Title: Fallen Night
Fandoms: Harry Potter & Radiata Stories
Chapter: Prologue of 11
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison
Rating: T
Pairings: Harry/Jack
Warnings: OoC, AU, slash, non-human arc, war
Summary: Harry slipped when he was standing a little too close, and the next thing he knew, he was far away from everything he'd ever known, with something like eternity waiting for him.

Disclaim Her: This story uses characters and settings owned by J.K. Rowling, her publishers, Square Enix and tri-Ace. No money is being made from the creation of this fanfic, and no copywrite infringement is intended.

A/N: This story will be following the non-human arc. Go be human elsewhere. XD

So, I was sitting around one day, playing Radiata Stories, and my brain went, "Harry and Jack would get on pretty well, you know?" And I said, "Oh, crap." And this story was born.
(And, yeah, I know. "Stop doing crossovers, Bats!" -sweatdrop-)

THIS FIC IS FINISHED! It will be posted once a week, every week, until the entire thing is up. (For the record, there are twelve chapters, counting this prologue.)

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Prologue - Falling
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Harry blamed Hermione. Really, was it so hard to keep a watch? He always had to come down and hunt for her during his lunch break for any planned meals together.

So, there he was, once again, looking around for his best friend in the hundreds – well, okay, not quite that many – of rooms in the Department of Mysteries. Her desk had been abandoned, and the project room he'd found her in last week was likewise empty. He'd checked the Time Room and the Prophecy Room, having found her in both places before, but didn't see her in either. He'd checked practically everywhere but the Death Room.

Harry really didn't want to go into the Death Room again. Never mind that Sirius had died there, later tests found that if there wasn't someone to stop him, Harry might very well walk straight through the Veil.

Of course, the Death Room was all that was left, and Harry was getting quite hungry – and running out of time for lunch, besides – so he took a deep breath, reminded himself he was an auror, and walked right in.

Hermione was fiddling with something next to the Veil.

"Hermione," Harry sighed, shaking his head. He proceeded to call her name a bit louder, but she was too involved in whatever she seemed to be doing, so she didn't hear him. Heaving another great sigh, Harry started down the steps, biting the inside of his cheek to, hopefully, keep control of himself.

Harry reached Hermione and gently shook her shoulder. She looked up, startled, then smiled at him. "Lunch time?"

Harry snorted. "I should cast an alarm charm on your nose or something. Really, Hermione."

Hermione sighed and cast a quick tempus, then winced when she saw that there were only ten minutes left for Harry's usual lunch break. "Maybe a tracking charm?" she suggested, setting down the things she was working on. "Here, help me up."

Harry shook his head, but reached down all the same to help his best friend to her feet. "What say we go before I start going crazy?" he suggested, nodding his head towards the Veil, but firmly not looking at it. It seemed to help.

Hermione blinked, glanced at the Veil in confusion, then gasped. "Oh! Harry, I'm sorry! Let's get you out of here." She took his arm and started hauling him away from the Veil.

Harry chuckled and let her drag him. "Hermione, slow down," he called.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but slowed down at the edge of the platform the Veil was on so she could climb down the narrow stairs.

Harry shook his head again and, not watching where he was going, stepped on a tool of Hermione's that had rolled away from her workspace. His feet flew out from beneath him and his hand slipped from Hermione's grip. He fell backward, straight into the Veil.

Hermione turned around in time to get conked in the head with the errant tool and crumpled to the ground.

-0-0-0-

Harry landed on packed dirt and groaned.

Two human-like beings walked over to him and looked down at him with surprise etched on their faces. "I've never seen a flying human before," the one with an aristocratic face and shimmering wings commented.

"Looked more like falling to me," the darker one with kind red eyes and no wings replied.

Harry blinked up at them, then forced himself to sit up, holding his spinning head in one hand. "Bloody hell. What just happened?"

"You fell out of the sky," the winged one informed him drily, apparently deciding that was more likely than Harry having flown.

Harry sighed and glanced around, hoping he recognised where he was. He didn't, of course, and he was also pretty darn certain that that flower didn't exist. "What the–? Where am I?"

The two standing above him traded looks, then the darker one said, "In the Cuatour Region."

"The where?" He'd never heard of a place called that before, and, given, his geography was a bit sketchy, but surely not that bad.

"The Cuatour Region," the darker one supplied again. "It connects the Elf Region, the Nowem Region and Radiata City."

