and Harry had a very bad feeling about this.
Rinoa and Squall looked shocked at the name. "But Squall, that's the name of your ring!" Rinoa exclaimed confusedly, holding said ring. She had been wearing it on a necklace for some time now.
Harry frowned. He had the feeling that the correlation of Squall's ring and Ultimecia's GF was somehow very important. Even so, there was no time to contemplate it; the ground was shaking, and Griever would be here any moment.
As if the thought itself summoned the GF, a purple light erupted from the ground, and a black humanoid beast climbed its way out. Five times the size of a normal human, it had thick, smooth-looking black fur – though there was a band of white that went horizontally around the torso – and a tail twice as long as its legs. The tail itself was thin, and had a fan-like end to it that shone razor-sharp. Its head was similar to a canine's, and while it too was black, the color scheme changed as it grew a turquoise-hued beard over its neck. Jutting upwards from Griever's head in an almost crown-like formation were five jagged red spikes. Also, on Griever's arms were two large blade-like protrusions held similarly to a twin-dagger style.
As soon as it was on its feet, it leapt into the air, wings that had been unnoticed until now unfurling and beating steadily, keeping Griever in the air. The skeletal structure of the wings followed the typical black of his body, but the feathers themselves had that same shade of turquoise that the beard did, though they faded to white near the bottom.
A CRACK! brought Harry's attention back to Voldemort, only to see that he'd Disapparated, and reappeared flying several meters beside Griever. Harry rushed over to help the others face this new double-threat, trying to figure out how to face two flying, extremely powerful enemies.
"Where have I seen feathers of that color before?" Harry heard Squall mutter under his breath from beside him. "A dream…?"
Come to think of it, they do look familiar. And why does that pattern of black with a white band right THERE look so familiar? He turned to Squall to ask if he'd seen it, only to do a double-take. That was Squall's style! Squall's jacket was black, with a white ruff at exactly the same place on Squall's torso as the white was on Griever's!
The connection was made. Griever is the future Squall! Harry realized. Just as Odin turned into a Guardian Force, so did the future Squall. And those feathers! Those are feathers from when Rinoa unleashes her Sorceress power! But… does that mean that Rinoa and Squall merged together in the future to form a Guardian Force? Or… Harry turned horror-filled eyes to Ultimecia, who was back in her throne to watch the fireworks. Could it be? We'll deal with it later.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by an irritable Guardian Force of his own. :Potter! Bring me forth! I wish to test my strength!: Bahamut roared.
Harry was about to refuse, but then paused. If I summon Bahamut, not only will it get him out of my hair for a bit, but he's strong enough to help defeat Griever… alright, Bahamut, show him what you got! "Guys, hold Griever back for a minute, I'm summoning Bahamut to help." As he had never summoned Bahamut before, Harry's body was unfamiliar with Bahamut's unique energy. This unfamiliarity resulted in a longer-than-usual summoning time, and while summoning the user cannot move.
"Bahamut?" Squall asked with a smirk. "Powerful ally you have there. Zell! Cast Aura on us, and Rinoa, use spells as you see fit. Selphie, you're support. We'll bring him down!"
"Aura!" Zell cried, thrusting his arm forward, palm outstretched as his body trembled from the use of the Ultimate level spell. Both Zell and Squall started glowing yellow underneath their skin, and Harry saw the maniacal grin on Zell's face.
Rinoa looked almost as though she were dancing as she twirled, her wings not corporeal enough to interfere with her movement, but still translucently visible. She too was glowing lightly, only hers was bluish-white from Sorceress power. She was casting spell after spell, throwing enormous fireballs and ice javelins to calling massive lightning bolts from the sky, which was darkening quickly. Voldemort took to very quickly dodging them in mid-air, eyes bugged out as he stared at the Sorceress whose power appeared to exceed his own.
Griever, however, was largely unaffected. The fire he let wash over him, and the barest tips of his fur looked burned. The ice shattered on contact with him, causing minor cuts, and the lightning, after the blinding light dissipated, Griever's body smoked a bit, but was, again, hardly injured.
"Renzokuken!" Squall cried, leaping up at Griever, who finally reacted to the physical threat. Griever launched a fist at him, and Squall's blade matched the blade on Griever's arm. However, the match was only for a moment, as Squall used it as support to propel himself feet-first at Griever's exposed chest. He twisted around and began slicing and dicing at Griever. After ten fast, powerful blows, he jumped off and hung in the air for a moment. "Fated Circle!" He spun once completely around, very quickly moving his gunblade 360 degrees. The circle caused a shockwave that hit Griever directly in the gut, knocking him backwards.
