CHAPTER 13:

JOURNEY'S END

As they clambered through the crystalline landscape, Harry reflected that it had been an arduous journey, to say the least. Not to mention a weird one.

Firstly, as the Invincible was sent towards the massive portal, a rather large swarm of Silver Dragons was sent out. Despite not notifying any of the allies of their party, they came anyway. Cid had arrived in the Hilda Garde 3, and Beatrix in the Red Rose. Between the efforts of the airship fleets of Alexandria and Lindblum, the Invincible managed to make it into the portal, though they had to fight a massive dragon that Mikoto identified as a Nova Dragon.

They had then arrived in a strange, eerie place that soon got identified as Memoria. And the one who identified it to them? None other than Garland, who was somehow able to speak to Zidane, Mikoto, and Harry. Somehow, his spirit could speak to the Genomes, and he carefully led them through Memoria. When Harry questioned Garland's motives, the android's spirit gave a blunt answer: he wished to help preserve existence rather than see it destroyed. With Terra gone, it was now his only purpose.

Memoria was a place of memories, where the memories of Gaia flowed back into the Crystal. As they progressed, they saw the history of Gaia unfold in reverse, some able to witness the events shown, others unable to. But even then, they began to witness even more ancient history, until finally, they witnessed the attempted fusion between Gaia and Terra, and then the most ancient memories of Gaia itself. Throughout it all, Garland offered commentary, before his soul finally dissolved into nothingness. His last words were along the lines of having no regrets for what he did, simply because he fulfilled the purpose he was created for.

Of course, they had to deal with various strong monsters as well. And to their horror, they also had to fight the Guardians of Terra again. And now, after a surreal journey through what seemed like space after defeating a reborn Lich, they were here, in the Crystal World.

Harry had told the others of his plan, and while they considered it risky, they nonetheless agreed to go with it. It was better than risking Kuja destroying all existence.

Finally, they found him, still in his Super-Trance form. He was floating languorously in front of a deceptively small crystal that spun lazily behind a spinning ring of patterned stone. When he saw them approach, he smiled, almost serenely. But you could see the madness dancing in his eyes. "How nice of you to come," he said. "I hope you enjoyed my welcoming gift, of the Four Chaos Demons, the ones made into the Guardians of Terra. They were so obliging when I brought them back from the grave, formed from the Crystal's memory." He waved a hand at the Crystal behind him. "Such a beautiful thing, no? The birthplace of all things. And when I destroy it, all things shall vanish as well. All worlds, all life, all memories. Nothing will survive beyond me."

As Kuja broke out into maddened laughter, Zidane scowled. "Shut up! We're going to stop you!"

"Stop me?" Kuja tittered. "Even if you do, Terra will still assimilate Gaia. The last ashes will consume Gaia, and change it into Terra."

"You're working under a misconception, Kuja," Mikoto said. "The Iifa Tree is dying before long. Gaia has been saved, but at the expense of Terra. A world you destroyed. My people. Your people. Our people."

"Oh, is that righteous anger I hear from the little puppet?" Kuja sneered. "Even if I was misinformed, I don't care! If I'm dying, I will bring you all down with me!"

"You're a coward," Harry said. "My mentor said that to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"Then your mentor was a fool!" Kuja declared.

"If you're going to die, leave us out of it!" Garnet yelled.

"I don't think so!" Kuja roared. "The world should not exist without me! It's not fair that I will not get to savour it for eternity! If I die, we all die! That is my promise to you all!"

Throughout Memoria, Zidane, Mikoto, and Harry had suppressed their anger as much as they could, knowing that it would be needed for this moment. But now, at Kuja's words, they allowed the anger to surge forth. Light burst forth from the three of them, enveloping them, changing them. The three Genomes looked more or less identical in Trance, only with different appearances: Harry's fur was dark blue, and Mikoto, like Zidane, was magenta, though it covered a more feminine body.

Harry was surprised to learn that he even had the capacity to enter Trance. Mikoto mused that it may have had to do with the differences in Gaian and Terran biology, compared to Earth biology. His soul was capable of using Trance, but his body was another matter entirely. Once in a Genome, however, he could use it.

Of course, using Trance was only part of the plan.

Unbidden, the others began their attacks, distracting Kuja as the three Genomes raced at him. The insane Genome flung magic spells at them, and swatted those aimed at him away. Zidane was the first to reach Kuja, grabbing him. "This is your grand strategy?" Kuja sneered. "A Full Nelson?"

Harry and Mikoto grabbed onto Kuja's arms, and then, Harry yelled, "DOBBY!"

