Disclaimer: not mine
If you're wondering about the rapid updates, it's because I'm housebound due to injury and instead of writing my paper for uni I've been playing FFX. It's weird, I got it on PS2, never finished, then PS3 and got closer, now I'm on PS4 and I'm finding it a lot easier? Like boss fights that killed me over and over, this time I'm beating first go in minutes. Weird. I've just reached Zanarkand, so we'll see if it gets harder.
If I do HarryYuna, would I then do TidusRikku? So many choices!
Chapter 6
Harry lay in bed, listening to Wakka snore and Tidus toss and turn. Eventually, he got up and sat on Tidus' bed, hand hovering above his forehead as he eased his troubled sleep. Poor boy had a lot of nightmares, no surprising and he knew some of them were the Fayth reaching out to him. He closed his eyes, trying to sleep while he had the luxury of a bed. It took time but eventually he fell into a fitful sleep, reliving memories of Hogwarts and his life since, and he woke as the sun rose. He tossed his shirt and coat back on as well as his weapons, his feather-light and undetectable extension charmed bag with several changes of clothes, shoes, potions and even food under a stasis charm. He still had the Mokeskin pouch that Hagrid had given him for his seventeenth birthday and it held any items that he wanted to keep hidden, such as his photo album of his parents, pictures of his family and friends over the millennia, his wand and…the Hallows. He never used his wand anymore, he didn't need it and it wasn't any help with using the modern spells. He tended to use his sword to channel those if he needed a focus which he didn't usually, except for the really powerful spells, like Ultima and even then he could pull them off without one, it was just harder and more draining.
He grabbed a roll and wandered back out to the edge of the cliff to sit and watch the view. He remembered what Maechen had told them yesterday and was not looking forward to continuing. The Maester's had been there so it was possible the dead had been sent already but it was also possible they would be walking into a scene of carnage and that was not something he wanted Yuna or Tidus to see, they were still so young in many ways. He liked them, they made him feel more his physical age than his true one. Yuna was just so sweet and genuinely kind, not something easy to find. Tidus was more world weary, used to looking after himself and the burden of not only his own fame but living in his Father's shadow.
Harry leant back on his arms, he would not let Yuna die to face Sin, he knew that much. But he needed to know more about what Yevon had done to create Sin in order to come up with a method to permanently defeat him. Would his old friend recognise him? Or was there nothing left of him within it? He'd seen the map of where they were going, and Lulu had told him of the different Fayth that Yuna would go to. There were a lot less than there had been before he slept. Then again much of the world he had known during the war was changed or lost. Surely some of those Fayth had survived, he should have asked Fen for a list of which ones still existed so he wouldn't waste time on detours for once that were no longer there. Next on the path was Djose and Ixion, he'd get nothing from him. He had never known Travis when he lived but he had been one of Yevon's summons and Harry had never gotten along with that particular Fayth.
"Harry!"
He turned to see Tidus waving at him and stood up, brushing his trousers off before heading over. "We leaving?"
"Yeah, did you eat?" Tidus asked, Harry had been gone before any of them had woken up.
"Yes Mum," Harry teased. Of course, that was when the screaming began and the others ran out of the Agency, looking around. "There!" Harry spotted the disgusting creature on the roof, something gold clutched in its hand. Harry didn't hesitate, sending a Thundara spell at it, making it fall back and drop the Chocobo in its hand. They rushed to follow the fiend, Harry and Lulu tossing spells while Tidus and Auron began hacking away at it with their swords, Wakka throwing his ball. With them all working together it didn't take long for the fiend to disperse into Pyreflies. In thanks they got a free ride on Chocobos, speeding their journey immensely. They came to a gate in the road, but it was open and unguarded.
"We walk from here," Auron ordered and they dismounted, sending their mounts on their way back to the Agency.
"Why?" Wakka grumbled, watching the birds leave.
"Did you forget what Maechen told us? There are likely to be many fiends after Sin's attack and it is possible a Sending will be necessary."
That sobered the party and they made their way cautiously past the gate. They made their way down the now stone path, having to climb around a lot until they had to drop down onto the beach itself, the guys helping the two women since it wasn't easy to do in a skirt and Harry decided to look into getting them more practical clothing, even if they just wore shorts under their skirts or something it would help.
Yuna gasped, looking around in horror at the signs of the battle and Lulu frowned, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Tidus looked around, saddened and angry at the waste of life and then he spotted movement, seeing a crouched figure. He stepped closer and then his eyes widened, "Gatta?" He rushed over to the huddled Crusader. "Hey, you okay?" he knelt down as the others joined them.
