Dark Summoner

“Well ain’t you a sorry looking bunch!”

The shout echoed around the bridge as they filed in and moved to stand around the edges of the walkways. Entering just in time to hear the jibe Harry gave the balding Al Bhed man a withering look. Cid however, hadn’t even noticed him as he looked toward where Yuna was standing. Tidus rolled his eyes and merely tucked himself into a corner and pulled Harry close, taking care not to jolt his injuries. Harry leaned back onto the wall behind them and sighed.

“I wonder how she’s going to explain herself?” He murmured quietly, an odd, half formed smirk forming across his lips. From what the others had mentioned, Cid would have wanted nothing more than to have Yuna quit her pilgrimage, but now she was a guardian instead and that would probably rub him the wrong way something fierce.

“Uncle Cid… thank you.” She said, walking over to him and bowing formally. Cid looked like he was fighting not to cry and Tidus snickered softly.

“You look just like your mother.” He commented as he turned away and looked out the front of the bridge. Yuna smiled faintly before the expression fell and she became serious once more.

“Uh… I have something to tell you.” She began. Cid said nothing in response so she just continued. “I decided in Zanarkand that I would stop my pilgrimage.”

That got a reaction.

“Really?” Cid turned around quickly and stared at her, the glint of the few remaining tears at the corners of his eyes as he looked at her with a mix of delight and hope. Yuna ducked her head at the attention and nodded.

“Yes.” Cid gave a whoop and threw his arms around her in a bear hug. The girl uttered a shout of alarm as she was picked up and dragged back and forth violently like an attacking terrier. It was another second before Cid could put her down and she nearly toppled over.

“As nice as that is an’ all, isn’t that rather… redundant, now?” Everyone stopped and stared at O'aka. He stood by the door, leaning heavily on his staff but still standing. He wasn’t the most intelligent person in the room, or the best fighter, but he had a sort of presence around him that made people take his advice to heart that he probably wasn’t even aware of. At the moment he looked rather world weary, his expression more commonly seen on Auron’s face instead of his own.

“That’s right, the Final Summoning has been destroyed.” All around them, the Al Bhed gasped and stared at Harry who had spoken the last part. Auron had something like a proud smirk hidden behind the high collar of his jacket.

“WHAT?!” Cid made his second loud outburst in as many minutes.

“The Final Summoning is no more.” Lulu picked up the thread of the conversation. “We destroyed the remains of Lady Yunalesca and…” She trailed off as Cid looked at her, having picked up on something she said.

“We?” He said it slowly, almost as if he dreaded hearing the meaning. Yuna looked at her feet again and played with the hem of her sleeve.

“Ah, Uncle Cid… that was the other thing.” She peeked up at him through her hair. “When I declared I was ending my pilgrimage Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri and I, swore ourselves as guardians to Summoner Harry.” The bridge went quiet after that. Cid’s expression turned to one of pure surprise as he looked at Yuna, then to Harry and back, his mouth working up and down but no noise coming out. Soon, it all became too much for the big Al Bhed and there was a thunderous CRASH as he toppled over backwards to the cold metal floor. Yuna shrank back a little as it triggered a more vocal response from the others on the bridge. The chaos was only made worse when Brother, began to add his yells of ‘FRANA DU? FRANA DU?’, to the mix. (Where to? Where to?)

The guardian’s retreated from underfoot and wondered over that question. Where were they going from here? They all turned to look for Harry but come up short when they discovered the space by the wall devoid of Summoner and Guardian.

“Where have they snuck off to now?”

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There was surprisingly little wind on the deck of the airship considering the altitude it was at and the speeds in which it was flying. Harry sat cross legged atop the large painted symbol of the Al Bhed, staring down at the blue and green patterns, a frown flitting across his face. Off to one side Tidus gave a grunt as the rib repairing charm Harry had just cast went to work.

“I think I’ve missed something.” He said out loud and the blonde gave a short noise of discomfort in response. Harry rolled his eyes and went back to staring.

“Seriously,” He began again. “there’s this, I don’t know… a tug. It keeps on pulling at me like I forgot something and now it’s trying to get my attention.” The dark haired teen didn’t like the feeling. It was like Neville had said all that long ago, holding his red colored Remembrall.

“The problem is, I can’t remember what it is I’ve forgotten!”

