Vana'diel Potter
A Fanfic by Viral Inque
Author's Note: I really, really, really like this chapter. Even I'm wondering how this is going to turn out. Sorry for the delay, I've been real busy. Thanks again to all my faithful readers!
Chapter X: Incorporated
Harry woke up tired and with the feeling that he hadn't slept for very long. A dreary night sky, permeated only by a filmy sliver of moon filtering in through the murky window confirmed his suspicions. He lay in the dark, images of his friends playing in the shadows, the silhouette of Fleur's head on his chest moving gently with his breathing.
With all the thoughts swimming around in his head, a dull throbbing had also taken up residence that even made his scar tingle irritatingly. Unable to get back to sleep and with the sun nowhere in sight, he shimmied slowly from underneath Fleur and placed a pillow under her head.
Harry poured himself a glass a water from a pitcher sitting on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. He pushed aside frustrating thoughts about how they were going to get to Windurst, let alone home, and focused his attention on keeping his memories intact. He had tried to keep a level head about the whole thing in front of Fleur, to tell himself that it wasn't necessarily going to happen the way he thought, but the truth was the idea of losing his memories had terrified him. He raised his glass to take a drink of water when something in the corner of the room glinted off the surface of the glass and gave him a start.
He took a good look, but there didn't seem to be anything, though it was hard to tell in the darkness. He instinctively grabbed for his wand and lit the tip with a word. The light was still dim and weak, but stronger then it had been. He inched over to the corner where he and Fleur had deserted their clothes, left soaking in a wooden tub of now brownish colored water. Harry's head suddenly cleared as he saw, sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans, the copper colored crystal he had acquired on the first night they had arrived.
"Fleur," Harry called, lighting the lamp that usually illuminated their room, "Fleur, wake up."
Fleur mumbled something inaudible and turned over, still sound asleep. Harry grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her gently. Fleur swatted Harry's hand away and pulled the covers over her head.
"Fleur," Harry shouted, pulling the covers down off Fleur, "Get up, this is important."
"What?" Fleur mumbled through her pillow.
"Look," Harry said to the back of Fleur's head, "I think this may solve all our problems. Well, maybe not all, but if this means what I think it means, it'll be a huge help. Will you just get up."
"'Arry, come back to bed," Fleur mumbled.
Harry looked out the window and remembered how early it must be. He looked down at Fleur and considered how difficult she could be early in the morning. He looked at the crystal in his hand, and considered its possibilities. Then he leaned forward and gave Fleur a push. She rolled and fell off the bed, landing on the other side with a hard thud.
"Ow."
"Sorry, Fleur," Harry said, looking over the bed and down at her prone form on the floor, "But this is important."
"It 'ad better be," Fleur moaned, standing gingerly.
"Look at this," Harry said, holding the crystal up to Fleur's face, "Do you remember it?"
Fleur blinked and scrutinized the crystal. "It's zat crystal. Ze ugly one. Ze ugly and smelly one you found our first night 'ere."
"Right," Harry explained, "I got it when I killed that rabbit."
"So?"
Harry gave Fleur a moment to let the whole idea sink in. As she yawned sleepily, she came to a stop looking at Harry thoughtfully.
"You don't zink zis is what zat man was talking about?" Fleur asked.
"It has to be," Harry shook his head, "Fighting and crystals. It all fits."
"Okay," Fleur said, pausing to stretch, "I'm willing to entertain ze possibility zat all zis is true. Now, with zat being said, what are we supposed to do about it now?"
"I think that'll be pretty easy," Harry said, looking around for his shoes, "Come on, let's go."
"Go?" Fleur frowned, "You mean, like, right now?"
"Yes, now."
It was fairly cold outside and a light rain had begun falling, making Harry and Fleur huddle close together against it. The weather seemed to have kept a lot of people inside, and the ones that did brave the elements seemed to do it half-heartedly. They kept close to buildings for protection until they found themselves once again at the auction house.
As if the cold and rain were of no consequence, clusters of people mingled around the area, buying and bartering and selling, business as usual.
"Should we go to the counter or ask someone else?" Harry wondered.
"I am very un'appy," Fleur muttered.
"Right then."
Harry decided to attack the problem from the opposite angle Fleur had taken the day before. He scanned the crowd until he spotted a meek-looking young girl in a corner with hair as long as Fleur's that whipped around her. She had a forlorn look on her face, but there was a quality about her that was headstrong and assertive that caught Harry's attention.