Harry looked between the two, completely confused. He'd never heard of any of those places before. For that matter, he was pretty sure there weren't any countries on Earth that divided its areas into 'regions'. Counties and cities and towns, sure. But... regions?

"We should take him to Lord Anzer," the darker one said.

"What? No! Point him back in the direction of Radiata and let them deal with him! He's a human."

"Does he look like he comes from Radiata?" The darker one pointed to Harry's clothes, which were that of an active auror – dragon hide boots, shirt and trousers, covered by a heavy battle robe, which had all sorts of enchantments woven into the fabric and a belt with pouches for potions and other little toys.

"He looks like one of the fools trying to use magic," the one with wings pointed out.

The darker one considered Harry again, then shook her head. "Uh-uh. They always look like scholars. He's a fighter."

"A knight, decked out like a mage?"

"I'm neither a knight, nor a mage," Harry interrupted, done with listening to them squabble over who he was. "I'm a wizard, thank you very much, and I'm perfectly capable of magic." So saying, he pulled out his wand and used it to fix a rip in one of his pouches, then proceeded to put the potions that had fallen out – far too many for such a little pouch – back in.

The two standing over him traded startled looks, then the one with wings said, "Let's take him to Lord Anzer."

-0-0-0-

It had taken a while for Harry to agree to follow the two to the Elf Region and into the City of Flowers, but follow he did. Lord Anzer turned out to be another aristocratic sort of being with green hair and the shimmering wings. After the two who'd brought Harry had explained what all had happened, Lord Anzer turned to Harry and, after introducing the two who found Harry as Fang (the one with wings) and Autumn (the darker one), said, "Where do you hail from?"

Harry blinked, then said, "London, England."

The other three in the room blinked right back.

Harry sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. I had an... accident, I suppose? I fell into a magical artefact back home and ended up on the ground between those two. Nothing looks familiar and nothing sounds familiar, either. Some of my people have been doing studies on alternate universes, and since one of the people working on that project was working on that artefact..."

"You think you've come from a different universe?" Fang said, then laughed.

Harry considered him for a long moment, unamused, then shot a silencing spell at him.

Lord Anzer glanced at Fang, then nodded to Harry's wand. "May I see that?"

Harry frowned at him a bit suspiciously, but held out his wand. He had enough potions and could perform a wandless summoning spell, if it came down to a fight.

Lord Anzer looked the wand over, eyebrows climbing progressively higher. Finally, he held it as Harry had and gave it a wave. A poof of smoke came out the tip and he handed it back to Harry, a faint smile on his lips. "That's a curious device. It helps you control the magic innate to you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes." He glanced at Fang, who was turning red, and cancelled his spell, then put his wand away.

Fang glared at him, announcing, "Humans don't have innate magic. Elves have it, but not humans."

"If humans don't have innate magic, why are they trying to use it?" Harry asked, recalling what Fang had said when they were arguing over what to do with Harry before.

"They draw magic from the world around them," Lord Anzer offered. "No, the humans of this world don't have innate magic, but you do. Also, I don't recognise the components in that... What would you call it?"

"A wand. It's made of the wood from a holly tree and the core is the feather of a phoenix."

The elves – Harry could only assume that's what they were, despite not looking quite like the elves of his world were said to look and appearing to be two different sorts – all gave him blank looks.

Harry sighed. "No?"

"We do not have any such... holly trees?" Autumn offered. "And... Uhm... What is a phoenix?"

Harry sighed again. "A phoenix is a bird born from an element. The most common in my world – though I would hardly call phoenixes common – are those born from fire. I've only ever heard of one ice-born phoenix, and there was a rumour of a light-born..." Harry trailed off upon noticing the continued blank looks. "Oh, please tell me you have things like fire?"

"What do you take us for?" Fang snapped. "Humans?"

Harry gave Fang a dirty look, mentally listing all the curses he knew that he could use on the little bugger. It was a long list.

"We understand elements," Lord Anzer offered. "I know the humans are currently trying to make their magic by manipulating the elements, and most elven magic has to do with the elements. But we don't have creatures born from them. Wind seems to be the easiest for light elves to manage, while the dark elves," he nodded to Autumn, "seem more capable with fire."

Harry nodded his understanding. "I don't know about humans here, but those in my world – the magic we use in my world, really – lean more towards non-elemental magic. I mean, I can do magic that uses the elements, but I know more spells that do things like stun or silence."

