Dark Summoner

The never-ending warren of corridors stretched into the distance around them as the five men and two women made their way through the dark halls of Bevelle. Even though they where drained and wounded they kept moving, heading to the only likely sanctuary left in the city. Auron had taken the lead, his memory of the temple serving them well as they stepped onto a blue platform. Rikku messed with a control panel attached to it and it lurched slightly as it began and spiraling decent, taking them deeper into the Palace. The Guardians where all lost in their own thoughts, each trying to sort through the startling events that had taken place.

Harry was the Master Summoner.

Some felt incredibly stupid that they hadn’t noticed it sooner and Rikku had taken the news almost as hard as Wakka had. As an Al Bhed, stories about the Master Summoner weren’t uncommon. There had been many books in Home that dated back to before the time of Zanarkand that had been perfectly preserved by ancient magic. There was even a journal by a magic user named ‘Creevy’ that had chronicled the entire life story of the Master Summoner. Rikku had never actually read it herself but she’d heard things from those who had. But even so, with their new knowledge of the situation, missing pieces of the puzzle that made Harry where finally were falling into place.

“How come we never saw it?” The small blonde asked absentmindedly as she jogged along side Gatta. Ahead of them Auron couldn’t repress a smirk.

“Harry only told Tidus.” He said. “Others probably assumed we already knew, therefore didn’t bother to tell us.” Rikku didn’t reply. Instead they entered the Cloister of Trials and began to solve puzzles as fast as they could. It was difficult, as the trials consisted of a single sphere powered platform running through a maze of incorporeal walkways, suspended in mid air above a deep circular shaft that appeared to have no bottom. It took the large group two trips and much creative thinking to pass the trials and find the ante-chamber. The Hymn of the Fayth hummed through the air around them and Yuna’s Guardians nearly cried in relief when they saw their Summoner sitting on a ledge of masonry to one side of the chamber.

Yuna looked up as they entered the room, her hand straying to her discarded staff before she realized whom she was seeing.

“Lulu! Wakka! Kimahri!” She named them in a faintly weary tone but stood up nonetheless as Lulu reached out to hug her. Before the three could really fuss over her though Auron stepped between them and the door to the Chamber of the Fayth.

“Where is Harry?” He asked shortly. “Is he with the Fayth?” Yuna looked over at the door and nodded.

“He went in there after I came out…” She answered, suddenly very quiet. “He took Tidus in there with him.” Wakka let out a gasp.

“But no one that isn’t a Summoner can go in dere’.” Wakka looked frantically at the closed door. “It’s Taboo, ya?” O'aka, Rikku and Gatta stood off to one side, looking at the door also. Auron walked right up to it and closed his eyes behind his glasses before he opened them again and stepped away.

“Normal rules don’t really seem to apply where Harry and Tidus are concerned.” The red clad man’s voice held a hint of humor as he spoke of the pair. Rolling his eyes and muttering O'aka went to sit against a wall with Gatta and settled in to wait for their Summoner to emerge.

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Tidus felt decidedly odd standing off to one side of the chamber of the Fayth as Harry knelt in front of the large amber coloured glowing stone in the ground. Within it was a skeletal kind of form, preserved in the stone. The Master Summoner had explained that it contained the real power of the Fayth. It was old gray magic that acted to keep the Soul of the Fayth on the mortal plain. When a Summoner prayed to the Fayth they asked for the Fayth’s help and if they saw fit to grant their power they would form a bond with the Summoner, thus giving them the ability to call on their Aeons in times of need. The best description of the relationship between Summoner and Fayth would be a temporary alliance that could be withdrawn when the Summoner died or someone else was using the Aeon.

In any case, the fayth that now appeared above the stone looked familiar. It had taken him a while to figure it out but now he recognized the specter that floated in the shape of a young boy. It was him… the same kid he’d seen in Zanarkand not so long ago. He’d been on the dock with the fans but at the time Tidus hadn’t paid him that much attention. He’d been to caught up with Harry and the other kids. Then he’d glimpsed him on the bridge amid the screaming crowds when Sin had attacked and again in his brief period of unconsciousness during Operation Mi’Ihen. The boy that had been haunting him since the whole debacle had begun was now hovering before him, singing in a powerful tone while he and Harry communicated.

