CHAPTER 15:

THE POWER OF TRANCE

"How fascinating," Kuja remarked (his tone unusually sincere) as Harry finished what little he could say about the world he had lived in. "A world where magic is hidden, and where the internal combustion engine is the most common form of transportation. But you can use nuclear power, have basic computers, and have achieved limited spaceflight. Nowhere near as advanced as Terra was before its fall, true, but certainly more advanced in many regards than Gaia." Kuja chuckled. "I mean, the steam engine and the Mist engine are considered the very height of technology here."

Harry looked at Kuja warily. There was no mistaking that Kuja had been intrigued by Harry's tales. Harry's knowledge was admittedly limited, thanks to the Dursleys and their isolation of him, but he was smarter than he seemed, even at seven, the age he was when Dudley pushed him down the hole. He had read beyond his years, and while he didn't understand a lot of terms, he knew more than any other child his age. He could have gone far if it weren't for the Dursleys' suppression.

"Well, I have to thank you, Harry," Kuja said with a genuine smile. "You've interested me long enough to ensure that your friends live." He then walked over to an elaborate mirror, gazing at himself. Whether it was common narcissism, or some deeper contemplation, Harry didn't know, even if he knew what those terms were.

"Am I supposed to feel grateful?"

"I could say yes, but we'd have to agree to disagree, I am sure. Once Zidane returns with the Gulug Stone, I will be taking you and Eiko along with me as…good behaviour bonds."

Harry wasn't stupid by any means, and he scowled when he made the connection. "You want our Eidolons."

"Indeed. With any luck, I won't need you, and I might just let you go unharmed. Rumour has it that the mole-people of Mount Gulug had powerful Eidolons, rumours strong enough for Garland to wipe them out. There could be a powerful Eidolon within Mount Gulug, perhaps more than one, enough for me to ensure that I can topple Garland. But if not…I have need of either you or Eiko. I'm sure that one of your Eidolons might be able to help."

Harry scowled. "Over my dead body."

"Well, death is a likely outcome of the process when the extraction is performed on those younger than sixteen. So I believe an apposite response to your defiance is 'that's the idea'. While it would be a waste of time of me to say it isn't personal, it truly isn't. You and Eiko are means to an end. Who knows? You might get lucky, and survive the procedure like Princess Garnet did."

"Of course she did. She's my cousin, and she's stronger than you think."

"Ooh, are you cousins? Oh, that will make the tragedy of your end all the more delectable." Kuja then turned to Harry. "I think the time will soon be coming for me to make my way to Mount Gulug. I would make my peace with whatever deity you worship, Harry, because it's unlikely you will survive this, despite your relation to Garnet. She survived because she is of age, and you probably won't."

As he approached, Harry felt the impotent anger within. He couldn't use his Eidolons, who were screaming at him to run, run like hell. He didn't know whether he could escape Kuja, who seemed to be preparing some sort of spell.

Suddenly, a dam deep within him seemed to break. All the anger he felt at the Dursleys, at the uncaring authorities, at the man who had murdered his parents, and at Kuja, suddenly rushed through him at once. With a scream of release torn from his lips, a flare of light seemed to envelop Harry, the very fabric of the Desert Palace shaking…

In her cell, Eiko felt the quaking. Mog felt it too. "Eiko…that's Harry I am feeling," Mog said. "He's in trouble, kupo!"

"But what's happening Mog? What's he doing?" Eiko demanded.

"…He's entering Trance, kupo."

Eiko blinked. "But…Harry's never entered Trance, not once, in all our time together! Even during battle!"

"The Eidolons told the other Moogles, when the meddling old man took his horn, he also sealed his Trance ability. The old fool thought that, if Harry got too angry, he might kill his relatives, kupo. But now, Harry's desperation and anger at Kuja has eroded those bindings. He is breaking the very limits of his power. And that means he could bring this place down on us without realising he's done so, kupo."

At that point, the cell doors opened. Cid, in his own Moogle form came in, followed by Garnet, Steiner, Vivi and Quina. "Sorry it took me so long to get these unlocked, kupo! What the hell is going on?"

"Mog says it's Harry. He's finally achieving Trance," Eiko whispered in horror.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing," Steiner said, puzzled. "Surely if he's achieved Trance, he has a chance of fighting Kuja. Cid told me Harry was taken to him."

"You don't understand!" Eiko yelled. "Harry's always been a little repressed, afraid of his own power, and someone placed bindings on him! But those bindings are broken now! Mog said that he could bring this whole place down on top of us!"

"Eeyahhh! We run!" Quina yelped.

"We might not make it in time!" Garnet said.