"Duel!" Zell yelled, deciding to pick up where Squall left off. He jumped on and started punching where Squall had been slicing. After calling out several different attacks and performing them, he too jumped into the air, apparently for a finishing move. "Meteor Punch!" He held his hands back at his right side, cupping them together, allowing a red, crackling electrical energy appear within them. Then, apparently kicking off the air itself, he threw himself back at Griever's head, hand outstretched with the deadly-looking attack. It struck, hard, and Griever found himself on the ground once more, outstretched.
"I summon the King of Dragons, Bahamut! Mega Flare!" Harry bellowed, the summoning finally complete. Bahamut flew out of the thunderclouds overhead, his mouth open as a deadly off-white orb gained power within it.
"No!" Ultimecia yelled. "Griever! Make them bleed! Shockwave Pulsar!"
Griever took to the air and looked up at Bahamut with an angry expression on his face. With several mighty wingbeats, they were level, and Griever glowed with a purple light. Then, at once, both Bahamut and Griever unleashed their most powerful attacks.
The orb in Bahamut's mouth became a beam of unbelievable power, while Griever unleashed several miniature purple shockwaves directly at Bahamut, disrupting the beam, and causing a blinding explosion.
When the light cleared… Griever's head was falling… and Bahamut's body dissipated into particles of light, which collected around Harry before disappearing. Ultimecia seemed shocked, and her body glowed with Sorceress power as she prepared to do something, when all of a sudden she held her head in agony. "No! What are you doing!"
"Taking your body, and your power!" Tom Riddle's voice spat, from Ultimecia's mouth. The locket she wore glowed an evil, sickening green; the green of the Killing Curse, and everyone, even the corporeal Voldemort, was shocked at this new turn of events. "With your power, I can rule!"
"This is my body!" Ultimecia argued, clutching her head painfully tightly. "I've worked too hard for this!"
"Not anymore! Thanks to your drawing on my power, I was able to take over!" And with that, Ultimecia's hands slowly returned to her sides, and her head rose up to stare everyone in the eye. No longer were her eyes that crystalline blue of before, but now, the same blood-soaked crimson of the Dark Lord Voldemort.
"I am Lord Voldemort!" Ultimecia-turned-Voldemort crowed.
"Wrong! There can only be ONE Lord Voldemort, and that is me!" Voldemort-in-his-own-body declared. They turned to face off, each pair of eyes glowing red with murder.
Earth, Scotland, Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office
Dumbledore sat behind his desk, mentally preparing himself for his next feat of magic while waiting for everyone to arrive. He had been awake all night, modifying his Locator Ritual to not simply implant the location into his head, but to create a visual display of the subject. Existing scrying spells would have worked, if Potter's group had been on Earth, but only his Locator Ritual had succeeded in finding Potter whilst on Terra, so it was his only base to work from.
Finally, he believed he had succeeded shortly before lunch, proving his prowess as a Grand Sorcerer with an immense understanding of magic. He had requested the attendance of Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall. Severus was still under the Unbreakable Vow of Loyalty, and McGonagall was Miss Granger's Head of House. With any luck, she would be able to provide another opinion, and help curb Miss Granger. This, Dumbledore felt, would be an immense help to guiding Potter. He was sure it was her intelligence that aided Potter in getting around his Memory Charms.
Although, he thought, it is rather odd that Potter managed to get around the latest one… I could have sworn I destroyed those memories, not just cut him off from them. Perhaps he has a Pensieve he recovered them from. He made a mental note to have Severus peruse Potter's belongings.
Dumbledore was broken from his musings when the door knocked. His peripheral Legilimency identified them as the Heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor. "Come in, Minerva, Severus."
Naturally, Minerva cut to the chase. "Albus, just what is going on? We have six students who are, quite simply, missing since yesterday, and absolutely nothing has been done!"
"Indeed, Headmaster," Severus agreed in a deferential tone. "Potter," he spat, "and his friends have been gone for approximately fifteen hours now. Do you have any knowledge of where they are?"
"I do."
"Then why don't we fetch them now and punish them for leaving school grounds for so long?" Minerva asked, with a slightly calmer tone.
"Alas, we cannot," Dumbledore responded, his tone betraying his own frustration. "They are in a location that none of us can access."
"Then how did they get in?" Minerva asked curiously. "What's blocking us? Fidelius?"
Dumbledore laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, if only it were that simple."
Minerva's eyes widened. The Fidelius Charm was a ridiculously complex, powerful piece of magic. "What? Where are they?"
"Quite simply… they are in another dimension."
Minerva suddenly felt quite weak, and conjured a chair to sit down in. Severus sat down next to her in an already existing chair. "How can that be?" Minerva inquired. She noticed how quiet Severus had been, and glanced at him accusingly. "You don't look at all surprised. Just what is going on here?!"
Severus shared a look at Dumbledore, who nodded, granting him permission. "I am not surprised, Minerva, because I was there when Albus modified Potter's memories of the other dimension at the beginning of his first year."
