Disclaimer: not mine

Using summons and town names from other FF games for the abandoned towns Harry knows about.

'Fayth speaking.'

"Al Bhed language"

Chapter 5

There were times Harry really missed being able to Apparate any sort of distance or make a Portkey but those magics had become impossible when the world was remade into Spira. It was only thanks to sheer power that Harry could Apparate and even then he had a very limited range. It made life a lot easier than having to walk or run everywhere. He could ride a Chocobo but there were none around to catch and tame. Instead he was using magic to augment his body, making him far faster than any human should be. The first town he knew of wasn't that far from Luca alone the road but finding the turnoff was all but impossible it was so overgrown, how long ago had it been destroyed. Thankfully he still knew where to go, heading further inland and away from the road until he came over a small rise and stared at what remained of Kalm. He had known it was abandoned but this was worse than he could have ever imagined.

He'd never lived in Kalm, but he had friends who had and had spent a lot of time in the town visiting. Well, when he could get around Bevelle's attempt to keep anyone from Zanarkand from getting further inland than Luca. He made his way down into the ruins and towards the Temple once stood. It was a mess, the roof mostly caved in…but the Fayth may still be intact as the stone was underground. He began clearing the rubble, magic lighting his way as the sky began to darken. He finally cleared a path through the rubble to the entrance to the trials. They were inactive but thankfully the doors were not sealed, enabling him to reach the Fayth.

A young man appeared, floating above the stone serenely, until he saw Harry. The Fayth's eyes widened and then he grinned. 'Lord Harry,' he greeted happily, it had been so long since anyone had come to his Temple, he had feared no one ever would. He should have realised once Aiden had sent word that Harry had awoken that the immortal knew where he was and would come.

"Hello Fen, how have you been?"

The Fayth laughed and shook his head. 'Other than trapped in a stone with no visitors?' he asked rhetorically, and Harry shrugged. 'Aiden says you travel with a Summoner, will she come?'

"You will grant her your Aeon?"

'Of course! Percival was right Lord Harry, we are tired. Is Sin can be destroyed then the dream will end and we will be able to rest. It will be good to be useful again…and these modern mages know nothing of the power of the wind,' he scoffed at that, but it was true, there were no wind spells anymore.

Harry nodded sadly but he understood, if he could finally cross over…would he? "I will bring her, just no Lord Harry around them, alright? They don't know."

'Agreed,' he faded away and Harry turned to leave.

He made his way back to the road and continued on, making sure to stay out of sight of those on it. There was a lot of activity, and more Crusaders than he'd seen wince awakening. The next town was about half way to the rest spot and on the coast….making the reason for its destruction fairly easy to guess, Sin. Balamb had been a pretty place one but now there was barely anything left. He kept going but he wasn't very hopeful and sure enough, the Temple had been destroyed and with it the Fayth. Kira was gone and with her, her aeon, Kujata. She had been very useful since she could use multiple elements. Kira had been a friend once, before he had ever lived in Zanarkand. She had been funny and kind and had died in one of the many skirmishes that had occurred when humanity had begun recovering from World War III. She had been one of the oldest of the Fayth because of that. He would miss her but there was nothing he could do. With a last look he left the area and began the trip back to Luca to meet up with the others.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Tidus joined Yuna at the rail, looking down at Luca, as they waited for Harry to join them. she turned and smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Hey, watch!" she lifted her fingers to her mouth and whistled, loudly.

"Hey, you got pretty good," he praised her.

"You sound sad," she frowned, worried and he shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Wanna scream?" She offered, not sure why he was sad. She knew he'd been with Sir Auron last night, had he learnt something about his Father's fate? Was Sir Jecht dead?

"Nnnn…I really don't think that's going to help this time," he shook his head and mustered a small smile for her.

"You know what?" she turned to lean her back on the rail and he shifted to his side to look at her.

"Hm?"

"It's embarrassing to say this myself…" she took a deep breath. "But summoners and their guardians are kind of like Spira's ray of light. A lot of people in Spira depend on us. I learned to practice smiling when I'm feeling sad, you know? I know it's hard."

"Yeah… I understand. I think."

"Right, now let's see what you can do!" She grinned and turned back to look out at Luca and the sea beyond it.

"Huh?" he turned with her, confused.

