Disclaimer: not mine
Hope you all liked Harry's intro to the gang last chapter.
Chapter 20
Sora watched Vanitas retreat, relieved. He tried to get up, trembling limbs not cooperating, but before he could fall, steady hands grabbed him gently, keeping him upright. He looked up to meet concerned green/blue eyes. He felt Ventus stir, fighting not to wince in pain after the way Vanitas had tried to tear them apart.
"Easy, take your time Sora," the stranger murmured.
"Who…who are you?" he asked. He felt…safe and Sora didn't understand why.
"My name's Harry," he answered, even as he cast a healing spell, and Sora felt some of the pain and weakness fade, managing to stand on his own two feet. Harry kept his hands there for a few more moments, as if making sure, before letting him go and stepping back to give him space.
"Sora!"
He looked over to see Donald and Goofy approaching, eyeing Harry warily, but obviously more worried about Sora's health than the newcomer. "I'm okay," he told them. "Thanks to Harry."
The other teen shrugged as if….embarrassed?
"It's you, isn't it?" Sora asked, studying him, trying to remember the dreamy image of the boy. "From the exam, you were yelling at Ven to wake up. But…how?"
"You remember that?" Harry seemed surprised. "You were so out of it…yeah, that was me."
"But…how? You're Riku's age at least and that boy was younger than me!"
"Sora? You know him?" Goofy asked.
"When I was…asleep. There was a voice calling for Ventus to wake up and then…there was a boy, he gave me magic, it was how I was able to wake up enough to hear what was going on and dodge Xehanort's heart," Sora told them. "It's him, Harry."
"Everything okay now?" Sulley called.
Sora stared at Harry and then nodded. "Yeah, it's safe." Even feeling Ventus' sleepy confusion, they both knew that Harry felt safe.
"We found Boo's door," Mike said as they walked towards the group, staring at Harry and then it hit Sora why, he was human! He wasn't using the World Order spell? Then again, Boo was human so maybe he was using it and it had just kept him human?
Boo giggled and Sora turned from Harry to walk over to her, just knowing he could trust Harry at his back, like he could trust Riku, which made no sense at all.
"Boo, I know how excited you were to come play with Mike and Sulley. Sorry we dragged you into this," he told her, surprised when she hugged him but he quickly hugged her back.
"Okay, Boo. Time to go," Sulley called after a minute.
"Kitty..."
"We'll catch up soon, kid."
"Mike Wazowski!"
Mike turned, seeing Donald behind him. "No, that's Donald, Boo."
"Mike Wazowski." She ran up to Mike and hugged him. Surprised, he smiled and petted her on the head.
"Better. I'll see ya, kid." He waved as Sulley led her to her flowery door.
"Bye Boo," Sora called, all of them waving at the little girl.
Boo laughed and waved goodbye.
Once that was done, they walked back to the lobby, Harry tagging along without needing to be asked thankfully. Master Yen Sid and Mickey would want to know about him since they were still a few Guardians short.
"Sorry for all the headaches we caused," Sora offered once they'd reached it.
"Don't mention it. And actually, it was kinda nice havin' a little adventure for old times' sake."
Mike nodded. "Yeah, the flying and the falling-and hey, let's not do that paint thing again-but nothin' like running for our lives to get the heart pumping!"
Sora chuckled, hearing Harry doing the same.
"Any chance that we can drop by again?" Goofy asked.
"The door's always open," Mike grinned at them.
"And maybe Boo can join us!" Sulley offered his hand and Sora took it.
"Yeah. Bye!" they headed for the entrance, waving.
"Good-byeee!" Donald called.
"For the record, I still get the most laughs!" Mike yelled after them.
"Happy exterminating!"
Sora chuckled and shrugged at Donald and Goofy. "Thank you!" they called in unison.
"Exterminating?" Harry asked as they left.
"Well we did handle their monster problem," Sora shrugged.
"Ah, I see."
"Master Yen Sid will want to see you," Donald said before Sora could speak up about it.