That was exactly what this felt like, but those words brought up the thought of something else, Neville himself. With all the parallels between this time and the one he was born in, Harry surprised himself by not noticing the other one that had been lingering around him. Having O'aka around… it was almost like Neville was there again. Some of his first thoughts about the Ex-merchant standing before them on the deck of the ferry in Luca Harbor had been about how his potential had been sealed like Neville’s. He also had an uncanny ability to make potions and find materials and plants in the wilderness.

There was next to no difference in their behaviors, but for the fact that O'aka seemed to have the happy middle ground between to much confidence and none at all. Neville had always been a little bi polar in that aspect. Ron had always hated the other Gryffindor’s mood swings because whenever they got competitive he would loose.

…Ron…

“That’s it!” Harry shot up from his slouch and grinned over at Tidus who was only just getting up again. The blonde gave him a quizzical look and Harry had to explain.

“The Aeons! There are more than just the one’s I’ve seen! I still need to visit Besaid to speak with Rowena and Ron is out there somewhere, he’s not going to get off the hook that easily!” Tidus’s thoughts flashed back to the red headed Fayth that Harry had gone berserk at in their shared dream, but before he could open his mouth to ask about it they where interrupted.

“HARRY!” They looked over their shoulder to where the elevator onto the deck had opened and found Yuna skipping toward them, Kimahri in tow as usual. “Kimahri had an idea about where we should go next!” She stepped aside and looked up at the Ronso, silently urging him to tell.

“Key to fight Sin, might be in Yevon’s teachings.” Tidus gave him a rather skeptical look.

“They help how?” The Ronso ignored the tone.

“No answers in the teachings, answers lie outside teachings. Know both sides, then find answer.” Harry seemed to mull over the Ronso’s answer.

“He has a point.” Harry admitted. “Knowing what that worm does and doesn’t want done might help in figuring out the specifics of what we’ll need to do.”

“Mika knows much. Find him, find answers.” Both teenage male’s looked at Kimahri with eyebrows raised after that sentence. It sounded like he was already gleefully anticipating the chance to interrogate the last remaining Maester.

“Right…” Harry relayed his own theory of more Aeons and was still muttering to himself as they made their way back toward the bridge. When they reached it though they where ambushed by the newly awakened Rikku, and Wakka.

“Hey! Hey! I just had a great idea, Ya!” Wakka shoved in front of Rikku to get their attention.

“Meanie!” Rikku stomped on his foot and stood before Harry. “Actually it was my idea.” She exclaimed proudly. Wakka limped forward and pushed Rikku aside.

“It’s like this, ya?” Rikku retaliated in kind and pinched him in the side before delivering a swift chop to his gut.

“I just thought…”

“The Hymn is the key.” Lulu interrupted, speaking over both of them. Rikku and Wakka sagged in disappointment as she broke the news before they could.

“The Hymn?” Tidus queried, somewhat absentmindedly as he moved further into the room. He had a tendency to either become enraged or zone out at the mention of his male parental unit. Lulu nodded.

“Yes. Jecht did like the Hymn of the Fayth, did he not?” The blonde gave the reluctant confirmation, an image of the man singing it swimming to the front of his mind.

“That’s why he was listening to it in Macalania!” Rikku squealed, butting in and proud of herself for noticing the fact in the first place. Lulu smiled indulgently at the thought.

“Sin… violence incarnate, listening peacefully.” The very idea of it was almost ludicrous to hear when said aloud.

Wakka stood off to the side, looking sheepish all of a sudden as a thought struck him. “Uh… I know it’s your old man, and we don’t mean no disrespect or nothin’, but…” He trailed off, scratching the back of his head and Tidus just rolled his eyes.

“He’s going to die.” He said in deadpan. “I don’t care.” The conversation hit a block of sorts after that until Lulu came forward once more, preventing Wakka from saying anything else that was potentially stupid.

“Let me say it.” She said, crossing her arms loosely under her chest. “If Sin attacks head on, we’ve little chance of winning. However, if he hears the Hymn of the Fayth, he will become docile.” Wakka nodded along with her, his grin returning.

“Yeah, and that’s when me make our move! Might be against the rules and all, but who’s keeping track, ya?”

“Yeah!” Rikku piped up. “It could really work!”

Both Summoner and Guardian thought it over, their minds working on over time in an attempt to calculate the possibilities of distracting Sin in that manner. Eventually they turned back to the eager trio shrugging.

“Yeah… yeah, it could work. At least, it’s worth trying.” Rikku and Wakka both got silly grins as they went off to plot in a corner. Even as they did, Yuna and Kimahri caught up to them, taking up positions in the clear part of the room as they waited for everyone to explain their ideas to the newly awakened Cid. When they where done Wakka let out a laugh.

