A/N: Hello, friends and people who wish to cut me to ribbons! This is Orpheus Thanatos Messiah, previously known as Deaths pet fox, here with a brand new, multi-chaptered story for you all! I know, I know; if your starting this, what's wrong with the other stories?

Quite simpe, folks: I've looked at my poll and the overwhelming conclusion is that, most people aren't satisfied with my previous stories (which I can't blame them one bit about) and simply requested I start over. If you are one of those people who voted for that, request granted, although I would like to know why you wanted that. *shrugs* Meh, whatever; most likely not my business.

Now, moving on to the story, this is a FFXII/HP crossover, with slash pairings, folks. If you don't like that...why are you reading this? I predominately write slash, folks, with a slight smattering of het pairings 'cause I know not everyone and their grandmothers is gay. *twitches in disgust at the mental image he conjured up* Most likely pairing is either going to be a) Vaan/Harry, Balthier/Fran and (possibly) Basch/Ashe or b) Harry/Basch and Vaan/Balthier. Now, I'm open to suggestions on what you want, hell, I'll even accept Ashe bashing requests if they make sense. I don't like her character (too much like Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto for my tastes), but I can understand where she comes from. Also, if I get any demands to update faster, faster, FASTER, I will simply prolong my updates. I don't care if you guys review, while nice it doesn't necessarily motivate me. I'm lazy by nature, and my job takes a lot out of me, both physically and mentally, so don't be surprised if I bite your heads off.

Lunos: Yo, shit-stain! Get a move on it; the readers don't want to hear your griping, dumbass.

*sighs* Everyone, my every shifting in personality muse, Lunos. Kill him if you want. Gets rid of one of my headaches.

Disclaimer: Anything that is recognized from things in the real world, they aren't mine. This plot is, yeah, but that's about it. Oh, and a Gaara plushie!

Chains That Bind Us All

Chapter One

His wrists ached from the restraining chains, his feet likely had sores and blisters from constantly standing on the bars of his small cage, his chest and back stung like fire from the continuous whippings that never seemed to end, and his throat ached from dehydration.

He deserved it all.

“Are you in a melancholy mood again?” An exhausted voice called to him, forcing him to raise his head at the only person who was outside Empiric control and still believed in his innocence.

He had shaggy hair that reached past his shoulder blades just a little, with the bangs just hanging over his eyes; he was fairly tall, he guessed around 5’ 8”, 5’ 9”, a respectable height for a male. He was dressed in the most peculiar clothes, though: Pants that looked similar to leather clung to his hips, while a shirt of some material, most likely cotton, hung on his frame, while a pair of square-framed glasses rested on his nose. Even still, even after all this time of knowing him, there were two things that still managed to surprise him no matter what.

His eyes looked like a soldier who had seen too much war, too much death, too much…everything to really, truly care for those around him, and he was one solid color, blue to be precise, while still remaining transparent.

“Harry,” he rasped in greeting.

‘Harry’s’ mouthed quirked into what could possibly pass as a smile. “Been a while, Basch. Still hanging around this dump, I see.”

Basch chuckled to himself. Harry always did have the weirdest sense of humor. “Yes, it has been a while, my friend. What are you doing here? My…caretakers are scheduled to come? That’s usually the reason you visit me.”

“Well, that and something interesting will happen and soon, Basch, you will have your freedom.” Harry sighed, while looking past him with dull eyes. “Wish mine would come so quickly.”

He grimaced in distaste, knowing that his friend was even more of a prisoner than he, but for what and where and why, he did not know. “If what you say is true, and I will be free, tell me where your cage is, and I will break the lock on it.”

His friend’s eyes focused on him again, shining with hope and fear. “Some cages can never be escaped from, Basch,” he intoned ominously, sending a shiver down his emaciated body. “But, if it soothes your mind so, when you escape from here and into the Barheim Passage, look for a green crystal. It shall be the one you wish for. Take heed, though; be wary of what might happen should you use too much.” Before he could demand him to explain further, Harry vanished from sight, just as the sound of thudding boots and rattling armor reached his ears.

As Gabranth taunted him for his imprisonment, his attention on his surroundings picked up the careful shuffle of feet behind the judge and soldiers. So, someone was here from the prison center and thought to escape behind the judge. A good plan, if fool-hardy.

What happened in the next few moments would start a chain-reaction of epic proportions that would be the stuff for legends, as king slayer joined thieves and escaped from the inescapable.

He sighed, wishing his friend luck and patience for what was most likely to come…and prayed he never released him. For should he, he knew not what the Planet would want of him next.

As they stepped into a room, the group of four was met with darkness, a blue crystal on a landing further down and the barely perceived sight of a bangaa at the bottom of the stairwell, resting against the wall next to a gate.

