Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 5

Harry gasped, curling on his side as he coughed, injuries making themselves known. He pushed past the pain and forced his eyes open, slowly uncurling. Where was he? This…this was definitely not Hogwarts. He closed his eyes, focusing his magic inwards gritting his teeth as bones ground together, realigning before healing, and then he was forcing himself to his feet. Nothing looked familiar at all! What had happened?

The battle…Riddle and Dumbledore…Remus, oh Remus. He took a deep breath; he had seen the look of almost relief on the werewolf's face when the silver blade had sunk home…he'd only hung on so long for Harry. When Sirius had died it had almost killed him, hopefully the Marauders were together again and happy. The three of them had ended up in the castle, he remembered that much, remembered fighting, but then what?

He sighed and summoned his healing kit to finish tending his injuries before setting out on foot. He came to a cliff wall and went to change direction but then frowned, crouching down to see a crack like…a cave entrance. He crawled inside and stared in shock, slashed deep into the rock was a series of all too familiar scratches. He scrambled out, looking around wildly. Where was the forest though? He should be deep within the trees but there was nothing but wild grassland as far as the eye could see. Was it possible? Could he really be home again?

He had dreamed so much of coming home again, of returning to Eos, but they had been just that, dreams. He had never really known what had brought him to the world or taken him back, other than Hogwarts was the key. During downtimes in the war, he'd researched the Gryffindor line as much as he could, turned out they had owned the land Hogwarts had been built on since before the time of Leonis Gryffindor…who had vanished one day and never been seen again while on said land. He knew the Castel was built over a powerful well of magic, it was why the school had been built there, to be able to draw on that power. There were records of odd phenomena in the area going back to before the Roman invasion. Some sort of space time rift maybe? That had been Remus' theory anyway.

Time…could that be why the forest was gone. But if that was so….then how long had he been gone? Maybe it hadn't been that long? The forest could have fallen to a fire or any number of disasters…that would surely leave evidence behind for many years. He forced himself to calm down, running through the exercises he had learnt, calming himself down.

He looked up and then began climbing, wanting a better look at his surroundings. He grinned as he spotted the meteor and Titan and then the Rock of Ravatogh. He let go, warping back to the ground. He was definitely back on Eos. He closed his eyes, reaching for his magic, sending it out questing. He knew the feel of his Dad and Uncle's magic and Gilgamesh had been linked to him and Uncle Somnus, for safety reasons. That had shocked them all, he'd had to break his bond with Dad to make the one with his Uncle but then Harry had accidentally linked the man to his magic too, something that shouldn't have been possible. It had come in handy though with Gil able to pass messages to them via the Armiger. He grimaced when he couldn't feel his Dad or Uncle but…maybe Gil? Working out directions in his head, he thought he was maybe towards Taelpar Crag? But there was something….tugging his magic towards the meteor so he went with it, vanishing will all but silent popping noise.

He caught himself on a stumble as he appeared on uneven ground, glancing around warily. Thankfully, no one was around to see him appear and he hesitated but headed for the barely visible path, following the tug. He passed through the remains of some familiar architecture, but no one had dared build so close to where Titan slumbered! He came out into the open and on an outcropping in front of him….was a sarcophagus….it was what called to his magic. He moved carefully across the rocks; it was a rather long way down after all. He stared down at the stone effigy of a King? But it was the weapon he held that had Harry's heart racing and sinking. He knew that blade! Well, he knew two of them….the matching swords wielded by his Dad and Uncle. Was this…one of their tombs? Why here? Why would it call to him?

He took a shaky breath, looking around at the ruined remains, but there was nothing with a name on them. For the tomb to be so destroyed…how long had he been gone? He reached out and touched the sword, gasping as it turned to light. He backed up a step, watching the blade rise into the air and then it slammed into his chest and his world went black.

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He stared at the soul before him…it was not possible. Whoever it was, it could not be who he appeared. He had died long ago, likely the victim of the evil that had consumed his brother. Yet he had to be a Lucis Caelum to have claimed his Arm. He waited as the boy stirred, finding himself staring into familiar green eyes.

"Who are you?" even the voice was familiar, though older, the childhood accent stronger once again.

"Who are you?" he demanded in return. "You are not the True King."