"Come on!"

"Uh… ah…" he offered a strained smile. "This is weird!"

"Next, try laughing out loud!

"What?" No way!

"Come on, show me!" she grinned, teasing.

Tidus took a deep breath. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha. Aaaaah… ah ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Yuna winced, "You probably shouldn't laugh anymore."

He did it again and then they were both laughing for real.

"I'm not going to ask," a voice called, and they turned to see Harry approaching.

"Harry! You made it," Tidus was relieved. Yeah, he sort of knew Auron, the man had watched over him since his Dad vanished, but Harry was different, lighter and easier to talk too.

"Did you find anything?" Yuna asked, and Harry nodded as the others joined them.

"There are a lot of Crusader's on the road. I did find two towns I knew of from very old records my family has kept for centuries. One of which, the closer, has an intact Temple and Fayth. The other is gone."

"Do you know which Aeon?" Lulu asked and Harry nodded.

"Fenrir, the Fayth, Fen, is very eager to be useful again. He can cast Withering Winds which can deal massive wind-elemental damage to all enemies, very handy," Harry explained.

"How far is it?" Auron asked, surprised to hear of an Aeon no one seemed to know about.

"The turn off isn't far at all, but it's not an easy trip as the road is basically gone. We'd probably need to spend the night in the ruins," he glanced at Yuna and Lulu subtly and Auron nodded, understanding. The rest of them were far fitter and used to exertion, although Wakka and Tidus were more used to water than land when it came to exercise.

"It is your decision, Yuna," Auron offered.

Yuna considered what Harry had told her. "I want to go, an Aeon with elemental abilities no one else knows would be a great help and if he's lonely then we should go." Her answer received some amused chuckles, but they were soon on the road. Thanks to the number of Crusaders there weren't a lot of fiends on the road and those they did come across were left to the more inexperienced members of the party to help build their skills.

Watching them, Harry honestly didn't know how Wakka and Lulu had made it as Guardians to at least one previous Summoner. She had only first level elemental spells and he used a Blitzball, even though it was specialised, it was still a ball. The three older males only stepped in when the younger members of the group were in danger of dying.

They all stared in dismay when Harry stopped at a place where some of the grass had been disturbed, obviously from his scouting trip. They still followed him away from the road though, Auron bringing up the rear and Kimahri beside Yuna. They walked quietly for several hours until Auron called for a rest, seeing how they were flagging.

Harry glanced back and grimaced. "Sorry, it's not far now so just a short rest," he told them, making sure they all drank something.

Finally, they came over the rise and saw the ruined town for themselves.

"Wow," Tidus whispered as he took in what once had to have been a large town, well-to-do form the look of the remains.

"This was Kalm," Harry told them before heading down into the town and they followed him to the Temple.

"What happened here?"

"Bevelle, they decided the people were too sympathetic to Zanarkand during the war. This is the result," Harry answered Wakka. The man's blind devotion to Yevon was annoying, perhaps scenes like this would help open his eyes. He led them to the Temple, and they all stared in concern. "The Fayth is below ground, I made it through alright before. There are rough patches, but the Trials are inactive and the damage below ground isn't as bad."

Auron nodded. "Harry and Tidus will go with Yuna."

"What?" Wakka demanded.

"The three of them are the smallest and lightest of the party, should the path narrow they will be best able to navigate it," Auron explained. "That gives Yuna two swordsmen and a mage at her back." He had seen that Flare spell at the stadium, Harry was far more powerful than Lulu with a greater diversity of spells.

"We'll keep Yuna safe," Tidus promised and Harry led the two teens into the ruined Temple, using the path he'd cleared before. They made it through to the entrance of the Trials and Yuna grabbed Tidus' hand before reaching for Harry's and he gave her a smile before leading them into the darkness. They had a brief scare when part of the tunnel floor caved in under Yuna's feet, but the two males held her up and then Tidus jumped across to join them. they made it into the Fayth's chamber and Fen appeared with a grin.

'That was quick,' he teased before bowing to Yuna. 'Greetings, Lady Summoner. You journey to defeat Sin?'

"Yes," she answered firmly, and he nodded, longish black hair falling into his eyes.

'Then I will grant you my power,' he promised, flying into her and Tidus caught her when she stumbled back.