With a crack!, the House Elf appeared on the crystalline platform in front of them. Kuja, upon looking at the bulging-eyed, bat-eared creature, actually found himself dumbfounded. "What…the hell…is that thing?"

"That, Kuja, is Dobby. A good friend of mine. Dobby! Are you ready?"

Dobby nodded eagerly, and then ran towards the quartet of Genomes. With a cry of effort, he leapt into the air, looking as if he intended to grab onto Kuja. Which was part of the plan. Grab onto Kuja, bring him somewhere where he can be dealt with without risking the destruction of the Crystal, and then stop him.

At least that was the plan.

With a snarl, Kuja lashed out with his foot, sending the House Elf flying, where he skidded to a halt at Garnet's feet. As Garnet cradled the bleeding head of the House Elf, her hands already glowing with healing magic, Kuja sneered. "How pathetic! That was your trump card?! And if that's any indication as to the quality of your friends, then frankly you should embrace oblivion!"

"That wasn't my trump card," Harry said quietly. Then, suddenly, he yelled, "FAWKES!"

The thing was, House Elves weren't the only beings that could traverse dimensions. At the behest of humans they had become loyal to, Phoenixes could do the same. Dumbledore, upon hearing about Harry's plan to stop Kuja, had offered a back-up plan. If Dobby couldn't do it, then maybe Fawkes could.

And in a ball of flame and emitting the ethereal song of his kind, Fawkes the Phoenix appeared, right above the quartet of Genomes. Kuja blinked. "Wait, what? A Phoenix? How is this going to defeat me?"

"That…would…be…telling!" Harry ground out, as Kuja began struggling to get out of their grips. But to no avail. Fawkes settled onto Kuja's head, and then, the quartet of Genomes disappeared in a flash of flame.

Dobby, who had been healed by Garnet, sat up and looked around. "Mister Harry Potter sir?" he asked plaintively.

"He's gone, Dobby," Garnet said quietly. "He had to use Fawkes to get Kuja away from the Crystal. But Dobby…can you get us out of here?"

The House Elf nodded. "Where do you wants to go, Princessy Gannet?"

"The Invincible, for the time being," Garnet said. "And from there, we'll go home." She looked over at the Crystal, spinning lazily. She had the feeling that, from behind the Crystal, something without eyes was watching.

She almost imagined she could hear something being spoken, in a dark, tenebrous voice. Is the will to live truly that strong? I have to wonder…but it is not time yet for me to wake, it seems. But my awakening is inevitable, as long as there is life and death(1)…

She shuddered, before she turned to the others. "We'll have to hope Zidane can make his own way back. Dobby, you can bring him back, can't you?"

"Yes, Princessy Gannet, but…well, the place he went to…" Dobby shuddered in fear and loathing. "It's not a very nice place indeedy…"

Which was something of an understatement. Many a place has been given the cognomen of 'Hell on Earth', though few are truly deserving of such an appellation.

Of those was the place where Harry, Zidane, Mikoto and Kuja ended up. To Kuja, the island looked unremarkable: a dreary, wind-swept crag jutting out of a cold, cold sea, with rain pelting down more heavily than in Burmecia. To Zidane and Mikoto, the island certainly looked like it lived up to its reputation, the one Harry had told them about. And to Harry, this was a place he vowed never to come to if he could help it. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Harry looked up at the fortress before them, and saw, already, dark shapes flitting around it, gathering like flies drawn to carrion. He released Kuja, and backed away, keeping Kuja between him and the fortress. Mikoto and Zidane did the same, with Fawkes flying off Kuja's head and landing on Harry's shoulder. "What the hell is this place?" Kuja asked, looking at the fortress. "Where's the damned Crystal?!"

"You're far away from the Crystal, Kuja," Harry said, even as he began to hear the screaming in his mind, as the dark shapes flitted closer and closer. "You're on my world now. I don't want to do this, but you threatened to destroy everything in existence."

"So I'm on your world now?!" Kuja demanded, wheeling to face Harry, madness glittering in his eyes. "That was your mistake, Harry! I have more than enough power to destroy your world!" But even as energy gathered around him, something like a living, tattered cloak dropped out of the sky with a screech. Kuja fired a spell at it on instinct, sending it crashing to the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that, Kuja," Harry said, struggling to remain conscious, as the screams from his memories threatened to drown them.

"What the hell is that?" Kuja asked, his eyes widening with fear. "And…what is this place doing to me?"

"You're on the island of Azkaban, Kuja," Harry said, trying his hardest not to faint. "The worst prison on my world, used for the worst wizarding criminals. Do you know why?"