"WHAT?!" Minerva screeched, standing up again.
"Calm down, Minerva," Dumbledore ordered firmly. "It was necessary. He was antagonistic, distrusting of any authority, and had a mindset of destroying all obstacles in his way of power. He even had enough power to put Severus in the hospital after a brief argument. He was dangerously close to becoming another Tom Riddle, and one is more than enough."
Minerva paled and once again sat down. After a few moments to absorb the information, she looked up at Dumbledore. "This has something to do with why he left last year for that brief time. You said he had been possessed by You-Know-Who, but he hadn't, had he? And why he left this time?"
"No," Dumbledore confirmed, elated at the opportunity to improve his image as a wise old man. "I had removed the Memory Charm to see if he would understand why I had done it, and to test if he would remain loyal to his friends," he continued, lying through his teeth. "After all, if Voldemort returns, the power he gained in the other dimension would prove an enormous advantage. Much to my disappointment, he was… extremely hostile and jumped out my window. I caught him with Fawkes and modified his memory again, this time binding his power somewhat so he would be on par with most of his peers. Similarities always help friendships, and his power will be unbound when his memories are returned to him and he remains relatively stable. It will also aid me in subduing him if he continues to react negatively to regaining his memories. He somehow broke the Memory Charm this time and escaped."
Minerva, who had opened her mouth to protest the binding of power, shut her mouth when she heard Albus's reasons. Severus took the opportunity to speak. "Returning to the point, if Potter and his friends are in this other dimension… how do we get them back?"
"That, Severus, is still unknown. But we may gain some clues by seeing what they are doing," Dumbledore informed. "To that end, I have modified a ritual I created to allow a mirror to show us exactly what they are doing. I am assuming they are all together, and I have an old possession of Mr. Potter's to center the spell to them. I ask that you two witness the ritual, not only to view Mr. Potter and his friends, but to ensure that I gain medical attention if it goes wrong," he said seriously.
"I understand," both Minerva and Severus said together.
Dumbledore stood. "Then let's start, shall we?"
Terra, Time-Compressed World, Ultimecia's Throne Room
Both Squall's and Harry's groups had banded together to discuss their next plan, everyone keeping an eye and an ear on the pair of bickering Dark Lords.
"This is bad!" Theo murmured. "One was bad enough, now there's two?!"
Ginny was shaking. "Two Tom Riddles…" She looked positively terrified, and Harry couldn't blame her. Being possessed by Tom Riddle and nearly dying in the Chamber of Secrets was probably her worst memory.
"I think we should continue the attack," Selphie proposed.
Zell nodded. "We can't afford to retreat and let Voldemecia learn how to control his, er, her power. What's the right pronoun for a guy in a girl's body?"
An interesting conundrum, Harry thought wildly, sidetracked by the odd question. The body is female, and it IS Sorceress power, which inherently belongs to females. On the other hand, the personality in charge right now associates itself with the male sex… "Voldemecia is a he, I suppose," Harry responded absently, "but that's not important right now."
"We should attack now, while they're arguing," Squall suggested coldly, chancing a glance over at the angry faces of Voldemecia and Voldemort.
"It won't be that easy," Daphne stated flatly, shaking her head. "The second we attack, they'll team up until we're dead, and then finish the score between them."
"The best solution would be to let them fight each other and kill whoever is left," Harry agered, keeping his eyes on the pair. "However, if we let them continue talking, they could also team up against us."
"I do not think it likely they will team up easily," Blaise suggested slowly.
"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked as all eyes turned to the broad-shouldered youth.
"Tom Riddle is too full of pride," Blaise said matter-of-factly. "Neither will submit to the other, each believing himself to be stronger. Their confrontation is inevitable."
"Makes sense to me," Irvine replied with a cocky lilt to his voice. "So we let them fight, and kill the winner, right?"
"Wrong." Now everyone turned to Squall as he held his gunblade, ready for a fight. "Ultimecia was insanely strong even without the powers and knowledge of Voldemort."
Harry nodded, knowing where Squall was going with this. "I have an idea. Stay back."
Earth, Scotland, Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office
Dumbledore finally completed the ritual, almost exhausted from the ritual, but elated at the success. He now had a very large mirror – 10 feet wide by 7 feet tall – hanging in mid-air behind him, which would be showing Mr. Potter, and hopefully, his friends. Thankfully, he had included audio in the ritual, so they could hear what was being said as well. He pulled up a chair next to Minerva and Severus, and sat down to watch.
"I see all of our missing students except Mr. Potter," Minerva stated, "and they're with several adults I don't recognize."
"Potter!" Severus gasped. "James Potter!"
