Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Making his way along the dark, silent halls of Hogwarts, Dumbledore took a deep breath. Around him, the only sounds were those of the currently empty castle, though it was not quite as quiet as some might think. Here and there could be heard the sound of the display armor walking to various positions. Not to mention the various paintings having their own chats and meetings for the upcoming year. The castle itself seemed to be getting ready for what was due to happen.

Currently, Dumbledore was nodding at Nick who seemed worried. "Are you sure that she is going to arrive, Headmaster? I... A sigh escaped from the ghost who placed a hand against his forehead as he shook his head. Partially to keep his head from falling off, but also because of his own self-incrimination. "When I did not see Myrtle the whole year, I had assumed that she was in her toilet, much the same as she usually has been. Yet, when I came to get her for the meeting of the ghosts for the upcoming year, after everything that has happened..."

Eyebrow raised, Dumbledore hummed some. "You went searching for her, Nick? For this meeting?"

Uncomfortable, the Gryffindor ghost winced as he also grimaced some. "I... we all agreed that we have not been treating Myrtle too well after this year. She more then proved herself with what she did. Especially with her attempting to protect the First Year Muggleborn. So I... we, decided to invite her to our meeting." Grabbing his shirt, he took a deep breath though he no longer needed it. "Which was when we discovered that she was gone. All of us searched the castle from top to bottom and could find no sign which is why I came to you this evening."

Simply nodding, Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Ah, yes. And as I stated, young Myrtle is currently with Mister Potter in Japan. She had been invited to the wedding of Miss Rose and Miss Haruna. A rather enjoyable event to be perfectly honest."

That brought another wince from Nick. "Well, quite. Something that we did not expect to be honest... though she did look quite good there."

Part of Dumbledore had taken, and still did, some pleasure in the shock and winces that produced and continued to in the ghosts inhabiting the castle. After all, he knew that they had ostracized the poor girl after she had become bound outside of Nick and the Gray Lady, and neither of those went out of their way to give her much comfort. Hence, Albus had stated what he had, and produced pictures to show them as well as a memory. Nick's head had actually tipped from his shoulders and hung there while he had never seen the Friar's jaw so dropped.

It did his heart some good.

Of course, that had lead to plenty of explanations regarding how Myrtle was there and why she looked so solid. Something that Dumbledore had explained, before he asked them how it was that they only just found out that she was not in the castle. The sight of so many ghosts looking utterly ashamed, like students in front of a disappointed teacher, was one that part of him rather enjoyed. Currently, Dumbledore had a small smile as he nodded. "Quite. In fact, dare I say it, she represented the ghosts of Hogwarts there very well. A fine example."

Needless to say, Nick had the expression on his face as if someone had twisted a blade in his gut. Quickly, he gave his own nod. "Well, yes, on that we can agree. Still..." Chewing his lip, he paused for a moment. "She is going to arrive tomorrow, you say?"

With a slight bow, Dumbledore gave a slight bob of the head. "Yes, she should arrive sometime tomorrow night after Mister Potter sets up his owl box in his dorms. I expect that she would have quite the tale to tell as well."

Relaxing, Nick smiled for the first time in their conversation, a relieved look on his face. "That is good to hear, and I do look forward to hearing about her adventures in Japan. I believe that is the furthest that any of us have ever gone! Thank you, Headmaster." He then turned and began to drift away only to pause and look over his shoulder. "And... while we have not treated her as well as we should have, it is good that she has found people who do care for us. I know that the Grey Lady was beside herself when we discovered her missing."

And with that, Nick drifted off into the night.

However, it was not long until Dumbledore received another visitor and chuckled some as he turned. "Ah, Minerva. I was wondering when you might arrive."

Moments later, a tabby appeared and walked quickly towards him before morphing into his Transfiguration Professor. Matching his own pace, she raised an eyebrow as she walked beside him. "Albus." When he just hummed though, she frowned. "I wish to talk with you about some... things, that I have been wondering."

In reply, the Headmaster chuckled some and smiled. "Of course, I am always open to questions."

Nodding, Minerva grimaced some. "I believe that my question should be the most obvious in regards to the upcoming year."

That brought a sigh to Dumbledore as he shook his head with a small frown. "Unfortunately, there has been nothing that I could do in regards to Cornelius' idea, Minerva. He is adamant in posting Dementors around the school as guards and giving them the power that he has. As well, he has also placed a Kiss on Sight order for Sirius Black, which I do not agree with."

On Minerva's face, there was a frown. "You do not believe that Black should not be kissed, Albus? Even after what he did?"

Stroking his beard, the old wizard did not answer right away. But when he did, McGonagall's eyes widened. "Recently, some things have come up, Minerva. In particular about that day which has raised questions that I would like some answers to. However, even if Black is guilty, I would not sentence him to a Dementor's Kiss. No, there are none that I would want such a fate for, I would ask that they be given the Veil at least before that, if not the Death Potion."

Minerva hissed a bit. "But, Albus, that is..."

Now looking at her, he frowned and gave her a raised eyebrow. "Horrible? Yes. But then so is the Kiss, which I rank as far more." Waving it off, Albus shook his head. "But as to the Dementors, I wish that there was something that could be done. I do suspect the work of dear Delores might well be involved in this."

Head whipping around, Minerva boggled a bit before her eyes narrowed. "That woman might be involved!? How and why?!"

Just humming, Albus frowned some. "For both the same reasons, to be honest. As much as we disagree on many things, both Lucius and myself were arguing against placing Dementors here as well as the Kiss on Sight order. Despite how he could benefit, Lucius does not want to create the precedent that allowing someone ordered to be Kissed could have. Amelia was as well to be quite honest, vociferously. As for Augusta? She was beside herself and so is quite the number in the Wizengamot. Not the least because so many heirs of families are here at Hogwarts. And most of them remember that the control that the Ministry has over the Dementors is tenuous at best. Some might well not care that a Muggleborn might well be Kissed, but turn that onto their own children and grandchildren? There will be a backlash once it gets out into the public. However, while both myself and Lucius often... attempt to advise the Minister, there is one other that he listens even closer to. One who is rather fond of Dementors..."

That caused a disgusted look to come into being on her face as the next words were spoken in a growl. "Delores Umbridge..."

Slowly, Dumbledore nodded. "Delores Umbridge. And it is not hard to see why she might advise him to take such a position." Upon seeing the confusion, he continued. "In many ways, Sirius Black has proved to be an embarrassment to the Ministry even as far as it has gone. If, as myself and other suspect, there is more to the story? Then the Ministry might well end up with more egg on its face. After all, there are no signs a trial was done. And if he is innocent? It is quite possible that the Ministry will be given a hit to the reputation that it does not need at this moment and time. Whether or not it was a previous administration, it would erode people's belief in the Ministry."

Frowning, Minerva shook her head. "That... does sound like Delores. Even when she was in school, she was a foul girl. It did not help matters that she often took it upon herself to, ah, punish those she believed stepped out of line."

Also frowning, Albus sighed. "Quite. And I believe that she still carries a grudge against not just myself for punishing her when she took matters into her own hands, but also against Sirius. After all, he did embarrass her at her graduation as did James Potter and Remus Lupin. Though I am afraid for one other..."

Head tilting, it took only seconds and the Transfiguration Professor's hand flew to her mouth. "Do you mean that Mister Potter..."

Grimacing, he gave a small nod. "Indeed, even before events last year when he spoke up against Hagrid's imprisonment and other items, Delores has been quite vocal against him. I believe that part of it is that she sees him as a possible threat. Young Harry does have a large amount of political power if he so wishes and could endanger certain positions. If he was to suffer an accident, well... no more danger."

Lips pressed thinly, Minerva looked around. "You are not saying that she might... Well, you know?"

Just turning to her, Albus gave her a look with his expression serious. "I would expect that Delores would shed no tears if something was to happen to Mister Potter. More then that, she despises him due to being a Halfblood and held in high regard, as well as his mother. Once, she did not know that I was there when she insulted Lily. Her declaring that she fouled the 'Pure blood of the Potter family and bewitched James' was putting it mildly. And she was behind that rumour that Lily used a love potion on James."

That made McGonagall roll her eyes. "Yes, because of course the only way James would fall in love with Lily was due to a love potion." Then a gleam entered her eyes. "Or perhaps it was due to how he reacted to the one time she tried to, ah, catch his attention."

Both magicals shared a quiet chuckle at that. Then Albus sighed and frowned. "Though another part was that Lily did far better then she had in school, even though they were in different years. So, yes, I do suspect that something may happen which is why I have done what I have."

Expression turning thoughtful, Minerva gave a chuckle as she realized what happened. "So that is why you are having Remus ride with the students then? He can create a Patronus after all, so if something was to happen, he will be right there."

Smiling slightly, Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye. "Among other things, yes."

Now frowning, Minerva looked at him over her glasses with a look that had made many a schoolboy back down. "Albus Dumbledore, do not be telling me that you are attempting to set up a meeting between Remus and Harry. You know how the poor man is in regards to that."

His expression one which stated that butter could not melt in his mouth, Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I would never do that, Minerva. Why, if the two meet it would be complete coincidence. Though Mister Potter does gravitate towards carriages that have almost no one in them, and one that has an odd man would be quite empty... And Mister Potter has read his parents' diaries and so might hear about an old friend or see his picture in that album of his..."

Groaning, the female Professor rubbed her brow to try and fight off a headache. Not even the glare that she gave her old friend wiped the smile off his face. Before she could say anything though, both of them paused at a sound. When it came again, they blinked and soon located it before heading to a door.

The door to a broom closet.

Just sharing a look, though Albus had amusement in his eyes, they waited until the sound came again. Raising a hand, the Headmaster gave a sharp rap to the door and waited. A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal Wilhelm who had a smug look on his face despite the messy hair he had and the slightly unkept look of his clothes. Behind him, an embarrassed Gwen also stood, clothes rumpled. Bowing a bit, Wilhelm gave them both a smile. "Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress."

Eyebrow twitching, Minerva took a deep breath. "Mister Wolff, may I ask what you were just doing?"

Rubbing his chin, he glanced at his wife whose entire face was scarlet, and then back to McGonagall. "It was as you likely suspect." He then continued on while ignoring the squawk from Gwen and the sputters from Minerva. "You see, we were inspecting the broom closet. As Professors here, I felt it our duty to make sure that all was in... ship shape before the students arrive. One must do proper inspections after all."

Albus nodded as Minerva now went red in the face. "Ah, I see. Very good, Professors Wolff. yes, very good indeed, we must be certain that all is in place and well for the students when they arrive tomorrow night, hmm?"

Smugly grinning, the ageless Alchemist chuckled while taking Gwen's hand in his own. "Exactly, Herr Dumbledore. Now, if you'll excuse me... there are many such places that Gwen and I must, ah, inspect and investigate."

With that, he pulled his wife along even as she hissed something at him, only for her to look back at Dumbledore. Then she froze in mortification as the old wizard tapped his chest while giving her a look. Quickly, she did up the buttons in question and vanished while her husband laughed behind her. Pinching her nose, Minerva took a deep breath. "I swear... those two are as bad as some of our students. Or newly weds."

All Dumbledore did was chuckle while the twinkle in his eyes increased.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K Omake: Jin's Ghostly Encounter

Harry Leferts said:
So in other words, Jin and her group are likely legends in their own way then? I sort of expect that they are well known anyways with online groups of Bosozoku and blogs who all scratch their heads at them. But Jin being thought the Biker equivalent of the Dread Pirate Roberts is somehow even more hilarious to me. Especially as some might note Asuka hanging around with her and the rest of the gang and assuming that she is to be the next "Jin".​

Pffft, lol.

I could almost see Jin 'refuting' the idea in a way that actual perpetuates it, much to the irritation of Ai, when Asuka finds herself being sized up and assessed by those wondering if this relatively new and young kid is intended to be more of a hand picked and trained prodigy.

Harry Leferts said:
That does sound like Jin...

Though I imagine that she sometimes fucks with wannabe ghost hunters...​

Omake

"You're looking for what now?" asked the helmeted biker on the Suzuki superbike they'd encountered at the top of the mountain road.

"A ghostly night rider of the pass!" exclaims one of the kids who looks like they aren't even out of school. Some sort of paranormal club, is Jin's guess, hazarding a assumption based on the relatively even mix of genders among the rather typical nerdy and occult-fan looking teens. Those who aren't in uniforms despite it being well after school ended, are dressed up like goths and ghost hunters.

"I see..." says Jin, not really seeing at all, and frowning behind the visor of her helmet. Idly she notes of of the kids uncertainly observing how is dowsing rods keep of pivoting toward her direction. "And this ghost biker is supposed to be....?"

"A bosozoku who went off one of the cliffs while racing against a rival gang here back in the '80s," says one of the group's ring leaders. "According to local legend, her spirit now haunts this road, doomed to race this route every night until she can complete the course without crashing!"

Jin blinks slowly at that one. She likes to cruise this relatively traffic free route outside Tokyo from time to time, and has been doing so since the 70's. But in all that time, she has never encountered any ghosts here. As far as she knows, there's not anyone directly bound to the route at least, and she vaguely relays as much to the teens to save them their time.

"I don't know what to tell you guys. I've been riding here for years, and I've never heard anything like that." the mizuchi glances about, as if checking before revealing some big secret. "Heck, I used to race here back in the '80s, and I never heard anything about a ghost. Sure, we had a fair few number of crashes back in the day, but as far as I knew, nobody died. On this route at least."

Undeterred, one of the ringleaders looks at her intently. "Are you sure? From what we've heard, it was a girl with dyed-hair and scars who wiped out. She took a corner too fast after almost getting mangled by a truck. She had a white and green Honda CB750."

Behind her helmet, Jin blinks owlishly.

She used to ride a white and green CB750. A heavily customized CB750.

She loved that thing.

At least right up until the time she accidentally put it under a truck and went off a-

-wait.

Paying a little more attention, Jin frowns. Then she grins unseen behind her helmet, as an idea seeds itself in her mind. "A white and green Honda CB750 you say?"

An eager nod is what she receives, excitement blooming in the groups eyes at her obvious recognition of the description. "Yeah! We can show you a picture if it might help ring a bell?"

Jin shakes her black clad head. "I think I have an idea. Was it similar to the white and green stripes pattern that's on this bike?"

As the group looks down at her current ride, an awkwardness slowly grows, tempering the equally rising excitement at what is obviously some sort of lead. "Y-Yeah actually. That's.... that's how the bosozoku's bike was painted up in what pictures we have of her."

Jin chuckles. "This is how the leader of the Adachi Neighborhood Watch paints their bike by tradition."

Some of the nerdier and wimpier students close ranks nervously. "Y-You're a bosozoku?" asks one of the girls nervously.

"Does it matter?" tilting her head just enough that she knows a glimpse of her bemused eyes will be visible through the tint at the right angle. "Also, you seem to have some of your information wrong. There aren't any ghosts on this road."

"Oh?" asks one of the boys, curiosity overcoming his uncertainty. "S-So you're definitely sure of that?"

"Yep."

"Can.... we ask why?"

Jin allows a dark laugh to emanate from behind her helmet. "Because in the '80s, there were two roads people used to race on this pass. A smaller one, windier and higher up the mountain, that only the brave and the stupid used to run after midnight when the police shut this safer route down."

Or those without human fragility, or removed from fear of such mundane death.

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

Some hours later, Jin awaits at the top of the mountain.

She doesn't actually have her Hayabusa with her anymore. In it's place is something that looks like a Honda CB750, but isn't actually the highly modified '70s Superbike either. Oh the fun of a little water magic and some passable illusions to lend color to her prop. While it was similar to her clothes (which now had a much more 70s look to them) in that it was technically a lump of her that couldn't actually run like a proper bike, relying upon her draconic magic to fly could take car of the movement problem.

Hearing the sound of a van's engine further down the road, Jin grins, a sight now open for all to see. With her helmet left behind with her Hayabusa, her hair trails in the wind as she mounts her 'bike', then takes off down the mountain at speed. Hurtling along down the isolated mountain trail and it's blind corners with nary a sound.

Silent.

Like a ghost.

Magic still lends her it's hand in surreptitiously letting her know where the van being driven by one of the older members of the group is, as it climbs the mountain corners. Thus why Jin is able to time it perfectly, that just as the ponderous vehicle rounds one of the larger, slowly climbing blind bends, she then hurtles into view hugging the inside line while traveling at a blistering pace.

Too slow and old to react to her, Jin heads the screams from those inside as she 'desperately' weaves to avoid a crash, only to overcorrect when trying to recover from the sudden movement. With the smash and screech of metal on crumbling asphalt, Jin and her 'bike' lose control of the resulting skid, which throws her into a tumbling slide.

Moments before impact, Jin shifts her body to a much less human state, where the effects of the ensuing slide matter little and are barely felt. With a violent crash, her 'bike' clips the rail guarding the edge of the cliff, flipping over and sailing into the darkened abyss that is the treeline below. Jin meanwhile, collides with the barrier with a horrifyingly fatal sounding crunch as it catches her around the middle, before limply flopping back to the ground.

After a few moments, Jin heads the sound of squealing breaks and approaching voices.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck-"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

"There's no cell reception up here!"

"W-When I said I wanted to see a dead biker, this isn't what I meant!!!"

Jin allows one of her fingers to twitch.

"Holy shit I- I think she's still alive."

Quickly, she hears the sound of feet approaching.

"Hey! HEY! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Hiding her face and the smile threatening to split it, Jin slowly gets her hands underneath her and begins to push herself up.

"What the actual fuck! How are you still alive?!?"

Grin now utterly terrifying and Cheshire-like in it's almost Glasgow-like size, Jin at last fixates the approaching group with her gaze, freezing them in their tracks with terrified horror.

"Who says I am?" she rasps, as the headlights now bathe her for all to see.

One of her arms now has a third joint. There is a wholely unnatural, sharp bend to her neck. Her chest is noticeably concave after her impact with the guard rail, with the white shirt beneath her open leather jacket is now damp and red. But the most terrifying sight of all, is how the road rash has all but ripped off most of one side of her face.