"The True… that was meant to be Dad or Uncle Somnus," was the answer to his words and his hands balled into fists.

"The boy who could claim those links is long dead. Who are you?" he demanded and green eyes went wide, scanning his armoured form.

"Uncle Somnus?" he whispered in shock. "Is it...really you? What's going on? Was that your tomb at the meteor?"

He flung out his blade and the boy blocked with an all too familiar sword, golden magic fading, making him pause. It wasn't possible, was it? "Harry?" he asked and the young man before him nodded, lowering his sword, the one that had come with him from another world. He focused, his armour melting away to reveal his true form for only the second time since his death and Harry grinned at him, releasing his sword.

"Uncle," it was half sobbed as Harry threw himself at him and Somnus caught him, holding on tight.

"Harry," he whispered, mind reeling in shock as he held the nephew he had thought he would never see again. He pulled back to look down at him, had he grown even more? His hair was a little longer, his tan gone, leaving his skin pale, his clothing strange, though perhaps closer to what he had seen people wearing now? He held his nephew close again, feeling him shake with sobs. Where had he been? What had happened to him?

"I missed you so much," Harry whispered.

"Where have you been? What happened?" he asked and Harry went to answer only to vanish and Somnus swore angrily at being separated from his nephew before he could tell him anything. If he went looking for his Father…

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Harry groaned but pushed to his feet, staring at the sarcophagus, seeing the blade back in its hands but he could also feel the sword and knew it would come if he called. He touched the tomb, trying to reach out to his Uncle but then sighed when he felt nothing. "Guess I've got to figure this all out myself," he murmured before vanishing.

He reappeared away from the meteor and pulled out some food but then frowned as he saw a trail of smoke so he went to investigate, finding a flat stone….with familiar spell work sunk into it. They'd done it! Someone had figured out how to make a permanent Haven! That would make life easier. He set up his tent since it was starting to get a little dark and the settled in for the night. It would be safer if he tracked down that weird sense of Gilgamesh in the morning. It couldn't be him, maybe a descendant?

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He looked up, frowning, there was something….a challenger? No, it was not close, familiar… he summoned the spirits and sent them out, just in case it was a new challenger.

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Harry grimaced as he saw the river plunging down but also where it split around a section of land. The whole place was very creepy, he could feel the souls of many dead lingering around, controlled. He'd already had to deal with the reanimated corpses on his way down and didn't want to have to deal with any more. The idea of Gil having a descendant around made sense, if that power had lingered in his line. He summoned a blade and tossed it, warping down.

Of course, that was when a massive snake like monster rose from the water and Harry glared at it, hissing, eyes glowing, a hint of smoke seeping from his mouth. It stared at him before sinking back into the water, recognising the more powerful predator, thankfully. He stepped onto the stone and looked around the cavern even as it began to take on an eerie green hue. A tall, hooded humanoid figure materialized from azure smoke; holding a katana in its right hand; its left arm missing at the shoulder.

"You come to prove yourself worthy of my mantle?" it asked and Harry gasped.

"Gil?" he choked out in shock. How? If Uncle Somnus was dead, he couldn't feel his Dad…how could Gilgamesh still live? He saw the man tense; didn't he recognise him? he held his hands up to show he didn't want a fight. "I saw Uncle Somnus' tomb, what's left of it anyway. Who buried him near Titan?"

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Hearing the old nickname hurt. This boy….he looked so much like another boy he had known so long ago, one who had been loved by all of them. His death had been when everything truly spiralled out of control. To call Somnus Uncle...to know it was his tomb at the meteor… He strode up to the boy and grabbed his arm, feeling the limb tense but the intruder did nothing else, staring up at his masked face with wide eyes, full of…hope?

He reached past the flesh to the soul within, feeling magic surge in defence, Lucis Caelum and…that strange tinge of ozone that had always meant Harry, that was his different magic from another world. His eyes widened behind his mask as he felt everything. "Harry," he whispered in shock.

How was this possible? He had tried to call on his soul when Ardyn had returned alone, terrified his friend had killed his son but there had been nothing. Which was not conclusive either way depending on how he had died. When the truth of Ardyn's condition had been revealed he had feared that Harry's fate had been far worse than mere death.

