Dark Summoner

“Hey.” Someone was calling out to him, but Tidus didn’t want to wake up.

“HEY!” The blonde flinched at the loud voice and finally recognized it.

‘My Old Man?’ He opened his eyes and looked thorough the water to see a great ‘J’ made of fire and rubble suspended in the water before him. With a start he tensed and remembered how he’d gotten there. Auron, Sin, Zanarkand… The once beautiful city lay stretched out beneath him like the remains of the battlefield it had become. Buildings had been reduced to rubble and the bodies of its people floated in the water, already stiff and bloated. Pushing down the panic that threatened to rise he easily found Harry floating, unconscious, beside him. He grabbed a handful of his robe and pulled him down toward the only other source of light in the vicinity. It was a platform, made from the remains of the Blitz stadium, and it looked like someone was standing there. At first he thought it was Jecht but as he got closer the figure changed. It became Auron, a strange child with a purple hood, a younger version of Harry and then a younger version of himself.

A flood of old memories he’d spent a lifetime trying to push away all came back to him in the space of a few seconds as he looked upon his own face. Even as the water pressed in on him he thought. Why was he here? How the hell did he get in this mess and how the hell would he get out of it. The blonde never once let the hand that held Harry relax as the lack of air finally got to him. He fell asleep and dreamed, dreamed of being alone and wished he wasn’t.

“You’ve already got it kid.”

Even unconscious he gripped Harry’s robes a little tighter.

_______________________________________________________________

The sound of water lapping gently against stone was what woke him.

The blonde blitzers limbs felt heavy and waterlogged as he lay half in and half out of the water. A bird let out a cry somewhere above his head and on the rock, something shifted. It was a while before he opened his eyes again. The sight that met him was of his own hand holding on to leathery black cloth. A longer look revealed Harry, sitting on the stone and staring into the distance behind him. The green-eyed teen looked down at him when he began to haul himself out of the water and sat down wearily beside him.

“I didn’t think you’d wake up so soon.” Harry commented in a faint voice as he looked out at the still grey sea. “There’s no one here. Only the birds.” He made a waving gesture and the red and grey bird that had been perched on a nearby rock took off with a squawk, flying to join the others that circled the distant towers of a ruined temple. It was about then Tidus realized they where both shivering, and that Harry had lost his staff.

“Come on.” He murmured through nearly chattering teeth. “We better find some shelter or something…” He may have sounded flippant but his words where serious. Harry nodded his understanding and slipped back into the water. It was eerie swimming through the dark ruins. Both where unnerved by the red stained stones of some lost civilization. The sun was low on the horizon, sinking against the distant ruin as they dragged themselves onto the largest mass of stone they could find. It wasn’t hard to pick their way through the mess after that. They had just walked out onto a stone arch though when it crumbled beneath them, sending them tumbling back into the water. The statues that they’d seen from the walkway stared at them impassively as more sin spawn swam up to them. Tidus’s hand immediately went to the hilt of his father’s sword, which had somehow gained a sheath and was now belted to his back. Not at all put off by it he weight now that he was in the water. He’d practically been born in the water.

The bright green creatures rushed him but a few quick slashes took down two. The one remaining circled around and was about to attack again when another presence made itself known. The giant fish charged out of a dark hole close to the bottom of the underwater hall and nearly swallowed the other fish thing whole. Dark blood filled the water as it was torn apart by sharp teeth. Tidus didn’t really stop to think after that. He just turned around grabbed Harry from the surface and began swimming as fast as he could toward the nearest hole in the walls. Seeing that he was trying to escape the giant fish left the remains of its smaller counterpart and swam furiously after them. They where nearly there when it began to suck everything toward its mouth intending to swallow them. Harry soon began to add his own strength to their escape. He was running out of air and if they didn’t get up soon… working together they managed at last to swim through what had once been a window as the fish let up it’s attack and crashed against the frame behind them. The force of the pressure created by the strike sent them rushing into the water filled stairway beyond.

Rain lashed the outer walls and flooded through open windows in a fine spray, soaking the stone corridors. The remains of a few tapestries rotted on the broken walls, and the wind blew through cracks, nearly freezing them as they dragged themselves out of the water. Shivering they started down the hall toward a door that was still largely intact.

“This is so not my day.” Tidus muttered as he shouldered the heavy door open and pushed the fallen pillar on the other side making it roll off it precarious stand with a crash. They both winced at the sound as they studied the new place they’d found.