"What's…going on? Why? What?" he whimpered before screaming. "What's going on?!" he rocked himself and Harry moved closer, a hand resting on Gatta's forehead and the young man crumpled, unconscious.
Harry shifted Gatta into a more comfortable position and looked at Yuna. "Send them Yuna," he whispered, and she nodded, moving to the water's edge where she began to dance. Harry noticed Auron backing off but didn't pay much attention as the bodies began to dissolve.
"I don't understand…why didn't the Maester's do something?" Wakka asked as he saw the bodies burst into Pyreflies.
"They did, they laughed," Harry answered sadly. He had no doubt they had allowed this to take out the Crusaders and Al Bhed. When Luna was done they moved on, Kimahri carrying Gatta.
"Hey! How much longer till Zanarkand?" Tidus asked after a while, hating the silence.
"Still a ways," Wakka offered absently, still reeling over what they had seen.
"First down the Moonflow to the Guado city of Guadosalam… Then we cross the Thunder
"Oh, boy," Tidus groaned.
Yuna giggled at his pain. "And before that, we get to pray at the temple in Djose!"
"We can't just skip all that? Can we, huh?"
"Mm-mm. I have to pray to the Fayth in every temple in order to earn the Final Aeon."
None of them saw Harrys grimace at her mention of the Final Aeon, if he had any say, that practice would end when they reached the ruined city.
"That's a summoner's training. She's gotta prepare mind and body, all just to get ready for the Final Summoning," Wakka explained, relieved to see they were approaching the fork in the road where one path led to the Temple and the other to the Moonflow.
"Hmm. Must be tough, Yuna," Tidus offered and she smiled.
"I'll be fine with you here!" she skipped on ahead and they followed her, glad for some levity.
"Hey, new guy," Auron called, staying where he was and Tidus turned, even as Harry hesitated further on.
"Uh… me?"
"Who else?" Auron asked, although he supposed Harry could count as well.
"What can I do for you, boss?" Tidus crossed his arms.
"Don't tell Yuna you know about Sin and Jecht," he answered seriously.
"Eh?"
"You know her…She would…distance herself from you. We do not want that."
"I see, I think," he didn't not really. Then again she'd met his Dad, finding out he was Sin would hurt her and he didn't want to do that.
"Yeah, but even if I did something, no one would believe me, you know?"
"Yuna would."
"Ah…you have a point. Come to think of it…did I really have to know about Jecht? What about my feelings?" he demanded angrily, knowing what his Old Man had become…it sickened him.
"Better than you finding out at a critical moment, becoming emotional."
"What? Me, emotional?" Tidus scoffed, surely Auron knew him better than that after ten years.
Auron chuckled, "I heard you were quite the cry-baby."
Yeah, maybe when he was a kid he had been…okay so maybe he still was, a little. He shook it off and glared at Auron. "Hey! I still don't buy your story, you hear?" he started walking again, not wanting to talk to him anymore and he quickly caught up to Harry who looked at him in concern. "I'm fine."
"Okay," Harry wouldn't push but he could guess it had to do with Jecht and Sin after seeing the devastation he had wrought.
Thankfully there weren't a lot of fiends on the way to the to Djose and they soon arrived to find the area around the Temple overflowing with wounded from the Operation. They left Gatta with some of the more able Crusader survivors, Harry lifting the spell on him, before they headed for the Temple itself, Tidus pausing to stare in awe.
"Is that the Djose temple?"
"The Lightning Mushroom Rock. It only opens when a summoner is addressing the Fayth," Lulu answered, the rock was closed for now which meant they could head straight for the trials. They navigated them easily enough and soon were waiting as Yuna prayed, this time Harry remained with the others rather than go in with her.
They were surprised when Dona and Barthello walked in. "Well, well. You again. Still travelling around with quite the crowd, I see," she scoffed as she looked them over. Barthello walked up to Auron. "What is it, Barthello? You know this riffraff?"
"You are…Auron, no?"
"What of it?" Auron asked calmly, not moving.
"Can…I shake your hand? Auron–no, Sir Auron. You're the reason I became a guardian!" Barthello asked and Auron chuckled, offering his hand as Tidus and Harry hid their own amused snickers. "Thank you, sir! This means so much to me!"
'Calling the personal guardian to Lord Braska riffraff?" Wakka smirked at Dona as Lulu looked down her nose at the other woman.
"And you call yourself a summoner?" the Black Mage asked.