The blonde had to shake his head to clear it of the muddle of thoughts that fought for his attention. It was just to much, especially since he was still reeling from his earlier transformation. He hadn’t even realized he’d become a dragon at first. In his anger he’d been to distracted by thoughts of ripping Seymour and any other enemy in the vicinity to pieces to care what his body felt like. Everything had just clicked when he entered the berserker rage and he’d given no thought to it at all.

He still had a few hazy images swimming around his head over what happened between the airship and catching Harry. The memory of shredding Evrae was especially clear. The other sorry excuse for a dragon had been an obstacle, one that had been standing between him and his mate, and…

Tidus stopped dead at that thought. Mate?

Suddenly, reality decided to re assert itself and everything he’d subconsciously pushed aside rushed back to fill the gaps as someone shrieked outside. In that moment Harry finished speaking with the Fayth and fell forward in a dead faint but Tidus managed to catch him before he hit his head on the floor. Sweeping him up Tidus made for the door and heard Rikku yelling.

“WAIT! DON'T COME OUT!” But the warning came a moment to late. The door slid up into the wall and Tidus came face to face with numerous rifles. Soldier monk’s stood in a semi-circle in front of the exit lead by none other than Maester Kinoc. Rikku groaned helplessly when she saw them standing in the doorway. Yuna, her Guardians and the other members of their party where all standing off to one side, as helpless as they where as Kinoc trained his rifle on Harry.

“And here’s the last of them.” He said snidely and Tidus felt a growl in the back of his throat. “You are all to stand trial.” Kinoc informed them. From his place in front of the Guardians Auron spoke up.

“I expect it will be a…fair trial.” He still sounded vaguely amused, he already knew what was happening even if the others didn’t. After all, things never really changed in Bevelle… Kinoc was laughing jovially at Auron’s insinuation, but to those present it was obvious the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Of course it will.” Then he waved a hand lazily toward the guards who advanced on the group.

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“The High Court of Yevon is now in session!”

Yet another hulking Ronso stood over them proudly as he looked over the two floating platforms below. One bore Yuna who was once again dressed in her normal outfit. A white top, a bluish purple skirt with silver stars scattered along the hem and a wide yellow obi patterned with flowers that held it all in place around her waist. She was gripping her staff nervously as the Ronso Maester spoke.

“The sacred offices of this court seek nothing but absolute truth, in Yevon’s name. To those on trial: Believe in Yevon, and speak only truth.”

On the other floating platform Harry was equally as nervous but it was hidden for the most part behind his pale and ragged looks. He hadn’t been doing as well as Yuna, no one had allowed him to get cleaned up before they’d brought them here so with his normal supply of magic wanning and nothing to replenish it he hadn’t even been able to spell his robes clean let alone repair them. Unable to help him at the moment Tidus was tense, but a more rational side of his mind that sounded a lot like Auron was telling him that it could have been worse, much worse.

The other three Maester’s of Yevon where standing at various points in the room. Seymour was on a balcony to the left of the main balcony, closer to Yuna’s floating platform while opposite him was Kinoc. The portly man was still loosely gripping a rifle below the railing. Maester Mika stood behind and to the right of Maester Kelk Ronso and was watching the proceedings with what could have been distain.

“Summoner Yuna!” Kelk intoned, bringing all eyes to the female Summoner. “You have sworn to protect the people of Yevon, true?”

“Yes.” Her tone was surprisingly strong given her timid appearance.

“Then, consider: You have inflicted dire injury upon Maester Seymour Guado… and conspired with the Al Bhed and joined their insurrection. These are traitorus and unforgivable crimes that disturb the order of Yevon. Tell this court what possessed you to participate in such violence.” Yuna had been wilting under the attention as Kelk listed her apparent crimes.

