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 1: The Story Begins
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: this is a kind of AU fic, it will only have passing mentions of what happened in HBP but not to many since this story was developed before the book was released…)
The halls where too quiet.
It had been this way ever since the death of Dumbledore near the end of the war. It was painfully obvious that even the castle herself, missed the old Headmaster in the way everything had dimmed over time. The end of the war and the defeat of Voldemort at Harry's hands had brought a brief reprieve from the burden put on all, but the entire wizarding world had paid the price in the forms of lost loved ones and an upset economy. Making recovery a hard thing. They'd all looked to him to lead the dying race and no matter what he did he just couldn't help them.
Harry stopped in his wonderings of the halls of Hogwarts and looked out at the bleak grounds. It was supposed to be summer but it rained regardless. There was a gaping crevice out in the forest that stuck out like a scar in the earth itself. That had been the site of the final battle, the forbidden Aeon had taken form there and destroyed everything, including Voldemort, opening the gaping wound. He didn't remember what had happened after that. Once the summoning had finished he'd fallen unconscious and when he woke he lay alone on the edge of the crevice. His guardians had vanished, all six of them. Luna, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Remus had all sworn to protect him until the end of time but they'd all died during the war leaving him alone in a lonely castle isolated from the rest of the world.
He turned away from the depressing sight beyond the window and resumed his aimless wonderings toward nowhere. He'd mastered the art of the sending during the time after the war. The sad dance that sent the souls of the dead toward their next life was the hardest thing he'd ever learnt in his crash course of summoning Even now it still sent souls fleeing from Hogwarts as it to slowly lost its attachment to the world. Harry passed through a door that had sprung out of the dead end before him and sat down on the stairs within that lead up to a small dais. Upon it was a large dusty mirror with an over the top golden frame. He took no notice of it, instead looking down at the staff in his lap. About 3 feet long and made of a dark ebony wood, it was nearly the only thing that remained to remind him of anything. It was his focus, a conduit for the power he used to call the aeons he'd been given. His dull green eyes blurred with old tears as he closed them tight and leaned back against the mirror.
"I wish…" He whispered to himself. "I wish that I could be somewhere else, somewhere where someone really needs me… any where but here." His eyes remained closed as he slid to the floor, crying himself to sleep like he did most nights. Even so, he didn't notice when the mirror above him began to glow. The soft gold light pulsed from the glass, lighting up the words across the top of the frame:
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt wohsi.
There was a secret to this mirror none but its creator knew off. If you wanted something badly enough the mirror could give it to you, if you wished for something with your entire heart and soul you can receive that one wish, and that's just what it did for Harry. The light wrapped around the green eyed Summoners sleeping form, barely a second later it flashed, by the time the light faded away it was clear the room was empty.
He was gone.
Tidus looked out the window of his cabin with a sigh and ran a hand through his blonde hair. The lights of Zanarkand glittered over the docks where his home was tied up for the night. He had a Blitz Ball game in a few hours but he didn't really feel like playing. Sure, Blitz Ball was practically his life but he'd only ever taken it up because of his father. He still wanted to prove himself to a man who'd been missing and presumed dead for at least ten years.
'Bastard.' He thought vehemently. 'He shouldn't have left me n' mom like that.' He flopped onto his bed and scanned his room lazily. The walls where covered in Blitz Ball posters and even a few of himself. There was one picture of his 'old man', but it was much abused and pinned to a dartboard with a dart jammed through his forehead. Tidus hummed absently to himself as he got up and grabbed the dart before plunging it back into one brown eye.
"Smirk at that moron." He bit out almost savagely before he swung open his bedroom door and walked out. The boat rocked gently beneath his feet as he listened to the shouts of the crowd that had begun to build outside. They did that before every 'Abe's' game; he wasn't their star player for nothing after all. The lounge room was, thankfully, adult free. Auron had left earlier that day and his mother must still be in her room. She didn't come out very often any more; it had been like that since they'd called off the search for Jecht. The blonde shook his head; he just didn't see what his mother even saw in the stuck up ass.
After checking the sensor readouts on everything's functions Tidus flopped onto the couch and stared up at the wooden ceiling, bored. It was around about then he noticed the speck of light shinning above his head. The little gold light pulsed rhythmically and grew brighter with every one. Tidus had to squint when it reached the size of a Blitz Ball and was nearly thrown off the couch when it exploded abruptly. He raised his arm to protect his face and didn't see the black form until it had hurtled into him, knocking the wind from his lungs as it weighed on his chest. Almost as suddenly as it had come the light just blinked out and the blonde shoved the thing that had fallen on him down onto his lap. As he sat up wheezing he got his first good look at it.