“I got a good feeling about this.” He crowed. Rikku wasn’t about to be outdone for the title of cheeriest person in the room and drew herself up proudly.

“Well it was my idea you know.” Lulu shook her head at their antics.

“I guess it’s all or nothing.” Her voice, held an uncharacteristic abundance of hope, totally negating the usually sarcasm that layered her tone. Cid, just looked between them and then back to the pair in the center before shaking his head and giving in. He didn’t like the fact that Yuna would still be in danger, but these people had come up with a plausible solution to the problem of Sin. All they needed now, was to train themselves to a level high enough to give them a fair chance.

“Well, that sounds like a plan to me!” His voice carried loudly throughout the deck and he chuckled. “And this baby,” He added, one hand lovingly petting a console beside him. “Will take you all where ever you want to go.”

It was the least he could do to help.

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When they reached the entry of Bevelle they weren’t surprised to find it under heavy guard. With the deaths of three Maester’s in the space of a few weeks it had been left to Maester Mika to pick up the pieces of their shattered order. People had been rioting and there was still some uproar over the events on the tower top the day they’d all laid it under siege. All things considered, it wasn’t surprising when two of the gate guards openly challenged them.

“Infidels!” One cried out in a slightly strangled tone, his gun out before him.

Gatta sighed from his place beside Rikku. “Man, don’t these people ever give up?”

“You’ll regret showing your face here.” The other guard spoke up. His eyes had dark rings around them and he looked more than a little weary from stress. Everyone seemed to be at the end of their tether. “We’ll strike you down in the name of Yevon.”

There was a time where some of them would have cringed at hearing those words but Wakka just yawned, an indication he was finally getting over his previous fanaticism.

“Blah, blah, blah…” Tidus gave them a dismissive wave. “So what? Guys?” The last part was addressed to the group.

“If it’s a fight they want, let’s give ‘em one!” Being a good little rebellious Al Bhed Rikku was looking forward to dishing out some much-desired revenge on those who’d killed many of her people.

“Prepare to charge!” The first guard called to the others scattered along the Highbridge, but before any one could move there was a shout from the gates.

“STOP!”

Everyone watched as a greenish blur rushed into their midst and came to a stop, revealing a panting Shelinda. The young acolyte looked between the groups and her eyes settled on the two Summoners standing behind the protective row of people.

“Captain?” A guard blurted out in his surprise.

“Lady Yuna and Master Harry are not to be harmed!” She proclaimed loudly, making the guards murmur in surprise and confusion. “They are not traitors! That was just a rumor spread by some evil Al Bhed!”

Tidus’s arm lashed out at the last second to lay a steadying hand on Rikku’s shoulder as her jaw dropped. “WHAT?!”

“Maester Mika himself told me.” Shelinda continued to lecture the guards, completely ignoring Rikku’s incredulous outburst. The men looked between themselves.

“Then… what are we to do?” one asked hesitantly.

“Stand down!” Rikku ordered shortly, still fuming.

Shelinda happily nodded along with her this time. “As she says.”

The guards nodded stiffly but did as they where told, resuming their original positions along the Highbridge.

Rikku put her hands on her hips and frowned as the other woman turned back to them. “What was that about evil Al Bhed?” She demanded.

Shelinda come closer and swiped her forehead with her sleeve, rubbing her face tiredly. “I… Truly, I do not understand it myself. All Yevon seems to be in a state of confusion. Why, yesterday they called me out of the blue and made me captain of the guard!”

“Short on believers?” Auron asked with an amused snort.

“Yes, the chaos in the temples is worse than I’d imagined. It’s horrible! And all the priests do is blame each other. I worry what will become of Yevon. But no! I must be the rock that stands against the swirling tides, right? Lady Yuna, I must tell you, your courage has been a great inspiration to me.” She beamed at the other girl and Yuna looked down.

“About that.” Yuna began quietly. Through out her journey, Shelinda had always been there as a friend to say hello when they needed it and Yuna had become rather fond of her. “I think you deserve to know, that I gave up my pilgrimage.” Shelinda gasped and Yuna looked up, a small smile on her face.

“But it’s alright, because I found a new purpose.” The acolyte turned captain stared.

“Whatever do you mean, Lady Yuna?” the Ex-Summoner looked over at Harry and Shelinda followed her gaze.