“Your Grace…” She began but a voice from the side cut her off.

“Your Grace…” Harry drawled mockingly, his voice overpowering Yuna’s. “I doubt the girl could tell you half of what seems to have been going on under your nose.” Everyone stared at him in surprise, including Yuna who went pink in the face at being referred to as the ‘girl’. Kelk rounded on Harry looking infuriated.

“SILENCE!” He roared. “You have no voice in this court imposter! You claim you are the Master Summoner but he died thousands upon thousands of years ago. Not only that but you don’t appear on any records made in regards to the Summoners, nor do you even seem to exist!” Harry sat through the rant, his face was blank but his eyes where blazing with green fire once more.

“My claim is true.” He said darkly the moment Kelk stopped speaking. “Has all true understanding of magic really been lost? It’s possible for someone to fall through time but that is not what I mean to discuss. Your fellow Maester’s are acting like common brutes! Not only that but at least one of them are already dead! Are you so blinded by this ‘Yevon’ that you didn’t even notice that?” If the Ronso was surprised he didn’t show it. He met Harry’s burning gaze and refused to back down. Yuna took advantage of the battle of wills going on around her and bravely spoke up once more, appealing to Maester Mika.

“Please, you must listen. Seymour has already killed his father, Maester Jyscal, with his own hands. He’s the real traitor to Yevon and must be sent onto the Farplane! Please, send him now!” Even while she was speaking Kelk and Harry had stopped glaring at each other and turned their gazes between Seymour and Yuna.

“WHAT!?” Kelk roared, sufficiently conveying his surprise. He glared across the balcony at Seymour who raised an eyebrow, smirking in amusement.

“Hmmm? Hadn’t you heard?” His unconcerned tone was mocking. While the Ronso was stuck for words Harry pulled his tired body further upright and looked up at the assembled Maester’s.

“I am not liking this.” He muttered in a severe tone. “No wonder the world is in the state it is. Seymour is a budding Voldemort, Kinoc is as incompetent as Fudge, and the only decent creature among you is completely in the dark!” Down on the ground, among the guardians, Tidus suddenly snorted. The sound was explosive in the oppressive silence that had descended upon the great hall. People turned to stare at him as he covered his mouth in hopes of muffling the laughter that was fighting its way out. Having known Harry and his secret longer than anyone present, he’d also learned more about Harry’s past. The other teen had occasionally told him stories of the war that had made him into a Summoner and the people involved, leaving him as the only other person to understand the blatant joke.

While Tidus was getting his laughter under control Lulu decided to speak up on Yuna’s behalf.

“It’s a Summoner’s sacred duty to send the souls of the departed to the Farplane!” She took a restless step closer to the gaping hole in the floor that the Summoners floated above. “Yuna was only doing her job as a Summoner when she confronted Seymour.” Seeing someone was supporting her views Yuna looked back at Maester Mika and repeated her previous words.

“Grand Maester Mika! Please send Seymour now!” Kelk had calmed somewhat respectfully as the Grand Maester moved forward.

“Send the unsent to where they belong?” He said pensively.

“Yes!” Yuna confirmed what she was saying eagerly.

Mika chuckled.

Yuna frowned as the wheezing sound of the Maesters laugh reached her.

“Maester?”

“Send the dead… hmm?” Even as he spoke his form began to loose the appearance of being solid and a scattering of Pyreflies rose spinning into the air around him. “You would have to send me too.”

“What?” Came Wakka’s gasp of shock below.

“Grand Maester Mika is a wise leader.” Kelk announced, proving he really had known all along. “Even in death, he is invaluable to Spira.” Kinoc laughed and spoke up for the first time since the hearing had begun.

“Enlightened rule by the dead is preferable to the misguided failures of the living.”

“Life is but a passing dream,” Seymour picked up the thread where Kinoc trailed off. “But the death that follows is eternal.”

“Men die.” Mika took over. “Beasts die. Trees die. Even continents perish. Only the power of death truly commands in Spira. Resisting its power is futile.” On his platform Harry scoffed.

