Disclaimer: I don't claim to own either Final Fantasy or Harry Potter, they belong to their respective creators.

Harry Potter/ Final Fantasy X Crossover.

Dark Summoner

By: Mage-Alia

Chapter 19: A city that never sleeps.

Summary: An accidental wish on a certain mirror sends Harry tumbling into the world of Spira where his skills as a Summoner will be put to the ultimate test, but he won't be alone. Accompanied by Tidus, the misplaced hero, Auron, the moody monk with a past, Rikku, a happy go lucky new friend and Oa'ka, the merchant turned wizard, Harry will need to conquer the challenges that lay in his path as he seeks out the truth of Spira's Spiral of Death.

A/N: AARRGGGGGHHHHHHHH! THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!

(Author trails off grumbling.)

If you don't have something nice to say just don't say it. People have low enough self-esteem already without adding those kind of intolerant people to the mix. (Besides, anyone who protests to the pairing so violently is probably in denial, so there!)

Okay! Now I have that off my chest I guess it's on with the story. Just ignore the ranting above, I finally got a flame from someone and I had to remove it because of the vulgar language, not to mention that when people flame my stories I usually go into this rut that causes me to abandon stories some of the time.

Luckily, I wanted to rant so I had to post the next chapter. (Short as it is)

When Tidus came too he had a pounding headache and when he opened his eyes it was to find a veritable sea of stars stretching for miles around in any way he cared to look. One hand going to cradle his head he didn't realize that the other was caught on something. Looking down to see what the problem was he found Harry, passed out on his chest. The hand changed course and he carefully sat up, shaking the Summoners shoulder.

"Hey, Harry, wake up." The other teen stirred and green eyes blinked open before they peered up at him blearily. Still half out of it Harry looked around at their surroundings and his thoughts and memories of before he'd passed out returned in a nearly overwhelming flood. His surprised gasp made Tidus look up and the blonde was unable to suppress a gasp of his own.

"Zanarkand." He breathed under his breath before he looked down to Harry, his eyes dancing. "We're in Zanarkand!" His elation was crushed however when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"Harry?" Green eyes turned away from him and Harry began to walk down the dock. Tidus followed, taking a closer look at his surroundings before he realized with a jolt just where he was. They where standing on the residential docks close to the blitz stadium in Zanarkand and right in front of them was a familiar house boat that Tidus had lived in for every day of his life.

He was home.

But as his eyes drank in the sight he realized with a shock that it didn't quite feel so much like home anymore. Even so, he was only half aware of Harry following quietly along behind him as he wondered toward the door that lead bellow deck and gave it a push. It swung open on silent hinges and he was treated to the gut wrenching sight of the place he'd left, exactly as it was the day sin had attacked. There was a bundle of clothes crammed to one corner of the couch and a towel slung over the back of a chair. Trophies for various blitz tournaments lined the shelves to the right of the door and the portal that lead to his own room was open, the posters half visible in the flickering light of the projected computer screens that lined the living room. Moving toward the center he half expected to see his mother or Auron wonder through, but it never happened. The place was empty and its occupants weren't here.

"Welcome home." A strangely familiar voice said from behind and he turned slowly to find a small child sitting crouched with his arms around his knees in the space between Harry and himself, the Summoner having stopped by the door to watch him. Pyreflies drifted gently around the new arrival and Tidus suddenly remembered who and what he was. It was the Fayth from the temple of Bevelle.

"You…?" Tidus began softly but he trailed off when the boy turned his face toward him. Even though his eyes weren't visible in the shadows of his cowl his mouth curled in the beginnings of a bitter smile.

"Ahh, you remember me." He said in a tone that was far to knowing to belong to a child. Bahmut's Fayth turned his head toward Harry who stared at both of them, the faint expression of horror giving way to a helpless look that Tidus knew had no right to be there. "This isn't the first time we've met though. I've known about you for a long time. A long, long time." Tidus shivered involuntarily at the tone of his voice.

"For some reason… I think I knew you to." He shook his head, trying to clear the overwhelming fog of thoughts that had filled it. "Where are we?" He asked abruptly and looked around again. The boy on the floor chuckled and began to fade slightly.

"Silly, don't you recognize your own home?" He vanished completely in a burst of pyrefiles and Tidus looked around franticly, trying to see where he'd gone, instead hefound himself looking at a shade of Gatta, staring past him and not seeing the dream.

"What's gotten into you guys? Please wake up!" He vanished and second later Rikku appeared by Harry, pleading with him to wake up.