"WHAT?!" both Dumbledore and Minerva gasped, and Snape pointed. Indeed, the likeness of James Potter was there, except he was wielding a very familiar weapon…
"No," Snape amended. "Unless I am quite mistaken, we are looking at an older version of Harry Potter. James was older than that at his death, and the younger Potter used that weapon against me when I took him through Diagon Alley before his first year. I believe he called it a gunblade."
Both nodded. "Shush," Dumbledore whispered, as audio began to come through.
"This is bad!" Nott stated. "One was bad enough, now there's two?!"
"Two whats, I wonder…" Minerva murmured.
"Shut up and we'll find out," Severus snapped.
Weasley was shaking. "Two Tom Riddles…"
There was silence in the office, as the words washed over them. All three Professors went ashen, the blood draining from their faces as the words' true meaning hit them. Severus silently sent a spell at himself to ensure his heart kept beating.
Dumbledore, ever the eloquent old man, said it best: "Well, fuck." How in the seven bloody hells did a SECOND Voldemort come to be?!
In the time it took them to recover, they had missed a few seconds of conversation.
"We should attack now, while they're arguing," said the man with a scar across his face and a gunblade in hand.
Dumbledore perked up considerably. "The two do not get along? That is good. It'd be impossible to win against two working together."
"It won't be that easy," Greengrass stated flatly, shaking her head. "The second we attack, they'll team up until we're dead, and then finish the score between them."
Severus nodded. "She's got a point. The Dark Lord is nothing if not practical."
Minerva paused. "Then shouldn't they just wait for one to finish the other?"
"The best solution would be to let them fight each other and kill whoever is left," Potter agreed with Greengrass. "However, if we let them continue talking, they could also team up against us."
"A difficult choice," Dumbledore muttered. "What will you do, Mr. Potter?"
"I do not think it likely they will team up easily," Zabini suggested slowly.
"What do you mean?" the woman dressed in blue with long, ebony hair asked as all eyes turned to the broad-shouldered youth.
"Tom Riddle is too full of pride," Zabini said matter-of-factly. "Neither will submit to the other, each believing himself to be stronger. Their confrontation is inevitable."
Dumbledore smiled once again, the twinkle in his eyes reviving somewhat at the reminder of Tom Riddle's nature. His colleagues looked much relieved as well.
"Makes sense to me," the man in a yellowish trench-coat replied with a cocky lilt to his voice. "So we let them fight, and kill the winner, right?"
"Wrong." Now everyone turned to the man with the scar as he held his gunblade, ready for a fight. "Ultimecia was insanely strong even without the powers and knowledge of Voldemort."
"Who is this Ultimecia?" Minerva asked. "And where is he going with this?"
"We'd all like to know. Now shut up!" Severus, naturally.
Potter nodded, apparently understanding. "I have an idea. Stay back."
Terra, Time-Compressed World, Ultimecia's Throne Room
"What're you doing?!" Hermione hissed, but Harry was no longer paying attention. Instead he started walking purposely, slowly towards the two Dark Lords. They immediately stopped arguing and faced him with identical sets of demonically red eyes.
"What're you doing, Potter?!" Voldemort spat.
"Potter, you say?" Voldemecia asked. "Any relation of James Potter?"
"Fool, that IS James Potter!" Voldemort returned nastily.
"Voldemort…" Harry began.
"Which one?!" they asked in unison, glaring at each other.
"The one in his own body. I propose an alliance."
--
Oh, now if that's not a cliffhanger, then I don't know what is! Hope the fight scene didn't sound too forced... this took me FOREVER to finish, as I haven't played this far into the game, and I had to do a lot of research about it. Then I had to make it unique - not just another filler chappie - and the fight scenes kept feeling off. It took me until this last week to realize 'Hey, wait, I kinda need Dumbledore to see what's going on!' The rest flowed pretty easily, thankfully. I DID think of an Omake after one of the scenes, though. For all you Highlander fans!
Omake: Highlander-style!
"I am Lord Voldemort!" Ultimecia-turned-Voldemort crowed.
"Wrong! I am!" the Voldemort that inhabited his own body declared.
They glared at each other, and then each conjured a blade. "There can be only one!" they cried together, and after a spectacular sword-fight, they cut off each other's heads. It was a draw from which there would be no rematch.
Harry blinked. "… There can be only one?" And then the bodies of Voldemort glowed bright white, and the light flew into Harry, who screamed as new power coursed through his veins. "I… I can see everything! I am immortal! I can do anything! Oh God, I understand everything!"
And then, his screaming ceased. "Are you ok?" Theo asked.
"Yeah… I'm ok," Harry murmured, catching his breath. "That was weird."
"Did you really see and understand everything?" Hermione asked jealously.
"Yeah. Can't remember a thing now though," Harry added flippantly.
"Grrrrrrrrrr!" Hermione growled as she started hurling hexes at Harry for being so selfish as to forget everything from his moment of enlightenment.