“You really believe that don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. The green-eyed Summoner shook his head, marveling over how stupid people seemed to get as they evolved. If someone had told him that idiots would rule the world thousands of years into the future he would have laughed, but the proof was right in front of him.

He had to repress the urge to start cursing everything in sight.

“But what is Sin?” Yuna burst out loudly. “I am a Summoner, my lord, like my father before me! I am on a pilgrimage to stop the death that Sin brings. Are you… are you telling me that, too, is futile?” And there it was. The big crux in the reasoning between two sides, the existence of Sin and the Summoners quest to destroy him. “Grand Maester Mika, am I not alone. All the people who have opposed Sin… Their battles, their sacrifices – were they all in vain!” Mika’s squinting eyes stared down at her.

“Not in vain,” he replied. “No metter how many Summoners give their lives, Sin cannot be truly defeated. The rebirth cannot be stopped. Yet the courage of those who fight gives the people hope. There is nothing futile in the life and death of a Summoner.” Harry was glaring at the man again. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off from below.

“Never futile…” Auron intoned, looking up at the pair. “But never ending.” The harsh words sounded damning to Tidus. Mika, however, just nodded along to the former monk’s conclusion.

“Indeed, that is the essence of Yevon.”

“Lord Mika!” Yuna yelled, scandalized.

“Yevon is embodied by eternal, unchanging continuity, Summoner.”

“No…” Yuna was crying now. The very beliefs she’d been holding on to all her life where being stripped away before her eyes. “That can’t be right.”

“Those who question these truths – they are the traitors!”

“Lord Mika!” Yuna cried out desperately as the guards hit the control panel for the floating craft she was on. Harry didn’t say a word as he felt gravity tugging beneath his feet but in his mind he was coming to the conclusion that he’d go after Sin merely to prove the Maester’s wrong. As he was marched past Tidus a silent and invisible mental probe reached out and latched on to his mind, assuring him he wasn’t alone as the guardians where dragged in a different direction.

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Harry sat in his cell, staring fixedly at the back of his guard’s head as he listened to his surroundings. Yuna was in the next cell over, muttering to herself about the current predicament with a few stray sobs punctuating every couple of sentences. A handful of soldier monks where arguing softly over to one side of the room and Tidus’s thoughts where sitting darkly in the back of his mind where the blonde was agitatedly cursing the world at large. Harry didn’t take his eyes of the back of the monk’s head as he sent a wave of neutral feelings back along the link, causing the heavily dragon influenced Tidus to calm down somewhat.

‘It’ll be alright.’ He thought, more to himself than anyone else. ‘We’ll get out of here just fine, after all, as Auron would say, our story isn’t over yet.’ Tidus’s mental snort was all the response he got before the Guardian settled down completely. Harry let out a faint sigh and looked toward the far side of the room. There was a dark gate set into the wall that looked menacing in the low light of torches around it. Harry got to his feet and carefully stowed his staff in the back of his robes again before walking to the bars and draping himself through them.

“What’s that?” He asked and the Guard jumped.

“That’s where we send traitors.” He said a moment later when he’d recovered from the mild shock. “Once someone goes into the Via Purifico, they never come out.”

“Hmmmm…” Harry tried to peer into the darkness beyond but was disappointed when the corridor turned a corner and twisted out of his sight. Even so, while he had his forehead to the bars he could see Yuna sitting right next to the entry of her cell on the corner wall. Feeling some pity for the girl who had tried at least once to either apprehend or kill him he made a gesture with his hands that caused her to look up at him. Her eyes weren’t as red as they had been earlier so Harry guessed she was beginning to come to terms with things… well that or she wore herself out.

“It’s no use crying over it.” He said and almost mentally whinced at his words as she cringed. The key word being ‘Almost’.

“Why aren’t you reacting the same way.” She retorted, fiercely swiping at her tears. “They… You said you where the Master Summoner!” Harry bit his lip in a less then successful attempt to hold back his own mocking comment.