Demented obsessiveness then rolls off of her as she grins with her nightmarish visage.

"You kids wouldn't be able to give me a lift back up to the top, would you? I don't want to leave until I can nail this run." Looking at the group frozen in terror, Jin then licks her cut and bloody lips. "Hey.... what do you guys say to a race? Wanna stick around until I'm finally done?"

For a long moment, there is silence. Then the spell is finally broken as one of the girls shrieks. It is like the floodgates are opened, as instantly all the others join her in voicing their terror as well, practically tripping over one another as they race for their van. In they all pile, barely in their seats and closing the doors, before the driver is slamming down the peddle and burning rubber as they tear off back down the mountain.

And through it all, Jin laughs, cackling and throwing her voice after them, like some dementedly insane banshee of mirth.

mikelima777 said:
Hmmm... I wonder if the Golden Ofuda's challenge could include two full racks of beef ribs. And all the trimmings.​

I don't know why, but for some reason this brings to mind all the Golden Ofuda's magical ads/posters being jokes at it's infamy for excess or giant/larger yokai sized options.

"Golden Ofuda - For those who are literal when they feel like they could eat a cow."

"Golden Ofuda - We do normal sized portions too."

"Golden Ofuda - Free food-coma with every Nine Clan Head Challenge."

"Golden Ofuda - With an average carb-count per meal of yes."

"Golden Ofuda - Serves family of four? More like family of you."

"Golden Ofuda - Elastic waistbands optional."

"Golden Ofuda - If you ever get bored, you can turn around and watch the sports."

"Golden Ofuda - Now in kanmusu appetite proof sizes."

"Golden Ofuda - Get your summer bod at the gym. Lose it over the winter at the Ofuda."

"Golden Ofuda - Just like how you wished grandma would have actually made it."

eagle109 said:
Wouldn't Yoneko be on a carrier more like NTT or some other Japan-based telecom company? I think AT&T is the Americas-specific.​

I was originally intending to use Line/Naver, but... well wouldn't you know it, all the 'fake text generators' for those are in Japanese and Korean.

I wasn't in the mood to screw around with SAI/poor man's photoshop, so Iphone generator it is

yukicrewger2 said:
Dry rub? an sauce on, or served on the side (my thought are dry rub is good, vinegar sauces to marinate during cooking, and molasses/ketchup based for dipping at service)
eagle109 said:
Depends if the Golden Ofuda knows American-style. From my own experience with Cantonese-style cooking, the occasional Korean dishes, and the several Japanese restaurants, we don't really do dry rubs in our barbecuing. Marinades made with honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil plus a few other ingredients is more likely (although char siu does use five-spice powder), although that isn't to say the Golden Ofuda might not had experimented with making fruit-based vinegar sauces, if not rice wine vinegar sauces.​

The Golden Ofuda (despite having a name like a tacky restaurant or fast food joint), actually takes a lot of it's influence from modern sports bars, with a little bit of 'bar and grill' thrown in.

Basically something with the size and aesthetics of this:
Spoiler

But with a layout closer to this;
Spoiler

Bar and kitchen on one side. Seating in the middle. TVs on the walls. More restaurant-y seating/tables on the side/at the front.

Considering the fair amount of american/western influence on the bar and food, they probably do a range of things on alongside their normal staples, that may vary as the chefs get bored, or the seasons and special occasions come and go.

Lord Khuzdul said:
Ah, the Turkish challenger. Burak Özdemir, from Istanbul. He'd have a lot of shipgirl customers. You should see his kebab videos. Burak Özdemir (@cznburak) • Instagram photos and videos

Edit: And his knife. Definitely shouldn't forget his knife.​

Fuck me, it's 1 Am and that's making me hungry.

Also, that knife looks like something a shipgirl should be using as a weapon.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 31: NotHimAgain

"So," Miyuki said, hands folded over her knees, "what's so important that I had to come here to discuss it with you?"

Tatsuya sat back with a shrug. "You probably want to ask Tonbo," he admitted. "She's got a hunch on a case that we're looking into, and she heard something about a creeper at Fleet Week. Do you know anything about that?"

Miyuki frowned thoughtfully. A creeper? She hadn't heard anything to that effect around base. The biggest event had probably been the big sword fight—that, and the all hands from Mutsuki about some guy running around asking about it.

Wait a second. When Tatsuya said creeper…

"There was a guy asking about swords," she said, leaning forward. "Juuchi Yosamu and Honjo Masamune in specific. He hung around a few hours, gave out business cards, asked everyone he saw. Then he got in his fancy car and left. Do you think he's the one that you were talking about?"

"Could be," Tatsuya said. "Hang on, let me get Tonbo in here."

A minute later, the Muramasa had taken his place before Miyuki, nodding along.

"That's who Honjo was talking about," she noted. "Yeah, that's the one I wanted to ask about. Do you know his name, why he was asking around?"

Miyuki thought back. "Kiritani," she said. "And his given name was something foreign. He was asking because… Because of his employer. Todoh Byakuya?" Tatsuya and Tonbo exchanged glances. "You've heard of him?"

"In passing," Tatsuya said. "From what I know, he's a history professor at some big name university and he comes from an extremely wealthy background. But if he wanted those swords, he could have just asked to study them, unless it's something else…" He groaned and pulled out his phone. "Thanks a lot. I'm calling Benio."

"Stealth mode," Tonbo sing-songed.

"Huh?"

"We're going to check out the lay of the land," Tatsuya replied, shooting a look at Tonbo. "If this isn't all connected somehow, it's better that we find out before we start anything. If it is, we need intel. Don't worry, it'll be a quick thing."

Miyuki gaped at him. "Do you watch movies?" she asked.

"If the bad guys come to us, it saves us time tracking them down," he explained.

It was logical, when she thought about it. That unfortunate type of logic that didn't actually make sense, but still made just enough that one couldn't find a way to refute it.

On the other hand, it hadn't gotten them killed yet.

"Well, you know where to reach me if you have to," Miyuki said, just to make sure.

 

[darthcourt10]

RCNAnon

What's this, another post from me in only a day?

This one is happening relatively in tune with the main time stream, a-la a day or two at most before the first day of Hogwarts. My other stuff is still in the summer so keep that in mind. Had to jump to this though as it's been something Harry and I have been working on for a while to setup future items. So yes this is canon and approved. Hope you all enjoy.

----------
Battleship Princess, known to only a few as Brigid, glanced up at the sky in annoyance as rain poured down on her. Her fleet was traversing the North Sea in search of a pack which had trespassed on their territory repeatedly over the past weeks. With how low resources were and the ever-present Royal Navy patrols things like that just couldn't stand. They'd had a good track on them and were catching up despite leaving her territory… until the squall had come up.

With the sea state rising and visibility already near zero, the pursuit was becoming untenable as they were even losing radar lock despite the distance being inside her own maximum bombardment range. Her rig was even somewhat restless, as waves crashed against its side in ever increasing force.

Shaking her long wet hair out of her face even as the wind tried to blow it around, she caught sight of her Ta class flagship as she approached. Soaked to the bone just like she was, her white top plastered to her body despite the cloak and her own white hair blowing in the wind, she was the picture of a storm swept ship… and that of duty.

The Ta, Tem in private with her princess, had been with her since before she was a Princess and in all rights should have been one herself. Except for the bonds of loyalty they shared she would have been and Brigid had done her best to repay that loyalty in spades. Tem was one of few she fully trusted, her sister in all but birth. She had been the one to protect her during her transformation, taking on a foolish Wo who had thought she could be a better leader.

"Princess." Though respectful, Tem's voice wasn't nearly as deferential or outright scared of her as some of her lesser ships were.

"Tem. You have come to tell me to give up the pursuit." Though regal, her voice carried no heat. They'd both learned, through painful experience, that having someone who could offer a dissenting opinion was necessary. As long as it was respectful.

"Suggest Princess, nothing more. Even now they grow dim and something about these waters… troubles me."

Battleship Princess looked around, feeling something odd about the waters as well. Her flank had always been left alone, for whatever reason, so she'd felt no need to investigate. She was regretting that now as they pursued into less familiar territory… but a lesson still needed to be learned.

"We can't stop here. We shall chase them until they are fully out of range. Spread the word to maintain a higher watch..."

As one, they both turned back towards the direction the other abyssal fleet had been fleeing. Instead of fleeing they'd turned around and were approaching hell-bent for leather.

"Battle formations! NOW!" Tem's voice called out verbally and electronically, broadcasting to the entirety of the fleet. Well trained, the various cruisers and destroyers aligned themselves in a proper formation around their princess and flagship.

Yet… something still felt wrong to Battleship Princess as the enemy approached… and didn't fire. Distance came down, to the point where they should have been able to see them clearly on radar and still they didn't fire, they didn't even stop.

"Open fire!" She finally called out to her own forces, who began shooting into the darkness. Her own rig spoke, guns booming into the night. The reload took time, too much as it always seemed to… but still nothing came from the enemy fleet, even as hits seemed to blossom in the night.

"KEEP FIRING!" Tem's voice rang out as the rest of the fleet sensed something strange as well… then redoubled their fire.

There were definite hits now and the enemy fleet finally began to return fire but they were scattered and wild, not the controlled fire of somebody responding to bombardment. Still the distance shrunk and shrunk…

"Torpedoes!" She called out and all of her forces launched a spread of torpedoes. The weather was bad and some were sure to go off target but surely they would turn aside soon! Explosions burst through the enemy formation, what was left of it and still they didn't stop!

"Evasive maneuvers!" She finally called out as the enemy approached danger close… yet it was just a bit too late. She saw the clearly panicked Ru-Class battleship only seconds before she ran into her, slamming against her rig and rocking her into the waves. All around her similar situations happened, nearly feral abyssal's running into her fleet in a blind panic.

She'd never seen anything like this, even as she fought the Ru class at close range. Her main guns were too close, couldn't depress enough to fire at the Ru, who seemed more concerned with getting away than fighting her. She managed to grab the Ru by the throat, her secondaries firing into her gut repeatedly…

And then they arrived.

There was no radar signature, no sighting in the terrible weather and absolutely no warning… though there might have been if she'd paid a bit more attention. The screams came from all around her, mixed between her own girls and the more animal like screams of the enemy fleet that they'd been shooting at. One latched onto the Ru class that she held, the black faceless mass grabbing onto her and doing… something. She screamed in terror and Brigid could feel her weakening.

Physically hurling the Ru class away from her, she forced herself to aim and fire at the thing. Seeing it burst apart into tiny pieces of seemingly rotting flesh and bits of cloth was immensely satisfying. Yet as she looked around there were dozens, hundreds of the things all around and swarming everything in sight. Panic seemed to fill the very air, yet they had a chance if she could regain control.

One managed to sneak up behind her and she could feel her imps being sucked away, screaming as they were shredded and taken in by the creature. Her AA guns fired, blowing the thing away even as she turned and saw more coming. These things were sucking the crew right out of her fleet. Demons worse than anything she'd ever heard about. Even as several more latched on she blew others away, realizing they had to get out, she needed to find Tem and then they could regroup with proper air cover...

And two torpedoes she never saw detonated directly under her keel.

Pain shot through her as her back broke, the combined detonations of two powerful warheads at a near instantaneous moment treating hardened steel like a twig. She fell back into the water, her rig screaming as her body splashed into the water and she cried out in pain.

She managed to float somehow, despite the crashing waves, despite the screaming and rapid fire cannons going off near to her. Even more impossibly, Tem found her, along with one of the Ne-class cruisers. They were both worse for wear, with Tem having lost a turret somehow and blood flowing down her face, with the Ne-class having a noticeably broken tail and sundry other damage.

"Princess!" Tem's cry was clear, even as her guns fired all around her.

"T-tem..." the pain was still near crippling and she was having trouble breathing.

"Get her out of here! Get her out of here NOW!" Tem screamed at the Ne, which immediately complied. Brigid cried out in pain as the one working tail of the Ne-class grabbed her and began to drag her through the water. The pain was even more intense, to the point that she could feel herself blacking out.

The last thing that she saw was Tem, firing her AA guns into a swarm of the demons and getting pulled under, only to be hit by a silver-white flash.

She awoke hours later being cradled by the Ne-class, her rig having disappeared sometime in the night. She didn't think it had a name, at least not that she knew of. Yet it treated her with all the care of spun glass, managing to lessen her pain at least somewhat.

"Princess..." The Ne-class was deferential, almost scared. "...The enemy is coming."

"W-which enemy?" She could barely get the words out.

"Shipgirls. The Royal Navy. A whole flotilla at least."

Battleship Princess felt her mind clear for one glorious second… and she knew there was nothing she could do except save this last little bit of her fleet.

"What's your name?"

"Noreen, Princess."

"Go Noreen."

"Princess?"

"Go, save yourself. The shipgirls will at least give me a proper death." She let out a cry as pain wracked her body.

"Princess..."

"GO! Tell the others… tell Tem… I'm sorry. I couldn't save them."

She looked up, seeing a small recon plane buzzing over them.

"Now Noreen. My last order to you is… live."

The Ne-class seemed confused, scared before she too looked up and saw the plane, knowing time was running out.

"Yes Princess. I will remember."

Brigid felt herself settle into the water as Noreen let her go, speeding away at her maximum power. Each wave rocked her, causing pain to shoot through a snapped spine. Her eyes fluttered weakly, her head haloed by soaking black hair as she settled in the water. Soon it would be over… soon she could see Tem again.

At least it wasn't raining anymore…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Enemy Ne-class is running." Duke could see through her scout plane's eyes the heavy cruiser running at top speed. "The Battleship Princess looks like she's sinking."

"Not surprised the Ne is running." HMS Howe, Duke's sister ship replied. "Though I am surprised she left her princess behind." Howe was built much like Duke, with brown hair instead of blonde. Her hair was a short bob instead of Duke's long blonde ponytail and she didn't have the black tights underneath her dress but they were otherwise sister ships.

"Not much she can do at the point, the Princess might have told her to run." Duke shrugged.

"Maybe. Do we go after her?" Howe asked.

"No, we can't catch her unless she lets us and she seemed pretty healthy other than her broken tail."

"What about that Princess?"

"We go make sure she's actually sinking. If she's not… the Admiral's always want more intelligence. Especially if she can tell us about what's been happening up here."

"You want to take her alive?" Howe sounded incredulous.

"Only if we can without a struggle. She doesn't appear to have her rig on so that means she's badly hurt. If we can make it back to base with her, we'll take her. If not, we'll have one of the destroyers put some torpedos into her." Duke sounded decisive.

"Alright. Lets go check then." Howe sounded less than convinced but nodded, gesturing to their escort group to follow.

Fifteen minutes later they found the Battleship Princess floating in the water, barely buoyant and out like a light.

"She looks like she's got a broken back. We'll never get her back to port." Howe circled nearby, guns at the ready.

"Not under her own power at least." Duke moved in close, a marine boarding party moving to examine the abyssal.

"You want to tow her?"

"Either that or call an ambulance. We've got one nearby which should be able to carry her." Duke waited as the Marines went aboard, reporting that most of the crew seemed to be in shock or desperately trying to keep the abyssal from sinking… and they were failing. Yet she could still be saved if the ambulance arrived in time.

"I want more marines onboard, securing weapon stations, arms stores, engineering and the bridge. Call in the ambulance, we'll save her if we can." Duke spoke with the voice of command, even as the rest of her group spread out around her.

"Yes ma'am." Even Howe moved immediately, several more boats of fairy marines moving out from the larger combatants while they radioed for the ambulance to come in for pickup. Duke looked up as her scout reported the Ne pausing to look back for a moment, only to keep on her course away from Britain.

"Strange." She said under her breath, looking down at the barely breathing Abyssal Princess. "Very strange." Hopefully she could tell them about what had happened last night. If not… well she wasn't likely to be Duke's problem.
----------
Comments, questions etc. welcome as always.

 

[darthcourt10]

Year Three - Prisoner of Shipping Part 1a

START

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hands in pockets as she strode across Kings Cross, Moriko sniffed every once in a while as her eyes trailed along the crowds. Her human ears twitched as she could hear Harry nearby talking with Nagato, Maruyu, and the Akizuki girls who were there as guards. For her part though, the wolfess tilted her head and glanced to Ayase who was beside her in civilian clothing.

Somewhere else in the crowd, both Naka and Harder were also hanging around.

With a sigh, the Yokai stretched some and got a satisfying crack from her spine. As her mind went back to the day before yesterday, she had to shake her head some. 'Not what I expected as my first mission for the JMSDF...'
____________________________________________________

Pushing Sachiko through the door, Moriko glanced around the office that they found themselves in. Not much had changed since the last time the three had been there after all. 'Though that is not too surprising... it has only been two months at best.'

And that was something that she still had trouble believing with everything that had happened in that time frame. Not only were all three getting paid, but Sachiko's health was improving at a steady rate. Something that all three were pleased by. More then that, the three also had jobs while waiting for their Awakening as shipgirls. Suzume helping out in the offices while Moriko herself had decided to help some of the shipgirls with hand to hand combat.
Oddly enough, that one little Submarine, Maruyu, became a pretty common sparring partner.

Sachiko even had a job working in the room next to where the Tsukumogami Rose did. Both her older sisters were happy when the two became fast friends, with Rose often bringing tea over. Especially now that she was back from her honeymoon with Haruna, though Moriko did have a few suspicions regarding something, but had said nothing until she was sure. Scent could tell one a lot of things after all.

The three came to a salute as Goto nodded to them with Suzume nodding. "Sir, reporting as requested."

Giving a salute back, the Admiral gestured to the chairs before he began to look through some folders on his desk. "Please, have a seat. Is there anything that you would like to drink?"

With a glance to her sisters, Sachiko smiled some with an unsure expression on her face. "Could I have some juice?"