He was floored for the second time that night when he realized that the thing that had fallen on him was in fact a person, to be more precise, a boy his age. He was thin and pale with some kind of ragged black coat that looked as if it had seen better times, wrapped around his body. Getting over his shock quickly he dumped the boy on the couch and ran back to his room, ignoring the staff clutched limply in the other teen's hand. For a moment he wished Auron were there but then thought better of it.
'Shit like this just didn't happen every day but first, take care of the sick kid who landed in your lap.' He thought to himself as he dug around for a spare blanket and another set of clothes. He didn't even get why he was doing it either. To be honest he could probably just dump him outside and leave it at that, just like his father would have.
"But I'm not my father." He said aloud to himself. "Besides there's a whole bunch of people out there." It was true. He could still hear them outside. Reassured by his reasoning Tidus hauled a pile of cloth out of his room only to find the boy was already awake and looking around the technologically advanced cabin. He jumped to his feet shakily when he reentered the black staff in his hand nearly vibrating with the effort it took to hold him up.
"Where am I?" He asked, his voice slightly accented but in the same language nonetheless. That was one thing in his favor.
"Whoa!" Tidus dropped the bundle and put his hands up in the universal sign of 'I surrender'. "Easy, easy!" He wavered, unsure whether to go forward or back. "You're on my house boat, geeze!" The dark haired teen lowered the staff fractionally.
"That doesn't answer my question, which town? City?" Tidus lowered his hands a little and took a step forward.
"You don't know about Zanarkand?" he asked carefully. Dull but alert green eyes looked at him in confusion, their gaze piercing right through him as if searching his soul. Finally the stranger shook his head and let his staff hand fall limply to his side once more.
"I don't know anything anymore." He said in a lost tone that had Tidus feeling some sympathy for him. He looked back at the couch and then looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I should be leaving now." He began to shuffle toward the outer hatch but for some reason Tidus didn't want him to leave.
"Wait!" In the space of a few seconds he'd dashed across the room and stopped in front of him. The teen stared up at him in surprise and apprehension. The look made Tidus cringe slightly with embarrassment and his hand went instinctively to the back of his head.
"You can't go out there yet." He gave a short laugh. "There are too many people out there…." Tidus trailed off as the teen gave a nod. Tidus started when he realized his was staring at the nearly glowing green eyes and averted his gaze, instead going to where he'd dropped the pile of things he'd grabbed beforehand.
"You'll look out of place if you leave here looking like that." He said dumping a bundle into his arms. "It doesn't look like you've had a shower in a while either." Looking rather lost once more he was scooted out of the room. Tidus caught sight of the clock on the digital screen on one side of the room and nearly jumped when he noticed the time. It sure did fly when a stranger appearing out of thin air threw you for a loop. He hadn't even bothered to ask his name. Still pondering all that had happened and his unusually fast response he began to sing quietly to himself. It was an old song his father used to sing before he went missing. The blonde didn't really understand where it came from but sang it nonetheless. It was something almost instinctive. He'd been singing under his breath for some time when he heard a whisper.
"That song…its familiar." His head nearly twisted off his neck as he stopped singing in embarrassment, giving the green-eyed teen an evaluating look. He'd changed from the ragged robes into some of the clothes he'd dug out at a moment's notice and some that he hadn't. He wore a pair of black jeans with a hole in the knee that should have been to large for him, a grey shirt and a funky kind of version of his robe (1) that looked like it was made of scales and without the damage made by neglect. On his hands where a pair of black leather fingerless gloves that Tidus hadn't noticed before.
"I've heard it before but I can't quite remember where…" He trailed off, hanging by the door. Tidus opened his mouth to say something when he remembered the game.
"Oh shit." He cursed, startling the staff totting mystery on feet. "I'll be late for the game!" He jumped up and shoved his sneakers on to his feet hurriedly before stopping briefly to look at the dark haired teen.
"You can come with me if you want." He offered, holding out a hand. "Have you ever been to a Blitz Ball game before?" He walked over tentively. Even if he looked like he could fall over any second dull eyes where beginning to shine with curiosity.
"I've been to Quidditch games before but not Blitz Ball." Tidus screwed up his face in confusion.
"Quidditch?" He asked in an incredulous tone. "What kind of name is that?" These words had a strange effect on the teen and he smiled faintly before it grew into a grin. He laughed, seemingly coming to life for the first time since he'd appeared in his life barely an hour or two ago. Tidus just grabbed his hand and dragged him bodily out on to the deck. People where waiting for him on the dock. They began to cheer and shout, holding out Blitzballs for him to sign. His new acquaintance was occupied by staring at the lights of Zanarkand as a trio of boy's asking for Blitz Ball lessons ambushed Tidus.