And that was when his phone beeped. Sora pulled it out and blinked at the message he'd missed while dealing with the Unversed and Randall. "Umm, Master Yen Sid already knows, well, he knows there's a new Keyblade wielder somewhere, not who you are or that you're with us. Seems like he's planning to send us looking."
"Then I guess I'm following you there?"
"Is your ship nearby?" Goofy asked.
Harry shook his head. "I have a Glider, not a ship."
"Well, you can come with us, that way you won't get lost," Sora told him, not really sure what he meant by Glider.
"Alright."
He grinned when Harry agreed, leading him to the ship. Well, it wasn't the Power of Waking, but he was looking forward to returning with something or rather someone to show for all of his work. Maybe Master Yen Sid would actually be pleased with him for once. And he wanted to know why Harry called Vanitas brother, how he had called out to Ventus, how he was years older than he had been only a few months ago…he had so many questions! Unfortunately, he was flying so he couldn't start yet.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Harry relaxed back on the bench along the side once they were in the lanes, closing his eyes to meditate lightly, preparing for meeting Master Yen Sid and who knew who else. Merlin had filled him in on a lot of things, for instance he knew Riku was Sora's best friend and long free of the Realm of Darkness, but he didn't know everything about current events. He could feel Sora's companions glancing at him on and off, knew they were wary, and he didn't blame them. He had called someone hurting their friend brother after all.
But that was what Vanitas and Ventus were to him, the only blood family he really had, closely related anyway since he would never claim Petunia and her lot. Though technically it was their Hearts and not blood that they shared. If there was any chance he could reach Vanitas, help him break free of Xehanort… and being so close to Sora he knew that Ventus' heart was definitely within him, knew that was why the younger teen seemed to trust him so easily.
"Harry?" Sora's voice brought him out of his meditation, and he opened his eyes.
"Yeah?" he asked, shifting on the bench to be in Sora's view.
"How old are you?" he asked curiously, and Harry laughed.
Should have figured that would be his first question. "Just turned eighteen," well a few months ago, maybe…stupid time differences made it hard to track.
"And…how old were you when we met?"
"Thirteen," he answered gently.
"But that…it's only been a few months!" Sora glanced away from the controls to meet his eyes, and Harry nodded.
"For you, for me it's been years. Do you know why Merlin is a time traveller?" he asked, and Sora seemed confused by the apparent topic change. "Because he's from my World. He's a very well-known historical figure actually and pretty much everyone thinks him centuries dead. Earth is a bit...out of sync with the rest of the Worlds. Time between there and out here doesn't flow normally. You're friends with another teen, Riku, right?" he asked, and Sora nodded. "Well I met him when I was twelve and kind of mortally injured at the time. He was trapped in the Realm of Darkness and looked a few years younger than you do now."
Sora frowned. "But that would have been when Ansem…that was over a year and a half before the exam. He's seventeen now."
"Huh, so I've gone from being younger than you all, to older." The last person he'd met was Aqua back when he was fifteen and there was no real way to tell when that had been compared to his other meetings.
"But who are you?" the…duck demanded.
They'd looked so strange as monsters but so had Sora, he had been a bit shocked by their true forms. And something about them was niggling at the back of his mind but he shrugged it off, it'd come to him or not in time.
"Harry Potter," he offered his almost full name. He knew better these days then to give it all out, especially when he could feel the duck had magic too. It hadn't mattered back home where he was famous, everyone had known his name. There was a reason Merlin went by Merlin and not his full, true, name, why he'd never known the middle names of the majority of his classmates.
"Why'd ya call Vanitas brother?" the other asked.
"That's…a long and kind of complicated story, one I'd rather only have to tell once." Though he knew he'd have to tell it more than that if Ventus wasn't aware, and maybe even to tell Vanitas himself if there was a chance.
"So what's your World like?" Sora asked, changing the subject for him even as he opened fire on some Heartless.