Her sisters each got a cup of tea, Suzume, and coffee, Moriko. Once they were settled in with Sachiko sipping her apple juice, Goto turned to the folders on his desk and pulled one out. "Thank you all for coming, you're probably wondering why you're here though."

Confused, Moriko shrugged some before glancing at Ooyodo who was at her own desk doing something. "Hai? I mean, we haven't done anything that we can think of..."

Simply chuckling, the Admiral shook his head. "No, its nothing that any of you have done. And trust me, I would know." Quickly looking through the folder, he nodded and placed it down on his desk. "As to why? I have a mission for one of you."

That brought a surprised expression to all three sisters. Rapidly blinking, Sachiko looked from one of her older sisters to the other before turning back to Goto. Cocking her head to the side, she frowned. "One of us?"

Expression softening, Goto nodded. "Well, one of your sisters, Sachiko-San. But I felt that it would be best to get your input as well as it does concern you as well. And before you say anything, the mission only requires one person as it is to make it fully rounded and we have need of some of your abilities."

More then a little intruged, Sachiko reached out and took the offered folder and opened it. At seeing the picture, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Um, Black Sirius? He was in the news, but..."

Leaning back, the human hummed as he steepled his hands in front of him. "What business is it of the JMSDF?" When they nodded, he frowned some. "I am sure that you are familiar with Nagato's adoptive son?"

Her eyebrows furrowing, Suzume frowned in thought. "Harry Potter? Does this have to do with how this man was a Death Eater?"

With a sigh, Goto shook his head. "It is quite a bit more complicated then that, but we believe, and others do as well, that Black-San is in fact innocent. Some facts have come to light which points that way, which are in the folder just behind his picture."

Taking one of the papers, Sachiko handed it to Moriko who began to read as while holding it out for her sisters to do the same. After less then a minute, the muscular fighter of the three cursed under breath. "Shit, this looks like a frame job of some sort. Just a finger? How the hell..."

Simply watching them, Goto frowned. "As you can see, it is rather complicated. However, it becomes much so in regards to Harry-San." At the looks he got, he continued. "Black-San is his godfather and from reports escaped after being given a newspaper with the Weasley family on the front, which also stated that Harry-San went to Hogwarts. The guards stating that they heard him mumbling that he was at Hogwarts."

In reply, Suzume rubbed one hand down her face. "Oh, that is just great. And even from the rumours of that place, he might not be totally sane."

Now leaning forward, the Admiral gave a small nod. "Which is why this mission has been put forward, but technically off the books. Moriko-San? Suzume-San? Due to your sense of smell, you might be able to pick him up if he is nearby when Harry-San enters Platform 9 and 3/4. It is possible that he might be hidden in the crowd either as a human... or a canine."

Eyes widening, the three flipped through the pages until there was a picture of a large, dog-like creature. It took only a few moments for them to connect the dots with Sachiko looking up at Goto with a surprised look on her face. "He's an animagus..."

Only nodding, Goto continued to frown. "Yes. A dog one that apparently looks like something called a 'Grim' from reports. That picture is a copy of one from Harry-san's Parents' home in Godric's Hollow that has been recovered. The mission is rather simple and that is to provide overwatch of sorts. Nothing more, and nothing less. That is the unofficial portion of the mission, there is however a official portion to cover it over."

Raising an eyebrow, Moriko frowned some. "Really? And what's the official mission?"

Lips curling some into a smirk. Goto chuckled. "Shopping."

For several moments there was silence before Suzume shared a look with her sisters and turned back to the Admiral. "Um, what? Shopping?"

Chuckling with a grin on his face, Goto gave a small nod. "Yes, shopping." Seeing their confusion, he shook his head. "Once Harry-San has left for school, the portion of the mission regarding keeping an eye out for Black-San would be complete. With that done, the one of you who will be on it will accompany Nagato to Diagon Alley for some shopping. There are a few items that need to be picked up which are on the back page."

More then a little lost, Sachiko removed the last page and held it up. Reading, she only became more lost. "Um, I don't understand? Dragon dung?"

From where she sat at her own desk, Ooyodo spoke up. "It is for the gardens around the base as well as at others. Some will be sent to where the Fleet of Laughter lives in order to help improve the yields of the small farm they have to increase their self-sufficiency as a gesture of good will."

Turning back to the list, Sachiko continued to frown. "Vanishing Cabinet? One pair? Two pairs of Owl Boxes? Brooms...?"

Goto nodded at that. "The brooms are for a series of tests that will be held on the JS Asuka in the future. In regards to the Owl Boxes, they're for smuggling operations to reserves as they can be used to transport food and other items. I am sure that you understand why such must be kept secret, though I will not say how they will be delivered." That got him nods and wide eyes from the three. More then anyone, they understood the conditions in the reserves and why it would be kept secret. And how much help such items would be. "The Vanishing Cabinet is in support of the Kyoto Administration, with one located on Minami Iwo Jima. Once more, your clearance level is high enough for this and I am sure that you won't speak of it where it might be overheard. It is not top secret, but is still under the table, you understand."

Quickly, the three nodded and spoke as one. "Hai!"

With a deep breath, Goto let it out. "The Cabinets were actually found with one of the pair in Hogwarts. The people repairing them also created the cabinets and tracked down the other, which was secretly bought on a previous trip." Looking at each one, he smiled slightly. "It was thought that you might be interested in this.'

The sisters just shared a smile and began to talk about it with each other, and in the end Moriko got chosen.
________________________________________________________________

Returning to the present, Moriko shook her head as she glanced around again, taking deep sniffs. Sure, what she had to go on had at best an old scent, but that should be enough. Granted, at least part of her mind was planning on what to bring back home as it turned out that due to participating in the mission she had been given some pocket change. And there was some items that she had her eyes on.

However, then her gaze fell upon Ayase next to her and she felt herself smirk at seeing the Light Cruiser keeping an eye on where Harry was next to Maruyu. Leaning down, the smirk widened some at the reaction she got with her next words. "You know, if we want, we can head on over there."

Eyes wide, Ayase looked towards her though she shot a look to where Harry was making his way through the crowd. "I...' Swallowing, she chewed her lip some. "Are you sure?"

The wolfess shrugged some and crossed her arms under her chest. "Sure, I don't see an issue with it. And I can't see the one that we're on the lookout for, can't smell him either. Hell, I'm not even sure if I could or not... But check with Nagato-San first, she's in charge."

Head tilted to the side, Ayase blinked and Moriko could hear her voice over the earbud she had due to not being awoken, and thus not having an internal radio. Nagato's answer came through loud and clear with the Sendai giving her a smile as they walked towards where Harry was. "Thank you, Moriko-San."

Only shrugging, Moriko let out a bark of laughter which attracted some looks before the people turned back to their business. "Don't mention it, Ayase-San. Its not a big deal after all and I figured that you might want to say goodbye to the kiddo." Cocking her head to the side, the Yokai Natural Born hummed. "So, can I ask you a question?" Getting a nod, she continued. "Do you like him?"

Confused, Ayase frowned at that. "Yes? Of course I do."

Shaking her head, Moriko brought up her fingers and entwined two of them together. "No, I mean... do you like him?"

It took only seconds for the Light Cruiser to put it together and she flushed deeply. "N-no, not like that." Looking away, she held her head high. "While I can understand the attraction, and might not have minded such... I like Harry-San as a close and personal friend who I owe much to. Something that I will repay him by helping him when needed and protecting him as we are doing at the moment."

Just humming, Moriko had an amused smirk on her face. "Ah, I see." When Ayase turned to her, she continued. "Much like a Samurai with their Lord then?"

Much to her amusement, the shipgirl next to her nodded. "Hai, exactly like that."

Ayase was confused though when that only made the former MMA fighter chuckle.

With Harry though, he was walking beside Maruyu who was out of her swimsuit and in normal teen clothes, which kept making him glance at her. The jeans were hers though the shirt, it had seemed, she had borrowed from RO due to her own growth spurt after having her Kai Rebuild. Before, she had looked like she was at eleven or maybe just about to reach twelve years old. Now though? Maruyu now looked like a thirteen year old.

Granted, she was still short compared to him, coming up to chest height, and the shirt was slightly loose as RO was still bigger then she was. But the jeans clung to her due to the increase in size she had. It was very obvious to anyone who looked that she was becoming a beautiful, slender, woman. As well, Maruyu walked with a confidence that a couple years before she had lacked, but had come into her own with the specialization she had undertaken. Currently though, she her attention seemingly on Harry though said boy was certain that she was on the lookout for his godfather. "So, excited to be heading back to Hogwarts, Harry-Chan?"

Nodding, Harry had a smile on his face as his green eyes met her brown. "Hai, of course I am. Though hopefully this year is not as exciting as last years."

That made Maruyu snort and shake her head. "I suppose that is one way of saying that." Placing her hands above her head, she stretched some and watched out of the corner of her eye as that drew Harry's attention. Smiling, she let her arms fall to her sides. 'I love my Kai Rebuild... though I wonder if I will have a Kai Ni?'

A throat being cleared made Harry glance at his mother who swept her gaze over the surrounding area. "You did leave Juuchi-San at home, did you not?"

Somewhat amused, the black haired wizard nodded. "I did, Mum. She's back at the apartment with Tsukiakari. Besides, I wasn't going to bring her along anyways." Frowning, he furrowed her eyebrows. "Um, so when does the handing over ceremony happen for Honjo?"

Lips curling a bit, Nagato gave a chuckle at that. "It will not be until later in November. I have already spoken with Albus and he will give you the day off to come back to the base to hand her over to the Tokugawa Head in a ceremony."

Relaxing a bit, they waited near the portal for Ayase and Moriko to join them. When Nagato turned to Moriko, the Natural Born shook her head which made the Battleship frown. But she accepted that there was no sign of Sirius. Suddenly, Moriko perked up and scanned the crowd which made Nagato do the same. "Is he here?"

Eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed, Moriko grumbled a bit. "I could swear that I just smelt him now. But... I don't see him."

Only shaking her head, Nagato frowned before gesturing to the portal. "We should get going then."

That only got a nod from the others before they headed through to Platform 9 and 3/4. Nearby, a cleanshaven man with a white streak through his hair and it slicked back was watching them. A smile appeared on his face at seeing Harry vanish before he closed the newspaper that he had been reading. 'James? Lily? I think that Harry is just fine for now... though he does have a rather hot mother, shame that I'm spoken for.' Getting up, Sirius Black walked off and out of view.

Meanwhile, shortly after they went through, a woman with a smug smile on her face entered the platform. 'Really, young Master? You think that leaving me behind will stop me?' Before Harry and the others spotted her on the other side, she slunk deeper into the crowd and then around the back of the train without being seen. 'Hmm... now where to stay...'

At the same time, Harry was looking around with a small smile on his face before looking at Ayase. "So what do you think, Ayase-San?"

The Light Cruiser had a large smile on her face as she shook her head. "What do I think, Harry-San? It's amazing..."

Behind her, Moriko gave a nod while ignoring some looks being given to her due to the muscular arms on display. Most though, upon seeing her near Harry shook it off and went about their work. Obviously she was there to watch over Harry Potter due to Sirius Black being on the loose. A good idea all around as she looked like she could break him with ease.

Eyes on the steam engine, the wolfess shook her head before taking a picture. "Wish that Sachiko-Chan was here, she'd love this so very much." Then she frowned as she took a deep sniff and looked around in curiosity. "Odd..."

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato frowned at her. "What's odd?"

With a glance at her, Moriko shook her head. "Well, I can smell wolf somewhere nearby. Its not a Yokai, or a normal wolf, but... something like a wolf? Huh..."

Somewhat confused, the Battleship only nodded and turned back to see the Weasleys arrive. Then she furrowed her eyebrows some. "Wait, there's Molly and the others, but where is Percy-" There was a crack and said wizard was there with a somewhat disorientated Amisi at his side. "Ah, that explains it."

Also looking in the same direction, Harry could only nod as Amisi was glancing around in curiosity. "Ron did say that Amisi was going to come with Percy."

Surprised, Akizuki turned to Harry and blinked. "She is? Where's she going to stay then?"

Only shrugging, Harry shook his head. "I think in the Gryffindor Headboy and Headgirl Quarters. After all, the Headgirl is a Ravenclaw from what I heard, so she's going to be staying there."

That made the various shipgirls share a look and shake their heads.

With a final hug for Akizuki and her sisters as well as Maruyu and a surprised Ayase, Harry headed onto the train. It was not long until they found a cabin whose only inhabitant was a sleeping man. The name on his briefcase, R.J. Lupin, made Harry's eyes widen though. 'Is he the one that my parents knew?' Shoving that aside for later though, Harry opened the window and was waving to his family and friends. "Bye Mum! Bye Maruyu-Chan, Akuzuki-Chan, Teruzuki-Chan, Hatsuzuki-Chan! Ayase-San! Moriko-San!"

A bright smile on her face, Teruzuki waved back. "Have a good trip, Harry-Chan! We'll see you soon!"

Beside her, Hatsuzuki was doing much the same as her hair tufts moved like ears which got an odd look from Moriko. As the train began to move, they continued to wave with Harry shouting at his mother. "GIVE HOPPOU AS WELL AS NAKA-NEE AND HARDER A GOODBYE FOR ME AS WELL, MUM!"

Nagato only nodded as she continued to wave until the train was out of sight. Sighing, she shook her head before turning towards the portal. "Well, we'll hear from him tonight. Until then, we have some shopping to do..."

Just shrugging, Moriko shook her head. 'Yeah, now that he's on the train, he'll be fine until they get to Hogwarts...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

August 2000

Four year old Danny Hall looked at the big boat in front of him, vaguely aware that it was important in some way but not knowing why, before looking up at his grandfather.

"You know what boat this is?"

The little boy shook his head.

"This is the Zetland. She's a very important boat. Do you know what a lifeboat is?"

Danny nodded.

"It's what Uncle Keith saves people who're in trouble in the sea in."

"That's right, although it's not just your Uncle Keith. I did the same when I was younger as do plenty of others. Well, Zetland is a lifeboat."

"She doesn't look like it."

"That's because she's a very old one. In fact she's the oldest one in the world. She'll be two hundred in a couple of years."

"That's really old."

"It is. She hasn't been used for a long time but when she was she saved over five hundred people."

"That's a lot."

"It is. That's why she is an important boat."

The lifeboat museum was a small one and it didn't take long for the man and his grandson to see everything in it, the former explaining things to the latter and filling his head with tales of heroism at sea. At one point they paused in front of a pair of framed prints.

"You know, these were a thank you gift to the lifeboat crew from the captain of a ship that my dad, your great-grandad, helped with. The ship was called the Awa Maru and she was all the way from Japan."

"Where's that?"

"Somewhere on the opposite side of the world. Look, there's a picture of her."

Danny looked at the indicated black and white photograph of what he thought was a rather funny looking ship with interest as his grandfather continued talking.

"The Awa Maru got stuck on the rocks and your great-grandad helped rescue the crew. Him and his parents even had one of them staying with them for a few days until they could refloat the ship. They wrote to each other for a while afterwards, I've still got some of the letters and postcards stashed away somewhere."

As they left the museum and started walking along the seafront to the nearest ice cream shop, Danny had no idea of what the future held. That he'd see the Zetland and hear about her many more times over the years was probably to be expected. What no one would ever expect was that five years and change down the line the tenuous connection with a country where a miracle happened when the world was a terrifying place would cause him to spend hours pouring over a collection of postcards sent by a long dead sailor and online pictures of his ship. Nor would anyone ever expect the path that that would ultimately lead first him and then the rest of his family down, one stranger than they'd ever have imagined, but in a good way.

 

[darthcourt10]

Fallenworldful

All aboard the trauma train!
+=====+
August 14th, 2005
Dalian, China

The sun had long since set, leaving only the merrily burning fires dotting the streets and city as the only constant source of light. Searchlights lanced out from the ocean, occasionally alighting on some building with a rain of shellfire following soon after. The random attacks had been going on for hours now and were still visible from their vantage point. No longer were they concentrated fire directed at critical infrastructure. Now, the monsters that were attacking the city were bombarding things for what looked like their own sick amusement. A few aircraft could be heard but remained impossible to spot by eye in the dark, and while Caroline could see them on her radar she was loathe to give away their location by shooting at them.

There was an impromptu "war council" meeting going on in the mountainous Pulandian forests. The chaos of the initial flight had cooled slightly as she fended off more and more aircraft over the course of the day. Emergency personnel hadn't known how to react to the little girl somehow shooting down aircraft they had been unable to touch at first, but eventually some veterans from previous conflicts were able to turn the flight into a disordered march northward. Over the four hours it had taken to make the 18-mile trek inland, the few hundred had grown to thousands as people flocked to the cover her antiaircraft guns could provide.

The march collected buses, cars, and trucks from the roads as they sought safety deeper inland. Scattered groups had been cowering in buildings hoping that they wouldn't be targeted by the strafing aircraft circling above. Some joined them from the farms they passed, with many carrying much needed supplies for the long journey ahead. Everyone was terrified beyond belief, but despite their fear quietly worked together. Caroline's guns drove off whatever aircraft took an interest in their march, though not everyone made it out unscathed. By the second hour everyone had been loaded aboard a motley assortment of vehicles, food was being rationed, and the attacking monsters had seemingly decided to leave them alone and let them flee.

Caroline didn't want to think about how many hadn't made it out of the city.

They had set up a "small" encampment, if a collection of several thousand people could ever be called small, and finally were able to relax slightly as night fell. The thousands of others that had followed them were keeping a respectful—or maybe wary—distance, while the emergency personnel that had helped organize the exodus were stuck in heated debate over what to do next after they had managed to scramble to the safety of the mountains. With the threat of air attack gone, she had gone to check in on her family. Brian had skinned his hands during the flight, but besides that minor injury everyone was physically fine. Her mother and father had fussed over her for what seemed like forever. Their constant concern had rapidly become too much to bear, and she had hurried to the outskirts of the camp after begging them to let her go to calm down much to their alarm.