"Excuse me," Harry asked as they approached the girl. He noticed that the girl's eyes were closed, and with her arms crossed over her chest she looked oddly contemplative.
"Yes?" she asked in a light voice, looking up slowly.
"Are you alright?" Fleur asked.
"I'm sorry," the girl said, waving the statement away, "Please don't mind me. I'm okay. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Well," Harry said, holding up the crystal and going out on a limb, "What do you know about these?"
"Very little I'm afraid," she said through an airy chuckle, "My brother is the one that knows about things like that."
"So what are you doing out 'ere in zis weather?" Fleur asked sourly. In the shadow of the auction house they were partially protected from the rain, but this had not stopped them from already being soaked through to the bone.
"Just thinking, I suppose," the girl sighed, staring off into the distance, "But I don't want to burden you with my problems."
"Does counting the raindrops help?" Harry sniggered.
"I know," the girl smiled, "I must seem silly, out here in the rain when I could be in a warm bed."
"Oh, I zink we can relate," Fleur said, her mood sounding slightly lightened.
"My name is Kayla," the girl said, bowing slightly, "It's nice to make your acquaintance, but I find no joy in knowing you can relate to me."
Harry and Fleur introduced themselves, but neither could think of anything particularly inspiring to say in response. Harry was about to politely excuse them when Kayla spared him the need.
"I think it would do us all better to continue this conversation inside," Kayla smiled, trying to shift the mood, "What say you two to a bowl of hot porridge?"
"Excellent," Harry and Fleur replied together.
The three of them braced themselves and made their way back towards the residential district. As they went Harry was struck by the sight of Fleur and Kayla walking together. They didn't look particularly similar, but there was a striking contrast in their long flowing hair, Fleur's silvery white and Kayla's black as oil.
Unconsciously, Harry examined Kayla's clothes. She was wearing a long gray robe with wide, open sleeves. The neck and sleeves were adorned with gold and purple embroidering of intricate designs and cryptic runes. Unseen shoes resounded loudly.
"Are you a mage, Kayla?" Harry asked.
"No- well, actually, yes," Kayla replied awkwardly, "I'm a summoner. Or I will be eventually. I'm sort of new at it, and I'm not coming along so well."
"Really?" Fleur asked, intrigued, "What does a summoner do? What's going wrong?"
"I'll show you," Kayla said, "But wait till we get inside."
They wove their way through the city until they were back in the residential district. They went in the opposite direction Harry and Fleur were used to and were quickly lost in a new muddle of unfamiliar buildings. Eventually, they came to a narrow house wedged between two others.
They walked into a dark house they smelled sweetly of flowers. After a moment a lamp Kayla was holding came on and illuminated the area. They were in a living room, full of dark, weathered furniture. Almost every available table space was occupied by wild flowers in ceramic pots of various colors.
"This way," Kayla whispered, raising a finger to her lips just as Fleur was about to say something, then pointing to a door beyond the living room with the same finger.
Kayla led them into the house's kitchen. The kitchen mirrored the living room, with dark furniture and walls to match. The flowers were also there, lessened only due to the area left open at the small, round dining table for eating.
"My brother's room is just past the living room," Kayla said, rummaging through the cupboards, "But we should be fine here."
"I suppose one of us should sleep," Fleur smiled.
"Right," Kayla laughed, "Say, Harry, could you do me a favor and get a fire going? I think we could benefit twice from that right now."
"Sure thing."
Harry got working on getting a fire going in the large cooking hearth, while Kayla shoveled ingredients into iron kettles hanging above it. With nothing else to do while she waited, Fleur volunteered to take on the task of watering all the flowers in the kitchen. By the time Fleur was finished, Harry was bringing the chairs by the burning fire and Kayla was placing bowls of hot porridge and mugs of hot tea onto serving trays.
"Zis is nice," Fleur said once they were tucked in.
"It is," Kayla agreed, "We don't get to do stuff like this as much as we'd like to anymore."
"So what happened?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.
"'Arry!" Fleur hissed.
"It's okay," Kayla said, "I have to get used to our circumstances, but I don't really want to get into it right now, though."
"Believe me, we understand," Fleur said sharply, directing a nasty look towards Harry, who could only look away foolishly. He knew the last thing they wanted to do was get into a conversation about their current or past situations.
"Um, you were saying something about being a summoner earlier," Harry said after a moment, trying to redeem himself.