"Wait…" Tidus suddenly realized why this place seemed so surreal. "This is a dream."

"Precisely." Tidus span around again, and faintly registered the Fayth running down the ramp from the font door as he came face to face with another figment of the dream, but this was one he'd never met before. He looked a little like Wakka but instead of the islander's usual yellow uniform he wore a dark tunic and pants layered over by pieces of leather amour and at his hip was a large Katana. Behind him a big black dog trotted into view and like it's owner it was surrounded by lazily drifting pyreflies.

"A dream?" Tidus asked in deadpan. "Are you crazy?" The later part holding far more emotion as he sent a desperate look at Harry. The Summoner was still in the same place but now he was glaring as hard as he could at the newcomer who had the grace to look like he was sorry. Tidus was beginning to wonder when he looked at the kid.

"We don't have the time to be dreaming now." The blonde continued, determined to leave.

"You're wrong." The child said, shaking his head sadly. "It's not that you're dreaming. You are a dream." After what felt like an eternity the words finally sank in and Tidus stared in shock as Harry finally exploded.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" He raged, glaring at both Fayth now.

"Harry." The red head put up his hands in front of him as he tried to placate him. "I told you before…" He was cut off a moment later when a spell streaked through the air and the Fayth vanished in a successful attempt to dodge.

"I know what you told me and you know better than anyone Ron that I will do everything I can to stop it!" Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously as he span and dashed out the door. More flares of multicolored light indicated he'd found his target again. Shaking offhis stupor Tidus dashed outside and noticed Harry determinedly arguing with the stranger, clutching his staff in a convulsive grip as he spoke, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to blast the strange Fayth or just club him over the head.

"Long ago, there was a war." Tidus sent one last look at Harry before he climbed the stairs to the upper deck, he knew somewhere deep down that the kid could give him some answers.

"It was the machina war, wasn't it?" The Fayth nodded in response.

"Yes. A war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Bevelle's machina assured their victory from the start. Spira had never seen such power. The Summoners of Zanarkand didn't stand a chance. Zanarkand was doomed to oblivion. That's why we tried to save it – if only in a memory." Tidus thought about that, it made a strange kind of sense…

"Is it true?" He asked suddenly and the Fayth looked at him confused. "Is it true that Zanarkand was created because it was Harry's dream? It that why there where Summoners in Zanarkand?" The Fayth looked at him oddly but nodded.

"Yes. Zanarkand was created from a dream. Many remembered the sacrifices of the Master Summoner and sought to equal him. They almost worshiped him and many followed in his footsteps." The boy went silent and Tidus looked at the distant buildings that glowed in the darkness of the night. The blonde waved a vague hand at the scene.

"So what did you do?" He asked, referring to the dream around them.

"The remaining Summoners and the townspeople that survived the war… they all became Fayth – Fayth for the summoning." Tidus could feel a weight in his stomach that grew more and more heavy with every passing moment.

"You mean… this dream?" He asked after a long moment of silence and the Fayth nodded.

"A Zanarkand that never sleeps." Tidus couldn't help the gasp that escaped him.

"What?" The Fayth gave off the impression of being utterly blank as he continued to speak.

"The dreams of the Fayth summoned the memories of the city. They summoned all the building, all the people who lived there."

"The people…" Tidus began to back away from him in horror. "What, they're all dreams? I'm a dream?" The weight in his stomach became heavier and his eyes where wide as the Fayth turned toward him.

"Yes, you're a dream of the Fayth. You, your father, your mother, everyone, All dreams. And if the fayth stop dreaming…"

Suddenly the beautiful city of light was gone and Tidus found himself looking out at a wasteland. Crumbled ruins and murky water stared back at him and the sky was stained blood red and scared in a way that chilled him to the bone.

Everything was gone.

"No…NO!" He screamed in denial as the sight melted away, back into the nighttime city but the view was spoiled by the terrible knowledge. He was a dream… it hurt more than he'd ever admit especially with what the Fayth said next.

"We've been dreaming so long… We're tired." For the first time since this whole incident had begun the boy actually sounded like a child, like a lost little boy who only wanted to go home and take a nap. "Would you and your father… would you let us rest? Both you and your father have been touched by Sin. Sin, the one whom all Spira – the spiral – revolves." Even with the pain that was growing along with his thoughts Tidus still asked the question.

"What are you saying?"

"You two are more than just dreams now." The pain ebbed slightly as hope shot through him but the Fayth's last words shot it down.

