Drabble X-over
I've been cleaning all day again. Gah. How can one woman make such a bloody mess? I guess if you never leave one area... *sigh* I love my mother, but I hate that I'm responsible for her messes just as much as I am for my brothers' and dad's. I am ONE person! Not several! And now it is really, really late and I'm tired.
I was thinking about Harry's death scene in the last book, about how different the story would have been if there was a different culture altogether that "ruled" the afterlife. So, my little brainie got to thinking about an old favorite anime, Yu Yu Hakusho, which is all about death and the afterlife from a stylized Japanese perspective. (ie, a combination of Shinto and Buddhism)
So I decided to dedicate this short ficlet to it. A little background for the non-anime fans: Botan is the grim reaper of a particular section of Japan - there are a lot of "pilots of the river Styx" in Japanese myth and they aren't actually named. In the anime (actually, it's the very first episode!), Botan appears right after Yusuke, the main protangonist, dies. She explains to Yusuke that he wasn't "scheduled" to die just then, that they weren't expecting him to do what he did. (Yusuke is a major asshole, mostly, and quite selfish. His last act, however, was to save a small boy's life.) So, they give him the option of living with a debt to Spirit World. Anyway, I just figured, what if something like that would happen to someone like Harry - kind-hearted, definitely worthy of a second chance?
Well... here yeh go. ^^;
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Yu Yu Hakusho. This is entirely in the spirit of fun. Do you ever imagine what might have happened if Harry met Botan? A humorous alternative to Harry's death scene.
Oars and Brooms
Harry could not believe his eyes. Number one, he was floating above his own mangled body. Number two, he was not floating alone. But while he was floating without anything to hold him up, the blue-haired woman was sitting side-saddle on an oar, of all things. She grinned impishly at him.
"Hi! I'm Botan. You must be Harry."
"Er... yes? What's going on?"
"Well, you see, you just died," Botan said. She gestured helpfully toward his corpse, which Voldemort was currently lording over. "I'm the Pilot of the River Styx, better known to you as the Grim Reaper."
Harry blinked, entirely nonplussed. The Grim Reaper was male and wore black robes and carried a scythe. If this woman was carting around a curved blade on a staff, he'd sure like to know where she was keeping it.
"However, you're not supposed to die now," Botan said. "You're supposed to be the Boy-Who-Lived, obviously. So, back into your body you go, then, Mr. Potter."
Harry blinked. "Just one question before I go."
"Sure!"
"Why are you flying on an oar?"
Botan laughed. "Of all the things you could ask about Spirit World, you ask that? Very well. I fly on an oar because I lead people's spirits through the River Styx. I need some way to power it. Might as well be something that can power easily through water, right?"
Harry nodded slowly. Botan shoved his spirit-body toward his physical body quickly, so he couldn't ask any more questions. When he came to, Hagrid was carrying him, sobbing quietly.
Things just kept getting stranger.
I was thinking about Harry's death scene in the last book, about how different the story would have been if there was a different culture altogether that "ruled" the afterlife. So, my little brainie got to thinking about an old favorite anime, Yu Yu Hakusho, which is all about death and the afterlife from a stylized Japanese perspective. (ie, a combination of Shinto and Buddhism)
So I decided to dedicate this short ficlet to it. A little background for the non-anime fans: Botan is the grim reaper of a particular section of Japan - there are a lot of "pilots of the river Styx" in Japanese myth and they aren't actually named. In the anime (actually, it's the very first episode!), Botan appears right after Yusuke, the main protangonist, dies. She explains to Yusuke that he wasn't "scheduled" to die just then, that they weren't expecting him to do what he did. (Yusuke is a major asshole, mostly, and quite selfish. His last act, however, was to save a small boy's life.) So, they give him the option of living with a debt to Spirit World. Anyway, I just figured, what if something like that would happen to someone like Harry - kind-hearted, definitely worthy of a second chance?
Well... here yeh go. ^^;
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Yu Yu Hakusho. This is entirely in the spirit of fun. Do you ever imagine what might have happened if Harry met Botan? A humorous alternative to Harry's death scene.
Oars and Brooms
Harry could not believe his eyes. Number one, he was floating above his own mangled body. Number two, he was not floating alone. But while he was floating without anything to hold him up, the blue-haired woman was sitting side-saddle on an oar, of all things. She grinned impishly at him.
"Hi! I'm Botan. You must be Harry."
"Er... yes? What's going on?"
"Well, you see, you just died," Botan said. She gestured helpfully toward his corpse, which Voldemort was currently lording over. "I'm the Pilot of the River Styx, better known to you as the Grim Reaper."
Harry blinked, entirely nonplussed. The Grim Reaper was male and wore black robes and carried a scythe. If this woman was carting around a curved blade on a staff, he'd sure like to know where she was keeping it.
"However, you're not supposed to die now," Botan said. "You're supposed to be the Boy-Who-Lived, obviously. So, back into your body you go, then, Mr. Potter."
Harry blinked. "Just one question before I go."
"Sure!"
"Why are you flying on an oar?"
Botan laughed. "Of all the things you could ask about Spirit World, you ask that? Very well. I fly on an oar because I lead people's spirits through the River Styx. I need some way to power it. Might as well be something that can power easily through water, right?"
Harry nodded slowly. Botan shoved his spirit-body toward his physical body quickly, so he couldn't ask any more questions. When he came to, Hagrid was carrying him, sobbing quietly.
Things just kept getting stranger.