“Yevon didn’t even exist when I fought the Dark Lord.” That took the wind out of Yuna’s sails faster than she’d worked them up.

“Yevon… didn’t… exist?” She echoed the alien concept in a stunned voice. Harry mentally rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless. He sat down on the floor again, keeping Yuna in sight at the same time. It seemed there was no time like the present for a quick history lesson. After all it wasn’t like they where going anywhere.

“That’s right, back when I was younger, people with magic and people without magic where segregated by laws created by the magical governments. Religion wasn’t an issue back then. The wizards only ever held one person in that kind of image, but, they knew he wasn’t a god. Merlin, he was the first Summoner, I think… I’m not all that sure.” Yuna was thunderstruck by his mumblings and by the looks of it, so where the guards. Harry gave a mental snicker and ploughed on.

“Anyway, what I do know it that when he ‘died’ he became one of the Fayth. Since no one else could Summon the way he did, he decided to create a way for other Summoners to follow in his footsteps. Four students of his did the same and a few others but no more than nine really… or was it ten… anyway, after their time the art of Summoning was nearly completely lost and the Muggles, people with no magic, grew into greater numbers, so the magic users, fiends and creatures all went into hiding. Like I said, they drew up their own laws and lived out of sight. In fact, I think that my pilgrimage was what caused the worlds to start mixing again…” He trailed off with another pensive look as he began going over facts in his mind. “After that though, I don’t have the foggiest idea what happened. The magic took me from Hogwarts around the time I turned seventeen…”

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Tidus wasn’t in a real happy mood.

Auron watched as the dragon animagus paced their shared cell. It was circular, about three meters in diameter and was surrounded by unbreakable metal bars that where resistant to magic. Looking beyond the bars you could see others like it suspended at different intervals around the large shaft. Like the main hall they’d been in for the trial it had no floor. Instead, thin walkways stretched out over the abyss to allow access to the cells. The way they where placed also meant that the prisoner could only see onto any cage that was accessed by the same walkway but never anything else, it worked to make the prisoners feel even more helpless then they had to begin with. However, in this case the yelling and screaming on Oa’ka’s part thwarted that effect. The wily ex-merchant was complaining to the top of his lungs about being separated from the others and stuck in a cell with a ‘Red haired, back island, Yevon loving hick’. His words where proof that he was spending to much time with Rikku and Harry.

“GET ME OUTTA HERE! I DON’T WANT TO BE IN HERE WITH HIM!” O'aka wailed at the top of his lungs. Auron sighed in exasperation at the antics of his fellow guardian and leaned off the bars so he could look over his shoulder in the direction of the black mage’s tantrum.

“Don’t waste your breath O'aka.” He ordered shortly, his voice carrying down in spite of his low tone. “We’ll probably need him to get out.” O'aka shut up as he’d been told and an eerie silence settled down amid the cages. Tidus, who had stopped pacing while Auron had been talking finally kicked the bars once and slumped down to the floor.

‘It’ll be alright.’ Harry’s voice whispered in his mind distantly. ‘We’ll get out of here just fine, after all, as Auron would say, our story isn’t over yet.’ Tidus promptly began to snicker, shooting a look over at the monk still leaning against the bars. Auron raised an eyebrow in response but didn’t ask. It had been a few hours since they’d been put there when footsteps finally sounded on the platforms. Tidus jumped to his feet, eyes flashing when he saw who was standing patiently outside their cell. Kinoc was alone and unguarded as he unlocked the door and stood to the side.

“Come out.” He ordered. “Your sentence has been decided.”

“Sentence?” Auron nearly snorted in amusement. “Don’t you mean execution?” Kinoc gave him another of the cold smiles that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Really now, what person would execute a dear friend?” Auron gave him a deadpan look.

“You would.”

Kinoc just laughed as guards finally came to take them away.

Not long after they found themselves separated, Auron being taken in one direction while he was herded a different way. He heard a splash ahead of him and when he reached the end of the hall he found a room half taken up by water. A guard prodded him in the back to get him moving again as the guard standing on the edge of the platform stepped back.