"Just a little more, and maybe… Maybe you are the dream that will end our dreaming at last." Tidus gave him a hurt look that amplified the nearly tangible feeling that permeated the air around him.

"Harry knew, didn't he." The blonde looked about and noticed that the other Fayth was gone. The boy on the deck beside him frowned again.

"Yes, the Master Summoner was informed. I will admit, we Fayth did not foresee your growing attachment to each other." Tidus nearly outright scowled at that but didn't say another word. The Fayth gave him what could have been an apologetic expression before Tidus closed his eyes, and when he opened them again the light was different and all he could hear was someone crying. Quickly sitting up he ignored the worried faces and questions and immediately found the source of the crying. His Summoner must have woken before him since he was now by the wall, his knees drawn to his chest and his head in his arms, his robes falling into disarray around him as Rikku vainly tried to get him to speak with her. Tidus faintly registered that the crying was only mental before he scrambled to his feet and rushed over, easily hoisting the Summoner up into his arms and holding him as tight as he could. The others looked on in confusion as Tidus picked him up completely and nodded along the path.

"Let's go." And with a very Auron like behavior he strode off down the path, steadfastly ignoring the Fayth around them. The others followed in various states of confusion that seemed to be the trend these days. Sure, they knew small things, but the three who knew of the bigger picture weren't telling.

I was all they could do to wonder along in their wake.

After days of wondering the caves the tempers of a few where beginning to run short. It hadn't taken all that long really to get to the cave system and the trip across the mountain really didn't take more than a day or two, but as things turned out, they where stuck in the caves for an extra day, picking their way through Fiends and traps that littered the path. More than once they'd been required to backtrack the way they'd come to get around an obstacle. Add to that the fact that tensions where running high even before they'd entered the caves and it was with great relief that they greeted the weak light that filtered down to them from the exit just below the summit on the other side.

However, just before they stepped out from the shadows Auron made an offhand comment that put them on their guard.

"She knows we are coming." The few who heard slowed to a stop and looked at the older man warily. "She will send more fiends to test our strength before the Summoners meet her." Understanding dawned in Tidus's expression before he deflated slightly.

"Oh, Her." Yuna, who had been lagging behind the others for most of the day suddenly entered the conversation.

"Um, who is 'She'." The female Summoner inquired, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Yunalesca." Auron said slowly and the listeners could swear they heard a faint undertone of bitterness accompanying the name.

"Lady Yunalesca?" Yuna gasped out, sounding more than a little awed. Seemingly in the mood to share what he knew Auron continued to explain as he began to walk toward the mouth of the cave once more.

"In Zanarkand she awaits the arrival of the strongest." Yuna seemed to blink out her daze slightly a few minutes later.

"Is she really still alive?"

"As much as Mika or Seymour." Auron responded in deadpan and off to one side, walking between Oa'ka and the wall, Harry snorted. Somehow he wasn't in the least surprised that the woman was already dead. After all, she had been the first Summoner to take on Sin with the Final Summoning and it was a very well known fact by now that Summoners plus the Final Summoning equals dead Summoner.

"Oh, I see…" Yuna trailed off looking slightly abashed. Auron let slip with what could have been a snicker.

"Lost your nerve?" Mismatched eyes where determined as she looked up defiantly, seemingly throwing off the awkward cloud of confusion and frustration she'd been carrying around for days.

"No," She proclaimed loudly. "Nothing frightens me anymore." Auron merely raised an eyebrow but turned his attention elsewhere as they came within the last few feet of the exit. He tipped his head to one side as he stepped into the wan light and almost absentmindedly shouldered his oversized blade. His lips twisted in a bitter smirk as he straightened and settled into a familiar ready stance.

"It comes." Then, right on queue, a fiend emerged from nowhere. Standing on its hind legs it threw back its scaled head and let out a roar that shook the mountain. Crashing back down on all fours it snarled at them the pearl gray flesh and scales glittering with power. It also appeared to resemble a dragon in some aspects, except far more rounded. The wings protruding from its back looked more like feelers than anything else and its face, or muzzle, was concealed mostly by a bone mask and horns that gave it a rather menacing appearance.

Having been wary since Auron had designed to warn them weapons came to their hands easily as Rikku, Auron and Tidus took the fore. The Sanctuary Keeper, didn't wait any longer than that before it charged them with a violently loud roar, but before it could hit them straight on it dug its feet into the earth, the abrupt stop giving its hindquarters the momentum to swing around and belt the three melee fighters into a rugged cliff face. It continued the spin, pulling up its legs and came up into a ready position in a display of agility and speed that one wouldn't really expect from a creature that size.