Now, alone with her thoughts, she realized that running off like that might have been a mistake. She'd found a clearing, calm and serene despite the events of the day. There were even some magpies there, watching her from their perch. Caroline picked the flattest, most comfortable looking rock she could and sat down. Despite the four hour trek she didn't really feel too tired. That was probably the part of her that was a ship speaking, and wasn't that a funny thought. The quiet was nice, after everything that had happened during the day. But without the adrenaline of combat, the constant vigilance of watching for incoming attacks, or people around to hold her attention, the sights and sounds of falling shells, diving aircraft, and bodies tumbling to the ground started to creep into her mind. The faces blurred together as a wave of dizziness and panic struck, and her turbines surged. Some part of her vaguely remembered her brother saying slow breaths could help calm people down, and she took a deep breath in.

The stench of smoke, blood, and death filled the air. Those people were dead, and she hadn't been able to stop it. Anyone here might join them in oblivion if she made the slightest mistake. Instead of strangers, the faces morphed into her mother, her father, and Brian, and suddenly she was kneeling on the ground, emptying her stomach. Caroline tried to stand, but her legs were shaking like leaves in the wind and didn't want to respond. She sat back down and everything from the day hit at once. This wasn't a nightmare, as at least those would end. Those deaths, the danger her family was in, the fighting, this was real. A sob choked its way from her throat, and before she realized it she was bawling.

"Meimei? Are you..." Brian's voice cut through the haze drifting in her mind, and with a start Caroline realized the moon had risen above the treeline. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there—about an hour and 30 minutes, a fairy helpfully supplied. She must've worried her parents terribly. Her brother stopped at the edge of the clearing for an instant, eyes wide, before rushing in and hugging her tight. He didn't say anything as she kept crying into his shoulder.

"Th-thank you, Brian," she managed to get out, before another wave of tears slipped past and stole anything else she wanted to say away. Brian squeezed her a little tighter, and she took comfort in hearing his heartbeat. Tomorrow was another day; maybe this really was just some bad dream and it'd all be over when she opened her eyes.

August 14th, 2013
Nagasaki, Japan

Her foot struck concrete with a sharp crack, and Caroline's eyes flew open as she started to pitch forward. Her friend was already reaching out for her, but Jamaica was a second too late and she face-planted with all the grace of a beached whale onto the sidewalk.

"Rochester!"

Caroline groaned, and lifted her head. She remembered the convoy had passed the harbor defenses and arrived at Nagasaki to great fanfare, with cheering crowds lining the Megamio Bridge, but the events after were hazy. They had climbed up the typical concrete ramp provided for shipgirls to more easily get in and out of the water, and then she'd drifted off again. A quick glance at the ground and Caroline winced. The curb she'd just tripped over had a chunk bitten off and cracks running around the impact point, and the slab she landed on was a total write-off as well.

"Okay, you aren't 'good,'" Jamaica said as she pulled her back to her feet. "I've never seen you drift off like that before!"

She shied back a little at her friend's sudden and very justified concern. "I'm just tired, really." The flat delivery made her wince again. No way was Jamaica believing that.

And as she predicted, Jamaica stared at her as if she'd suddenly turned into a missile cruiser. "You know I'm not going to buy that."

Caroline tried to think of an excuse mind churning and coming up blank. "You know the date, right?" The words slipped out almost subconsciously. She started forward towards the offices they were supposed to report to again, Jamaica quickly following.

"It's the—oh." The realization came with an awkward pause.

"Mhm." Rochester glanced down at the jade band encircling her left wrist, and the iridescent black pearl set within. The faded light within held no hints on how to proceed. The two continued their walk in silence for a moment more, as she tried to figure out what to say to soothe her friend's concern.

"You've never been like this before though, Rochester." Jamaica spoke quietly. "Tell me what's wrong, please?"

Rochester considered her answer for a moment. "I've been on assignments this week every year and have always been fine," she said. "I don't know why these old memories are flaring up now."

"I thought something was up when you were spacing out earlier, but this is, this is..." Her friend physically grouped the air for a moment, searching for words, before grabbing her own hair in frustration and letting out an explosive breath. "You need to tell Admiral Richardson."

Rochester blinked. "What?"

"Don't give me that! You know exactly what I mean!"

"I've been working with a therapist already, I'll be fine-"

Jamaica stomped her foot hard enough to crack the sidewalk before the Nagasaki facilities, and Rochester cut off her words.

"We're not just ships anymore, Roch—Caroline, especially you!" Rochester did a double-take at the sudden change in address. "We can't just push ourselves for months on end like our crew did off Korea!"

"I-" she tried to start, but Jamaica didn't let her.

"This is serious! What if something happens during while we're fighting?"

That brought her up short, and any further attempts to form words came to an abrupt end when the doors opened. Admiral Richardson strode out, flanked by Hiei.

"Sir!" Rochester and Jamaica saluted in unison.

"At ease. What's going on out here?" He glanced between the two shipgirls, and Jamaica turned to Rochester.

Rochester opened her mouth, but Jamaica's voice rang out in her head again. If she lost focus during combat… the potential consequences were terrifying. Caroline swallowed what she was about to say, and hung her head.

"I think I need a pysch eval, Admiral."
+=====+
Spoiler: A.N.
Sorry NotHimAgain , I seem to have stolen a little bit of Tatsuya's characterization.

Content, but with much less polish. In the Nanowrimo tradition, I'm trying to just get these out as quickly as possible with very little editing. I'll go back over them later when I think I've gotten to a good temporary stopping point, but for now, the adventures of Rochester continue.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sitting back in the seat, Harry let out a sigh before looking at Ron who was across from him. Though he did spare a look at the man still seemingly sleeping. "So, how have things been going for you, Ron? I mean, I heard about Summer, but..."

Only shrugging, the redhead rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, actually it's going pretty well to be honest. I learned a lot on Saint Brendan's, so I can get started soon on what Duke needs. As for Summer..." A light blush sprang up on his cheeks. "Well, there was a bit of an issue last night and this morning."

From where she had opened a book, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "An issue, Ron? Warspite didn't mention anything..."

In reply, Ron shook his head. "Nothing too bad, really. But Summer really did not want me to leave her behind so that I can go to school. She's... still a bit skittish about things to be honest. Though she asked if she could come along..."

Eyebrow raising still further, Hermione frowned. "She wanted to come along?"

Nodding, the other wizard sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, like I said, she did not want to be separated." With a glance to Harry, he chuckled some. "But I got one of those Owl Boxes and she has the other, so I can send letters back and forth easily enough."

Just snapping his fingers, Harry frowned some. "Unfortunately, the one that we were going to give to Tanith and the others only might be done today." At the looks, he smiled some. "That way we can still keep in contact with them via letters and stuff."

Ron gave a small nod at that before shrugging. "Well, hopefully its done, Mate. I know how much you're looking forward to that. Anything else happen recently though?"

Scratching his head, Harry's frown returned. "Not sure if I can talk about anything else to be honest. Oh!" He suddenly snapped his fingers. "I met Natsumi-Chan's Obaa-San and Ojii-San. That was actually pretty fun, though they had this one sword living with them..."

While he did not tell them Natsumi's secret, that she was a Kitsune, Harry still told them enough. Needless to say, all three people there awake including Neville sort of stared at them as he told them about Kogitsune. Finally, the Longbottom Heir shook his head. "Glad that was you, Harry. I have no idea what I would have done if I met, um... is it him or her?"

All Harry did though was shrug. "I've been using 'Them' in my head to be honest. Sort of easier that way." The other teens shared a look before shaking their heads. It seemed to be one of those things that it was easier not to ask about. However, then Harry spoke up. "So how did things go after you got home, Neville? Anything interesting?"

Frowning in thought, Neville did consider his response before shaking his head. "Well, not too much to be honest. Gran has been in a really bad mood for the past week and bit off my Great-Uncle's head about something regarding the Ministry. All I know is that she kept talking about vultures and such." Now it was Harry's turn to give him an odd look. But then the other wizard continued. "Anyways, for the most part I stuck around the garden. Though the Orion Sisters have been coming around pretty often, Orion teaching me some stuff about fighting."

That caught Hermione's interest and she blinked some. "So that's where they've been going?" When Neville nodded, she tilted her head to the side. "Anything else that they have been doing then? Besides teaching you fighting?"

Neville became thoughtful as he considered the question before shaking his head. "Well, they have been coming over for tea. Gran seems to enjoy their company as they remember the way that Britain was when she was young. Though she keeps having me sit between various ones, usually beside Orion though. And they also like watching and chatting me as I garden though..."

Interested, Harry leaned forward. "Though... what?"

Glancing at him, the Longbottom Scion scratched his head. "Well... one day I was supervising the cleaning in the old Carriage House we have. We don't have any horses or anything, so we use it for Autos. Great-Granddad used to collect them and they mostly sit around. Anyways... Orion and her sisters showed up and were shown inside. When they saw what was there, they all sort of gave this loud squeal of joy and suddenly started jumping all over the place to inspect them"

Several moments passed before Hermione facepalmed and shook her head. "Because of course they would..."

When Neville looked at Harry for help, he only shrugged with a small smile. Almost as if he knew something that the other wizard didn't. The conversation continued along that line for a while until Ron gave a glare at Hermione's cat. "Can't you tell that cat to stop glaring at poor Scabbers? I mean, he's stressed out enough."

Petting her cat, which she had told them was named Crookshanks, Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's a cat, Ron. Cats eat rats, so of course he is going to stare at Scabbers."

Harry frowned for a moment before shaking his head. "At least until we get to Hogwarts, though I could have sworn that the train had the same enchantments." Seeing the confused looks, he gave them one back. "What? Didn't you know about them?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Hermione frowned. "Enchantments? What enchantments"

Rather amused at knowing something she didn't, the Japanese raised wizard grinned some. That was, until Hermione growled at him. "There's special enchantments on wizard pets and such, and ones at Hogwarts and on the train that boost the effects. Basically, it makes them ignore their usual predatory behaviors and stuff. Its how you don't have Hedwig eating someone else's pet, like Trevor."

A frown on his face, Ron looked at Scabbers who was shaking in his pocket badly and scratched his head. "Maybe since Scabbers was found in our garden, he doesn't have that on him?"

Meanwhile, Hermione was looking at the pocket in interest. "That reminds me, how is he even alive still? Rats don't live that long, neither do magical ones according to that person in the petshop in Diagon."

Gently patting his pocket, Ron frowned before shaking his head. "Bill figures that someone was messing around with magic nearby. You sometimes get mutations or something with animals around wizards because they might do something like throw old potions or potion ingredients out. Or rats and stuff will eat or chew something magical up, it happens. Them living longer is just one of the more common ones according to him."

Somewhat surprised, they all looked at the shaking pocket.
_________________________________________________________________

With a sigh, Naka slipped into the chair outside the small café in Diagon Alley and looked across at Harder who was sipping some coffee. "So any good?"

Glancing at her, the Submarine looked at her drink and shrugged. "Better then I expected to be honest. And the food is pretty good as well, I suggest one of the flaky pastries."

Eyebrow raised, Naka took the menu and looked it over. "Hmm... I will admit that I am a bit peckish right now. Oh!" Spotting the instructions, she turned her attention to Harder. "You just have to tap what you want and state how much? And then it will appear?"

Lips twitching, Harder chuckled. "Yeah, sometimes this magic shit is really neat." Then she shrugged some. "Order what you want, its on my tab."

Her eyes sparkling, the Japanese shipgirl shook her head. "Thank you, I think that I will. Though..." Furrowing her eyebrows, she gave another glance at the Submarine. "Where did you get the money for it?"

In reply, Harder jerked her thumb at a nearby alley. "You know that vampire place? Where you can exchange things for money?" At the nod from her friend, she continued. "I had a bunch of stuff from the Pacific that I could trade to him. Like coral and stuff that I picked up on beaches. Got quite a bit of money from that."

That only got a nod from Naka as she hummed. "True enough, I traded some Japanese deer antlers and such. It net me more then enough along with the exchange rates at the same place." Grimacing, she shook her head and examined the menu again before making some choices. "The goblins are a bit..."

Softly snorting, Harder finished her sentence. "Assholish?" At the look, she shrugged. "What? Its true."

Naka instead of disagreeing, rolled her eyes. "True, but I was trying to find a nicer way of saying that. Anyways... you find anything that you might want?"

Leaning forward, the Submarine watched as Naka's order appeared. "A few things, mainly food." Seeing the interest, she smiled some and jerked her thumb at a nearby store. "There's a cheese place there, with cheeses from all over Europe. Because of how easy it is to Floo, its one of those things that can be easily gotten on the magical side. Also visited the other food places."

With a hum, even as she licked her lips at the types of food her friend was no doubt planning, Naka smiled. "Sounds good. But I found something as well for you, Harder-Chan..." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a wrapped object and handed it to the intrigued Submarine. "Consider it an early Commissioning Day gift since you're heading out in a week for a cruise to the South Pacific and you're not going to be in Japan for it."

A small smile on her face, Harder shook her head with a chuckle. "Really, Naka? Thanks." Opening it though, her expression became one of confusion as she held the object up. "Um, a snorkel? I mean, I'm a Submarine and everything but..."

Chuckling, the Cruiser tapped the small booklet. "Not just a snorkel, but a magical one. See, it extends itself to reach the surface from up to fifteen feet down and pulls in as much air as the person needs. There's charms on the end that prevents water from getting in and everything."

Jaw dropping, Harder looked through the booklet quickly. "Holy fuck, Traffic Cone! Are you shitting me?" When she looked at Naka, said shipgirl shook her head. Turning back, the American ran a hand through her short hair. "Holy shit... just... holy shit, with this I can stay under the surface even when I recharge! When..."

Her cup of coffee in front of her, Naka smiled. "A while now, they're not the cheapest and need to be ordered. Especially with the Abyssals around." Tilting her head to the side, she leaned her chin against her clasped hands. "But really, the fact that it will keep you safe when you're at your most vulnerable is worth it to me. Besides which... the JMSDF has started ordering them for their Subgirls and I am pretty sure that the Royal Navy is too."

Still in awe of the gift, Harder shook her head in disbelief before placing the snorkel back into the box. Then she placed said box into her pocket and into her hull before getting up and hugging her friend. "Thanks, Naka. I appreciate it." Kissing her cheek, the Submarine pulled back and chuckled. "I really appreciate it."

All Naka did was smile back and return the kiss to the cheek. "You're welcome, Harder-Chan. After all, you're a close friend."

Nearby, Moriko blinked and furrowed her eyebrows before looking at Maruyu beside her. Jerking her thumb at the two shipgirls at the café, the Yokai frowned. "Um, are they..."

Just snickering, the IJA Shipgirl shook her head. "You're not the first one to ask that question. But according to both of them, they're just friends." When the much taller girl looked back at them in confusion, Maruyu placed her hands behind her head. "Yeah, we all can see that they act like they're in a relationship, but they deny it."

Shaking her head, Moriko looked at her list and frowned in thought before glancing at the Submarine. "You have everything that you wanted, Maruyu-San?"

Only nodding, Maruyu smiled some. "Yup! I got an refrigerated trunk with expanded insides for my cargo hold."

That made the Natural Born blink before she turned to Maruyu with a confused look. "A... refrigerated trunk with expanded insides? Really?" At the nod, she scratched her head. "Why?"

Maruyu gave a shrug at that. "Well, besides some other operations, I'm used to transport things from base to base. So I decided on getting myself at least one so that I can make sure that nothing goes bad on me, mogu mogu. That can get really annoying after all and since its magic, and doesn't take up much room, it helps. The insides are about the size of a tractor trailer's after all. I got a few more on order for the other Transport Submarines along with Nagato-San getting the normal expanded trunks for them as well, so we can transport a lot more. Some of them are going to be stationed for the convoys between us and Korea to help out there."

Head cocked to the side, Moriko considered that. 'Huh, makes sense.' Then she blinked as Maruyu continued. "Wait, so other shipgirls are grabbing expanded trunks? Seriously?"

Lips curling upwards, the thirteen year old looking shipgirl nodded. "Well, yeah. Most warships don't have a lot of room in their holds after all and they help out a lot. Pretty sure that the Royal Navy shipgirls and some from other European nations have been taking advantage of Diagon. Same with the Wizarding Wireless."

Eyebrow raised, Moriko looked at her. "Wizarding Wireless?"

Tapping the side of her head, Maruyu's smile grew a bit. "Yeah, a bunch of us shipgirls have bought some and placed them into our radio rooms or elsewhere in our hulls. Gives us another source of news or something to listen to when out on patrol other then normal radio."

For several moments, Moriko boggled at her in disbelief. "Wait, you actually put the Wizarding Wireless sets inside you? And you can listen to them?" When Maruyu nodded, the Yokai scratched her head. "Um, huh. That just sounds so weird to me, though I suppose that is something that I'm going to need to get used to myself once I'm awoken, huh?"

Hands in her pockets, the Submarine nodded some. "Well, I have heard that is something that weirds out a lot of Natural Borns when they get awoken, being able to listen to radio inside of their heads."

Moriko frowned some as she thought it over before shaking her head as it was just too odd to think about. But then she was asked a question and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What did I buy?" When Maruyu nodded, she cocked her head to the side. "Not too much, just small things that we could use. Blankets with a warming charm on them and cushions with, well, cushioning charms on them for Sachiko-Chan. Some warm clothes for both myself and Suzume-Chan as not too many places sell that sort of thing back home that's affordable for us... Oh, and a magical heater that can heat out entire quarters if needed."

The small Submarine only nodded at that as it did make sense before they continued their conversation.
__________________________________________________________________

Harry was having a game of Go Fish with Hermione as afternoon turned to evening when he felt the hairs on his neck begin to prickle and his head snapped up. And he was not the only one as Hermione was also looking around with a frown on her face, game forgotten. "What the bloody blistering blue barnacles...?"

Glancing at him, the Light Cruiser frowned. "You feel that, Harry?"