"TEACH US HOW TO BLITZ!" they said loudly and all at once. Tidus scratched his head… how did he deal with this?
"Ummm, how about later tonight?" He asked. The voice of another boy came from behind the crowd.
"You can't tonight." Tidus realized the voice was right.
"Uh yeah, I can't. How about tomorrow then?" The boys nodded their agreement and set down their Blitzballs before waving their arms in a large circle. They continued the movement through to make a smaller circle with their hands and bowed. It was the Blitz Ball sign of victory. Tidus smiled and waved for the dark haired teen to follow as he shouted goodbyes and started off at a jog that the staff wielder had no trouble keeping up with. They slowed to a walk when they reached the main walkway that lead directly to the stadium.
"I never asked your name." Tidus looked at the other teen in surprise for a brief moment, wondering how they'd been thinking of similar things.
"Tidus." He said when he realized he'd been staring… again. It was just so easy to get caught by those green eyes. "I'm the star player of the Zanarkand Abe's." His new friend gave him a bemused look.
"My name is Harry." He said simply looking out at the rooftops of the city. "Just Harry."
"Harry huh?" Tidus repeated the name to himself before he fell silent, the noise of the stadium grew louder as they approached and Tidus looked up at a billboard perched on the side of a building. His father's faces leered down at him. The blonde Blitz Baller scowled up at it and flipped it off, earning a scandalized look from another pedestrian on the walkway. Harry was looking at him again.
"Who is that?" He asked almost timidly. Tidus sent it another glare before his face settled to a more normal expression.
"My Old Man." He said, the sound of dislike heavy in his tone. "Jecht. He just upped and left my mother and me ten years ago and hasn't been seen since, the bastard." Harry made a little 'oh' noise and didn't speak again. They shoved past the crowds in front of the stadium pretty quickly and the blonde led him to the Abe's locker room.
"You can watch the game from here." He said with a faintly goofy grin, ignoring the looks he was getting from his teammates. "I'll come and get you when it's over." Harry's knuckles where nearly white from gripping the dark staff in his hands but he nodded anyway as he and the team went to warm up. The misplaced Summoner took a seat on a bench and watched the screen as the rather violent game started. It was about half way through when a feeling of dread settled over him. Something was very wrong and he had to be out there to face it.
The game was characteristically violent was the players swam around the sphere pool. It was an all or nothing tournament game and their place in the finals was at risk. The Abe's scored first and a minute or so later the sphere was breached as Tidus managed to throw a player from the opposition out into the stands. He gave the player a smirk as he got to his feet trying to shake off a concussion before he noticed Harry nearby. He only took a moment to wonder how he'd gotten into the stands before his attention was called back to the game. Preparing to do his signature shot he sent the ball high above the sphere and went out after it but on his way down he caught sight of something rising out of the sea, accompanied by a large wave that was heading directly toward the stadium! Panicking he lashed out and grabbed the edge of one of the support rings that held the sphere pool in place. His wet fingers slipped on the cold metal as the wave broke against stone.
Everything just fell.
People were screaming and the roar of water filled his ears with a violent crash. One by one his fingers lost their grip on the support ring and he couldn't hold in a scream of his own as he plummeted toward the churning water below. He managed to take a deep breath and streamlined himself before he hit. He wasn't a Blitz Baller for nothing after all. Still as he dragged himself in the general direction of the entrance to the stadium he had to cough up liquid that had somehow found it's way into his lungs. People took no notice of him as they ran for cover, screaming in terror, but Tidus noticed something most of the other people had missed. There, leaning against a fallen stone outside the stadium was Auron, calm as ever, and with him, being held by the back of his robes while he coughed up water, was Harry.
"Auron! Harry!" Tidus ran toward them as the thing that had made the wave rose higher above Zanarkand, concealed in a ball of water. Harry looked over at him and brightened fractionally. His face though was still wary as he eyed the floating sphere.
"What's going on here?" He asked looking at Auron for answers. The graying man didn't look at him but did however give Harry a push in the blonde's direction.
"Come… we must go now." Tidus looked as confused as Harry did when he stopped, looking at them out of the corner of his eye over one shoulder he spoke again in a flat tone. "Protect the Summoner." He was looking at Tidus but when Harry tensed his grip on his staff the Blitz Baler got the feeling Harryhad something to do withthe 'Summoner' Auron was referring to, what ever it meant. Without another word he began to walk along through the crowds of running people. Tidus gave Harry a look and grabbed his wrist beforejogging to catch up. The red clad warrior had stopped further ahead.