Lulu and Oa'ka brought them the time to recover from the attack by pelting it with second and third level spells as often as they could while Gatta just held down his finger on the trigger of his gun, but the nearly constant stream of metal didn't really seem to be having any significant effect. Rikku pulled herself to her feet grumbling under her breath as the others all rushed into the fray once more. She wondered to the back of the fighting and sat down heavily on a rock. She wasn't one for fighting in open combat like this, she was a thief by trade and she wasn't all that strong, so she couldn't do the damage Tidus and Auron did every time they picked up a blade. She watched as they rushed toward the head after it had been hit by a rather nasty Thundaga spell and take a swipe that opened a cut down the side of the dragons armored face. Dark blood dribbled sluggishly from the wound as it snapped out and narrowly missed Tidus and he sprang away.

But the hit had angered the other dragon and its attacks where becoming increasingly more accurate. The Guardians where put on the defensive and scattered in an attempt to dodge but it didn't seem to be helping. Rikku was forced to leave her rock a minute later when it's wings flared out to their full length and released a barrage of energy beams that honed in on everyone standing on the wide ledge. Yuna slipped close to the edge of the cliff but Kimahri caught her before she could fall while Tidus grabbed Harry and shielded him with his own body until the worst of the attack had faded before running in close once more. Rikku began to think hard, she wanted to help but there wasn't much she could do… unless. Her hand plunged into the holster strapped to her thigh. Throughout the trip she had been stealing all kinds of small items off the fiends. They where useful little ingredients that alone, couldn't do much in the way of damage, but when mixed together in certain ways, they could have spectacular results.

Somewhere in the back ground she registered Harry begin a summoning and the accompanying burst of wind associated with Godric, but she tuned it out as she rummaged through the pouch for the items needed for what she had in mind. A smoke bomb, a power sphere and two glittering black gems that where normally very hard to come by. Working quickly she dismantled the smoke bomb and placed the power sphere inside before rebuilding it with a skill of an accomplished mechanic. The new chaos grenade and the two gems in hand she rushed to join the others just as Godric was knocked back to the summoning plain by a powerful mana beam that had engulfed everything in its path.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Rikku yelled as loudly as she could over the noise as she hurled the Chaos Grenade. It rolled under the head and the sanctuary keeper didn't even glance at it, but already aware of what was coming the Guardians and Summoners escaped the range of the blast just as the enhanced creation exploded in the monsters face. She faintly heard Gatta cheering her on in the background as the dragon stumbled around the ledge, blinded for the moment, but Rikku didn't wait for it to recover. She tightened her grip on the two black gems and they crushed easily into dust activating the spells within. She waved her arm and released the powder, the wind blowing it toward the Sanctuary keeper and making it stick, then without wasting another second she turned and ran back towards the caves.

You see, the black gems, more commonly known as the Supreme Gem, simulated the effects and damage of the most powerful destructive spell in existence, Ultima. But, given that she'd crushed two of the gems, the potency had been doubled and the explosion that followed rocked the mountain. The dragon screeched in pain as the raw power ripped through its scales and seared away the flesh beneath. It stumbled again and teetered precariously on the edge of the cliff before Harry whispered to Gatta and the other fifteen year old guardian took aim, letting off one more shot right into the beast's side, giving it the final nudge that sent it tumbling down the cliff, parts of its body exploding into pyreflies as they where torn off until the keeper finally skidded to a stop on one of the lower slopes of the mountain. Everything was eerily quiet as they watched it fade from existence then, once it was gone, everyone looked at her.

"Remind me never to piss you off, ever!" Harry's comment broke the tension and Oa'ka gave out a short cheer as Gatta nearly tackled her in a hug before he abruptly let go and backed away, blushing. Tidus snickered and Yuna's group just stared rather dumfounded before Rikku perked up.

"Hey! If we go down the path some more we should be able to see the other side!" She babbled and grabbed Gatta by the arm before dragging him off. Her enthusiasm rubbed off on the others and they quickly followed until only three where left standing where the battle had taken place minutes before.

Harry had his head down, examining the scorch marks that decorated the stone, Auron and Tidus standing either side of him.

"We're almost there…" Tidus let his eyes stray to the path where the others had gone and Harry gave an involuntary shiver at the thought.