“It’s cold.” Harry said, drawing his robe closer. The sound of his voice awakened the blonde to the fact that clouds where forming out of his breath. He looked to the center of the room and noticed a pile of logs that looked very much out of place in the room full of marble and stone. Some one had been here before them and Tidus could only hope they’d come again. In the mean time though…

“Just wait here.” He said, pulling the Summoner to the center of the room. “I’ll see what I can find.” Harry nodded numbly and sat down, drawing his legs close for warmth. Tidus watched him for a second before he turned and went to scrounge around one of the rooms that branched off the wide hall Harry sat in. His search turned up a few useful items. A bottle with some kind of green liquid, stones he recognized as flint and a bunch of wilted flours. He went about lighting the logs in the hall but they refused to light, even with the flowers as kindling, the flint was just to wet.

“Ahhh Damn it!” he cursed as he smacked his own hand for nearly the fifth time. He heard Harry laugh faintly and turned around to set him on all fours beside him, looking down at the logs.

“Let me try something.” He said and reached out a hand. His palm hovered a few inches away from the flowers and green eyes closed in concentration. A few minutes latter he jerked it back violently as a spark burst into life. Tidus quickly banished his shock and leaned down to blow on it, coaxing it to take hold on the wood. Once it was burning away the blonde leaned back on his heals and looked at the other teen.

“How did you do that?” he asked. His tone wasn’t suspicious. He was used to Harry’s presence now and nothing could really shake his faith him the other teen now. Besides he was the only other person here and he was his only connection to Zanarkand, even if he’d just dropped into his lap a few hours before it had all started. No, he was just curious. Harry curled up again and stared into the fire.

“I’m a Summoner.” He said as an explanation but it only served to confuse Tidus even more.

“And what’s a Summoner?” He prompted. Harry let out a faint sigh.

“In my world we have magic, and the people who use it are called wizards. There are three main types of magic, White magic, Black magic and Summoning magic. Very few wizards can use Summoning magic and when they are found they are given the title of Summoner. Sometimes we become powerful enough that we can do magic without a staff or wand. Like I did in lighting the fire. Summoner’s aren’t usually offensive fighters though so they need people to protect them, the Guardians.” Tidus only looked slightly less confused but nodded nonetheless shrugging in a very ‘I’ll figure it out later’ way.

Harry cracked a faint smile and turned back to the flickering flames as Tidus flopped to the ground beside him and promptly shut his eyes. His belly grumbled angrily making Harry burst out laughing in spite of their grim situation.

“I need food!” Tidus wailed in a childish manner. Harry looked down at his hands then concentrated but stopped with a shake of his head. He couldn’t conjure anything without is staff.

“That really can’t be helped.” He said sympathetically as his own stomach protested, but much quieter, after all, one can’t go through life with the Dursleys without developing the need to live on smaller amounts of food. After that they fell into a comfortable silence and Harry watched his new friend’s face as he drifted to sleep. It wasn’t long before he was caught in the grip of a dream. Harry did nothing; he wasn’t going to wake him. Sometimes, you needed to dream.

Even if they hurt.

_____________________________________________________

Tidus looked up defiantly at Auron standing in the doorway of the cabin. He didn't need Auron to make him feel even worse about the game. "What do you want?"

"It was a bad call," Auron replied, calm and emotionless as always. "Your team lost because of you."

"You came to say that?!" Even as the words left his mouth, he admitted to himself that Auron was right. But did he have to say it so bluntly, as if he didn't really care?

Auron stepped closer. He could not see the man's expression through the shaded glasses. "It's been...ten years." His voice sounded strange, much unlike it had ever been before. "I thought you'd be crying." The strange emotion passed his voice and he was typical Auron again. He made off out the door, leaving Tidus to yell after him.

"Who, me?" Somewhere in the haze of his mind as Tidus watched his own dream he recognized the hooded child that appeared in Auron’s wake.

"You cried."

_____________________________________________________

Tidus shot upright as he woke with a start. The words of that kid rang in his ears mockingly as he shook his head, trying to banish the memory. It had been one of the memories he’d locked away, one of the ones awakened by his encounter with Sin, and they still hurt, more now than ever. He’d denied himself the chance to cry. He’d wanted to, but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t let his father get the better of him, even if he was dead. Harry was out cold beside him, having possibly drifted off after he had. Tidus shook his shoulder gently.

“Hey Harry, wake up!” The green eyed boy gave him a bleary eyed look as he woke and glanced at something behind him that jolted him to full awareness.

“Tidus! The fire!” The blonde looked around and to his horror noticed that the fire had burned to embers while they’d been sleeping.