Now looking around, he also had a frown while both Ron and Neville were paying attention. "Yeah... something is not right and..." He trailed off as he looked at the window and his eyes widened some. "Hermione? Wasn't it sunny not even fifteen minutes ago?"

Eyes widening as well, Hermione turned to the window and looked out at the dark sky that now met them. Rain, and part of her could tell it was freezing, pelted the windows hard. "Yes. And..." Quickly checking the position of the train and radioing a weather report, her expression became pensive. "And there's no storms where we are. Wait..." Eyebrows furrowing, the shipgirl's frown deepened. "One was nearby and changed direction not even ten minutes ago heading for us."

The two shared a look at that with Neville also looking out the window. "Uh, guys? Is the train slowing down or is it just me."

Standing, Harry reached into his pocket where he felt some Ofuda there. The same type he had taken to carrying just in case, which Haru had made with the unicorn hair brush he had made her. "Yeah, it is... But whatever is going on doesn't feel like an Abyssal, despite the weather."

Ron suddenly stood and went to the window. "Well, whatever is going on, the temperature is dropping and quick! There's ice forming out there!"

All Hermione could do was boggle at what she was seeing. "That can't be... not even Abyssals can do that..."

However, the black haired wizard of the group shook his head. "No, a Princess could. Raider Princess in the Pacific turned a chunk into the arctic for a short time before she got taken out before she could reach Pearl. But this doesn't feel like an Abyssal."

Turning, he was about to open the door to see if anything was outside when the lights suddenly went out. Almost as soon as that happened, their wands were all lit. But before any of them could say or do anything, a voice spoke up. "Move back from the door."

When they turned, they found that the sleeping man was now wide awake, amber eyes flashing as he narrowed them. Frowning, Hermione stared at him. "What is going on..."

A ghost of a smile on his face, the man chuckled. "Lupin, Remus Lupin. I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."

Eyes widening some, Harry frowned. "Moony?"

That name made Remus' head whip around and he was about to say something when all of them were hit with a cold feeling. Almost immediately, Neville had to sit down on his seat as he could almost hear someone speaking babytalk and cackling while screaming was happening. For the shipgirl, she could feel a phantom pain of a torpedo strike followed by cold water that was not there ripping through her hull and flooding her corridors. Meanwhile, Harry could hear the sound of high pitched laughter even as blackness began to creep around his vision and his legs felt weak.

It was at that moment that the door opened some and a hand gripped the edge of it and pulled it open. The hand itself looked rotted, like it had belonged to a corpse that had laid in the water for some time. Almost like some pictures of Abyssal ground troops that Harry had seen from time to time. Then the door slid fully open and a being stood there in a black cloak, with what was inside the hood unable to be seen due to the darkness there. It took a shuddering breath and looked between him and Hermione, while Harry knew something about it.

Whatever it was... it was hungry and looking at him and Hermione like a steak placed in front of a starving Akagi.

Pulling up his reserves to remain standing, even as he felt himself become weaker and weaker, Harry pulled out an ofuda with a shaking hand. Remus then stepped between them with a snarl. "Sirius Black is not on this train! So be gone!"

The creature turned to him, and Harry could just barely see that there was more. As he could hear a woman's voice and laughter, he could also hear Remus saying some sort of spell, when the thirteen year old held out the Ofuda and whispered the spell which made it glow. "... BE GONE!"

And then the world went white as there were unholy screams.

Elsewhere on the train, Percy threw open the cabin door and headed out as he could hear shouts from people and felt the unnatural cold seeping through the air. Looking over his shoulder at Amisi, he grimaced. "Stay here, I'll go and check this out."

However, the shipgirl just gave him an even look before shaking her head. "{I am sorry, my Pharaoh, but I cannot! This... whatever is causing this is evil. And I will stand at your side against this!}"

Groaning after one of her fairies translated, Percy shook his head. "Fine! But stay close!" It did not take long for him to find the source was Dementors as he spotted one floating near the ceiling as the Headgirl, Penelope Clearwater, was driven to her knees by it and at least four more that gathered there. Behind her was one of the First Years. "Shite! Dementors?!" Charging forward, he thrust his wand forward. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Almost immediately, a silver mist formed in front of him between the three students and the Dementors, forming a shield of sorts even as they pressed as close as they could. Looking up, Penelope blinked at the sight of Percy there with a grimace on his face. "P-Percy?"

Just glancing at her as his arm began to shake at the strain of holding the spell, Percy gasped as he focused on the memories that he was using to power it. "P-Penelope, get her out of here!" As the spell began to weaken, he dug deeper for a better memory when one came to his mind. Rising up, Percy remembered the previous Christmas where him, Ooyodo, and Supprin enjoyed some time together. Then came the memory of the wedding where he had danced with both. Focusing on that, he brought up his wand. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The mist from his wand coalesced into a shape, one that made him blink as beaver leapt from his wand and drove the Dementors back. It was then that he heard Amisi finish her chant and looked behind him to find that she had a ball of flame in her hands that looked like the Sun as she snarled at the Dementors. "{Firebird of Ra!}"

As his eyes widen, the ball of flame seemed to come apart to reveal a hawk made of flame. One that then screeched as it shot forward towards the Dementors who backed away... But were both too slow and too late as it struck them. Percy could feel the heat as the dark creatures screeched. Once the light dimmed though, and he blinked away the spots in his eyes, he looked down at the ground to find ashes littered with crystalline bones. "Um..."

Coming up behind him, Amisi helped a shocked Penelope and the future First Year to their feet. Then she looked him over with worried eyes. "{My Pharaoh? Are you alright?}" With a glance at the odd, to her, creature, she shook her head. "{What a strange guardian you have conjured...}"

With a deep breath, Percy shook off his shock as it was translated. "Its a Patronus and, um..." Looking at the beaver as it stood before them, he scratched his head. "They're a guardian that can fight off Dementors and such."

However, when she looked at him in confusion, Percy explained and her eyes widened before narrowing. The... creatures before her were obvious foul! Not even Apep would abide such disgusting things. When Percy told her though that he was going to search the train, she only nodded though pride shone in her eyes for him. "{Indeed, my Pharaoh! Let us herd these foul creatures back to the abyss that they have come from!}"

Somewhat confused, the Weasley shook that off and with a final order for Penelope to head for the Engine, he began to run down the hall with his Patronus in front of him. The glowing beaver lit the way and the Dementors backed away, though much to Percy's confusion, there were a rather large number laying of Azkaban's guards laying on the floor, cut into pieces. Seeing some of said pieces twitch, he gave a shudder until he came to several more piles of ashes and looked inside to see what he guessed was a professor feeding Harry what looked like large bars of chocolate. "Hello...?"

Looking up, the man gave a relieved smile. "Professor Lupin, DADA. And you are?"

A shaken Ron spoke up looking relieved to see his brother there. "Percy, he's my brother and Headboy this year."

Just nodding, Percy looked around with a frown. "What is going on here? There's Dementors and... I don't know, some of them are cut into pieces and we just took care of three. Are they attacking us?"

Grimacing, though he was confused at Dementors cut into pieces, Remus shook his head. "I believe that they're looking for Sirius Black."

For several moments, the Headboy stared at him in befuddlement. "They're... looking for Sirius Black." When the Professor nodded, Percy rubbed his face. "They're looking for Sirius Black on a crowded train where he could not hide in the first place?! I..."

Remus only shook his head. "I know. But I need to head up to the engine to see what is going on. I'll be back soon..." With a look at the pile of ashes, he took a deep breath and looked at Percy. "Meanwhile, I need-"

Shaking his head, Percy took a deep breath. "Right. Dementor exposure, the best way to treat it is chocolate! I'll go and find the Cart Lady and have her start handing out chocolate to everyone."

With a final nod, the Weasley hurried off followed by Amisi. Meanwhile, Remus headed towards where the Hogwarts Engine was. By the time he got close, he could hear a wireless in one of the carriages already talking about a Dementor attack on the train and winced. 'Wonder who used one of their cellphones...' Shaking that off, he entered where the Engine was to find the Engineer arguing with someone he recognized. "Dawlish!"

The Auror blinked and whipped around to find Remus there. "Lupin? What are you-"

Before he got any further, an enraged werewolf had grabbed him and slammed him into the side of the engine room. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! THERE ARE KIDS ON THIS DAMN TRAIN AND YOU LET THE DEMENTORS BOARD IT?!"

Choking a bit, the Auror tried to free himself. "I-I, the Minister gave orders that... the Dementors are allowed... to investigate anything... that they found suspicious... or could be hiding... Black!"

Only snarling, Remus brought his face close to the other man's. "Great idea, let Dementors have the run of a train full of kids!" Dropping him, a disgusted sneer crossed Lupin's face. "Well, lovely job, Dawlish. Or rather, you had one. Because this is a fucking mess for you and your boss... Now get them off and let's get to Hogwarts before something even worse happens for you and for those on the damn train like someone getting kissed!"

However, already the Engineer had restarted the train and sped up to full speed. Neither the Engineer, nor the Cart Lady who was handing out chocolate to everyone had any time as the Auror demanded that they investigate to find out who hard harmed and killed Dementors. Nor did Remus as he headed back to where Harry was.

And, as it turned out, an enraged Amelia Bones most certainly had no time either when she met them at Hogsmeade Station...

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

Regalia glanced up at the sound of her bedroom door creaking. Stepping partway out of the room, the young Princess looked at the two of them expectantly. "You can come in," she said softly. "But please, try not to… stress her too much."

Pressing away from the wall she'd been leaning on, Sunny nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you." the Princess paused to wipe something from her eye. "And… you can call me Fluffy."

"Fluffy… yeah, I can see it." Regalia cocked her head, a small grin on her lips. "It's a cute name."

"…thanks." With that, the newly-named Princess retreated back into the room.

Regalia spared a glance to her aunt, noting her strained expression. "Are you okay, aunt Sunny? If… if this really is her… it might be a little jarring."

The Demon sighed. "I'm… more worried about how you will take it. I mean, I've been to war; I've seen some bad stuff. But you? What's on the other side of those doors may traumatize you for a little while. Especially since you'll be getting a first-hand view of what a Re-class's demon can do to her…"

"Well, I did grow up defective."

"…Point." Stepping forward, Sunny gripped the hollow destroyer hulk and quietly shifted it out of the way. "Let's just do this before someone gets cold feet." Regalia nodded, stepping up to the door alongside her aunt. This was it—she was meeting her predecessor. The Re-class who had everything go wrong for her, where Regalia had everything go right. Was she still of sound mind? Could she still be saved? Only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and pushed open the door.

For the most part, her room was just as she remembered it—small and quiet, enchanted candles throughout the room providing it with a soft amber light. Some furniture to the sides had been pushed out of the way, likely to make space for a destroyer to move around, and there were some bits of fish and crustacean at the foot of the bed—likely Fluffy's leftovers. But on the bed itself…

Was a shattered hulk of a Re-class.

The first thing her eyes gravitated to was her tail—the broken guns, the missing jaw, the quiet and pained sounds coming from the hole that was its throat. Her gaze traveled up the length of the tail, taking in the plated-over holes in the flesh, before coming to her body proper. Her hooves were rusted and chipped, so badly degraded that they resembled proper ungulate appendages more than Abyssal steel. Every inch of her body was riddled with scars of all shapes and sizes—bullet wounds, stab wounds, slashes and tears, you name it—culminating in a hideous, gaping hole in her abdomen, oozing blood and seawater.

In an instant, Regalia felt absolutely sick to her stomach. The other Re-class's wounds… she should have been dead. Hell, death would arguably be preferable to her current state—bedridden, torn open, coming apart at the seams. But worse than her horror, was her heartache. Here was a broken girl, who had wanted nothing but to live in peace… and was driven to madness and isolation and ruin, simply because she was born a Re-class. She had suffered so much… lost so much… until she was reduced to this. Just continuing to look at her, Regalia felt like her heart was being torn in two.

Regalia looked to the side, expecting to see Sunny's reaction; instead, however, she only glimpsed her aunt's hair flipping as she backpedaled out of the room. "Aunt Sunny?" she called after her, turning to follow.

Outside the room, out of sight of the others, Regalia watched the Demon collapse against a wall, sliding to the floor. "It's… it's her…" Sunny whispered, her voice breaking. "She's… oh, God…"

"Aunt Sunny…?" Regalia asked uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"Why… why didn't we notice sooner? Why did we disregard her mood swings, let her suffer alone?" The Demon continued, ignoring her niece. "If we had just paid attention… we could have tried to help. Tried to save her..." She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. "But we didn't… and now, our sister..."

Stepping closer, Regalia hesitantly rested a hand on Sunny's shoulder as she silently wept. "I don't think there was any way you all could have known just how bad it was. If your help would have been enough."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't have tried!" Sunny snapped. She gestured to the doorway. "What's been done to her… all that pain and suffering… it never would have happened if we had actually paid fucking attention, when she so desperately needed it, before she took matters into her own hands!"

"And then what?" Sunny looked to Regalia. "Even if you managed to help her, managed to suppress her demons, would she still have been capable of serving in the fleet? Could she have survived the Scattering? Survived the devastation and heartbreak that losing her mother and so many of her sisters would have caused her?"

"I-I can't…" Sunny trailed off, cupping her face in her hands. "I don't know. It's just… anything would have been better than… this."

"And if she lost control? Ended up hurting someone she cared about? Do you think she could handle the guilt…?" The Demon was silent. Regalia sighed softly. "We can't change what's already happened, Aunt Sunny. All you and the others can do, is make it up to her now. While you still can."

For a while, Sunny didn't speak. Eventually, she reached into her hold and pulled out a handkerchief. "You're right…" she said quietly, wiping the tears away from her face. "She needs her family. Now, more than ever." Regalia helped her back to her feet, giving her a small hug to comfort her. Now slightly calmer, the pair returned to the door and stepped through.

The Princess waited for them on the other side, her head tilted in slight confusion. "Are you two… alright?" Fluffy asked.

"Yeah. It was just that… the sight of her was a bad shock for me," Sunny admitted. "I'm good, now."

"…okay." Satisfied, Fluffy stepped over and sat down on the bed beside the Re-class, letting her lean into her side. "Flagship… this is Regalia and Sunny. They wanted to see you."

At hearing the Demon's name, the Re-class blinked. "Sun…ny?"

"Sister…" Walking to the other side of the bed, Sunny rested her hand on Renita's. "Do you… do you remember me? Your sister Sunny… the Ru-class who was always drinking OJ?"

Renita looked to Sunny. "You're… my sister?" her voice was quiet, frail.

"Yes…" Sunny's gaze fell. "Do you… do you not remember me? Any of your sisters?"

Renita couldn't bring herself to answer, closing her eyes with a pained expression. "My Flagship… her memory is full of holes," Fluffy answered in her stead. "She can remember important events, but small things like names and faces… she just can't seem to recall those."

"…I see." Sunny said simply. She looked up to the young Princess. "Just how long ago did you meet her? Was she…"

"Yes," Fluffy responded immediately. "She was already crippled when our paths crossed, a little over three years ago."

The information struck Sunny like a punch to the gut. Three years… she had been suffering in this condition for three fucking years. Some small part of her felt proud that her sister had persevered for so long in spite of her injuries; the rest of her, however, was horrified by that very same fact. "D-does… does she remember how… she ended up like… this?"

At that, Fluffy grimaced. "That's… probably the one thing she can remember consistently. She told me her wounds came from defending her home port when it came under attack by a gigantic fleet."

Sunny's and Regalia's eyes widened.

"Followed fleet… to home…" Renita spoke up. "Home was… burning. People were dying. M-my family…" she paused to take a deep breath, only to break down into weak coughing. Once the fit passed, the wheezing Re-class continued. "Had to… fight. Protect home… protect everyone…" Tears began to form in her eyes as she hung her head. "I… I failed. Home gone… siblings gone… Mommy…"

She couldn't continue any further, falling against Fluffy's chest as she whimpered. The other two Abyssals shared a glance with each other, communicating silently, before looking back to Renita. "Sister…" Sunny began. "You didn't fail. Our home was destroyed, yes… but our family is still alive. Mother is still alive. And we've all missed you so much."

Renita glanced to her sister. "Even though… I abandoned you…?"

Sunny shook her head. "That's not your fault… it's ours. We didn't see your pain until it was far too late… and I doubt we'll ever be able to live that down." She leaned forward. "Do you think you can forgive us… for being so blind to your suffering?" she asked softly.

For a time, the room was silent and still. Finally, reaching out, the teary-eyed Re-class gripped at Sunny's dress, slowly pulling herself onto the Demon's chest. "P-please…" she whispered, hanging by her arms around her sister's neck. "Please… h-help me. Make the pain stop. I don't want… t-to hurt, anymore…"

Sunny let out a shaky sigh, wrapping her own arms around Renita. "It's okay, sis… you can finally stop searching. You're finally home." She gently patted her sister's head as she cried. "We're going to get you help. Like we should have, years ago."

"…Mommy… m-mommy…" Renita whimpered.

Sunny gently shushed her sister. "That's right. Mother will take care of you. You won't have to suffer anymore…"

And that was when she felt it. As her sister clung to her, quietly crying over her shoulder, a handful of the Re-class's imps clambered into her hull. Before she had a chance to react to the intrusion, the information they carried disseminated throughout her crew, and she froze.

IFF systems, radio, radar offline.
Hull integrity critical.
Screws heavily degraded, propulsion disabled.
Complete filtration failure, multiple obstructions in ventilation system.
Boilers severely corroded, catastrophic failure imminent.

Slowly, Sunny looked to Regalia. "Get Tenryuu, tell her to contact Admiral Goto. We need to get Mother here as fast as possible."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hoppou was silent as she went over the requisition forms, filling in each field meticulously and with impeccable speed. As soon as one form was done, the little Princess was immediately at work on the next, leaving her daughters to straighten everything out in her wake. Tanith watched her mother work with a slightly mopey expression, remembering how long she took to complete these same documents for her own daughter. "Did everything about me become slower when I ascended…?" she asked.

