FicWad

Greetings dear readers. There is a link on my page containing a picture of Harry's new weapon. Hope you enjoy the update.
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A New Face Appears

The group sat in silence as they both struggled to wrap their minds around each others' stories. Cid was the first to speak. "Damn kid, you been through some rough times, huh? Certainly done more than some of us can say."

Harry nodded glumly. "It was all for nothing, though, if what you say is true. My entire world, gone, devoured by the… what did you call them?"

"The Heartless," said Leon. "There was a time when they threatened to consume every world there is, but these days they are much less common. They only show up in worlds whose people have let darkness consume their hearts."

"Right. But then how did I survive and end up here?"

This time it was Aerith who replied. "People with strong hearts that are full of light. People who don't allow the darkness to overcome them may sometimes be saved from that destruction."

Harry perked up at her response. "So it's possible that other people from my world survived?"

"Anything is possible, Harry. But it's pretty unlikely." Yuffie's words instantly dispelled Harry's brief moment of optimism. "I don't mean to sound negative or anything, but if even one person survives the destruction of their world, that's better than usual."

"So what now?" Harry asked. Before anyone could say anything, an explosion rocked the small house, and he watched as everyone was suddenly running out the door. "Hey, wait for me!" Harry followed them out into the dim twilight, only to watch them dart away from the house faster than he had ever seen anyone run before.

He made to follow them further, but Tifa put her arm out in front of him, startling Harry as he looked into her blood-red eyes. How had he not seen her standing there? "Leave this to us, Harry. I know you're not a pushover, but anything that's made it past our defenses is likely way beyond anything even you have dealt with." Harry bristled at the casual dismissal, but nodded his head, remembering how useless his spells had been against the Heartless that had invaded Hogwarts. "Follow that path, and you'll find a safe-house for refugees like yourself. They'll help you decide what to do next."

With that, Tifa ran off to join the others, leaving Harry to make his way in the other direction, alone. The houses all looked the same, so he followed the main path that Tifa had indicated to him. As he walked down the path, taking in the serene beauty of the world, he tried his best to accept the impossible. That his world had been destroyed, swallowed up by a strange enemy, but he had somehow survived. He alone was the only surviving memory of the mystical land of Hogwarts, of the entire planet Earth. How was he supposed to continue on when everything he knew no longer existed?

And yet… somehow, he just knew that he couldn't be the only survivor. Certainly, Hermione and Ron had survived. The bond among the three of them was too strong to be destroyed by something as simple as the destruction of their world. At least, he hoped it was. Clinging to this desperate shred of hope, Harry turned his eyes skyward to the slowly setting sun and the emerging stars. He knew he would see his friends again someday. Sooner rather than later, hopefully. He turned his gaze back to the path, and was surprised to see that someone stood in the middle, blocking a large staircase. "Hey there," Harry called to the person, hoping that they could give him better instructions.

The person turned suddenly, dropping into a battle stance and drawing a wicked looking double bladed sword from behind his back. Shocked, he grasped his hand around his wand as the person spoke. "Where am I, you Talamh deadbeat?"

Harry was utterly confused at the stranger's declaration. He was much taller than Harry, with messy brown hair much like his own, but the thing that stood out most about him was his eyes, which glowed a bright yellow. "I asked you a question, you green-eyed runt. Tell me before I have to kill you."

He took a step toward Harry, who pulled out his wand and shouted "Expelliarmus!" The man's strange sword flew out of his hand and fell at Harry's feet, genuinely stunning him. "What kind of magic is that?"

"What does it matter? Now why did you attack me?"

His eyes narrowed. "Don't play games with me, Talamh. Your very existence is enough for me to attack you, as you well know." Harry was utterly lost at this point, and his day only got worse when the man raised his hand and shot a large blast of fire at Harry. He managed to dive out of the way just in time, shooting an Exploding Hex at his enemy. It exploded against a wall harmlessly, as the man was no longer there. Glancing back to where he came from, he saw that the enemy had regained his weapon, dodging every spell Harry threw at him as he bared down on Harry. In a last ditch effort to save himself, Harry closed his eyes and threw his arms up in front of him as he fell backwards.

Suddenly, a blast of light shone through his eyelids. He heard his enemy grunting with effort as the blow Harry expected to feel never came. Another flash of light and he heard the man yell as he seemed to be blown back across the path by some unknown force. Harry opened his eyes and saw the man picking himself up off the ground, but his attention was focused on the weapon that was suddenly in his hands.

At least, he thought it was a weapon. It was roughly the same size and shape as a sword, but it was green, had no edge, and had a strange angular design at the end and hilt. As he looked at it, an ethereal voice rang through his mind, whispering the word "Keyblade…"

Before he could examine it further, he heard an angry shout as the enemy charged back towards him, sword ready. Harry lifted the surprisingly light weapon, knowing full well that there was no way he could ever be able to hold his own against the accomplished enemy, having never lifted a weapon other than his wand. But there was no way he was going to give up without a fight. As the enemy swung his sword toward Harry, the voice whispered to Harry to direct the Keyblade, and he followed without hesitation. The Keyblade met his opponent's sword and easily deflected it, much to the surprise of them both. The enemy swung again, and again Harry parried. He was somehow managing to hold his own against someone who had obviously had years of experience in swordplay.

When the enemy shot another blast of fire towards Harry and he dispelled it with the Keyblade, he actually laughed in exhilaration. His happiness was short-lived, however, as his enemy had disappeared from his sight while he was distracted. "What…?" A whisper came from behind him, and he turned to parry just a hair too slow, and felt himself punched clear across the path, falling heavily on the stone. He suddenly felt himself being pulled up by the front of his robes and found himself staring into the man's yellow eyes again.

"I'll ask you again; where are we?"

Harry coughed to relieve the pain in his chest. "It's called Hollow Bastion, but beyond that, I don't know, I only just got here."

The man dropped Harry to the ground. "There, was that so hard now? Now I can stop playing with you and kill you outright."

He raised his weapon to strike Harry down, but without warning, another figure appeared in front of Harry, sending his opponent flying through the air once again, though he managed to land on his feet. Tifa stood in front of Harry, her fists raised. "Just can't stay out of trouble, can you, Harry? That's good, I don't like boring people."

"Why did you attack me, Kaji?" The man stood with his weapon ready again.

"What'd you call me, creep?" Tifa clenched her fists in anger.

"Kaji. That is the name of our clan, is it not? I can tell by the color of your eyes. Why are you defending this Talamh?"

Tifa looked at the man with sorrowful eyes as she lowered her guard. She really didn't like having to explain the death of someone's world more than once per day.
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For those of you wondering who the new face is, he is an OC from the novel I am writing. Reviews are always appreciated. ^_^