"You give people status aliments," Autumn offered. At Harry's startled look, she explained, "That's what we call those things, status aliments. There are magical items that can be used to heal them, and some people can build up a resistance to them. Like, my brother, Jason; he's built up a resistance to being blinded, so if something hits him with an attack that would blind him, it only works a quarter of the time. It used to work more often."

"Huh." Harry rubbed at the back of his head. "I wonder if I could learn that skill." He smiled at Autumn and received one back, then looked up at Lord Anzer. "Is it okay if I stay with your people for a little bit and try and learn some more about your magic? And maybe see if I can pick up some of these skills?"

Lord Anzer nodded. "I don't see why not. You intend to try and find a way back to your world?"

"Yeah. And I'd like to have something to show for it, if at all possible. Maybe I can teach your people some of the spells I know."

Lord Anzer smiled. "I think my people would like that."

-0-0-0-

Harry stayed with the elves for five years, travelling between the City of Flowers, where the light elves lived, and the Forest Metropolis, where the dark elves lived. After the five years, he felt content in what he'd learned and his elven friends were content with what he'd taught them. When he commented to Lord Anzer about finding a way to get home, the elf leader suggested he see what the humans had come up with. Since the humans didn't use innate magic and weren't as in touch with nature as the elves were, they were more likely to find some way to connect the worlds.

So Harry set off to the human city of Radiata. There, he went to the newly formed Vareth Magic Institute and inquired after any such research. As it turned out, no one had yet considered the possibilities of other worlds, but the President was perfectly happy to let Harry use their facilities to research it.

So found Harry enjoying the Vareth library and feeling rather a lot like Hermione. After a year, the Headmaster suggested that Harry might enjoy teaching a class, and since Harry was running low on money – what he had was made from the occasional jaunt outside the city to fight a couple of local monsters – he agreed and took up a class on affliction spells. It had been interesting learning how the humans of this world cast magic and Harry had studied that a bit on the side, so he was able to teach them his spells using their magic-casting.

Because Harry cast magic like an elf, he thought of magic differently from the other humans and there was the occasional argument about a spell, but he enjoyed his time teaching and helping these humans better understand something that Harry couldn't imagine living without.

Once he'd taken up teaching, Harry would find himself being asked along on nights out by other professors and some of his students. At the beginning, he denied all requests so he could spend more time in the library, but as time went by and he finally let himself start to believe that there was no way he'd be getting home, he was more likely to accept the offers. He started to make friends with the other humans, not wanting to live the rest of his life alone in this world.

Harry stayed in Radiata City for almost forty years, helping them advance with magic and knowledge. However, it eventually became apparent to him that he wasn't aging like his human friends, and it scared him. He knew that the magical humans of his world lived almost twice as long as muggles, and wondered if this wasn't something like the same. He knew the elves lived longer than humans, so he eventually decided to pack up and head back to the City of Flowers.

At the City of Flowers, Harry found himself turned away, and when he pleaded to be let in, was told that the only way that would happen was if he managed to kill the guards.

Knowing how most light elves felt about humans and their violent tendencies, Harry backed off, asking that the guards relate a message for him to whoever was in charge of the city that Harry wished to join the elves again and he'd be in the Forest Metropolis. He hoped it was Lord Anzer, as he'd been one of the few light elves who Harry knew would welcome him back, in spite of his being human.

Then Harry travelled to the Forest Metropolis. When he got to the entrance, he was met by an adorable duo who were attempting to look stern. "Who are you?" the boy demanded.

Harry smiled. "Harry. I don't suppose either of you know Autumn? Or Lico?" he requested, naming the two dark elves he had been closest to.

The duo traded looks, then the girl ordered, "Stay here and don't make trouble!" then flounced off into the dark elf home, leaving the boy to continue trying to look stern.

Harry chuckled to himself and found a rock to sit on. When the boy continued to stare, Harry asked, "What's your name, then?"

The boy was silent for a long moment, then deflated a bit and mumbled, "Marty."

Harry nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Marty."

Marty blinked at him, then scampered over to a smaller rock next to Harry and climbed up onto it. "You're a human, aren't you?"

"I am. I take it you haven't seen many of us about?"

"Not up close. Sometimes they come up from Solieu Village to collect herbs from the forest, but they never come this far in. Why are you here?"

Harry considered the boy. "I stayed here for a few years a while back. I was hoping a few friends could help me out with some things."