"Yeesh," Tidus shook his head.
"Barthello, enough! Get back here!" Dona demanded and he deflated but Tidus slapped his shoulder.
"Hang in there, buddy, eh?" he offered and Barthello nodded before following her away.
A few moments later, Yuna staggered from the inner chamber, Kimahri catching her. She looked up and smiled at them before frowning. "Is something wrong?"
"No, just an annoying pest," Harry offered and Tidus laughed. They headed back through the trials and emerged into the Temple proper, seeing all of the injured. Without hesitating, Yuna moved off to begin healing, Kimahri at her back. Harry moved to the other side of the room and went to work as well, Tidus joining him.
"I wish I could help," the teen muttered, and Harry nodded.
"There's no reason you can't learn healing magic, watch what I do, and I will teach you later," Harry answered and Tidus nodded. They worked together, Tidus helping move people or putting pressure on wound until Harry could heal it. They worked through the night, the number of injured never seeming to lessen. Eventually Tidus grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him to the inn to get some sleep, even he could see that Harry's magic was faltering and they both needed some sleep before they set out and with the sun already rising they wouldn't get much. He put Harry to bed and then got into his own to get a few hours of sleep.
The next morning, they gathered outside of the Temple, only Yuna missing. Harry thankfully no longer looked like he was going to fall asleep on his feet, energised by even just a few short hours of sleep. The courtyard was far emptier than it had been when they'd arrived, most of those who could had already left. But Wakka spotted a familiar figure and hurried over to crouch by Gatta, who was sitting dejectedly by the wall.
"Luzzu, he's…" Gatta choked out, sounding close to tears.
"Where is he?" Wakka demanded, he had wanted to ask yesterday but the kid had been too traumatised.
"I found him…but he was…torn in half. I… " he broke off in a sob, arms wrapped around his legs.
"That…idiot!" Wakka's hands balled into fists.
Lulu bowed her head, her conversation with the man before they left Besaid weighing heavily on her heart. She would not tell Wakka, he did not need that grief, especially now Luzzu was dead.
"What…what do I do now?" Gatta pleaded, looking up at them and Harry knelt in front of him, smiling sadly.
"You get up and you keep going. He would not have wanted you to give in to despair, would he?" Harry asked and Gatta slowly shook his head. "Then honour his memory and he will always be with you. Our loved ones never really leave us, they live in here," he repeated the words Sirius had spoken to him so long again, gently tapping over Gatta's heart.
Gatta pushed himself to his feet and wiped the tears off his face. "Thank you," he whispered before walking away to see what the other Crusader survivors were doing.
It was then an embarrassed Yuna ran out of the Temple, apologising for sleeping late, only to be gently teased and laughed at by the group before they set out for the Moonflow. They came across a few Crusaders, still shell-shocked from the battle. Yuna healed those she could until she was stopped and instead those who were injured were given potions from Harry's supplies, Yuna needed to conserve her energy to heal them in battle or summon her aeons. Between battles Harry began teaching Tidus the easiest healing spells as well as water, he'd found that Blitzball players tended to have an affinity for water spells and it gave him extra defence in case he couldn't use his sword. The fiends on the road were more powerful than those they had faced so far but they kept moving on until they came across two Ronso.
"Look! One of Kimahri's friends. Looks just like him."
"What?" Tidus blinked in confusion.
"Both follow summoners on all fours! Hornless goatlings!" Biran taunted.
"Hornless! Hornless!" Yenke joined in and both guffawed at the group.
"You come to insult Kimahri?" Kimahri demanded, grip on his spear tightening.
"Wrong. We come to warn little Kimahri."
"Summoners disappear. Never return," Yenke continued.
"Next will be Kimahri's summoner."
"Poor Kimahri! Lost his horn, next lose his summoner!"
"Pitiful Kimahri! Howl alone! Howl alone!" they laughed before leaving to find more fiends to kill.
"Do those two got something against you?" Tidus looked at his fellow Guardian and Kimahri shook his head. "What, they were just picking on you?"
"Kimahri will deal with them," he stated firmly.
"And I'll help!" Tidus grinned.
"Kimahri alone."
"But…" Tidus glanced at the others and they all seemed to agree…except Harry.
"It's Kimahri's problem. We can't interfere; it's a rule," Wakka told him firmly.
"I'm worried," Lulu admitted and Wakka frowned.
"Let the Ronso deal with Ronso problems, ya? That's how it's always been."
"I mean I'm worried about those summoners disappearing."