“Hey!” He cried out and crouched down before it. “Shit! Don’t go out on me!” He moaned looking around for something else to keep the flame going but there was nothing. Before their eyes it burned out. Tidus cursed. The temperature dropped rapidly after the fire died. Harry stood just after Tidus had reached his feet but then a new problem presented itself in the form of a strange beast.

“This really, really, really isn’t my day.” The blonde ground out once more as he drew the blade on his back and shoved Harry behind him.

“Be careful with this one Tidus.” The currently vulnerable Summoner spoke in a quiet tone. “This is stronger than those things in Zanarkand. There used to be some in the forests back at Hogwarts.” Tidus made a mental note to ask him what Hogwarts was but didn’t give it anymore thought as the Fiend struck. Unable to dodge it Tidus blocked with his sword. Heaving it back the beast screeched in pain. The blade had caught a gap in it’s armour, but the move had cost Tidus his advantage sending him sprawling, forcing Harry to skip out of the way. The teen looked over Tidus and brought up his hands praying some spell would work before an explosion caught him by surprise from behind. The Fiend recoiled and backed away and Tidus had time to get up again as five new arrivals stepped into the hall.

They where all prepared for diving conditions clad in wetsuits and goggles. Most of them held weapons of some sort but their leader, who looked distinctly female, held nothing. The fiend crept forward again and went into a position to strike but Harry tore his eyes away from the newcomers in time to see it and gave a shout. Tidus span on his toes and slashed out in a wide arc. It glanced off the fiend’s armored hide and caught its tail as it swung over its head. There was a brief spray of gore and Tidus made a face before the tail he’d lopped off vanished in the same motes of light the sin spawn had. While it was down the female in the red wetsuit pulled an object out of a pouch at her side and threw it right into the jumble of limbs. Seconds later Harry had a chance to see what it was before it exploded.

“A grenade?” he wondered to himself, getting a look from Tidus who shifted uncomfortably as the strangers attention was drawn to them. The girl pulled off her goggles and studied both of them as the men with her closed in unnoticed and grabbed them. Harry held by one, Tidus nearly squashed between two.

“Hey! Lemme Go!” Tidus gave the indignant shout as he tried to loosen the grip on his arm. The remaining man took aim for his head and Tidus looked at him startled. He squinted at him from behind his goggles.

“Fryd yna Draca?” (1) Neither Harry or Tidus understood the language but it was clear that they’d have trouble getting out of this.

“Drao yna fiends! Eh risyh techieca! Oac! Ed ec cu!”(2) Tidus tensed noticeably when one put a knife at Harry’s throat and spoke, but it was about then, while the green eyed boy stood almost limply in his grasp that he noticed something significant. The one holding Harry also had his staff!

“Fa gemm Dras?”(3) No one noticed Harry’s hand creeping slowly toward the man’s belt where the plain ebony staff hung innocently by the small black tassel at one end.

“Fyed!”(4) The female finally broke into the alien conversation urgently. “Fryd ev Drao yna risyh?”(5) The one with the knife gave her a cool look, waving the blade.

“Drao yna dra cusa eh taydr.” (6)

“E vunpet ed!”(7) She gave a small growl as her voice rose. “Fa pnehk dras fedr ic.”(8) She moved forward and the men stepped away from Tidus as she whispered something he didn’t understand.

“Cunno,”(9) Before he could even begin to wonder what it meant a knee to his guts sent him down and out but even as he crashed to the ground, his vision fading, Harry made his move. Deft fingers grabbed the staff and yanked hard, sending his captor sprawling as he pulled away and fell into a defensive crouch by the blackened crater that was the only indication of the fiend that had been there just minutes previously.

“RYMD!”(10) The three standing men yelled out, pointing their weapons at him. Harry gave them a dirty look and focused on his staff, seconds later they all felt the tingle of a strange spell running through them.

__________________________________
A/N: a quick note, now that Harry has used a translating spell the translations for speech in Al Bhed with be written after it.
__________________________________

“Fryd dra ramm tet oui tu dryd vun?” What the hell did you do that for? His words, much to the surprise of the strangers, came out in their language.

“Fryd yna oui?” What are you? One of the men demanded, heedless of Harry’s own question. Harry just closed his eyes to calm his frayed nerves and glared up at him. Hoping that pulling rank might help somewhat even if he wasn’t in his world anymore.

“E ys y Summoner, yht oui zicd ghulgat uid so kiynteyh.” I am a Summoner, and you just knocked out my guardian. With those words the tension merely melted out of the air and was replaced by shock.