"Oh." Marty kicked his feet a bit. "Are you a knight?"

Harry chuckled. "No. I'm more of a mage, really."

Marty blinked. "Uncle Fang hates mages."

Harry full-out laughed at that.

"Harry?" a voice whispered. When Harry glanced towards the entrance to the Forest Metropolis, he saw an older Autumn standing there, the girl half-hiding behind her.

"Autumn..."

Autumn laughed and hurried over, hugging Harry and almost knocking him off the rock. "You're alive!"

Harry chuckled and fondly kissed her cheek. "I'd be more worried about my just up and disappearing one day than turning up dead." He stood up from his rock and looked her over. "You're looking well."

"And you haven't changed a bit," Autumn replied. "And, yes, we had wondered if you'd ever found a way back home."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "No. I've sort of given up searching at this point, honestly. I don't know enough about the Veil to figure out how to re-create what happened, never mind the possibility that I'd just get shunted off to another world entirely."

Autumn nodded. "Lord Anzer told us, after you left, that he worried the same thing."

Harry nodded and shrugged. "I'm okay with that, really. Merlin knows I've got enough people here that I care about now, I'd be torn if I did go."

Autumn chuckled. "Yeah? Alright then. But, Harry, what brings you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you and all, but..."

"You never expected to see me again," Harry finished, nodding. "I didn't really expect I'd be back, personally. But I had some questions I was hoping one of you elves could answer, and I was rather firmly turned away at the City of Flowers."

"Light elves don't like humans," Marty helpfully piped up.

Autumn sighed. "Why don't you come in and I'll see if I can't help you any."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded and allowed himself to be led inside, Marty and the girl following behind curiously.

Once inside, Autumn said, "Put your stuff down at the table, but I wouldn't sit quite yet."

"Oh?"

Autumn's smile spoke of mischief as she turned and poked her head into the kitchen. "Jensa, we've a guest, if you'd like to serve up something."

"If it's Fang again, here to rant about humans, I'll..." Jensa trailed off as she poked her head out into the common area. She blinked at Harry, who smiled sheepishly, then let out an excited shout and hurried over to hug him. "You're back!"

Harry laughed and hugged the old cook. "Hello, Jensa."

Jensa's shout brought other members of the little town and Harry soon found himself surrounded by the dark elves he'd been friends with. Everyone scrambled to greet him again and the few who didn't know him joined Marty and the girl over by where Harry had dropped his things, staring in confusion and surprise at the ruckus.

Eventually, they all calmed down and Harry was able to sit down. Most people wandered off to do whatever they'd come running from, but Autumn, Lico, Jensa, Marty and the girl – whose name was Pheena, Harry was told – all sat down at the table with some soup and wine.

"What have you been doing since you've been gone?" Lico asked over a spoonful of soup.

Harry shrugged. "Well, I was trying to find a way back home, but the humans barely know anything about magic as it is, and the possibility of other worlds is so far beyond them..." He sighed and shook his head. "I ended up teaching at the Vareth Magic Institute."

"How'd that work?" Autumn asked.

Harry chuckled. "Oh, I can do magic like humans, too, it's just harder. I sort of had to figure it out so I could live there, anyway."

"Magic like humans?" Pheena wondered, poking her head around Marty, who looked just as curious.

"Harry does magic like elves," Autumn told them. "His magic comes from inside. Humans use the magic in the world around them."

"But Harry's human," Marty argued, then looked at Harry suspiciously. "You said you were."

Harry chuckled and nodded. "Oh, I'm human, but I'm also from a different world, where the rules are a bit different for humans. So I've got magic inside, just like you elves."

Marty blinked at that, then returned to his soup.

"So you taught magic to those silly humans," Lico supplied. "Anything else?"

"Mm..." Harry swallowed, nodding. "Got to know a couple of them. Realised I wasn't aging. Not sure why. I mean, I know humans like me in my world – magic users – tend to live twice as long as the humans who can't use magic, but I'd have thought I'd start to show some signs of aging by now. I mean, it's been forty-five years!"

"That's what you wanted to ask?" Autumn replied. Harry nodded and she sighed. "I know elves live a lot longer than humans, and light elves live longer than us dark elves, but even we show aging."

"A suggestion?" Jensa offered.

"I'm open to anything," Harry replied.

Jensa nodded. "It's possible you've just hit an age where you've got a while before any aging starts to show. I know a couple of light elves who looked almost the exact same for fifty or so years."