"Oh, right," Kayla said, getting to her feet, putting her tray on her chair, "Be right back."
Kayla disappeared through the door, leaving Harry and Fleur alone in the kitchen.
"Kayla's really nice," Fleur said, "I like 'er."
"Uh-huh," Harry agreed, "I wonder what's going on with her and her brother."
"Leave it alone, 'Arry," Fleur said strictly.
"I know," Harry said reluctantly, "But still-"
Kayla came back into the kitchen, dressed in a dry robe, this one with red and white embroidering, and carrying a knotted wooden staff half a foot taller than herself.
"Okay," Kayla began, stopping in the middle of the room and waving them over. "Summoners have the power to call on magical creatures and use them to help them, to fight mostly. This is good for me since I can't fight myself and I'm no good at magic either. The problem is that once you can summon a creature, it doesn't mean they'll do what you say. Watch."
"Are you sure zis is a good idea?" Fleur asked nervously.
"Don't worry," Kayla replied.
Kayla began stabbing at the ground with the end of her staff, leaving marks in a thin layer of dust on the stone floor. What looked like random scratching soon took the form of an intricate glyph with runes similar to the ones decorating her robe. When she was done she brought her staff down hard right into the center of the glyph, which began glowing faintly. She closed her eyes and began muttering under her breath, so fast that a buzzing noise filled the air. Finally, she brought the staff down one last time.
Nothing happened at first, even prompting Kayla to open one eye suspiciously. The glyph suddenly burned brighter, and began to slowly lift and swirl off the ground. It spun and rose faster and faster until it magically took the shape and form of a small, furry animal. It opened a pair of bright, green eyes and lifted it's head, looking around curiously.
"This," Kayla said, waving a hand over the creature, "Is Buster."
At the sound of Kayla's voice, Buster instantly came alive, running and jumping circles around her, yipping happily. Buster was another strange hybrid of creature in Vana'diel that Harry could compare to creatures back home. Buster was something like a fox, mixed with a squirrel. Harry thought this was a much kinder mix than the rabbits they'd seen outside that had mouths like barracudas.
"What is he?" Harry asked.
"He's a Carbuncle," Kayla said, giggling in what now seemed to be a very characteristic way, as Buster ran wildly around her, "They're the simplest and weakest kind of familiar a summoner can call forth. I saw a Titan once. Believe me, if you'd seen one of those, you'd run for your lives, no matter what I told you."
"'E's so cute!" Fleur cried, on her hands and knees, coaxing Buster over to pet him.
"I know," Kayla agreed, with a hint of frustration, "That's the problem. I love Buster, I really do, but he's not a very good familiar. He doesn't have the fighting spirit synonymous with familiars. I mean, he'll protect me if I'm in danger, but usually I spend more time worrying about him getting hurt then myself."
"I see," Harry said, noticing how he was instantly endeared to the creature, "That is a problem."
"What's going on in here, Kayla?" said a new voice from the door.
"Brother," Kayla said, "I'm so sorry. I forgot you were sleeping."
"S'alright," Kayla's brother said, as he shuffled across the kitchen and worked on getting himself some breakfast, "I didn't know we had company."
"'Ello," Fleur smiled, offering a polite wave, "My name is Fleur, and zis is 'Arry."
"Hi," Harry echoed, looking out the window at the just now lightening sky, "Sorry we woke you."
"Danyon. Nice to meet you," Danyon replied, "You have a very strange accent, Fleur."
"Um, zank you," Fleur replied nervously.
"Well, I only meant that you don't sound like you're from around here," Danyon said through a mouthful of porridge, "What are you doing here in San d'Oria?"
Harry could see that Danyon was the type of person that didn't trust quickly, not that he was trying to hide it. They would have to be careful about what they said, which made Harry wonder why they'd let themselves get so easily trapped in this situation.
"We're actually here trying to make some money," Harry said, his mind racing, "We want to get to Windurst."
"Really?" Danyon asked, intrigued.
"Come on, Danyon," Kayla said, slightly flustered, "Stop it, please. Harry and Fleur are okay."
"You don't know that," Danyon disagreed, shaking his head.
"Brother!" Kayla screamed, startling everyone in the room, "Enough!"
Danyon looked up, momentarily at a loss, "I'm sorry," he said eventually, "Harry, Fleur, I'm sorry I jumped down your throats, it's just that, we-"
"It's okay," Fleur broke Danyon off, "We understand, I zink. It seems we 'ave some zings in common."