"To be fair, she's probably got most of this committed to muscle memory." Pausing to take a look at one of the forms, Ritou tilted her head slightly. "There's no date on this one…"

"Supprin will backdate," Hoppou responded tersely. "Hoppou needs materials released ASAP." The sisters shared a look. Their mother had pegged the Re-class in the photos for Renita instantly—and just as quickly began to freak out over the damage she'd sustained. She considered it nothing less than a miracle that she was still seaworthy in that condition, let alone mobile; the fact remained, however, that her lost girl desperately needed help. Renita was looking at a massive overhaul, if not an outright rebuild like Regalia's—and to that end, Hoppou immediately had Supprin send her the requisition forms.

"Mother…" Sonata spoke up, as she ran one of the completed pages through a scanner. "You do realize that, even if they find Renita right away, it will take time to bring her back here where she can be repaired?"

"Hoppou not taking any chances…" Hoppou answered, shaking her head. "I won't lose Renita again. I can't lose Renita again." She didn't even budge at the sound of her phone going off on a nearby table. "Someone get that, please?"

With a sigh, Ritou stepped over and picked up the phone. "Hello. I'm sorry, but Hoppou is a bit busy right now. If you're willing to leave a—" she paused. "Oh, Admiral. Can I help you?" After a few moments, her eyes widened. "They… they did? Where? How is she…" As she continued to listen, her face rapidly paled. "…I… I see. Thank you, I'll… let her know right now."

Tanith looked to Ritou's shell-shocked expression as she carefully set the phone down. "Ritou? What's wrong?" she asked.

Ritou slowly looked to her sister. "…Sunny's team found Renita. And she's in even worse condition than we feared."

 

[darthcourt10]

TIFFD

Harry Leferts said:
Actually, Wanko's area of operation is in the Timor Sea, which opens to the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific. As for the South Pacific? Generally put, its actually pretty open for anyone to do anything with. The only areas regularly patrolled by shipgirls are the convoy route between Australia and New Zealand. If you need a list of Phantom Islands, here you go:
Phantom island - Wikipedia​

Well, after a copious amount of time re-reading most of the fic, trying to get my facts consistent and straight, and extensive amounts of editing, I think I've got something workable here.

~~~ Waters South of Hawaii ~~~

September, 2005

Curses. Curses, Curses!

Submarine Princess wondered exactly when things had gotten all wrong as she pushed herself to dive deeper into the depths of the sea, ignoring the protests of her hull and her wolf pack. She simply urged them to go as low as possible as they fled south. Above them, she could hear the sounds of Depth Charges exploding. She winced as her last Yo-class screamed, her dying wail being eaten up by the waters as a charge exploded in her face.

Snarling, she looked over her shoulder and counted out her remaining forces. Three Ka-Classes, two So-classes, and that's not counting whatever surface vessels were still alive, buying time for her escape. She lost contact with Light Cruiser Princess she had teamed up with in an attempt to re-established a stronghold on Hawaii, on an island that did not have a Volcano that would explode and take out the newly built base of theirs in a freak accident. It should've been an easy deal.

After all, Humanity's Naval forces were being decimated across the Pacific Ocean, and once they had established the base in Hawaii as their central stronghold, the Abyssal would have been able to claim complete dominion over the Pacific Ocean. There was nothing that the humans could do to stop their advance, nothing!

Then those... girls... showed up. Women bearing the power of the naval fleets they just destroyed, bearing the stars and stripes of the Hawaii's country. Sure, maybe their armaments were dated compared to the fleets they sunk, but tell that to her destroyers when they were blown up! In an instant, all the momentum had flipped to the humans, and now they were the ones in all out retreat!

She gritted her teeth. There was just a half-dozen left, including her, that she could call her fleet, less than half of what she had started out with.

"I need an ammo count." She sent out a message to her remaining forces. "Torpedoes, primarily, but So-classes, your guns as well."

"Four Torps, Princess! Two of each."

"Two. Both 21s."

"I have none to spare."

"I have... ammunition... but my gun turret is damaged. Six Torps."

"I too... have damaged turrets, but ammunition in spades. Four."

Damn, and I only have two Cuttlefishes remaining. That makes for... a dozen and a half torpedoes? Did we really use that many of them when those girls showed up and barely get any of them!?

"Return to base via route Beta Delta to Sigma Omega. Stay low to avoid enemy contact. Keep ears out for Light Cruiser Princess. We need to reestablish contact."

It would be a bit of a roundabout route, and put even more stress on their hulls, but Submarine Princess wasn't taking any chances on being followed. If those girls chased with the ferocity that they fought with, there was no doubt leading them directly to base would only lead to them being wiped out to the ship. No, they would take a route heading southeast, towards South America, before looping back around west to return to base. It would add a day or two to their travel time, but losing trackers was their number one priority at this point.

~~~ Central Polynesia, near Micronesia ~~~

It turns out, though, Submarine Princess hadn't needed to worry about the extra days it took to lose the girls. Rather, she probably should be thanking the fact that she decided to take such an extended route. Because when the base came into view, it was naught but a pile of smoking wrecks and ashen rubble.

"What... what happened?" She gaped as she and her wolf pack surfaced. Had the humans found their base with their new forces? How was such a turnaround able to be done so quickly?

...No, one of Light Cruiser's ships must've led them back while retreating. Couldn't have been any of mine, because they're all dead except for the ones on me.... Curses!

"Orders... Princess? This base is... compromised." One of her Ka-class subs asked, and the Princess grimaced, as she checked her own radar and sonars. No one appeared to be showing up on the radar, but there was nothing here to be found. Especially when she found the fuel depot, which, judging by the debris, exploded into a giant fireball. She kneeled down to examine what looked to be the remains of a Ne-class that likely had the unfortunate fate of being up close and personal with said explosion.

"What did you see...? Ha... right, Route Delta Theta. We're headed for Backup point... Alpha." Upon giving the order, she doved, followed shortly by her subs as they headed further south. Hopefully, there were survivors that fled to a back-up location. Light Cruiser Princess had scoffed at the idea, but as a Submarine, she knew the value of back up plans upon back up plans, and was able to get her compatriot to agree for them to regather at small sandy island in the open waters, where ships and planes were few.

"What resources do we have at our backup, Princess?"

"Primarily fuel. I didn't get Light Cruiser to part with too much excess." Unmentioned was the lack of a place to rest and refuel with the supplies she managed to squirrel away for what should have been a distant circumstance that shouldn't have had a chance to occur. This was supposed to be something for the other Abyssal Princesses to laugh at her for as some silly paranoia, not some lifeline for her remnant of a force!

"What is... our plan... now? ...Princess."

"Let us see how much of us are still alive, first." Submarine Princess gritted her teeth. She could only hope that the other Pacific Princesses and Demons were doing much better that she and Light Cruiser Princess did against these new forces. It was going to take time for her to rebuild and replan for the new turn of events...

Now, how should I yell at Light Cruiser Princess for leading the enemy right to our base...

~~~ Southern Polynesia ~~~

Someone had survived. Submarine Princess was sure of that. When her group reached the fallback point, the supplies she had stashed had been exposed to the open air, and a considerable amount of the fuel taken, as well as everything else. Which was unfortunate, considering that all six of them were running low on fuel, among other things.

"Argh... not enough fill us all up, but at least it'll give us a little bit of breathing room for a while..." She looks at her fellow subs. "Let us resupply. We'll need to find a new base of operations, somewhere where we can stay for a while. Not to mention... where in Davy Jones Locker is that Princess!?" She groaned as she rubbed her face. "Sos, let me take a look at your turrets, see how bad the damage is."

The So-classes nod, as they begin to hold out their turrets to their princess, but one of them halts, and tilts her head, shortly followed by the Ka-class trio. The princess frowns, before checking her own radars. There were signals of approaching crafts from the west, but the IFFs...

"Oh, good. It's Light Cruiser Princess." The Princess smiled as she turned away from her Sos to face the incoming force. "Finally, some good news. Now, to find out what she's done... lot fewer contacts, must have also gotten beaten bad, hopefully not as bad as..." She trails off as the Abyssal come into view.

Three of them, Chi-class Cruisers. The only three that the Light Cruiser Princess had, if she remember their troop counts correctly. They came at speed, slowing down as they approached, and she could see that none of them were in any shape to fight. In fact, one of them looked like her Bow was blown in half! She wondered how that one was still seaworthy...

"...Submarine Princess?" One of them spoke. This one had completely lost the AA gun on her gun hand. The tone of her voice indicated surprise, which did not do Submarine Princess any favors in raising her dropping spirits. "You..."

"Where's Light Cruiser Princess?" Submarine cut in. "And the rest of your forces? Our base was destroyed... what happened? Who led them right back to base?"

"...We... it." Another spoke up - this one was missing a large portion of her mask and what was beneath looked like a massive burnt bruise. "Princess... fell, we... scattered. Orders... you... charge."

We're all that's left? Light Cruiser Princess was dead? Damn it all! When I asked where in Davy Jones Locker she was, I didn't mean that literally! She wanted to rage, scream at the sky, punch... something. Like a shark. Or a whale. But later. Right now, she need to keep to priorities. Now she had some new ships that fell under her command.

Who were surface ships. Which was not her strong suit. By any measure. By which she means she let them all fall under Light Cruiser's command while leaving the Imps to herself. And never bothered looking into how to maintain their equipment.

"Also," The third Chi-Class spoke up. "The base was... already on fire when we returned. We tried to get what we could, but... the fire reached our fuel stores, and well..." She winces, and Submarine winced as well. If the surprise counterattack didn't deal the damage they've sustained, their exploding base must've been the blow. It was a wonder that the more lighted armored Chi-class got off lightly while the Ne-class she has found...

That means no one led the enemy to our base. Were they just lucky or... no, no way, they would've been focused on defense, not offense! Not this quickly, at least. Something else must've been the cause...

"...Alright, you took the supplies here? Where did you go?"

"Scouted for... new land. Found... others... from other forces... leaderless." Maskless replied, voice stilted as if it was hard to speak. She would have to investigate that properly later. "Found... island. Resources. Hiding... Came... get remaining supplies."

Well, that was something. At least... part of that was good news. Bad that other Princesses and or Demons also perished in this crazy event, but a potential base location...

"Take us there. That will have to be our new base of operations. If not permanently, temporarily." The Chi-classes nodded, as the Princess turned to her subs. "Resupply, and gather anything we don't use right away, chop chop. We got a island to inspect."

It was still a ramshackle group, six subs and three cruisers. Hopefully, what other Abyssals were at this island would have some ability to supplement their forces so that they aren't completely helpless...

~~~ Tuanaki ~~~

Well, doesn't look like much. On one hand, it needs work to be a place to call home base. On the other hand...

"This is what you meant by resources? A human cargo ship?" Submarine Princess looked up. And up, and starting craning her head back as she stepped ashore the island, leaving her armaments resting in the waters. Because beached on the island's rocky shore was a cargo ship. One with plenty of cargo containers, several of them having fallen down and crashed against the ground, opening up and showing their contents. One of them, she could see, seemed to be full of electronics. Useful, that, even in their broken state. Metal was metal, after all. And the ship had to have some amount of oil in it they could use.

But for all the resources they had, they completely lacked the facilities to properly make use of it. They'll need to process the raw materials, then synthesis the resulting resources into ship parts, then install them properly, somehow, without any of the facilities she had took for granted. Or somehow turn the limited amount of stuff into the materials they needed to build the facilities to do all that.

"Yes." The Gunless Chi-class nodded. "There are some potential resources underwater, but... that is your purview, not ours. And the other survivors are over there." The Chi class led her away from the ship towards the group of Abyssals. half of them were perched on a rocky hill that looked like holes were punched into it, while the others were poking around the cargo ship.

Right, now for the part she worried about. She had gotten a rundown of the numbers and their conditions, and frankly, they understated the damage that the other Abyssal had taken.

A Re-class was useful by any means, sure, and damaged turrets could potentially be repaired, but seeing her now, she couldn't help but wonder how her tail was still able to move around with all the damage it took to the point it looked like a massive bruise. That was going to take time, but turrets are turrets. And if she remembered right, Re-classes also have torpedoes, stretching their meager torpedo stock even thinner until she can build more.

Two Wo-classes on the hilltop could have been promising, even if neither of them had a single aircraft to their name at the moment, but she wasn't expecting one to be hatless, and the other hat to be broken in half. She knew nothing of how to repair that, nor how that would impact their ability to launch planes, though to their credit, neither of them seem particularly put out about their injuries.

Right, needed to rebuild their planes, figure that out too. Otherwise they're essentially dead weight in the water as it were.

A Ru-class? It would mean some surface presence... if it wasn't for the fact her turrets were simply GONE, blackened husks of metal. She had no idea how much, or how long that would take to replace.

Finally, two Ne-classes could supplement the Chi-classes... but like the Re-class, their tail turrets were damaged, and unlike the Re-class, they were completely unresponsive, hanging limply from their backs, and the two looked utterly despondant, as the Ru-class tried to cheer them up, or at least, that's what it looked like from a distance.

It said something that she and her subs were the least damaged of the group, and most of that damage was from going deeper than they should to avoid detection.

So this is what I have to work with. Six subs, including myself, and three torpedo Cruisers, with less than two dozen torpedoes between them, two battleships and two heavy cruisers unable to fire, and two carriers with no planes and potentially questionable launch surfaces. With limited turret ammunition that can't be used until turrets are repaired, resources equal to a single human non-military cargo ship's worth not counting anything we can find underwater, and an island that would require time and effort to work on. There are signs of habitation, but they look recently abandoned. Well... that means that this island could be lived on and worked on without fear of disappearing under the waves, so I should take that as a positive.

As she did her musings, she noticed that all the other Abyssals had stopped what they were doing and were coming down to the shoreline where she was. The Chi-classes were pointing at her, and they were looking at her with expecting eyes.

...On the bright side, all of the Abyssals are looking at me for something, including the new ones... Orders? No, perhaps not right away. Guidance, more like. I'm the top dog now and I need to prove my worth to them.

"Right... I am Submarine Princess, and this... this is our home for now." She started, looking around. "Let me do damage assessment on all of you, and start on making a priorities list for your injuries. Then, we need to sort through everything that's on that ship." She points at the beached cargo ship. "And start seeing just what we have to work with, and figure out what we need to do from here on out."

This isn't going to be easy. Not by a long shot. But if we're going to turn this fight around, and stick it to the humans, we're going to need to play this smart. Guess we're going to be going to ground for longer than I'd like, but... hopefully there's still some of us out there, taking the fight to them.

~~~

The first thing she did was pull aside the closest Abyssal from the new group, which happened to be the Re-class.

"So, Re-class..."

"Reverence."

"Pardon?"

"That's what old boss called me - Reverence. Then there is Ruckus, Needy, and Needless." The Re-class pointed over to the Ru-class, then the two Ne-classes, before pausing. Princess wasn't sure which one of the Ne-classes she had pointed to first. "...Or is that one Needless and the other Needy? I can never remember which is which. Used to be able to tell because of how their turrets moved - Needy's Turrets always creaked for some reason - but ever since they got destroyed... What about your subs?"

"I..." Submarine Princess stared for a moment. "We don't..."

"Really? No names? That's... that's a shame, how do you tell them apart?"

"I'm their princess." She looked as the Re-class raised an eyebrow. "...I just know. Nothing more to it. Light Cruiser Princess was the same. And the same with our own Princess with us before we split off." She sighed. "Though with you folks around, I suppose... I should think of some way to identify them for you if you find it necessarily."

"Well... if ya don't mind, new boss, might make it easier for the rest of us. You folks can tell each other apart, probably, but darned if all you subs look the same to me. No offense. If I just need one of you, I don't want to accidentally call all of you."

Submarine Princess reluctantly nodded. "But first, allow me to examine your condition. Especially, your tail..." At that remark, Reverence's tail came about, trying to look in the Princess' direction, but failing due to the lack of working eyes, from the looks of it.

"Yeah... took a beating, didn't he." Reverence pets the demon on the head as she brings it in for a cuddle as it crooned. Or groaned, Princess wasn't sure which. "Saved our life, though. Blocked a barrage that would've taken my head off." Princess leaned down and took a closer look. She could see where shells had impacted on the head, taking out the turret on the head as well as the turret on the left side, evidently the side it showed to the enemy right before taking the shots.

"Honestly... surprised he's still functional." Princess remarked. "He's in real bad shape..."

"Yeah. Gonna take a while to get him back to proper form, innit? He's a good boy, hope we can get him repaired."

"Most assuredly, but it'll take a considerable amount of time... what about torpedoes?"

"All out, new boss. Used them all in my escape. Same with my bombers - they all got shot down." Princess stared for a moment, before remembering that yes, Re-classes do have aircraft.

Yet another thing that needed to be put on the list of rebuilds. What else do I not know about the bigger surface ships? Light Cruiser Princess didn't have anything stronger than the Heavy Cruisers in her fleet, and I only had subs and some imps myself. I should've tried to remember more than just what each ship class looked like... for once, damn my laser focus on ambush tactics! Damn it all the way to Davy Jones Locker!

"Alright... what, exactly, happened to you guys? We were attacking Hawaii, what about you?"

"We were attacking Australia, but then.... well, probably the same that happened to your force. Girls showed up with big guns, blew up our destroyers, Old Boss got mad, and ate a metric ton of lead and steel." She grimaced. "Darned if we didn't run like the winds after that, though. Lost most of our remaining forces just trying to stem the pursuit, but we managed to lose them. I think. Either that or we went further than their fuel allowed them to safety go. That's when we stumbled across the Wo-classes. Don't really know their story, but they were here for a while. Ever since we made our big attack, even." Reverence pointed to the carriers. "Not much to say about them, they haven't said more than a peep, other than leading us to this island. Shortly after that, Chigun, Chibow, and Chimask-"

"Who?" Princess interrupted.

"Oh, those three that brought you here?" Reverence now pointed to the three Chi-classes that belonged to Light Cruiser Princess. Submarine Princess just rubbed her forehead. She didn't even need to be told which one was which.

She just attached their ship class to what they were missing... And they don't even make proper names.

"You gave them names? And the Wos... what's their names?"

"Well, none that I heard of, though they weren't really all that talkative to begin with. I was thinking Woless and Wohave. What do you think, new boss?" Reverence just gave a cheeky grin.

...She's terrible at making names. That's it, if my subs are getting names, I'm naming them myself. I'm sure I can come up with better names. Submarine mused, And Reverence is either going to be a light in these dark days, or the biggest annoyance I'm ever going to have to deal with to my last. But first...

"Sure, why not. But can you call me something other than new Boss? That just sounds... awkward."

"Sure thing, Commander!" Princess crossed her arms, rubbing her chin. Commander? "Anyways, those three showed up, looking for shelter, and bribed us with supplies to stay. They went to get more of 'em, and well, brought you."

"...Yeah, okay, that... works. Out of your group, who's the most senior?"

"Uh... that'd be me, commander. Ruckus isn't exactly the most talkative, and Needy and Needless are kinda... well, they're been rather sullen since their tails got blown. Up. Blown up." the Princess smiled. Well, that made things easy for her.

"Let's make this official then. You're now my second in command." Reverence blinked at the Princess' proclamation.

"Uh, thanks, and, uh, that was... fast. Also, why?"

"Because we're going to get back to operational levels, we're going to need to work together. Which means filling in the holes and gaps in our knowledge and ability. And my focus is my subs, underwater tactics and routes, and ambushes, not surface ships and especially not aerial combat or slug fests. You understand what I need to help you and the others?"

"Uh... yes, commander." Reverence, for her sake, managed to put up a strong face. Which was a good thing, considering she hopefully understood that she was essentially going to be the Princess's Surface commander.

"Good, this is going to be hard on all of us, but we'll get there, eventually." Once I figure out how, that is.