Harry considered that. "Barring accidents, what's the maximum age for light elves? Do you know?"

The three adult elves considered that and Autumn eventually suggested, "Maybe two hundred? Two-fifty? Not many elves get to die of old age anymore, what with them forever warring with the humans and algandars running rampant."

Harry grimaced. Algandars was a disease that affected beings who used magic, especially light elves. There were cases of it in dark elves, dwarves and humans, but most cases were light elves. No one was quite sure how it spread, as it didn't appear to be contagious, and it affected each species slightly differently, but it seemed to feed off of magic and the more someone affected used magic, the more the disease had an effect on them.

"Oh, Lord Anzer died of algandars almost seven years ago," Lico told him. "If we'd known you were still around, we would have sent word."

Harry sighed. "I'd wondered. The City of Flowers was so much more welcoming while he was alive."

"You can say that again," Jensa muttered. "Fang is in charge there, now."

Harry groaned. "I'll never step foot in that city again, will I?"

"If Fang has his way?" Lico replied, smirking. "Nope."

"Uncle Fang doesn't like you?" Marty asked Harry.

Harry chuckled. "Fang and I have some... old issues."

"You mean you two were constantly at each other's throats," Autumn supplied. "You were a human, which Fang hates, and you thought he was a... What did you always call him?"

Harry snorted. "A puffed-up peacock."

Autumn laughed. "Yes, that one."

"What's a peacock?" Pheena asked.

Harry pulled out his wand and transfigured a misshapen mug into a figurine of a peacock. "They're a creature from my world. They like to preen and be pretty, but they can be kind of nasty if they're angry."

"Pretty," Pheena decided and took the figurine, stuffing it into a pocket.

Harry chuckled.

Autumn sighed and shook her head. "Well, you'll have to wait until he dies before you'll be allowed back into the City of Flowers, I'm afraid. Even then..." She shrugged. "But you're welcome to stay here, if you need a place to stay."

Harry nodded. "Yes. I'd like a chance away from the humans for a while. Perhaps I'll take day trips to see the other fairy creatures, as well." He smiled. "After all, it doesn't seem quite right that humans and elves are the only sentient species I've met thus far."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Lico agreed.

-0-0-0-

Harry stayed with the dark elves pretty much exclusively after that. He visited the other fairy creatures – avoiding the orcs just because he didn't much fancy having his head bashed in – and got on well enough with most of them. He also went back into Radiata City from time to time and visited the Vareth Magic Institute. Occasionally, he'd offer to be a guest lecturer, and he'd also write a book every now and then and give it to the Institute for their library. But, no matter what, he never stayed in Radiata for more than a year, not wanting to chance becoming attached to people he'd outlive.

Fang did, eventually, die in a battle with some nasty humans. Sadly, the battle only strengthened the light elves' hatred of all things human, even if a couple of the younger light elves made friends with a few humans who had fought against their own kind. Harry only met those humans a few times, but he did like them and would sit down with them around the dark elves' table and talk over wine and soup.

Despite a couple hundred years going by, Harry still didn't seem to age, and it hurt him to watch his elven friends grow old and die. It hurt even more when one of them died of algandars, especially since Harry had yet to see any signs that he might be affected by it, in spite of his being a heavy magic-user. But, since he seemed to have that immunity, he had no concerns about trying to find a cure and would often disappear for months at a time, wandering through Algandars' Castle and the surrounding area, or casting querying spells on those infected with the disease.

It was during one of his disappearances that a group of knights and one mage came to visit the dark elves with a plea for the light elves.

And thus begins our story.

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A/N: Okay, that should be set-up enough, yeah?
And, I know. Harry should have freaked out a bit more about his being stuck in another world, but I was having a lot of trouble fitting it in there anywhere, and by the time it sort of became a reality that there really was no chance of him getting home, he'd already sort of unconsciously accepted it. So the scene got cut. (Sorry.)

So, I had this moment, while writing chapter one, where I was like, 'I could have Harry act fast enough to save Ridley! But...then what?' So I came up with this sketchy plot-line for a story where Ridley doesn't get knocked about by the blood orc. But I'd already gotten a ways on the version that follows the game and I was having trouble figuring stuff out in the weird version, so... I'm going to stick with the version that follows the game, but if I figure everything out for the weird version and finish writing it, I'll probably post it. Just thought I'd let everyone know. XD

Cheers!
~Bats ^.^x