"The guards are creatures called Dementors," Mikoto said, her quavering tone not matching the detachment of her words. "They draw out your worst memories, feed on your happiness. But they also feed on souls. According to Harry, it's called the Dementor's Kiss. And with so many souls housed in your body…"

Zidane gave a shaky grin. "It's like a feast laid out for the Dementors, I guess. All those souls you used to achieve a Super-Trance…it's like someone's ringing the gong, and yelling 'DINNERTIME!'. I'm sorry, Kuja, but like Harry said, we're not going to let you destroy everything."

"NO!" Kuja yelled, flinging an Ultima bolt at a Dementor swarm. Some got hit, and disintegrated. He flung another wildly. The demonic creatures dodged, and the bolt hit the high-security area of the prison. No wardens or guards were there, thankfully, but the inmates, all Death Eaters, were annihilated. And then, the Dementors swarmed him.

With a scream of fright, he took flight, flying over the ocean with a swarm of Dementors pursuing him. He managed to destroy some of them, but eventually, they surrounded him, causing him to disappear in a cloud of ragged cloaks. His last screams were horrible, as the Dementors fed on the hundreds of souls he had shoved into his body. Even over the sound of the surf, they could hear his last hoarse scream, as his own soul was finally consumed. Then, finally, the Dementors dispersed, the body of Kuja dropping into the surf, no longer in Trance. His robes, soon saturated with water, dragged him down into the depths.

But the Dementors were hardly sated, despite the feast. They began swarming towards the three Genomes. And they felt their Trance fade as the damned creatures approached. The last thing Harry heard before the all-too-familiar screaming of his mother and the cold laughter of Voldemort began was the song of Fawkes…

In his office, Dumbledore paced, hoping beyond hope that Harry succeeded. He knew Harry had done something when Fawkes disappeared. Now came the worst part: the waiting.

Suddenly, there was the distinctive song of Fawkes, and then, materialising in a ball of flame, were a trio of people. Only one of them was conscious, the blonde-haired boy with the blue eyes. He was holding on to the others, and Fawkes was holding onto the dark-haired boy.

"Hey, you, are you Dumbledore?" the blonde boy demanded, on the verge of hysteria, his tail swishing agitatedly. "Harry and Mikoto need help!"

Dumbledore nodded, and hurried over to the Floo, throwing in powder. He called out, "POPPY! We need whatever you can get for Dementor exposure immediately!" He then turned to the blonde. "Are you Zidane Tribal?"

"Last time I checked, I was," the boy said.

Dumbledore nodded, before heading to a small drawer, and taking out a small selection of chocolates that he sometimes snacked on if he felt like them, and threw one to Zidane, who caught it with excellent reflexes. "Chocolate helps with the after-effects of Dementor exposure," he explained.

The teenaged thief bit into one sceptically, before he relaxed a little. "What about Harry and Mikoto?"

"If the Dementors didn't manage to get them, they'll be fine with some treatment and rest," Dumbledore said. "And what of this Kuja?"

Zidane scowled a little, before saying, "He was attacked by the Dementors and his soul was consumed, I think. I'm sure he drowned in the sea."

"A pity." Suddenly, the Floo flared into life, and the stern Madam Pomfrey strode through. "Poppy, your patients are right there."

Pomfrey blinked when she saw the trio of teenagers with tails, before sighing resignedly, knowing that whatever had happened was a long story. Dumbledore, meanwhile, sighed in relief. It seemed that Harry's adventure, at least on Gaia and Terra, was over.

Even so, it may be that an adventure here was going to continue…

CHAPTER 13 ANNOTATIONS:

Yes, Kuja's dead. No last-minute redemption for him. I know a lot of you who are fans of Kuja will be annoyed at me doing this. All I can say is: deal with it.

This is the penultimate chapter. The next chapter, the last chapter, will wrap things up, as well as set the stage for the sequel.

Review-answering time! Akuma-Heika: Look, blame Square Enix for that. They were the ones who made the means to access the Crystal linked to Gaia and Terra. I presume the reason it was accessible from Gaia was because of the Iifa Tree or something. In Final Fantasy IX, you can see female Red Mages (though many of them wear yellow shirts, actually). If you've played the game, you might have seen an optional scene where Steiner is walking around Lindblum in Disc One, and asks a female Red Mage for help getting back to Lindblum Castle. She thinks it's a pick-up line, and tells Steiner to shine his armour.

1. Yes, this is Necron speaking. He's just barely awakened, but it would have taken Kuja trying to destroy the Crystal to get him to fully manifest.