Buster had disappeared while this was all going on, and he now reappeared carrying a mouse, which to took to a corner and began to crunch on.
"Windurst, huh?" Danyon mused quietly, putting aside his empty bowl and taking up a cup of tea.
"Yeah," Harry replied, some of his caution subsiding, "To tell the truth, we haven't been having that great of a time at it."
"You got a plan?" Danyon asked.
"Strictly speaking, no," Harry said sadly, "We do have this crystal, which we're hoping might get us going in the right direction."
"That's how we got talking," Kayla offered, "I told them you'd know better then I would."
"So let's take a look," Danyon said, holding out his hand. He took the crystal from Harry and rolled it around in his hand casually.
"It's an earth crystal," he said, tossing it back to Harry.
"Is zat it?" Fleur asked.
"Oh, hardly," Danyon said, helping himself to another bowl of porridge, "For one thing, it's as good as gil. Most people without a trade learn to fight and make a living harvesting crystals. They have no real biological function within the creatures they're found in, but they're directly tied to the creatures inert magical properties. That's why crystals are so important. The magic inside them is filtered out and used to power all kinds of things, like the lamps in the streets, just as an example. That's about it."
"That's a lot more than we knew a minute ago," Harry admitted.
"So all creatures 'ave zese crystals inside zem? Does Buster 'ave one too?" Fleur asked, looking over at the Carbuncle, who was now dozing peacefully.
"Not all, but most," Danyon shrugged, "No one's sure why some don't."
"Don't tell me you two planned to go out and try to harvest crystals," Kayla cried, dumbfounded, "That's very dangerous, even close to the city, even if you're trained and well armed."
"It was all we could think to do," Harry said defensively.
"My sister's wrong to chastise you so harshly," Danyon smiled, looking at Kayla, "We're no strangers to doing the very same. We still do it when we have to, even though we know better."
"You're right," Kayla said shyly, "That was terrible of me."
"Wait, that's it," Danyon said, jumping from his seat, disrupting Buster from his nap. As he did so, Harry instantly knew what he was thinking. "Well, I don't-"
"What? Why not?" Harry asked.
"We all just met," Danyon said skeptically, "Should we really just jump at the first idea that presents itself? Any of us?""
"You have a point," Harry agreed, seeing the obvious truth in Danyon's words.
"Are you both stupid?" Fleur cried, "What do we 'ave to lose? 'Arry, after everything we've been through. And who knows what still lies ahead. Can any of us afford not to do zis? I zink we should do it."
"I agree," Kayla added.
"We're split, it seems," Danyon smiled, "But Harry, I must tell you, in my humble experience, I don't think we stand a chance."
"I think so," Harry said, shaking his head in mock mourning.
"So we're a team?" Fleur asked expectantly.
"We're a team," Harry and Danyon both said, nodding curtly to each other in turn.
"So what does this all mean?" Harry asked, approaching Danyon as Fleur and Kayla wandered off to play with Buster, speaking in whispers.
"We go out and fight," Danyon answered simply, "We'll be able to fight more, longer, and make more money together as opposed to separately. We got all day still, so we might be really successful. We'll play it by ear after that. What can you guys do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you got the crystal," Danyon said, "How?"
"We got lucky mostly," Harry said modestly, "But we can both use healing spells."
"That will come in handy," Danyon said, getting up, "But we also have to get you weapons. Eat up while I go get dressed. We'll leave straight away."
"Danyon said we'll leave as soon as he gets dressed," Harry informed the girls when he walked over to them.
"So soon?" Kayla said nervously, "Alright, excuse me, I have to go get a few things for the road."
Buster lingered in the room for a moment, nestled in between Fleur's feet, then scurried after Kayla. Fleur seemed not to notice, but only stared out the window as the sky continued to lighten, an unsettled look on her face.
"What is it?" Harry asked, though there was no need for him to ask.
"You know," Fleur sniffed, then shrugged.
"I know," Harry said somberly, "But, well, you know."
"Yeah."
"Scared?" Harry asked, putting an arm around her, as much for himself as for her.
"Very," Fleur sighed, taking a hold of Harry's hand, "I've come to find security 'ere, and to see fear out zere. But we've come zis far, 'aven't we?"
"Right," Harry agreed with the slightest effort at conviction.
"Hey, are you two ready?" Kayla asked, sticking her head into the room.
"Yes," they replied together.