“I am a guardian now, and I believe that Summoner Harry will be the one to bring in the eternal calm.” She said, her words confident as the day she’d spoken them on the steps of Zanarkand’s Cloister of Trials. Shelinda looked Harry over, almost appraisingly before she nodded.

“That’s okay.” She said brightly. “I still think you’re brave to go with them.” Yuna smiled back before Tidus, finally getting impatient with the chatter, broke in.

“Yeah, that’s great, but we came here to see Maester Mika. Is he here?” Everyone regained their focus and looked at the captain.

Shelinda’s eyes widened at being put on the spot but she managed to talk without stammering. “Yes, I shall arrange an audience. Please wait in the courtroom.” She waved over a guard to escort them into the city and ran off.

“Hey, hey, wait!” Rikku called after her but by the time she’d shaken off the grouchy mood somewhat it was already to late. “What was all that stuff about the Al Bhed lying?” She grumbled again as she followed the others, her face twisted into a scowl.

“Simple.” Auron said, passing her. “We have become Mika’s only hope.” He said it like it explained everything and it did. Mika was barely in control as it was and he’d needed a way of placating the malcontents until he could figure something else, so he’d merely blamed his mistakes on the most convenient scapegoats, meaning, the Al Bhed.

“Oh… okay.”

“Just what does he think he can get away with?” Lulu didn’t sound so agreeable to the idea either as she shook her head.

“Maybe we should teach him some manners!” Gatta piped up in defense of his girlfriend before they lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip.

----------------------------------------------------

“Why are you here?!”

When they made their way onto the upper tiers of the courtroom they found themselves facing a fuming old man who’s long gray mustache was shifting back and forth almost comically as he glared at them from the same place he’d been standing during their earlier farce of a trial. “You must go and defeat Sin, quickly! You have obtained the Final Aeon from Yunalesca, have you not?”

The group shifted restlessly, wondering how they’d break the news, but in the end it was Tidus who spoke out first. “Well, we did meet her.”

“We fought and defeated her.” Harry came right out and said it, green eyes narrowed in disapproval.

Mika looked as though someone had just walked up to him and slapped him with a phonebook for the entirety of London, stumbling back as if he’d taken a real blow. “WHAT?”

“Summoners and guardians will be sacrificed for the Final Summoning no more!” Auron added his two cents, his tone almost poisonous.

Mika was trembling. Whether it was with terror or rage, they weren’t sure, but it was obvious this wasn’t what he’d expected of them. “You have profaned and subverted a thousand-year-old tradition! Fools! Infants! Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve taken away the only means of calming Sin!”

“No we haven’t!” Harry’s outburst threw the room into silence and the priests that had been moving around on the lower level stopped and stared as the Dark Summoner matched Mika’s glare. “If anything, we have save you from repeating the same mistakes you’ve been making for those thousand years!” His angry bellow seemed to have more effect than Mika’s impotent rage, the Maester shying away from him. “By giving Yevon a new way to respawn you’ve been feeding the misery of the people for so long they’ve almost forgotten what it was like too be happy! They say Sin will disappear when they’ve atoned for their Sin’s, but the one’s who have to atone for them are you!” He cut off his rant, breathing heavily before he waved his hand in a speechless gesture of anger.

“I don’t even want to look at you.” He said disgustedly and stormed off, feeling for the path down to the Cloister of Trials so he could speak to the Fayth. Tidus stayed a moment longer and glared at the unsent Maester one last time before he too followed.

“The final summon can’t be the only way.” Yuna took up the job of spokesperson. “We already have a plan for another.”

“Why… Preposterous! There is no other way…” Mika trailed off somewhat weakly.

“The Grand Maester, running away?” Auron taunted his fellow undead, taking a menacing step in his direction.

Mika shook his head, not even listening to a word said around him anymore. “Spira has lost its only hope. Destruction is inevitable. Yu Yevon’s spiral of death will consume us all. I have no desire to watch Spira die.”

“It won’t die!” Yuna ground out somewhat impatiently.

“And just who is Yu Yevon?” Gatta spoke out boldly, focusing on the name.

“Yes, Lady Yunalesca also mentioned him.” Lulu confirmed, dark eyes pinning the Maester with a look.

“Hey, gramps! Who’s Yu Yevon?” Rikku waved her hand in the Maester’s face to get his attention back on the subject.

The unsent’s eyes where misty, remembering something that he’d once been told a very, very long time ago.