“Look’s like your next.” The guard poking him said far to cheerfully.

“Next for wha-?” Tidus tried to ask but was cut off by an abrupt shove into the water below. Getting his bearings quickly his head burst out of the water allowing him to glare up at the guards.

“Where’s everybody else?” He demanded harshly but the guard didn’t seem too concerned with the silent threat.

“Floating down there somewhere.” He said flippantly, gesturing to the water. That said the guards turned around and left the room, a big steal door slamming down behind them and sealing Tidus in. The blonde, however, wasn’t concerned about the door. He was more concerned with who was down underneath, so with a deep breath he twisted and dove under the water with skill born of years playing Blitzball. The water wasn’t moving so there was no tide or flow to create currents he could move on. Kicking his legs he shot toward a gap in one wall and peered inside. His vision sharpened when he noticed a few figures floating in the small area above him. Sliding through the gap he entered the large tunnel and floated up to join them.

“Tiddles!”

He heard Rikku’s exuberant shout before he saw her. Blinking to get rid of excess water Tidus tossed his head slightly to get a few spiky strands of hair out of his face before he looked around.

He was floating in a small indentation in the roof that still had some air and three more people occupied it… Wakka, Rikku and…

“Harry!” Swam over to the Summoner, resisting his sudden urge to growl out loud as he reached out to him. The other teen wore a mixed expression. A part of him looked relieved but tension was clouding his features as he tread water to keep afloat. The blonde grabbed him and felt out a narrow ledge on the wall beside him, effectively holding them both above the water. Harry sagged slightly and fumbled for his staff. Once he was secure Tidus looked at Rikku and Wakka.

“Are any of the other’s down here?” Rikku swam a little closer.

“No, they split us up before they threw us in the pond.” She shrugged dismissively. “I don’t know where they are.”

“They’re in the other area.” Harry spoke up. “The guard called this place the Via Purifico when I asked one earlier. They have two entries, one on dry land and the other…” He jerked his head in the vague direction of the platform they’d been tossed off.

“Since no one else has been dragged down here I think it’s safe to say they are in the other section.” The males all looked grim while Rikku was thinking hard.

“Hey! If everyone else is out there, how come you’re in here ‘Ry?” Tidus looked at Harry, he wanted to know that too. Both Wakka and Rikku could swim but Harry wasn’t blitzer or Al Bhed material in the least. The Summoner just shook his head.

“They wanted to split up the Summoners.” He explained softly. “They didn’t want us to work together and find a way out of here, so that asshole Seymour had me thrown in here.” That made Tidus growl again.

“That guy is REALLY beginning to piss me OFF!” He had to move his hand when the stone he was holding onto cracked under the pressure. Harry just shook his head again and turned slightly in his grip to look him in the eye.

“Don’t let him get to you to badly… men as dark as Seymour will always get their just deserts in the end. Voldemort did.” Tidus reigned himself in. He was supposed to be in better control of his temper now.

“… so just how are you planning to get out of here?” He asked, looking at Harry. “Last time I checked you couldn’t hold you breath to long.” Harry grinned for the first time since Tidus arrived.

“What kind of wizard would I be if I didn’t know a thing or two about breathing underwater?” His words brought up memories of the second task of the triwizard tournament. He didn’t have any gilly weed lying around, and he didn’t have an Animagus form or even a partial one, but what he did have was the bubblehead charm. He’d learned it after the second task so that he’d always have something to use if he ever fell into a similar situation again. It took a few minutes to get the spell to work, given he was floating in the water and using an unwieldy staff, but he got it in the end. A clear orb of swirling air surrounded his head and green eyes turned to look at everyone else.