"We've come a long way." Auron said, a smirk pulling at his lips. Tidus looked up at him with a wary eye.

"What's so funny?" He asked and the Older man just smiled.

"You remind me of myself." Tidus tipped his head to one side, a slightly disbelieving expression on his face. "Before, the closer I came to Zanarkand, the more I thought… 'When we arrive, Braska will call the Final Aeon. He will fight Sin, then die.' I thought my mind was made up long before. But when I stood here, my resolve wavered."

"I wanted to change the world, but in the end I changed nothing. That is my story." Harry's expression shuttered as he spoke those words, they where an echo of what he was feeling. Something in him screamed at him not to go around the mountain. He feared that if he did, the journey would end like it had for hundreds of other Summoners, in the ruins of Zanarkand. The three of them had already agreed on their path of action. They would go to Yunalesca and destroy her since she was all that mattered for now. To stop the spiral of death you had to stop the cause and in the end it came down to two things. Sin and the Final Summoning.

But neither Harry nor Tidus could bring themselves to take the next step.

"ARE YOU GUYS COMING OR WHAT?" Rikku's yell from ahead shook them out of their individual thoughts and a mask slid over Harry's features as he waved back.

"WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE RIKKU!" Auron seemed to think he'd lingered enough and he nodded shortly before he moved on up the trail. Committed to following the rest Harry and Tidus shared one last look. They didn't need words, or even to read each other's mind to know what the other was thinking.

Do you think this is goodbye? Don't even dare think that! But if we go it will all be over. It's never over. But I will fade. No you won't, I won't let you. Then why are we still here?

Harry broke the eye contact with a sigh and turned toward the path. Tidus fell into step behind him and together they walked toward the last chapter of their story.

The sun was beginning to set behind the ruins as they approached the guardians and Yuna. They where all scattered along the path at intervals, all taking in the sight of the sinking sun and the city that had been dead for more than a thousand years. The flutter of apprehension that had sat heavily in Tidus's stomach began to drain away as he let his eyes wonder across the ruins.

This wasn't his Zanarkand, nor was it the hellish vision of destruction that he had seen in the dream of the Fayth. It was merely a pile of stones shaped like the Zanarkand he had once been a part of.

'But wouldn't that mean you where never a part of Zanarkand at all?' a rebellious voice whispered at the back of his mind. He squashed the thought and buried it deep so it wouldn't come back to whisper to him. He didn't need to hear it now. The ruins did look beautiful on a background of oranges, reds and yellows. Even high up on the mountain side they could hear the gentle lap of the ocean waves breaking against the rock and sand. Tidus could feel the peaceful air around the ruins as well as the immense feeling of sadness that came from stones that had seen so much in their long lifetime.

They all moved along the path as it opened out and wound down the side of the mountain. There where no fiends and for a moment they could relax. The ruins rose up around them, the lower they got into they found themselves by the sea's edge, looking out at a familiar structure that Tidus could still remember in all it's glory.

It was the Blitz stadium, the one he'd been playing in when Sin had destroyed his world.

"We'll rest here." He heard Auron speaking behind him as he drifted up an embankment to get a better look. Harry joined him shortly after as the others settled around a recently built fire all of them caught up in their own thoughts about the quiet world around them. Oa'ka passed out the food he had with him and shared it around but up on the embankment neither Harry or Tidus took any notice, they where planning, planning the assault on a figure of myth who refused to fade into history like the others.

They where going to fight Yunalesca, Sin and anyone else who stood in their path, and win.

This was their story.

A/N: To anyone confused about the first part of the chapter it happened after they passed out in chapter 18. Basically, it was all a dream, just like the one where Harry met Ron as a Fayth. (He's not happy with him either. Hehehe.) Oh yeah and incase you noticed, in the game only Tidus passed out, this time, Harry followed him 1) Because they're connected, and 2) If you remember in the beginning, Harry came to Spira via the dream of the Fayth, therefore, there was a path open for him to return. (That and Ron can drag him around too.)

(And just so you know, the combo Rikku used with the supreme gems was an actual thing from the game. The attack it called Sunburst, or something like that...)

Hmmmm… and I was really getting into describing Zanarkand too. I live really close to the beach so if I have my window open at night I can hear the waves breaking on the beach. It's actually really nice in Summer, but I only just started to open my window again. (I love the winter but I can't open my windows and I hate Summer because if I don't open the windows I'll fry.)

Anywhoo, I think that's enough rambling for now.

Don't forget to review

Cya