Mog then looked at Eiko. "Eiko…do you trust me?"

"Mog…what kind of question is that? Of course I do! But…Mog…why are you crying?"

"…Because I don't want you to be sad, or afraid, kupo." Suddenly, a flare of light enveloped the Moogle, and those gathered in the dungeons of the Desert Palace found themselves blinded…

Kuja blinked the dazzling afterimage from his eyes. The Desert Palace was still quaking, and he heard his mirror collapsing and breaking on the ground. Seven years' bad luck, he reflected. But for whom?

There, right in front of him, was Harry, but transformed. Kuja had witnessed Trance transformations before, but this one was frighteningly powerful. His clothing had gained an elegant blood-red cloak that seemed to shine, his wide-brimmed hat and high collar of his changed clothes obscured much of his face barring the emerald shine of his eyes.

Kuja, for one of the few times in his life, was struck speechless. Which was why he barely had enough time to react when Harry put out a hand in a halting gesture, and hissed, "Scathe(1)."

Kuja dived out of the way just as a massive beam of actinic light blasted from Harry's palm, and seared through the space he was just in. When he looked at where he once was, he saw only a tunnel carved out of the Desert Palace, and the surrounding mountain. "Well now," he said, trying (and failing miserably) to substitute levity for fear, "I've heard of being scathing, but that was somewhat excessive, don't you think?"

Harry's only reply, as orange and yellow energy gathered itself around his palm, was "Meltdown."

Kuja tried to dodge the stream of yellow light, but Harry kept it up, and he screamed as it hit him, more out of surprise than it causing much actual pain. There were spells that hit harder than that. As the spell finished, Kuja sneered, "Is that the best you have?"

"No," Harry said coldly. "But Meltdown doesn't just hurt you. It reduces your stamina and ability to defend yourself to virtually nothing(2)."

Kuja realised that the little bastard was right. Much of his defence had been reduced, as had his stamina. "How the hell can you access this magic?" he asked, more of himself than the little demon masquerading as a boy of eight years.

In lieu of an answer, Harry flung his arms to the roof, and screamed, "ULTIMA!" Suddenly, arrows of green light appeared around him, and smashed through the roof of the room. Thankfully, it was one of the ones that wasn't buried too far under the mountain, and sunlight instead of a lot of rubble poured in. Harry began to ascend, his form surrounded by a brilliant green glow. Kuja was somewhat jealous, not just of the boy's power, but the fact that a bloody eight year old was looking better than he was.

Kuja ascended through the same hole, only to realise it was a mistake. The green arrows of energy were screaming right down on him. Stifling an expletive with difficulty, Kuja used his own (albeit limited(3)) powers of flight to dodge, but the arrows followed him. He weaved around a rocky outcrop, and was gratified when the arrows all blasted into the outcrop, disintegrating it.

That elation lasted for all of a split-second before the shockwave and debris hit him, sending him flying, and tearing open flesh and clothes.

As he skidded to a halt, bloodied and bleeding, on the mountainside concealing the Desert Palace, Harry landed near him. Kuja looked at him, and then began musing, not quite aware he was speaking out loud. "I see…the strongest form of Trance…more powerful even than an Eidolon…triggered not by the desire to protect or the will to live…" Kuja grinned painfully, even as blood trickled from his mouth. "The strongest Trance is triggered by hostility towards one's surroundings! In other words, anger and fury!" He cackled, getting to his feet painfully, his fine robes tattered. His mind was racing with the possibilities. "But as I cannot enter Trance, I will need to find a way to induce it. As a Genome, I can use any soul, even if it's not my own. I can contain many souls, enough to create a Trance that will make yours look like a temper tantrum."

"You will not get the chance," Harry said in a cold voice. But even as he raised his hand, the glow faded, and Harry was left there, normal once more, swaying as if all the energy had been drained from him.

"Harry!" yelled the voice of Eiko. The young summoner was being born aloft, along with Vivi and Garnet, by a leonine creature with wings that was emerging from the very rift Harry had created.

Kuja sneered at them, before pointing at Harry. "Either catch me or save him! Your choice!"

With that, he ran off, calling for the Silver Dragon. As it approached, he heard the Black Mage Vivi yell, "WAIT!"

Kuja sent the little golem flying back with a Thundaga spell. "Oh, and while we're at it, little puppet, when your fellow toys come back, tell them I lied. There is NO way to extend their lives! They helped me…for nothing!" In triumph and cruelty, he laughed, even as he leapt onto the Silver Dragon, and flew off.