“He who crafts the souls of the dead into an unholy armor. An armor called Sin. Clad in it, Yu Yevon is invincible. And the only thing that could have pierced that armor, you have destroyed! Nothing can stop him now!” With a final distraught cry the pyreflies that made up his very being appeared, releasing the illusion of life and scattering into the shadows.

“Disappear on us, will ya!” Wakka gave a small growl of frustration. “Rotten son of a Shoopuf!”

It was only a few seconds before they heard a scurry of footsteps and Shelinda appeared on one of the lower terraces.

“Where… where is the Grand Maester?” She asked, looking around for him.

“He, ummm…” Yuna looked helplessly at the other guardians and Auron took pity on her.

“He’s not here yet. How long must we wait?”

Shelinda’s brow furrowed in confusion, she could have sworn he’d been there earlier. “That’s odd… I’ll go look for His Grace.” With a small bow, she raced off once more. The guardians looked between each other and then at the door Harry had walked out of.

It looked as though they where in for a longer wait.

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The amber covered statue of the Fayth pulsed with a gentle light as Harry entered the Chamber of the Fayth, Tidus beside him. It wasn’t until he’d been listening to the ringing thrum of the Hymn for a full minute that he finally calmed down enough to think. Crossing the stone floor he bowed to the statue before gratefully going to his knees. Tired of all the walking already.

It didn’t take long for the Fayth to respond, and soon they where staring at the small childlike form of Bahamut as he floated before them.

“Hello.” He greeted simply and Tidus half waved to him before dropping easily to sit down by Harry.

“Hey, so what’s up?” Bahamut floated lazily for a moment before copying them.

“Have you found a way to truly defeat Sin?” He asked.

“Well… we think so.” Tidus answered, looking down at Harry’s dark hair and Bahamut switched his focus.

“Well?”

“I’ve seen the Armor of Immorality before.” Harry explained. “Although I don’t know how they found it or why it was used. The last I saw of it was in the final battle with Voldemort.” Bahamut stared at him thoughtfully.

“The war…” he explained dreamily. “Spira and Zanarkand where at war, and the people of Zanarkand felt they had nothing left. So they delved deep into history and found the record of the spell. They thought that maybe they could use it to leave their mark on Spira. An everlasting revenge on the people who threatened them before they where whipped out.” It made sense, at least to a point. It was amazing how much the need for revenge could hurt the people that loved you. Yevon had ended up killing more of his own people than the enemy.

“We were going to use the Hymn of the Fayth to slow it down.” Tidus explained.

“Hmmmm… perhaps.” Bahamut seemed to come to the same conclusion they did. “But it won’t be enough to stop it completely. It has been a long time since your father became Sin… he might not hear our song so well anymore.”

Tidus nodded in understanding his mind drifting slightly as he was reminded of something else the Fayth had told him amid the dreamers on Gagazet, but he didn’t ask about it. Eventually, Bahamut spoke again.

“If it works, what will you do then? You need more than the Hymn.” They sat in another comfortable silence.

“We’ll fight the spell caster.” Harry looked at the Fayth and his Guardian.

“To end the spell holding the Armor together we’ll need to weaken him first. That’s where the Aeons will come in.” He stared into the shadows of Bahamut’s hood. “Once we pass the external shell, we can confront Jecht, and once that is gone, the caster will revert to energy in order to remain on this plane. Usually, if my guess is correct, it would have the Final Summoning to possess as a new body shortly after its old one dissolved. Without that backup, we can force the spirit to possess something else… something weaker, and once that is destroyed we can go through all the Aeons we have until the spirit is diminished to the point of no return. Making it weak enough to kill without any serious harm.” Bahamut stared at him for a long time before his lips curved in a smile.

“And thus the dreamers can finally sleep.” He concluded to Harry’s nod.

“You’ve been dreaming a long time, haven’t you.” Tidus looked at the Fayth, tiredly. Almost feeling the power that was ever so slowly ebbing away, just like the Fayth couldn’t go on dreaming forever… dreaming about him.

Bahamut caught his train of thought and lowered his head, the shadow of his hood growing deeper. “I’m sorry.” Tidus waved his hand dismissively once more, getting slowly to his feet.

“I’m grateful.” Harry looked between them, his face unreadable before he turned to Tidus.

“Could you… could you wait outside for a moment?” The blonde stared at him in surprise for a moment before the eventually turned and walked out of the Chamber. Harry tightened his mental defenses to block him out and faced the Fayth.

The boy stared back, as Harry sat up properly and folded his hands in front of him.