As they approached him after trying to activate the power only to find a burnt fuse, the bangaa looked up. “Ah, travelers! What a…pleasant surprise. Haven’t seen anyone here in months, or as it feels like, years. If you want some power, I have a spare fuse I cobbled together from spare parts found here and there. If you want it, you can have it.”

“My, that’s awful generous of you,” Balthier, a tall brunet with a long-sleeved white shirt, golden brown vest and pants with a two-handed gun slung across his back, drawled.

The bangaa shrugged. “I have no purpose for it. I rather like the dark, myself. But I know most people prefer to walk in the light.” The bangaa watched as the group looked at each other, shrugged and took the fuse from him and went back up to put it in the slot. He quickly closed his eyes as the lights turned on and gently opened them again to get acclimated to the light again. He snickered as the blond kid, wearing a Rabanastre-style vest over his bare chest and loose pants with gauntlets and greaves rubbed the spots out of his eyes. Wanting to be even more of a help, the bangaa touched the switch just above him and watched as the gate lifted up as the lights dimmed a little.

“Hey, why’d the lights flicker?” The blond brat asked.

The bangaa snorted. “You can’t expect something for nothing, can you? To activate gates like this takes power, about thirty percent I’d wager. Be careful not to let the energy dim too much, for in the darkness, things of an insidious nature appear.” The group of three humes and one Viera grimaced and nodded. “Also, beware the green crystal with a shadow in the center of it,” the bangaa warned the group. “Should you use magic around it, it will be intensified to an astronomical degree! So, it be on your heads if you ignore this advice.” Putting on a rather sharkish grin that worried the group even more, he added, “Since this will likely be the last time I see any of you, would you like to buy some potions and what-not to keep yourselves afloat?”

They bought several sundries and entered the passageway, only to stop in the next room as they saw a big mechanical-like bug with sparks of energy shooting into its mouth.

“What the hell is that?!” The blond boy shouted in surprise.

“That, my dear Vaan, is called a Mimic. Nasty little buggers that love to feed on energy, which is bad for us.” He pointed at the severely darkened area as Mist congregated and pulled a Zombie out of the ground. “Like the merchant said, the dark brings bad things into play.” Hefting his gun from his back, he smirked at the boy. “If we’re not careful, it’s lights out!” He summed up his statement with a blast from his gun, even as his Viera partner rolled her eyes at her hume’s sense of humor.

They quickly traveled across the cart tracks, taking out any Mimics and beasts they happened across. The less monsters available for respawning, they felt, the better.

Basch grimaced as he rubbed his aching knuckles and shoulders. After his stint in that blasted cage, he wasn’t as effective as he used to be and it was grating on his patience. He glanced at the map, quickly finding the area the bangaa had warned them about. It was actually just ahead of them, not even ten yards and he could see the green glow the crystal Harry spoke of from here.

Balthier sighed, rubbing his tired forearms. “Well, let’s get to it. The quicker we’re out of here, the quicker I can take a shower and get a change of clothes. Fran, be a dear and remind me when we’re out of here, would you?” He asked his partner, a white-haired, dark-skinned Viera dressed in a black, one-piece of armor that didn’t cover her abdomen, but had a transparent piece of cloth covering it instead.

Fran snorted in amusement. “A simple shower would not do. T’would take several to get us all clean.”

“Ah, too true, too true; mores’ the bother,” Balthier grumbled. As they reached the area of the green crystal, they all relaxed and rested against the various rubble around them. Basch, spying a corpse fully equipped, decided to harvest sword and armor from it, keeping an eye on the green crystal that was in the area, keeping all non-sentient and semi-sentient beasts away for the time being.

“I still don’t believe you,” Vaan accused from behind him as he swung the sword, practicing a few moves his body still remembered.

“Well, believe him or not, he’s still showing good moves and right now, we still need him to get out of here,” Balthier reminded him.

“I swear to you, I had no participation in the murder of King Raminas,” Basch informed them.

“That’s a lie!” Vaan retorted.

“And why are you convinced of that?”

“Because my brother informed us all about how you slew him! You killed my brother, and all he did was try to defend his home!”

“Your…” He took a closer look and sighed. “I see it now; Reks mentioned a brother. He meant you. But, despite what he saw, I did not do it.” He told them of his capture and the role Gabranth, his twin brother had in it.

“A twin brother, eh? A little fanciful, but the pieces do fit, I’ll grant you that,” Balthier said at the end of his tale.

“How can you be sure he isn’t lying?” Vaan demanded of the sky pirate.

“Well, for one, I never saw him kill anyone,” Balthier countered. “For two, if he truly was a king slayer, why is he still alive?”

“Because he was more useful alive than dead,” a voice quipped behind them. Jumping up in surprise, everyone turned their weapons to the voice and were wide eyed at what they saw.

“Hiya, folks! Name’s Harry Potter,” he introduced with a stunning smile. “You could also call me by my other name, which just so happens to be The Instigator.”