~~~

Now that a level of understanding was placed between her and the new Abyssal ships under her purview has been established, the next priority was figuring out what they needed, and that was by making inventory of the Cargo Ship. Much to her annoyance, the cargo ship's manifest was missing, and it was beginning to be clear someone had already done some looting of the ship, as some of the cargo containers had been busted open, and contents have clearly been looked through.

"Was it like this already?" Princess peered into one of the looted containers. It had some furniture in it, but half of them were opened and overturned, the other half appears to be missing large sections of them, as if they were partially dismantled.

"Ah." One of the Wo-classes - given the lack of the hat, she supposed this was the one Reverence named Woless - nodded, standing next to her. "They were... like this. Others, also, partly emptied. If I had to guess, it was by whoever last lived here. Looks like they only took what they wanted and left the rest. Good for us. It's something, right?"

"...Well, wood's wood, at least." Princess rubbed the side of her head. "At the very least, it's usable... for... something, I'm sure." She tapped the steel container sides. "This is definitely usable, though it might take some time to work out how to turn it into something we can use..."

"Hey, Commander!" Princess looked at the entrance of the container, where Reverence was sticking her head into. "Found some neat stuff up here! Check it!" Holding something in her hands, she tosses it towards the Princess, who fumbles the item before Woless catches it, and hands it over.

"A book?" Princess looked it over. The title of the book was... "The Complete Modern Bladesmith: Forging your way to Perfection?"

"Nice catch Woless! And there's more like that in here! There's books and books on all sorts of cool stuff!" Princess sighed, handing the book back to Woless.

"As odd as that is, I told you to inventory everything! Discuss discoveries later! Priorities, Reverence!"

"Alright, alright, sheesh, I got ya, Commander." Reverence's head dipped out of sight. "Hey, Chigun! Open the next container!"

"...This might be useful." Woless looked at the back of the book.

"How so?" Princess raised an eyebrow. I can hardly see how a human book on weapons could possibly useful...

"It claims to tell you how to build a forge. Something to melt metal in."

...Scratch that, maybe there might be something useful in there. A forge meant that all this metal they were in could be converted into useful materials to use in repairs, potentially. Of course, that means I have to learn how to smith... exactly how much am I planning to bite off here!?

...Actually, I wonder who can I foist that task off to?

"...Alright, that can be useful. Maybe Reverence has a point. But later. Priorities."

"Mmm." Now that Reverence called out those names, Princess had another thought...

"Do you mind? Being called Woless, that is."

"I..." The Carrier just reaches up, clutching at the space above her head. What was supposed to be her... hanger? Launch surface? Whatever it was, it didn't necessarily impact her buoyancy, though her maneuverability on the waters was hindered massively to the point where she was completely reliant on her cane to keep her stable while turning. It also meant that she was utterly defenseless as well until it was all repaired. It was actually rather remarkable how well the Wo-class was dealing with the loss of such capability. "I don't like... but..."

"Did your Princess give you a name?" Princess had to actually blink when Woless just shuddered and shook her head. Do I really want to know...?

"Alright... is there anything you'd rather be called?" Woless looked confused, before shaking her head. "...If I came up with something you liked better, would you...?"

"...Perhaps."

"...I don't usually give names, but... I'll do my best."

What in Davy Jones Locker am I promising here!? Then again, anything is better than reminding her of what she's missing. Reverence isn't exactly the most polite ship out there, is she?

...It would help if I even had a clue what names to pick. But seriously, anything is better than reminding folks of what's damaged on them, and once I get all those repairs down, those names aren't exactly going to fit, now, are they?