Bahamut started singing again.

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The rapid pitter patter of footsteps on the carpet announced Shelinda’s presence before she came into view around the corner, panting heavily and wearing a worried frown.

“I’m sorry, but it appears that Grand Maester Mika is nowhere to be found.” It was more than obvious that she found this news disturbing. Tidus made his way to the front of the group and put a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. We were just leaving… I’m sure Mika will turn up somewhere.” It was a barefaced lie, but Shelinda didn’t know that. She smiled at them haggardly before Rikku made a loud squeak.

“Hey! Maybe you could help us with the Hymn.” She suggested, bouncing in place.

“That’s actually a good idea.” Tidus looked over his shoulder teasingly and Rikku poked her tongue out at him before bounding to Shelinda and taking her by the arm, babbling enthusiastically.

“It’s like, we need you to tell as many people as you can!”

“What should I tell them?” The young red head asked apprehensively, eyeing the bouncing Al Bhed nervously.

“A ship in the sky will sing the Hymn of the Fayth. When the hear it, we need everyone to sing along!”

“Everyone in Bevelle.” Wakka enthused, picking up on Rikku’s almost contagious excitement.

Shelinda frowned faintly. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“You don’t have to!” Rikku laughed, “Just tell everyone!”

“A ship in the sky will sing the Hymn of the Fayth? So when they hear it, everyone should sing along, correct?” The previously sheltered woman was still confused, but she was warming up to the idea of everyone singing the Hymn together. Maybe it would help to cool some of the brewing tempers.

“If they do,” Harry was the one who endeavored to explain. “We might be able to distract Sin long enough to defeat it.”

That got her attention.

Shelinda’s expression lit up. “Truly?”

“Yes.” Yuna assured her from the back of the group, going along with everyone else.

Shelinda smiled, and they knew they’d finally managed to convince her to do it. “That’s wonderful, you can count on me! I shall tell the whole city!” With that, she span around and all but skipped to the nearest cluster of guards who in turn hurried out of the temple to spread the news. Rikku looked around proudly and dusted her hands together, ridding them of imaginary dirt. Their job here was done, for now.

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The month following their visit to Bevelle went slowly for the Summoners and Guardians.

Using the Al Bhed Airship as a home base they all went their separate ways to make their preparations for an assault on Sin. Before they left, Cid had given them all homing beacons attuned to their sphereocilofinder, that would help them keep track of them and make it easier to call them when they needed a lift.

Kimahri was first to disembark, going back to Gagazet in order to look for any survivors of Seymour’s massacre with a promise to meet up with them all again in Luca when he eventually made his way to see the Ronso Blitz ball team that Wakka had so graciously reminded him off.

O'aka left them shortly after, for the forests of Macalania when he found news of his brother. Wantz had left Besaid when he heard that his Merchant brother had become a guardian and hadn’t really believed it until O'aka had dragged Harry out of the room he shared with Tidus after a long night of… personal activities… fortunately, he hadn’t needed to speak, or he mightn’t have managed to think straight enough to respond.

Rikku and Gatta, where always moving around as they went from place to place on orders from Cid to check on all the small Al Bhed conclaves that where built away from Home, as well as helping out the search effort for survivors on Bikanel.

Lulu, Wakka and Yuna returned to Besaid, getting only a lukewarm welcome as the messenger from Bevelle telling of Yuna’s innocence as a traitor had arrived only hours before them and soon, Auron, Harry and Tidus where the only one’s left living on the airship. Though, even then, Auron kept to himself, brooding when he wasn’t taking day trips away from the ship in whatever place they’d stopped to train.

Harry finally got to see Rowena again. The Fayth that once represented Knowledge among the Students and Teachers of Hogwarts and now, had become the Fayth of Besaid, had remembered him, even if he had just been a faint memory of a Summoner that found her many centuries ago. She’d been delighted to hear from him again, if only because he remembered what it was like in the ‘old world’. In return she told him some of the things she’d seen through the eyes of her Summon over the last couple of thousand years.

But in the end, their final stop was the Calm lands.

After doing some research, and getting the airship to fly over the region, he’d found a temple that could only be accessed by Chocobo’s, and a cave within the great ravine left over from his own battle.

It seemed oddly appropriate that his best friend had been left there to rot for thousands of years. Just knowing that made Harry feel better as he steeled himself to enter the cavern of the lost Fayth.

Ron shouldn’t have been such a prat, dropping that bombshell on him in the first place.