"Well that was easy," Tidus commented as Yuna regained her footing.

"Unlike most Fayth, he's been alone for almost a thousand years," Harry pointed out. "We should head back." He led them back through the tunnels and out into the fresh evening air to find the Lulu waiting for them.

"The others have gone to find us somewhere to stay the night," she told them as they appeared, relieved they had come through unharmed. They headed off into the grown over streets and spotted Wakka outside of one of the more intact homes.

Inside was a mess but the old fireplace was still standing, and they had found some pots and pans that were still useable to cook with. They were soon settled in for the night around the fire since while there were bedrooms, after a thousand odd years the beds had fallen apart and decayed. Harry took first watch, leaning in the doorway to watch the ruins for fiends. When Auron's turn came he didn't bother waking the man, content to remain where he was.

"You should have woken me," Auron commented several hours later as he joined him, and Harry shrugged.

"I'm not tired," he promised.

Auron stared at the man he had been told had joined them on Besaid. He claimed to be a sword for hire and yet had not given a price for his aide to Yuna. He seemed rather cheery and unconcerned and yet he was a seasoned fighter and mage. He was a contradiction and someone Auron had not planned for, how would his presence affect the Pilgrimage? Jecht had brought Tidus here to kill him, but was that by becoming the Final Aeon and taking his place…or did his old friend think Tidus could manage another way? "Why have you come with Yuna?"

Harry glanced at him, knowing the other man was trying to figure him out. "I don't agree with the Pilgrimage, with Summoners killing themselves for a few years peace," he admitted, it was as bad as children becoming Fayth. "If people want an end to Sin they should get off their butts and do something about it themselves. Unfortunately, I'm well aware of the mentality of the average person. They want heroes and the Summoners give them that." He tipped his head back to stare at the stars, there was little cloud cover tonight. He easily spotted the dog star and he did wonder what Sirius would have thought of Spira. He probably would have been executed for pranking Bevelle. "That doesn't mean I think less of the Summoners. They choose to give their lives for the safety of others, that is not something to scoff at. I do believe there is another way, to defeat Sin for good."

Auron was surprised by his words, he looked rather young for such deep thoughts. Then again, it was hard to guess his age. He could be slightly older than Tidus to closer to his own age, he had one of those youthful faces. He wasn't overly tall either and was lithely built although he could see the hints of muscle through his clothing. His clothing was…interesting and he would swear it was machina made, like Tidus', but that was impossible. Like Lulu, he wore mainly black, as did many Black Mages, although his shirt was a light blue colour. His coat was of a style he didn't recognise as well which was odd, slimmer in make than his own almost robe like one. And he could see no belt with which to attach his sword. "Where are you from?"

"Nowhere you'd have heard of," Harry answered before heading for his bedroll, leaving Auron with a lot of unanswered questions.

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Yuna woke and stared at the cracked ceiling above her before rolling over to find all of the others were already up and getting breakfast, making her quickly sit up.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Harry teased but handed her a plate.

"Thank you," she took it and began to eat.

"Where to next?" Tidus asked as he put his sword on his back.

"Back to the Mi'ihen Highroad which will lead us to the Djose Temple. There is a travel agency where we can stay tonight. By the next evening we will be at Djose. After that it is on to the Moonflow," Auron answered.

"O…kay," none of those names meant a thing to Tidus.

They finished up and headed back onto the road where they ran into Maechen whose presence shocked Harry, but he kept silent. He say the historian's eyes widen slightly when he saw him and motioned for silence. It appeared the old historian was unsent but if all he was doing was reciting history to travellers then he was no threat, unless they died of boredom due to the dryness of his recitations.

"What was that?" Lulu suddenly demanded and Maechen nodded sadly.

"Yesterday, Crusaders and Al Bhed gathered at Mushroom Rock to face sin with the Maester's of Yevon looking on. When it was done, the Maester's laughed at the carnage," he admitted sadly.

Auron frowned and Harry tensed, angry, but there was nothing to do but continue on. There were no Crusaders on the road now, unlike when they'd left Luca.

"My Lady Summoner!" a woman in a green skirt called happily, a little girl beside her as they walked the road.

The little girl ran over to stare at Yuna. "You're a summoner?"

Yuna bent down and smiled. "Yes. My name is Yuna."

"I'm Calli."