“Lets go.” With that they sank under the surface and swam down into the submerged tunnel to more exposed areas. There where no other tunnels branching off the one they where in, but that made them all the more apprehensive about their surroundings. Finally the tunnel opened out into a giant circular tube that ran right to the surface only to stop short just before a giant gate that had too smaller gaps to squeeze through. But at the same level they’d emerged from was a smaller gate that looked easy enough to open. Tidus dragged Harry through the water toward the entrance, Rikku and Wakka in tow, they where studying the locks when Harry tugged on Tidus’s sleeve. Tidus looked around.

‘What’s wrong… … …?!’ His eyes widened as he finally registered the giant swarm of pyre flies floating down the tube above them. They whirled through the water and began to take on a shape that Tidus recognized.

It was Evrae, the guardian wyrm was back from the dead.

‘Shit!’ He cursed to himself as he signaled for the other two to get out their weapons. He instinctively felt over his shoulder for his sword but when he grasped nothing he cursed again. Throwing his mind back, the last time he remembered seeing his fathers sword was when he’d leaned it against the wall in Home, moments before the transformation had begun. He hadn’t been in any condition to remember it when they’d tried to escape during the attack.

Then a feeling rose in the back of his head. Evrae was supposed to be dead and everything was screaming at him to kill it again. He quickly passed Harry’s hand to Rikku’s and when she gave him a confused look he used old Blitzball signs to give her instructions.

‘Take Harry,’ Tidus pointed to the Summoner and then made an ‘away’ gesture.

‘Attack the locks.’ He made a sign for attack or score before jabbing sharply at the gate, and they finally figured out what he was telling them. They did as they where told and Wakka didn’t so much as make a face as he grabbed Harry’s other arm, propelling them faster. Once they where around the corner and out of sight Tidus span back to look at where Evrae had finally finished putting itself back together.

The dead Dragon leered down at him with a gurgling growl that reverberated through the water as Tidus closed his eyes in concentration.

‘Now… lets see if I can do this again…’ For what felt like forever he searched his mind, reaching into its depths and grabing hold of the golden form that waited there, eagerly anticipating another chance to fight.

Bright blue eyes snapped open after a few seconds, glowing with power as the change took pace at lightning speed, leaving little to no pain in its wake. Tidus couldn’t help but marvel at his new body and the feel of it now that he was actually aware of himself. He looked across at Evrae who suddenly wasn’t looking as eager for payback as the Dragon that had killed it manifested in front of him in the cramped tube, totally unaffected by the water surrounding them. It pushed itself away when Tidus bared his fangs in the parody of a grin and leapt through the water, his every move spelling its second death.

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Tidus swam lazily through the wide tunnels, his long tail acting as a rudder as he navigated the maze, easily following the small disturbances made by Wakka, Rikku and Harry as they swam ahead. He was enjoying himself immensely by the time he caught up with his three companions. Rikku and Wakka turned fearfully when they heard him moving through the water behind them but Harry shirked their grip and let Tidus snatch him up as he swam past. Almost as an after thought his other gold claw lashed out and scooped up the other two.

‘Having fun?’ Harry asked, his face a little blurred from the air spell glittering around his head. Tidus nodded his head in the water, making his body dip slightly before he pulled himself back on course.

‘It feels better than before, doesn’t it.’ Once again, he nodded, earning himself a smack on the back of his claw from Rikku. He swam on, occasionally passing through more deep tubes before they came to a dead end, although, it wasn’t really a dead end. An ornate looking gate was embedded in the wall directly in front of them with gaps large enough for a human to pass through, so naturally, this meant Tidus had to change back to get through. Harry was laughing at his reluctance to return to normal.

‘Come on Tidus! You can turn back when we get outside! You can really stretch your wings then.’ The dragon gave the Summoner an almost baleful look before he began to shrink and nearly yelled in shock when he appeared with a pop in the middle of a bubble of nothing, made by the sudden removal of his draconian form. Then it all came crashing down on him, tossing him around before he got his bearings back. His face went red as he made his way over to the others and began to push them through the gate, ignoring their amused looks in favor of getting out.

‘Lets just go.’ He grouched, grabbing Harry’s hand and swimming for the light, Wakka and Rikku struggling along behind.