Harry obliged with some descriptions and stories from the Magical world, entertaining them as they flew on.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Look!" Kairi called, and Riku straightened, shifting closer to grab her if she leant any further out the window. "They're here!" she grinned happily, and Riku moved to where he could see out the window, watching the ship touch down gently.
It was a relief to know Sora was back and safe, hopefully unharmed. Master Yen Sid didn't look very happy but what was Sora meant to do, leave in the middle of a mission and risk people dying or a World falling to Darkness? A few minutes later he heard his best friends voice in the hallway, and then the door opened and Sora almost literally bounced in, grinning widely…like he always did when he'd done something he found extraordinary, like the first time he'd beaten Riku in a race. So why was he grinning like that now?
"Sora!" Kairi called, and he grinned at her.
"Hey guys, sorry we're late but I only just got the message and…well if we'd come back early we wouldn't have been able to call off the search." The grin was definitely cheeky now, and a little proud? Wait…call off the search…Riku bit back a chuckle, only Sora.
"Oh?" Yen Sid's tone had Riku tensing, but before anything else could be said, Sora turned and tugged a stranger into the room.
"This is Harry, the person you're all looking for," Sora announced.
Riku froze, it couldn't be…Harry was hardly a rare name….but the other teen looked around and their eyes met. "Harry?" he whispered in shock. It was him, it really was him, he'd survived.
The other smiled at him. "Hi Riku, I'm glad you made it out of there okay." It really was Harry then but…he was too old, wasn't he? Harry had been younger than him but he didn't look it now.
"How do you know Master Riku?" Yen Sid spoke up, eyes focused on Harry who turned to him.
"After Ansem took my body, I was in the Realm of Darkness were Mickey eventually found me, but Harry found me first." He felt Mickey's surprise at his words, the King looking at him, but he kept his focus on Master Yen Sid. "If not for him…" Riku swallowed and then felt a hand rest on his shoulder, looking at Harry.
"You would have made it," he said, offering a small smile.
"I'm not so sure, I'd given up Harry, till you called out to me and told me not to be afraid, even pointing out which way led back to the Light," Riku told him. Without Harry speaking to him, he doubted he would have been able to hold on until Mickey could reach him. He would have faded away…would that have meant becoming a Heartless given where he had been? Or would he have simply ceased to exist in any form? "I'm glad you survived too, I…I was worried, but you vanished as I asked what World you were from. I would have looked for you."
Harry shook his head. "You wouldn't have found it."
"And why is that?" Yen Sid asked.
"Do you know what World Merlin is from?" Harry asked him, and Riku was surprised to see Yen Sid's eyes widen.
"I do," Yen Sid studied him, before nodding. "You are a Earth-born Wizard."
Harry nodded and flicked his wrist, a wand shooting out from under his sleeve, but a wand unlike any Riku had seen. It was…a stick basically. How was that practical? Wood was very easy to break. Wait…Sora said Harry was who they were meant to be looking for, that would mean Harry had a Keyblade now. Far better than that stick surely for casting magic.
"I see…has Merlin trained you?"
"No, I only met him when he came to Earth to investigate some odd things he was sensing from his home world. My presence as a Keyblade wielder was causing massive disruptions to what should have happened, it altered events and people enough to change one of the key players in a Prophecy."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked in concern.
"Before I was born, a Prophecy was given. I was one of those indicated in it and so was the current Dark Lord. I was facing him when we met Riku, he was the one controlling the Basilisk that bit me," his hand went to his upper arm, and Riku wondered if there was a matching scar there of he'd received magical healing that had ensured there was none.
"According to the Prophecy, we should have faced each other over and over, until one of us killed the other. Except in that fight my Keyblade appeared for the first time and that fight changed the course of events. Merlin said we were meant to fight to the death when I was seventeen, with my being the one to survive and then we would have had peace after a war lasting a year. Instead things shifted, he was redeemed, and a lot of information came out about someone every considered the Leader of the Light, turned out he wasn't what he portrayed himself to be. In the end, it was him that I had to face for the Prophecy and his death is what has set off the stirrings of war. Merlin and I both hope that my removal will settle things down between the two sides."