"Look." He said, pointing toward a skyscraper. Some…thing had broken through it and begun waving around tentacles in the air. Harry eyed it warily as it shot pods into the air. They landed one after the other on the walkway in front of them. Auron had produced a gigantic sword, seemingly from nowhere, and was rummaging around. Hepulled another blade from somewhere on his person and Tidus nearly fell over when the older man just threw it at him.
"Here… a gift from Jecht." Tidus stared first at the blade, then at him incredulously.
"My Old Man?" He asked almost scathingly as he managed to balance out the blade and hold it ready in spite of his head just telling him to throw it away like it was tainted. Auron just gave him a look and nodded his head to where the pods had begun unfurling, revealing the insect like creatures within. A quick look at Harry gave Tidus a mild shock. The dark haired teen stood ready for something, his staff out in front of him. Before his eyes it morphed slightly and the glint of a blade caught the light of the fires from one of the burning buildings. He knew what he was doing.
"We cut through… only attack the ones in our way." Tidus was brought back to the situation at hand by Auron's calm instructions before the warrior made a short dash forward and sent a downward slash at the nearest creature. It exploded, not into gore like he'd been expecting, but into motes of light that quickly dispersed away. Getting the idea Tidus joined in the melee, staying close to Auron and tugging Harry along behind as he watched their back. Breaking through the wave of creatures they stopped at a section of the walkway where it had buckled upwards and Tidus couldn't help but stare at the huge mass of dark seawater that floated through the air above Zanarkand, somehow spawning all the creatures that had flooded the city, killing any and all in their path.
"What is that thing?" Harry beat him to the million-dollar question but neither of them took their eyes off the sphere.
"We called it Sin…" Auron said so softly they almost didn't hear. Abruptly he began to move again and they didn't get far before another of the tentacles stabbed it's way though the reinforced concrete slabs that made up a part of the bridge. The blonde came skidding to a stop.
"We don't have time for this." Auron ground out in irritation. He held his sword out in front of him and Harry could feel a buildup of magic in the air around him just before he sprang up. Leaping nearly as high as the tentacles before coming back down, his momentum driving his sword deep into the ground, doing a larger amount of damage than his normal strikes. Tidus's jaw dropped at the sight of the beasts falling over and vanishing into motes of light. The bigger one however, was still there. Seeing an opening he dashed forward and made a slash of his own against the creature. Finally it let out a guttural sound that came from everywhere before dispersing like the smaller ones. Both he and Harry where panting with the effort of running a short while later as they where halted by yet another wave of the sin spawn, as Tidus had gone ahead and labeled them mentally, giving as no one would tell him what they really where.
"Oh come on! More of these things?" He complained as they began hacking away at the ranks.
"This isn't going to work…" Auron murmured more to himself than to Harry or Tidus as they fought. "There! Use that!" He called out getting the attention of both teens and pointing to a pair of fuel canisters hanging precariously over the edge of a twenty-story drop. Tidus began to make his way toward it but before he was in range a flash of red light shot past his ear, making him yelp in surprise as it rushed ahead, neatly hitting the generator that held the two fuel canisters together and it exploded, spraying the trio with shrapnel. He couldn't say anything or even begin to wonder what had done it before he was forced to run as fast as he could along the side of the falling building behind Auron. Somewhere beside him Harry dodged explosions and leapt for the other side of the gap in the walkway where Auron now stood. He had a little more success than Tidus and pulled himself up only to turn around and see that Auron had already grabbed his new friend by the front of his shirt and was looking up at the watery mass in the sky above them. It had begun to form a red and orange vortex that just reeked of power.
"Are you sure?" Auron asked some invisible being before he held the struggling blonde up higher and lashed out to grab Harry by his robe. The vortex was now pulling everything in including them. The scared man that held them spoke up, his voice scarily focused.
"This is it… it all begins here." The vortex pulled at them, tugging at their bodies like a medieval rack, Harry's face screwed up in pain as Sin's power nearly overwhelmed him.
"This is your story."
Everything went white.
(1) Dragon hide (don't ask me how he got it that will come later.)
Well how's that for an introduction? It took me two weeks worth of sneaking on to my computer while my parents weren't looking to get this much done. A lot of this chapter was done from memory so excuse any mistakes in the dialogue with Auron. I got it as close as I could… I can also see myself ending up doing a prequel for this. There's just so much to explain, like how Harry became a Summoner in the first place.
Any way I hope you enjoyed reading this first part because it's one that I' just going to plow on with regardless of the reviews I get. Although the occasional comment is nice…
Don't forget to review!
Cya!