"Nice to meet you, Calli," Yuna bowed to the little girl who giggled and returned it.

"Lady Yuna, are you going to bring us the Calm?" Calli asked as her Mother came closer, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, very soon," Yuna promised.

"Yay!" Calli ran circles around Yuna, excited.

"We're looking forward to another Calm, My Lady Summoner," her Mother, Lean offered.

"I'll do my best," Yuna assured her as she straightened up.

"And good luck to your guardians as well," Lean offered before they waved and continued their journey.

"What's the calm?" Tidus asked once they were gone.

"The Calm is a time of peace. It comes after a summoner defeats Sin, and lasts until Sin reappears," Lulu answered.

"Eh… huh?"

"Sin dies and is reborn," Harry paraphrased for him.

"I get it! I thought it was weird. Yuna's dad defeated Sin ten years ago, right? But Sin's still here! Didn't make much sense till now," Tidus shrugged, that had been bothering him. "Wait… If it just comes back…"

"Don't say it isn't worth it…Because it is," Yuna turned to him and he held his hands up in surrender.

Even for a little while, people could sleep in their beds without being afraid. That kind of time was worth anything. Don't say it isn't worth it. Tidus had the feeling he wouldn't forget what she'd said, something about it… for now he shrugged it off and they began walking again.

As the sun began to set they walked up to the Al Bhed travel agency, everyone happy at the idea of a proper bed and hot meal. "We rest here."

"But, this is an Al Bhed shop!" Wakka argued.

"Is that a problem?" Auron glanced at him.

"They don't believe in Yevon, and in Luca they… They kidnapped Yuna!" he snapped.

"Where were her guardians?" Auron walked into the shop as Wakka groaned and facepalmed as Tidus whistled innocently and Harry hid a snicker.

"Sir Auron's just concerned about your health," Yuna tried to console him.

"I'm not tired one bit!" Wakka denied.

"Well I am," Lulu pushed past him and into the shop. Wakka groaned but followed her.

They all went in to sleep but after a while Harry slipped out and over to the cliff, surprised to find Yuna watching the last of the sunset. "Do Lulu or Kimahri know you're alone out here?"

"You're here Harry, I'm not alone."

"Touché," he moved to sit beside her.

"Pretty…" she whispered as the last light disappeared.

"Sure is," Harry agreed, he never got tired of watching the sunrise or set, each one was unique, a rare thing for an immortal to experience when so much was unchanging.

"I wish I could live in a place like this. Peaceful… Living with a smile on my face every day," Yuna admitted, and Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Yuna leaning into his side.

"When are you going to tell Tidus?"

"I…I don't want him to know," she whispered. "His enthusiasm really cheers me up."

"You have to tell him before Zanarkand, it's not fair to him to be kept in the dark."

"You won't tell him?"

"it's not my place," Harry denied before kissing her cheek. "Go get some sleep, it'll be a hard day tomorrow to reach Djose." He watched her go and sighed, this had the potential to turn out very messy. He couldn't really berate her, he was keeping secrets from Tidus too…then again so was Auron. But how did you tell someone they weren't real? If they truly defeated Sin, Tidus would die with it. Of course, that was when the young man sat beside him and Harry took his coat off to settle around his shoulders as the air cooled. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't you?" Tidus shot back with a grin and Harry laughed.

"Point," he agreed.

"Harry, why does Sin always come back?"

"The followers of Yevon say that Sin is our punishment for our vanity. And it will not go away until we've atoned," Harry's tone made it clear what he thought of that.

"How do we do that? What did we do that was so bad in the first place? Was it using lots of machina or something? Oh… Wait, was that such a bad thing, really?"

"Don't let anyone hear you saying that," Harry warned but then sighed. "Sin is…complicated, but it is not a divine punishment. When war goes badly both sides commit atrocities and have 'failsafe's' should the end come. History is written by the victors, those who won the Machina Wars did not like the use of machina and so they banned it and blamed it for Sin."

"That's…"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, reaching over to ruffle Tidus' hair. "Come on," he stood and offered a hand up which Tidus took and they headed inside to sleep.

TBC…

I'm sure you can tell by the interactions of Harry, Yuna and Tidus that I have yet to fully decide the pairings. Anyone not romantically involved would be sibling level close anyway.