He couldn't help pulling him closer, releasing his arm to wrap him in a one-armed hug and he felt slender yet strong arms wrap around him in return, though the height difference made it somewhat awkward. Not as awkward, he had grown some more since he disappeared.

"I missed you so much," Harry whispered but he still heard him.

He released him and then led him further into the caverns to where they could sit before a fire in relative comfort. "We thought you dead. When Ardyn returned half mad with grief and no sign of you…"

"How long has it been?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around his drawn up knees.

"Many, many lifetimes," he admitted, seeing the boy grimace.

"It's been six years for me. We were crossing through the forest where I found Dad, I heard something…and I woke up back in the Chamber I'd been in before coming to the forest when I was twelve. Only a year had passed there so my being so old was a big shock to everyone. My aging just seems completely messed up due to travelling between worlds," he shrugged slightly. "I woke up where the forest used to be yesterday, didn't recognise it till I found my cave since the trees are gone. I went to the meteor because something was tugging at my magic, I found Somnus' tomb, I touched the sword and it did something really weird. Passed out and woke up somewhere blue and….Uncle Somnus was there."

That got his attention, he had been called to the Beyond by Somnus' spirit? He knew little of the world outside his caverns, only what he learnt from those who died within. He knew of the Lucii and 'Old Wall' though, he had thought his King bound fully to that, but perhaps it was not so?

"We didn't really get to talk beyond confirming that we were really seeing each other before I woke up. I found a rock with runes, someone finally figured out how to make permanent Haven's huh?"

"Fifteen years after you vanished. They are scattered across the world, though there are few on the western continent."

"Came looking for you once the sun was up, well…I figured it was a descendant or something that I could sense if Uncle Somnus was dead. What happened?" he asked.

Gilgamesh hesitated, how was he meant to tell him of his Father's fate? Of his own role in it, Somnus'? Aera's death?

"That bad huh?" he whispered miserably.

He knew the prophecy, the fate that awaited what was left of Ardyn and the True King. Could Harry's return change any of it? if anyone could reach the man he had once been, it would be the boy he had called son. The True King meant nothing to him, he did not know him and never would, he would ensure the man's Shield was ready for his role though.

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From Gil's reaction he had the sinking feeling he didn't want to know what had happened. Had his Dad…had he succumbed? He'd tried everything to help him but he couldn't heal the Scourge. "I know Dad was sick," he whispered. "I tried to help, I did," he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "The Crystal and marrying Aera were meant to help."

"Aera died," Gil told him and Harry felt sick.

He had really liked Aera, she had been amazing and so kind. She had been the sort of Mum he'd always dreamed of, even if they'd only been engaged. "How?"

"Does it really matter after so long?"

"That bad," he stared into the flames. If only they hadn't gone near that blasted forest. Then again, maybe he couldn't have changed anything. "How are you still alive? Why here?" he changed the subject a little, not ready to deal with whatever horrors had befallen the rest of the family just yet.

"It is my duty to guide the Shield of the True King. So I have waited here for him to appear."

"Are you…alive?"

"In a manner."

Okay then…great.

"Your place is out there, in the world Harry." A comforting hand came to rest on his shoulder and he shifted, leaning against the armoured form. He knew he couldn't stay in the cavern but at the moment he just wanted something familiar. The hand shifted so that he was being held against Gil's side. He was technically thirty-two but he didn't feel or look it.

Remus and Sirius had agreed it was magic, the mixing of basilisk venom and phoenix tears in his body had influenced his Animagus form, the change between worlds had altered his magic, for all he knew shards of the Philosophers Stone had gotten into his blood stream when he was eleven. He'd mastered the transformation with their help and despite his size, they had agreed he wasn't fully grown so maybe that was also influencing his aging?

He glanced up and glared at the mask, reaching for it and Gilgamesh tensed but then allowed him to remove it, revealing his face. "I've missed you," he whispered before managing a small laugh. "Even missed you kicking me around the training ground."

"I hope your skills have not deteriorated since our last session," he warned and Harry groaned dramatically. "I will have to test them before you leave."

"Me and my big mouth."

TBC…

I decided not to cover the years on Earth because that would be like Chosen Brothers. Bits and pieces will come out over time.