Now, he had a plan. Okay, it was the merest beginnings of one, and it had taken an humiliating near-defeat from a summoner having a bad conniption to have the idea, and it was so damned annoying that this oh-so-simple solution was one he hadn't even thought of before. So fixated he had been on getting Eidolons, he never thought about trying to grant himself the power of Trance, and an enhanced version at that!

He laughed, hard and long. True, he had to flee the Desert Palace, but he had always intended to make his way back home. To Terra. It would take some time, and he needed to find a temporary base of operations before then, but he had the Guardians of Terra on his side. All he needed was the right power.

And he knew where to get that power. Once he finished his planning, all he needed was for Garland to be distracted. And he knew who would do that…

Harry opened his eyes, exhausted and in pain, to find Eiko and Garnet standing over him…along with a vaguely leonine beast with wings, looking concerned. An Eidolon, he realised, but which one?

Eiko hugged him, crying softly. "Harry! Don't you ever scare me like that ever again!"

"…Sorry, Eiko," Harry said quietly. He shuddered. His limbs felt like they were on fire, as if the very power he called upon with Trance had set them alight. He couldn't move, and it was all he could do to stay awake and speak. "I…What I did…that scared me."

"There were a number of reasons for that, kupo," the massive leonine creature said.

The voice was deep and unrecognisable, as was the appearance, but Harry's eyes widened in recognition nonetheless. He had a feeling for this sort of thing. "…Mog?"

"Yep!" Eiko said. "Turns out, Mog was an Eidolon called Madeen. She took on the form of a Moogle to keep me safe!"

Madeen nodded, before continuing. "Your Trance had been repressed by bindings your Eidolons were never able to remove. When it finally burst forth, it was like a dam being destroyed. The flood of anger and power nearly overwhelmed you because it was the first time you achieved Trance, kupo. Do not fear it, Harry, for you have achieved a catharsis of the worst of your repressed power and emotions. You will not be so…ruthless next time, kupo. And judging by the feel of it, it granted you access to arcane magic no other mage can normally access, like Meltdown, Scathe, and Ultima."

After a moment, Harry decided to change the subject. It was all too easy for Madeen to say something like that, that he had access to powerful magic. And he had felt ashamed for his frequently disparaging thoughts about Mog. Instead, he said, "The others, are they all right?"

"Yes," Garnet said. "Steiner, Cid, and Quina heard someone screaming along the way, and went to help rescue them. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that it was Aunt Hilda's voice."

"Kuja said he was holding her," Harry said. "He told us a lot of things. We'll have to wait until Zidane gets back. You guys need to hear the whole story. But we were right. He does come from another world. And he is rebelling against his former boss, Garland, who's even more dangerous than he is."

Garnet nodded, before picking the boy up in her arms. "It's okay, Harry. Rest. We'll talk about it later."

Harry nodded, and let the gentle rocking of his body as it was carried by his cousin lull him into a much-needed slumber…

CHAPTER 15 ANNOTATIONS:

And there you have it: Harry finally uses Trance, and Kuja has his plan just a touch earlier than in canon. Next chapter will have Hilda, Zidane, and Harry briefing the others on the full extent of Kuja's plans.

Harry's Trance gives him the command ability Forbidden Magic in place of Black Magic. As noted, he can use new offensive magic, including Meltdown, Scathe, and Ultima. In the game, Ultima is only used by Trance Kuja, so you'll notice Harry can only use it when in his own Trance. And while his Ultima is like Kuja's (being more like homing bolts of magic energy, compared to the more traditional massive explosion), you'll notice that I changed it to the more traditional green colour of the spell, compared to Kuja's scarlet-pink.

In this update, all three of my Final Fantasy IX crossovers are being updated. Give them a shot: Amethyst and Garnet, and Xenophilia. My first full crossover with Final Fantasy VIII will be posted then too: Mnemosyne's Son.

Review-answering time! FANactic Writer: Probably not. I think Kuja asked more out of curiosity and boredom. I think that Kuja wants to conquer Terra and rule it, or else stop Terra from assimilating Gaia, and rule Gaia after destroying Terra. His goals aren't that clear beyond overthrowing Garland. Kuja was merely curious about Harry having lived in another world.

1. Scathe was, of course, the ultimate magic attack (or one of them) from Final Fantasy XII.

2. Here, I am using the version of Meltdown from Final Fantasy VIII, which can reduce Vitality (or Physical Defence) to 0. I also added that it can reduce Spirit (or Magic Defence) to 0 as well.

3. In the Dissidia games, Kuja can fly and float outside of Trance. Though he only seems to do this in Final Fantasy IX when in his Trance, I decided to show that Kuja, if he wishes, has limited powers of flight.