“Y Summoner?” A Summoner? The girl piped up at last. “Fro teth’d oui cyo su?” Why didn’t you say so? Harry gave her a withering look as two men slung their guns over their shoulders and picked up Tidus. One stopped to gather the blonde’s sword from where it had fallen and re-sheathed it.

“Lusa uh, madc kad pylg du dra creb.” Come on, lets get back to the ship. The man Harry had dumped to the floor grunted out in what sounded like embarrassment. The girl gave him a look of her own before she beckoned Harry to follow and began to lead the way back the way they’d come in silence.

____________________________________________________________

When Tidus next woke it was far more pleasant than the manner in which he’d been knocked out. The air wasn’t as cold but he could still feel the wind on his face. He was outside from what he could tell. He opened his eyes and found himself looking up into a glowing green pair that hovered above him.

“It’s about time you woke up.” Harry’s smile was bright in spite of the situation they’d been in earlier. “Rikku wanted to apologize for what she did earlier, but you’ve slept through the whole trip.” Tidus registered the fact he had his head in the Summoner’s lap and sat up, swinging around to face him, rubbing the place where the girl had kneed him.

“Who’s Rikku?” He asked wincing, that was going to leave a bruise.

“I am!” He jumped as the girl, who he hadn’t noticed before, bounced forward cheerfully. “I can tell you, it was a surprise when we found out oui where a guardian, everyone else kept calling oui a fiend.”

“We?” Tidus asked in confusion.

“It mean’s ‘You’ in Al Bhed.” The blonde leaned back against the crates that had been tied down to the deck.

“So that’s what you are, an Al Bhed?” Rikku was surprised.

“You didn’t know? But you’re a guardian! Guardians have to know what Al Bhed are! Most of them are Al Bhed haters.” Tidus gave her what was quickly becoming his trademark confused look.

“I don’t even know what the Al Bhed are so how can I hate them?” he asked. “Besides I grew up in Zanarkand, we didn’t really get a lot of people visiting the city.” Rikku looked at him as though he was mad.

“What?” He asked, “Did I say something wrong?” The other blonde was about to reply when the angry ramblings of the other Al Bhed echoed from the large hatch at one end of the deck. Rikku turned around and forgot the conversation in favor of the new one.

“Fa lyh’d caht Rikku tufh drana ymuha!” a smaller man was protesting to a larger one. The bigger Al Bhed was obviously the Captain of the ship.

“Famm ihmacc oui fyhd du syga dra vencd teja cra’c kuehk.” He turned to Rikku and asked. “Yna oui nayto du ko?” Out of the spotlight Tidus leaned over to whisper in Harry’s ear.

“What exactly are they saying?” He asked curiously. Harry looked back and forth between the Al Bhed and then spoke from the corner of his mouth as Rikku replied.

“Oac, Cen!”

“The Al Bhed doesn’t want Rikku to go alone on the first dive but the captain says that unless he wants to go she’ll have to go alone.” Tidus looked at the group as Rikku made preparations to go overboard.

“Hey, can you tell them I’ll help?” Harry nodded as they got to their feet.

“Rikku! Fyed! Tidus lyh ramb!” Rikku looked at the captain before he nodded and Rikku beckoned to the blitzer and dove. Tidus joined her in the water and she told him what they where doing.

"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it...and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!" She chirped quite happily. “Just follow my lead okay!” Tidus nodded as they dove under. A large chain was their guide to the ruins perched on an ocean cliff. Once they reached it Rikku made straight for a hole in one wall and slid through it easily, Tidus however had to squeeze through. Once inside Tidus found he recognized the controls. They where pretty simple by Zanarkand’s standards, very primitive, so he had no trouble in helping Rikku get the generator up and running.

The water filled with the buzz of electricity and outside floodlights snapped on, revealing a large object on the ocean floor. Wanting to see what it was Rikku made for the hole in the wall once more but stopped when she saw that something had beaten them to it. A tentacle waving and very cranky oceanic fiend charged them. The pair swam around into an area with better light before they turned around, ready for battle. Twice while Tidus had it distracted Rikku ducked in and grabbed something that had been attached to the shell on its back. Tidus realized what it was a moment later when she threw them back at it, making the grenades explode. Its shell cracked and it tried to swim away but Rikku went after it. Tidus would have just left it but what the he, might as well make sure it wouldn’t get anyone else.