That was…poor Harry. He was obviously leaving a lot out but that was understandable, they may all be Keyblade wielders, but that didn't mean he knew them. It was a relief to know that he apparently couldn't have found Harry even if he had known what World he was from…but if he had known he could have approached Merlin about it. He didn't know if it would have changed anything but at least he could have done something.
"I see…and how did you gain a Keyblade? I know Merlin and there has never been a wielder from that World."
Never? Obviously the World had magic, so why no Keyblades?
"Does it have to do with what you said to Vanitas? Why…why you feel safe and familiar to Ventus?" Sora spoke up, surprising everyone except Harry, Donald, and Goofy.
Harry nodded and then summoned his Keyblade, Riku studying the blade with interest, before he held it up where Mickey and Yen Sid could see it…and Mickey gasped.
"How?" Mickey asked, and Riku looked at him, seeing his eyes were wide.
"You recognise it."
"The grips different, Ventus used a reverse grip, but….that's the Keyblade he used in the Keyblade Graveyard before being merged with Vanitas."
"Lost Memory," Harry gave them the name. "Ventus received it on a tropical island when Vanitas confronted him, forcing him to remember how Vanitas was created."
"How can you know that?" Kairi asked in confusion, even as Riku wondered at the odds that the Island was their Play Island, after all, Terra and Aqua had met them there during that time.
"Because I carry memories of both Ventus and Vanitas…I carry parts of their Hearts."
Riku caught the look on Yen Sid's face at that announcement, no…when Harry said Vanitas. The same look he'd given Sora at hearing of Anti-form. And yet he was never given that expression, why? He had truly fallen to the Darkness and possession, they hadn't, so why did he seem to censure everyone else far more severely than he did Riku?
"But how? Ventus' Heart is in me and we saw Vanitas," Sora looked at Harry in confusion.
"When they clashed within Ventus' Heart, they should have been destroyed," Harry pointed out. "Ventus saw Vanitas turn to dust and drift away before seeing his own begin to dissolve into light. The majority of his Heart is in you Sora, but something that is broken won't necessarily all end up in the same place. A part of both of them drifted off together…and saved my life. I was a little over a year old when the first part of the Prophecy was enacted and I survived a curse that no one in history ever has, except it damaged my Heart and I was dying."
"They merged with you," Mickey theorised, and Harry nodded.
"I took on some of their physical traits like Vanitas' hair colour and the blue in my eyes. I've seen baby pictures, I had my Mother's pure green before the attack. I dreamed their memories all my life but I didn't know anything of either of them survived beyond me until we met in Sora's dream."
"Sora?" Riku looked at his friend.
"It sounded crazy," he admitted with a shrug. "It was Harry yelling for Ven to wake up and then sending me his magic that allowed me to wake up enough to hear what was going on and then make my body fall off the chair. Without Harry…" he shuddered. "Thank you."
Harry shrugged. "I didn't know what was going on, just that I could feel a group of Hearts being pulled down into Darkness, unable to wake up, and then I recognised Ventus'. I was surprised when you managed to wake as much as you did, enough to reach out to me."
"I thought I dreamed you up," Sora told him.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Yen Sid listened to the children speak. That this boy carried a part of Vanitas' Heart and his memories was a concern, he could sense the Darkness within him but also Light. Too many of this younger generation were being exposed to the Darkness. Would they count as Guardians of Light? Or would Xehanort target the new Princesses rather than Darkness tainted Guardians?
How much influence did Vanitas' memories have on the boy? He had gained Ventus' Keyblade and not his which was a relief. That he had met both Riku and Sora at different times while still on his own World was intriguing, especially Riku. Connecting with Sora who carried Ventus' Heart during a dangerous situation was understandable, but he had no such link with the newest Master.
He needed to speak to Merlin about this boy, why had he not been told to come to him, or Merlin contact him or even one of the others? They were at war after all. Memories or not, he would need training.
TBC…