"They aren't just disappearing into thin air," Harry spoke up, concerned, a Summoner with even one guardian was not easily taken out.
"Hey, if we guardians do our job…no problem, right?" Tidus grinned and Harry chuckled but nodded.
"Confident," Lulu smirked and Tidus laughed.
"Yeah!"
They walked on until the path turned a corner and there it was…the Moonflow. Tidus stared in awe before dropping to his knees beside the water, watching the flowers and Pyreflies with wide eyes. "Whoa!"
"This is the Moonflow," Harry told him, quietly amused by his reaction…then again there was nothing like this in the dream Zanarkand. Tidus whistled softly in awe.
Yuna walked forward and knelt beside him, reaching out to a flower. "These are moonlilies! They say that clouds of Pyreflies gather here when night falls."
"The entire river glows, like a sea of stars," Lulu told them, smiling fondly at the two teens who were acting more their age for a change.
"Really?" Tidus glanced at her, awe clear in his voice and expression and then he grinned. "Hey, I got an idea!"
"We're not waiting till nightfall," Auron spoke up, knowing what the boy was going to suggest.
Tidus frowned but then grinned again. "Then, once we beat Sin, we're coming back!" no one shared his enthusiasm, confusing him as a stony silence fell over the group until Harry moved to kneel with them, reaching out to touch one of the lilies and every watched in surprise as it glowed as if it was nightfall. Tidus glanced at Harry who smiled at him and Tidus smiled back.
"Hey, we better hurry or we'll miss the shoopuf!" Wakka called after a while, only Yuna and Tidus had seen what Harry had done for them.
"Shoopuf? That some kind of boat?" Tidus asked in confusion. Harry chuckled and pointed out over the water and Tidus followed his hand, jaw dropping. "Whoa, what the…whoa!"
"That is a shoopuf," Harry told him before standing and offering Yuna a hand up.
Tidus scrambled up as well. "Whoa…Let's ride! Come on, let's go!"
"All right! We board soon as we're ready, ya?" Wakka laughed.
They walked along the bank until they reached the pavilion beside the wharf, settling in to wait. Tidus wandered over to look at the shoopuf and Auron eventually joined him. "Ten years ago…"
Tidus groaned, "A history lesson?"
"Jecht saw his first shoopuf here. Surprised, he drew his blade and struck it," Auron didn't look at him, staring out over the water.
"Why?"
"He was drunk…Thought it was a fiend."
"Oh, brother…" it figured, his Old Man never could stay away from the stuff, it was part of why he hated him so.
"We offered all the money we had as an apology. Jecht never drank again." Auron smirked and pointed at the animal moving into position at the wharf. "But, it would seem that shoopuf still works here." He chuckled. "Even after ten years, Spira hasn't changed. Truly… The place seems to resist change. It would take something unusual." He glanced at Tidus. "Don't let the peaceful scenery fool you. Be on guard at all times," he warned and Tidus nodded.
"Shoopufs! I haven't ridden one in so long!" Yuna laughed as she joined them.
"What? You've been on one of these?" Tidus looked at her and she nodded, glancing back at Kimahri with a wide smile.
"Well, just once. Ten years ago, with Kimahri. Remember?"
Kimahri nodded solemnly. "Shoopuf shook. Yuna fall in water. Shoopuf scoop up Yuna with long nose. Yuna jump in three more times for fun. Kimahri worried."
"Whoops!" she blushed slightly.
"Yuna had fun. Kimahri happy," he told her, and she smiled before going to talk to some of the people waiting and Kimahri looked at Tidus and Auron. "Biran is troublemaker, but Ronso do not lie. Summoners disappearing–that was not lie," he warned and Auron nodded, taking the warning seriously.
"Right, I'll be careful," Tidus agreed before going back to the others and filling them in.
Harry saw Yuna standing alone later and walked over to her. "You alright?"
She turned and smiled at him wistfully. "I lived in the city of Bevelle until ten years ago. I moved to Besaid after my father defeated Sin. Kimahri was with me the whole way!"
"Do you miss it?"
"Not really, Besaid is my home now." She missed the island, missed her life there but she had accepted that she would never go home again.
"You aren't going to die Yuna," Harry promised softly.
She started, shocked that he seemed to know what she was thinking. "But…"
"There is another way to defeat Sin, permanently. We'll find it. Don't give up home," he reached out and squeezed her hand before going back to the others.
Finally, it was time to go and they made their way onto the wharf and then the crane lift onto the shoopuf's back.
TBC…