He took the other way around the power core they’d been fighting by and caught the squid by surprise. Ending its life with a stab through the gap in its shell while Rikku had it distracted. He gave her a little wave and pointed to the gap, ladies first after all. He got the distinct feeling Rikku might have tried to hit him if she knew that was what he was thinking. They swam deeper into the small ocean crevice and Tidus couldn’t help gapping at what lay below him. It was a ship of some sort, very different from most designs but the mechanics where unmistakable.

Many other Al Bhed passed them as they rose to the surface, most hauling the equipment that would help them in bringing it to the surface. Tidus climbed back onto the deck of the ship and flopped down beside where Harry sat on a box someone had found for him. Harry’s green eyes laughed at him.

“You can go inside you know.” He said nodding a head to the door. Tidus just flopped pathetically against the deck.

“Nah.” He drawled lazily. “I don’t feel like getting up.” Harry shrugged down at him before looking out at where the Al Bhed salvagers where working tirelessly to get their prize to the surface. A few came out on deck once it had been hauled up onto the ship and stared at it.

“Fa vuiht dra airship.” We found the Airship. Tidus only listened to the unusual language half heartedly as he stomach grumbled again. It was more of a concern to him at the moment then what they had to say about the salvaged machinery.

“Dra nalunct fana nekrd.” The records where right. Another agreed with the first speaker.

“Huf, ruf du tnyk ed Rusa.” Now, how to drag it home? The three laughed and went back inside, leaving the hatch open for them but Tidus and Harry decided to stay there a while longer. Nearly half an hour later when most of the Al Bhed had returned to the ship Rikku emerged from it’s bowels and immediately made herself Tidus’s favorite person in the world.

She’d brought food.

“Right on!” Tidus cheered to himself and leapt at it like a starving wolf. He’d mowed through half the tray before he had to bang himself on the chest to dislodge a stubborn chunk of meat that hadn’t gone down like the rest of it. Rikku was about to hand him her canteen but Harry beat her to it. Conjuring a glass of water out of thin air and handing it to the blonde. He gulped that down almost as quickly as he had the food. Rikku just stared at Harry after that as Tidus didn’t even look at him and handed the glass back before he ripped into the leftovers of his very messy meal.

“Done now?” Harry asked as he finally sat back and pushed away the tray, giving out a very loud and powerful belch. Rikku wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Ewww! You’re worse than my brothers!” She squealed. Tidus just smirked in her direction as she sat down on the deck beside them.

“So, tell me all about Zanarkand.” She said, looking at Tidus. The blonde did so and Harry got the feeling that he was venting more than anything as he recounted everything that had happened the day Sin attacked. Rikku gave him a strange look.

“You got close to Sin?” She asked peering at them both. “And your not sick?”

“Sick?” Harry looked at her. She hadn’t even asked him where he’d come from, simply assuming she thought he was from Zanarkand too.

“Sin’s Toxin.” Rikku explained. “People get sick or their heads go funny when they get to close. Sometimes they even forget everything.” Tidus looked away. That certainly hadn’t been the case for him. He remembered everything.

“So is Zanarkand very far away from here?” He asked looking at the girl. Although she wasn’t really a girl, she was more their age than anything. Rikku really did give him a funny look this time.

“Maybe that Toxin did effect you after all.” She said shaking her head.

“Zanarkand has been rubble for the last thousand years.” Tidus felt his jaw drop, he just didn’t want to believe it.

“What?” he asked, wondering if he’d heard wrong.

“Zanarkand, it was destroyed a thousand years ago so I don’t really understand how you could have seen it destroyed. Oh and you’d best be careful who you tell about all this.” She cautioned them. “Some people think that the ruins of Zanarkand are a holy place so you might upset someone.” They fell into silence but even as Rikku stood to make her way back inside Harry got an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. His knuckles went white around the staff in his hands and this time those with him noticed.

“What’s wrong?” Rikku asked even as pain exploded in his head. Something was close and his curse scar on his forehead was burning.

“I think… I think its Sin.” He managed to choke out the words before the boat rocked on a sudden and violent wave. Tidus shouted out in surprise as he grabbed both Rikku and Harry putting his back to a large container that was still tied to the deck.

“Sin!” A few Al Bhed with weapons had emerged from the hatch and began to fire upon the huge shape that emerged from the sea.. “Sin ryc lusa!” A wave flooded the deck even as Tidus lost his footing but not his hold on Harry. They went sliding as the ship tipped over and where joined by Rikku when her handhold slipped. With a shriek from the girl and the Al Bhed behind them they went over the edge and into the dark churning waters.