"I appreciate it, Princess... Commander."

~~~

Well, that's the initial set up. Established the fleet, now to get the ball rolling to speed towards the current day. Hopefully I don't Archimedes Turtle myself. Next part should fill in the gap between 2005 and 2009/2010, or up to around Wanko's discovery of Hoppou's survival. I did my best to be as canon-compliant as possible.

What do you think?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Leaning back against the cushions of the thestral drawn carriage, Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. The wizard did this a few more times to center himself before opening his eyes to look at the others also in the carriage. Out of all of them, only Ron was lightly affected still with Hermione still shaking every once in a while and holding her side like there was a wound there that only she could see.

Neville though, worried Harry as he just seemed to stare off into nothing. "Nev? You alright there?"

Said boy closed his eyes and looked like he was about to be ill. "No, not really, Harry. I..." When Hermione brought out a bucket, he waved her off. "I... I already got sick with what was in my stomach." Once more, Neville sucked in a deep breath. "I... I think that I heard that night. When... when the LeStranges and Crouch, when they tortured my parents."

Face white enough to make his freckles stand out like stars, Ron placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "You heard..."

Rubbing his face and eyes, Neville could only nod until he managed to say something. "I... I could hear a man and a woman screaming. Along with another woman speaking babytalk between cackles. Pretty sure..."

Only leaning forward, Hermione shook her head some. "That's what they do, Dementors from what I read last year." At the looks, she grimaced some. "I read up on them in the library I got in my hull when I overheard how Hagrid was sent to Azkaban. According to the books, they feed on happiness, sucking out every happy thought you got and leaving the worst. You start reliving the worst moments in your life... or it seems, lives, in my case."

That made Harry give her a worried look. "Hermione?"

Just shaking her head, the Light Cruiser sighed. "I... I was reliving my sinking, Harry. Bloody hell!" All of them jumped at her outburst as she gripped at her side with a snarl. "Even now, I can feel that damn wound from the torpedo, even if I'm perfectly fine!" A tear then made its way down Hermione's cheek. "I also relived the last moments of all my crew that I lost..."

Voice soft, Harry spoke at that point. It was so soft it was almost a whisper, but they could all hear it. "I'm pretty sure that I was hearing the last moments of my biological Mum's voice there. I... I could hear her begging and Voldemort cackling."

Almost as soon as he said that, Hermione wrapped one arm around his shoulder. For his part, Ron only shook his head. "Is it bad that I'm thankful that my worst moments are nothing like that? Or does it make me a real arse?"

Lips twitching and a ghost of a smile appearing on her face, the shipgirl of the group snorted. "A little bit of both, I would think." Turning back to Harry, she frowned some. "You called the Professor, Moony. Why?"

Glancing at her, he let out a sigh. "Because remember how I said that the name was like the friend of my parents? He was given the nickname of 'Moony' for... a reason. One that he's hiding."

There was a frown on Neville's face before his confusion cleared and his eyes widened. "Wait... Moony? You mean because he's a werewolf." At the looks and realizing what he said, he winced. "Sorry..."

Only shaking his head, the Japanese raised wizard waved him off. "Don't worry about it. And yes, he's a werewolf. Though..." Eyes narrowing, he gave Neville an interested look. "How did you know that?"

Shrugging, the Longbottom Scion shook his head. "Um, after hearing that you were reading your parents diaries, I sort of started with my own. There was a whole bunch of stuff in there including how our parents fought together and... they mentioned a 'Moony' in there who was a werewolf."

With a slow blink, Ron scratched his cheek. "A werewolf huh?" Then he gave a shrug. "Whatever, if he was fighting You-know-Who and was friends with your parents, then he's okay in my book. Probably a secret though to keep."

That got him nods from the others as they all waited for the carriage to reach the school. As soon as it did though, they got out and began to walk towards the doors on unsteady legs. Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry caught sight of Draco looking at them and it looked like he wanted to say something. But whatever it was, he fought it down and walked away which made him blink. 'Wonder what that was all about.'

Granted, he also noticed that Draco looked paler then usual.

Upon reaching the doors though, they found Madame Pomfrey already there and hustling around as she checked the various students. Seeing Harry and his friends, as well as their states, she rushed over and examined them. "Are you feeling quite alright, Misters Potter, Weasley, Longbottom? Miss Granger?" Not even waiting, she shoved a large chocolate bar into their hands. "Here, have some of this. It'll help."

Harry gave a slight smile before unwrapping the bar and biting into it. Swallowing and feeling some warmth return to him, he shook his head. "Um, Professor Lupin gave us some chocolate and had Percy go and get all the students some."

On Pomfrey's face was a pleased look as she nodded. "Good, it's nice to have one professor for DADA who actually knows what they are doing. Honestly, Dementors guarding Hogwarts! What's next, dragons!?"

Shaking her head, she walked off and they continued to make their way into the school only to pause as McGonagall walked up and looked relieved to see them all. "Are you all quite alright?" Then she grimaced and shook her head. "No, of course you would not be." Glancing at Neville, she cleared her throat. "I'm afraid, Mister Longbottom, that I need to speak with Mister Potter, Mister Weasley, and Miss Granger. They will meet up with you in the Great Hall soon enough."

Confused, Neville looked at them and, after getting nods, walked off. More then a little curious, Hermione looked up at their Deputy Headmistress. "Professor?"

Minerva only looked over her shoulder and shook her head. "Please, follow me. This... won't take long." And it didn't take them long to reach her office, inside of which she waved her hand at three chairs in front of her desk. "I'm sorry to bother you three so soon after your ordeal, but... I do need to speak with you regarding certain matters."

A frown on his face, Ron sat down. "Yeah, you were mentioning that in the letters you sent us. Um, what's going on, Professor?'

Not answering right away, the Transfiguration Professor sat down in her chair and clasped her hands on her desk as she looked at each one. "I will admit, I have been rather impressed with your work ethic, each of you. Especially your extra-circulars. However, there has been an issue regarding the amount of classes that all of you have taken this year."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry shifted some in his seat and shared a confused look with the others. "Er, what sort of issue, Professor? I mean, you wrote to ask if we really wanted the amount of work according to the others. But, well... we all want it." Then he shrugged. "Besides, not too much different from how schooling is in Japan for me."

More then a little bemused, McGonagall shook her head. "Yes, for you I suppose so. I was rather surprised after seeing how schooling is done in Japan. There are few here that would be able to manage that amount of work, or the amount that you have been doing. But... the issue is in regards to schedules." Holding out one, she gave it to Harry and the others. "As I am sure that you can see."

Frowning, Hermione looked it over and gave her a look. "Is this right? Some of these classes are taking place at the same time."

With a nod, Minerva frowned. "Quite, and it is correct for all that is an example."

Just scratching his head, Ron furrowed his eyebrows. "But when I asked Percy, he stated that he had no issues with his classes. Same with Bill and Charlie when I asked them. Why would there be a problem now?"

Sighing, the Professor took off her glasses and cleaned them. "The issue, Mister Weasley, is changes made to the scheduling just a few years back. As to your older brother, Percival? He was grandfathered in under the old rules along with two others. Now, before we go any further, I must ask if you are serious with the amount of classes that you are taking even knowing this? What happens next depends on that."

The three gave each other looks while having a silent conversation. Unknown to them, that brought a small smile to Minerva's face as she was reminded of another group of students. Students who also often made trouble as it were. Then, they turned back to her and Harry spoke up. "We're all still serious about this, Professor."

Rather then speak, Minerva reached into her desk and pulled out a wooden box that was locked much to their confusion. Tapping her wand on the lock, which made it unlock, she opened it to reveal three odd objects. They looked like necklaces with hourglasses suspended in the middle. It was obvious that one could easily spin the centers around using dials on the outer rings. Placing the box down, the Professor turned serious. "Very well. These are yours for the school year, they are called 'Time-Turners'. And as the name implies, they can travel through time. In particular, backwards."

Jaw dropping almost as one, the three teens boggled at the objects before Hermione raised her hand much to McGonagall's silent amusement. With a nod for her to speak, the shipgirl did so. "Travelling through time, Professor? Just... just to make it for class?"

Looking at one, Harry had a nervous expression as the Deputy Headmistress nodded. "Exactly, Miss Granger. It took some doing, but the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries gave this to the Headmaster. Each one with a turn can take you back one hour for each rotation of the hour glass."

Even more nervous, and unnerved, the black haired wizard gulped. "Isn't playing with time dangerous? I mean, there's all sorts of stories about how dangerous they can be after all."

Her expression still stern, Minerva fixed him with a look. "Quite dangerous as a matter of fact." She then looked each one of them in the eye. "However... I trust each and every one of you three are responsible to be trusted with these." Expression softening, McGonagall shook her head. "And I would not have if you could not be entrusted. Now, for safety sake, these have limits of only being able to go back twelve hours at a time max. Such a thing will also lower the danger of possible paradoxes happening, I have been told. It is best though that you do not allow for yourself to be seen by a past self just the same."

Taking the object and holding it as if it could explode, Ron pressed his lips together thinly. "I think that I heard Dad say something like this..."

Meanwhile, Hermione seemed to be chewing something over and then furrowed her eyebrows. "Professor? If I may ask, if such devices exist then why did no one go back and..."

Understanding the question, Minerva finished it. "Why did no one use them to go back and warn about Blood Week? Firstly, that could create a paradox very easily, I have been told. Another thing though, according to the Unspeakable I spoke to, stated that they are now unable to get past Blood Week itself as they have tried. Something occurred to the timestream which prevents people from going back any further then that. As well, they mentioned something called 'Fixed Points in Time' which are impossible to change."

That made Ron raise an eyebrow at her. "Wait, you mean like that thing from Doctor Who?" At he looks, he flushed some. "Sometimes Hood would be watching it when I visited Warspite when younger."

Shrugging, the Japanese raised member of the group turned to McGonagall. "I was actually going to ask myself."

With a sigh, Minerva shook her head. "They were very mum about the whole thing except stating that certain people and events are protected by time itself. The example they gave me was that a rogue witch attempted to go back and time and kill Hitler in the 1970s. However, each time something happened that prevented it until she went back to the First World War. Once there, she tracked him down in the trenches and was about to kill him, with a team coming after her... when an Airship crashed down on top of her before she could either shoot off a spell or they could capture her. Not, of course, that I think that any of you would need to worry about such."

Rapidly blinking, Harry glanced at his friends to see that they were stunned as well.

McGonagall then slid across to them three booklets. "I would also have you swear to tell no one in the school that you have said items." The words made them look up and she smiled thinly. "I know better then to ask you to hide them from certain parties or your possession of them. Albus will be going further into it with some of them, to be honest. While it is safe, it can still be dangerous and thus you must read those booklets. And do not read them just the once, but multiple times."

Opening one, Hermione began to scan it before Ron spoke up as he glanced at his own. "Um, Professor?" When she nodded, he continued. "Just a question about it all... but is there anywhere that we can rest if needed? I mean... we're going to need sleep after all."

Pleased expression on her face, the Professor leaned back into her hand and steepled her hands in front of her. "A very good question, Mister Weasley. Two points to Gryffindor. As to places that you can rest, there are three places available in the castle for such, I suggest that you use them. More then that though, I also suggest that on weekends that you turn them back the full amount to get twelve hours of rest at the least on one day. Both, would be much more preferable."

After a full hour of questions and instructions, as well as going through the booklets three times at least, Minerva had them use them for the first time with her along for the ride. As they watched from one side of the room, their past selves appeared and went through their actions as if one had hit fast rewind. Then the past versions walked backwards out of the room and they re-entered the time stream with Harry blinking. "Okay... that was sort of neat."

Lips twitching, McGonagall nodded. "Quite neat." Then brushing herself off, she walked to the door. "Now, we must be off before our past selves arrive here. Please follow me and I'll bring you to where they won't see us... Oh, and Mister Potter?" Catching his attention, she smiled some. "At some point in the year, I might ask for you to come and have a special transfiguration test. Perhaps some special lessons are in order considering how much you have been working on your transfiguration among other subjects."

Even though they were confused, they nodded and soon made their way back to the Great Hall, the cool metal touching their chests.
____________________________________________________________________________

Dinner was finished, with dessert having been left out for people to eat longer then usual. A dessert that had many more chocolate dishes then normal, and which many had gone for. While Neville had asked them what had happened, the trio telling him that they were not allowed to say anything had made him shrug and shake his head. Not that he was mad, in fact he understood that whatever it was they could not talk about. Even though it made him all the more curious about what the secret was.

As the dessert cleared away though, with Ron noting that Amisi was disappointed by that, Dumbledore stood at the front table and clapped his hands for silence. "Welcome once more to Hogwarts for a new school year. Now, some of you might recognize that there are some new faces here for our staff. Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin. He is a former student of Hogwarts and is an expert in the subject."

With a slight bow, Remus smiled at them all before turning to Albus and bowing slightly again. "Thank you, Headmaster. It is a joy to be at Hogwarts once more... though some might feel otherwise." Much to the confusion of the students, some of the teachers had smiles on their faces at that and more then a few snorted. Snape just rolled his eyes in annoyance. Turning back to the students, he flashed them all a smile. "I hope that I can teach each and every one of you how to defend yourselves and those around you."

Once he sat down, the Headmaster gestured at two other people there. The female of the two had caused Hermione to do a double take at seeing, with her doing much the same to the bushy haired shipgirl. A quick glance with his other sight, Harry could see the wooden hull of a medieval ship that was slightly worn overlaying the woman's body. Now, Dumbledore chuckled a bit. "This year I am quite pleased to report that we are restarting Alchemy classes here at Hogwarts. While those who have chosen such after having done their OWLs last year will have an normal course, a basic level course has been made available for those Third Year and up. And I am quite pleased to have two friends of my own, and my own former Professor, Wilhelm Wolff and his wife, Gwen Wolff sharing the position of Alchemy Professor."

It went without saying that everyone was whispering with each other at that. The young man who looked barely older then a Seventh Year had taught Dumbledore! Sure, two years earlier there had been the whole thing with the Philosopher's Stone in the school but still! This was actual proof!

Already, there was a lot of interest, which was exactly what the Headmaster wanted.

Shooting Dumbledore an amused look, Wilhelm stood up before offering a hand to his wife. Once she was standing, he kissed her knuckles and then turned to the school with some of the girls sighing and boys grumbling. "Guten Abend, Hogwarts. As Albus has stated, we're to teach those of you who have chosen such the magical science of alchemy. You may refer to me as Professor Wilhelm and mein wife as Professor Gwen to prevent confusion when both of us are present. We look forward to seeing you in our classes."

Gwen had a smile on her face as she did a small bow. "As my husband has stated, both of us look forward to new faces in the pursuit of knowledge and a new year."

With that, she sat down and Dumbledore continued on his announcements. When he came to the end though, he gained a sorrowful look on his face. "Before the rest of you head to bed, there is one final announcement that I must deliver with a heavy heart. The Headmaster of Hogwarts before me, Armando Dippet, passed away two days ago at the age of three hundred and eighty one. He served this school as Headmaster for many, many years and hired me as a professor and I knew of him before as a student myself. I ask of you to hold a minute of silence in his honor."

Bowing his head, the Headmaster stood there along with other Professors. More then a few were surprised that McGonagall had taken her hat off and held it to her chest while a tear made its way down her cheek. All of the students and ghosts also bowed their heads. Then, Dumbledore raised his head and thanked them before sending them all to bed. Harry had just barely gotten his Owl Box set up before Myrtle came through and hugged him to the confusion of both Seamus and Dean. Meanwhile, the ghost backed up and looked him over. "Are you alright, Harry? It was all over the wireless in Japan that the train was attacked by Dementors! Dementors!"

Surprised, Harry stared at her. "Wait, they know about that in Japan already?"

Myrtle just gave him a look at that and huffed. "Are you really that surprised? That sort of thing is not something that should happen!"

Hearing a scoff, she turned to find Seamus scowling. "Yeah, well, me Mam isn't going to be too happy. We were just told that the Dementors are guarding the school from Sirius Black."

That made the ghost facepalm before pinching her nose. "Dementors... guarding the school? Please tell me that is some sort of sick joke." When she saw Harry shake his head, she held her face in her hands and they could all hear swears. "What sort of bloody moronic arsehole..."

All of the living there shared looks of amusement with each other while Myrtle ranted and raved. Meanwhile, Harry also began to compose a letter to his mother as well as another go other members of his family to calm them down. He also added coded portions regarding the artefact that he had been given, which he was still unsure about. Part of Harry noted that a house elf arrived to speak to Neville and said boy left stating he needed to use the Floo.

Harry also found himself trapped in the coils of Shiromizu with her tightly hugging him less then an hour later after she came through the owl box and made sure that they had privacy. All the while snarling about threats to whoever had came up with the idea of having Dementors guard the school.
__________________________________________________________________

Less then an hour found a stressed out Cornelius Fudge slugging back a firewhiskey shot. "A disaster, an utter disaster!" Glaring at the wireless, he let out a groan. "This was not what I needed with Sirius Black escaping!"

Clearing her throat, Delores gave him a slight frown. "Yes, well... it is unfortunate that the wireless reported it before we could give them the... facts."

Fudge snorted and pinched his nose. "No, they just had to go ahead and spout about what happened before we could get a handle on it. The editors at the Prophet will try, but I doubt that it will amount to much." Hitting his desk, he shook his head. "What in the world were they thinking of going after the train!?'

About to say something, Delores was opened her mouth when she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Moments later, the secretary opened it to reveal a stone faced Albus Dumbledore striding in. "Cornelius, we need to talk."

Seeing not just Amelia Bones behind the Headmaster, but also an angry Lucius, the Minister winced. The coming conversation was not going to be good at all for his nerves. As it turned out, he might as well been a seer due to being completely correct as all three took their turns to make sure he knew their opinions known. Several minutes later, Cornelius had his face in his hands. "What would you have me do!? With Black on the loose-"

Eyes without their usual twinkle, and his voice practically vibrating with power, Dumbledore leaned down. "What I want Cornelius, is for you to remove those abominations from where they are around my school! There was no reason whatsoever for them to have even stopped the train, let alone boarded it! None!"

Hands pulling away from his face, Cornelius grimaced. "Albus, the Dementors did so because they suspected that Black was on board-"

Lips curled upwards into a sneer, the Head of the Malfoy family glared at him. "Oh yes, because of course Black would be able to sneak onboard a train filled with students. One with Prefects and the Headboy and Headgirl performing patrols up and down the length of. As well as staff also doing much the same. Truly, Black is a master of disguise, why he might have been impersonating a toilet for all we might know!"

Weakly, the Minister held up one finger. "Well, there was that one wizard in that women's washroom-"

Disgusted, Amelia shook her head. "That... foul man also was not being looked for until Arthur came across some reports! As soon as we knew about it, Auror Trainee Tonks was able to catch him in the act!" Shaking her head, she scowled. "Besides which, it was not a full transfiguration either."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. "Not to mention, there are spells specifically to prevent such from happening on the Express and the Headboy and Headgirl routinely check with spells to make sure of such." At the odd looks from Amelia as well as the Minister and Umbridge, the Headmaster grimaced. "It would not be the first time, unfortunately."

Quickly moving away from that subject, Lucius leaned forwards. "As... illuminating such a conversation might well be, Minister, there is still the issue of what happened!"

A sound of a throat being cleared made them all turn. "Hem hem." When their eyes came to lay on Delores, she frowned. "Yes, such as what will happen to the ones responsible for the unfortunate deaths of Ministry employees."

Very slowly, Amelia as well as the two non-Ministry wizards blinked in befuddlement. Dumbledore reached up and waggled one finger in his ear before staring once more at Umbridge. "I... am sorry, but... do you mean the Dementors, Madame Umbridge?"

Nodding and giving him a look as if she thought him an idiot, the witch scowled. "Exactly. At least six have been found to have been killed and a number of others dismembered in such a way that they might as well have been!"

Voice drier then the Atacama Desert, Malfoy gave her a look that stated how much of an idiot he thought that she was. And he was used to the elder Crabbe and Goyle. "I am afraid that the Dementors are not employees of the Ministry, Delores." When she was about to say something, he smiled and not in a nice way. "After all, you were the one who pushed for the requirement as Undersecretary preventing non-humans from holding Ministry positions including employees."

That brought a wince from the witch, only for Amelia to bring out a wooden box. Opening it, she spilled out the contents which made Fudge back away and fall out of his chair. For his part, Lucius could only look in interest at the ash and crystalline bones. One of which was obviously that of a skull with a lamprey-like mouth. Eyebrow raised, Dumbledore hummed as he examined it without touching the object. "Interesting, so this is how a Dementor's bones look?"

Amelia only shrugged before grimacing as Fudge poked one of the bones with a quill. "Apparently so, though it could also be due to the high amount of heat that they underwent. Whatever spell was used though, was not dark. Same with a few piles of ashes without bones that we identified as also belonging to Dementors. Rather, whatever spell was used was well into the light spectrum of magic."

Looking as if she had bit into a lemon, Umbridge shook her head. "Word is that Potter was one and-"

While attempting not to roll his eyes, Lucius gave her a sneer. "Yes, Potter killed Dementors. Even assuming such, and as much as I despise doing so, I must come to his defense. The law is quite clear in regards to being allowed to use magic to deal with an attacking Dementor. As you obviously have kept it secret that Dementors were going to be guarding Hogwarts until this morning, he may very well have the excuse that he did not know such, thus when one seemed to attack him, he used magic to protect himself."

Just puffing herself up, Umbridge glared at him. "He killed it! Possibly with some sort of foreign magic! Surely that is against the-"

Tone oily, Lucius interrupted her. "There are no laws against killing Dementors, Delores. Absolutely none whatsoever. Yes, it is possible to do so perhaps with Fiend Fyre, but doing such is more likely to kill the caster as well. Thus, it was never written. And to be quite honest, I would have to clap my hand to whomever might have slain those... things. Personal feelings aside, whoever did it has performed something of a benefit to our people."

Unsure, Fudge looked between Umbridge and the others. Then, he swallowed some and glanced at Amelia. "T-there must be an investigation, of course just the same..."

Now smiling as if she was a shark, Amelia's eyes glittered. "Oh, of course, Cornelius. An investigation is an absolute must in this case and I shall see to it. Of course, it will take time to perform. I want to be quite thorough..." Even though he felt like he had fallen into some sort of trap, the Minister relaxed only to freeze as the jaws of said trap snapped shut. "After all, this was an attack by Ministry controlled... beings on some of the most helpless of our society. It would need to be done."

Wincing, Fudge's mind was already awhirl with ways of surviving. "Of course, of course, Amelia. In that you have my full cooperation." Glancing at the stunned Umbridge, he continued. "Our full cooperation against this travesty. I am certain though that there was just some sort of... miscommunication that happened. Or perhaps a misunderstanding regarding orders, you understand..."

Eyes narrowed, Dumbledore didn't glare. He did not need to as he seemed to loom over everyone there. "And the Dementors? They will be removed from Hogwarts?"

Fudge grimaced some and shook his head and his words made Lucius internally groan as Narcissa was sure to give him hell if he did not convince the Minister otherwise. "Ah, well... perhaps after Amelia's investigation is done depending on the outcome. They are searching for Black and likely can find him in whatever disguise he might be using..."

It went without saying, that when a few minutes later of arguing the door opened to reveal Augusta with a snarl, everyone winced as she marched forward. "You belshangle! My grandson had to relive the night his parents were tortured by that rabid fucking bitch!"

Needless, they had a very late night with Fudge wishing he had drained all his whiskey before they had arrived.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

A.N./ It's that time again kids!

IT'S TIME FOR MORE POLITICKING AND SHADY SPY STUFF!

Just as a heads up if it seems a bit confusing and contradictory, there's supposed to be a wheels within wheels / layers with layers aspect to it, along with a general picture of some people ahead of the curve, being hamstrung by others behind it (if not panicked reversing in the wrong direction), as well as the politics surrounding events. Also, before anybody queries, I already ran this by Harry Leferts

As a side note, if it sets the tone, (barring the end section) I wrote most of this listening to this;



The Pentagram Office
Woolworth Building
New York
September 1st 2013

MEMORANDUM: DIPLOMATIC SITUATION AND STANCE TO THE COURSE OF EVENTS IN JAPAN

TO: EMBASSY AND CONSULATE OF THE MAGICAL CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STAFF IN JAPAN

FROM: CHIEF OF STAFF ATHENA LAIRD

STATUS: [UNCLASSIFIED]

President Quahog has advised the following diplomatic stance which to take at this time, considering recent events in Magical Japan;

1. The Magical Diet of Japan in Tokyo is still at this time, recognized as the legitimate government of magical Japan by both the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and by the ICW. Therefore, all diplomatic, trade and defensive pacts, treaties and deals shall continue to be recognized between us and the Diet at this time.
   • To this effect, the Magical Congress of the United States of America shall also label the Kyoto Magical Government an illegitimate entity, and shall not recognize any attempts to assume or take over the Magical Diet's position in any existing pacts, treaties and deals signed between Magical Japan and Magical America.
   • Nor shall the Magical Congress of the United States of America recognize any attempts by the Kyoto Magical Government, to negotiate new agreements such as the above, on behalf of the people of Magical Japan, so long as the Magical Diet of Japan is the recognized legitimate government of the Japanese magical community.
2. All support within diplomatic means is to be given to help stabilize the situation with Magical Japan at this time, in an effort to reduce further straining and breaches of the Statute of Secrecy in the Far East.
   • American involvement and intercession at this time, is to strictly remain limited within the realm of diplomacy, and entreating either side to come to a peaceable solution to restoring stability via the negotiation table. It is the opinion of the Magical Congress that the current political schism taking place within magical Japan, is an internal social and economic matter for the Japanese magical government and it's magical people to come together and reach an agreement upon, themselves.
   • At the time of this memorandum, the situation is deemed as not yet warranting further MACUSA or international involvement, than what is already present by provenance of the ongoing war and other ICW matters being observed and investigated within the country.
3. It is to be expressed that the thoughts and prayers of Magical America are with the Japanese magical populace in these troubled times, and that we are confidant that order and unity shall soon be restored to their magical communities under the banner of governance recognized by the people.

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The Pentagram Office
Woolworth Building
New York
September 1st 2013

MEMORANDUM: IN REGARDS TO THE TOKYO - KYOTO SITUATION

TO: DIRECTOR OF MAGICAL INTELLIGENCE BUREAU TAGGART COLMEY
DIRECTOR OF MAGICAL SECURITY JACK MERLON
SECRETARY OF MACUSA DEPARTMENT OF STATE KATARINA WEISS
FROM: CHIEF OF STAFF ATHENA LAIRD

STATUS: [CLASSIFIED - LIMITED DISTRIBUTION]

Having read the reports from M.I.B. Tokyo Station and the observations of M.D.o.S. Foreign Service officials at the Embassy and Consulate of MACUSA in Japan, it has become increasingly clear that the situation facing the Magical Diet of Japan is an untenable one, which barring a now highly unrealistic miracle, makes some form of regime change all but inevitable. Estimates by analysts and divination specialists confirm that there is little which can be done, within reasonable bounds and favorable long term outcomes, that can prolong the role of the Magical Diet of Japan as the domestically recognized governing body of Magical Japan, regardless of what faction or party is given legitimacy in the eyes of the international community.

Active and visible measures to stand alongside the Japanese Magical Diet are predicted to only extend it's authority by two-to-three years at best. Even a complete change of parties in the upcoming election next year, is unlikely to prolong the Diet's legitimacy and authority for any meaningful amount of time.

Avenues such as supporting political factions and attempting to influence domestic Japanese politics, may in fact only serve to weaken the legitimacy of both traditional allies whom MACUSA and the ICW have held influence and ties with, and/or whatever new parties might seem favorable to external international agendas which do not wholly align with the vast majority of the magical Japanese lower and middle classes. Such an extended period of disunity, unrest and potential for power struggles, would also only increase the likelihood of the overstretched and overburdened Yokai Reserves finally breaking down, and prolong the autonomy that has become increasingly common place in many regions of the nation over the last two years. Something that is partly responsible for so many breaches of the Statute of Secrecy over the last two years, and only liable to worsen thanks to reports of a growing political schism in the already undermanned and resource starved Japanese Auror Corps.

It is of serious concern that with their downfall all but an inevitability, any attempts to aide in the survival of the Japanese Magical Diet may thus end up being detrimental to future MACUSA diplomatic endeavors and relations with Magical Japan, and whatever successor body succeeds to govern the Japanese Magical Community in their place.

Currently the magical American general public recognizes the main intrastate conflict as a currently non-violent schism along a variety of administrative-social-political lines, primarily limited between the existing Magical Diet of Japan and the faction proclaiming themselves as the Kyoto Magical Government. The reclamation of Mahoutokoro has highlighted and brought attention to this "Shadow Government" on both the domestic Japanese and international stages, producing an image of an apparently proactive and supposedly more functional body than the Magical Diet, which has been mired in controversy and infighting for much of the war since Blood Week.

Many elements and representatives within the Magical Congress have expoused views that the Magical Congress of the United States of America has an obligation to stand by it's ally, the Magical Diet of Japan, and oppose many of the policies the Kyoto Magical Government seek to implement. But after much debate with the President and review of your department reports, it has become apparent that to remain by the Magical Diet's side, is to chain ourselves to a sinking ship. One which in a worst case scenario, could damage us should the Statute indeed fall in the near future.

For this reason, while superficially and unofficially, we are to entreat the Magical Diet of Japan with the same extended hands of friendship we always have for the last six decades, it is advocated that we pursue a new course of delicate foreign policy in regards to Japan and it's internal matters.

• Until such a time that you are given reasonable justification otherwise, all matter regarding the government(s) of magical Japan and their internal strife are to be treated with a distant hand, to keep us neutral but friendly. It is advised to be noncommittal towards any requests for support by the Magical Diet of Japan, beyond the bare diplomatic minimum required to meet our promises in the eyes of the Japanese and ICW legislation, and what is seen as our responsibility to honor in the eyes of the American magical public. Any support that is given, should be prudently discreet, or limited in scope from the point of view of the larger Japanese public.

• Unlike previous elections within the Magical Diet of Japan, MACUSA shall not express any support of any one particular party or ministerial candidate. Our stance is to remain neutral and unrelated to whatever regime comes next, and is likely to be in power through the final collapse or subsumption of the Magical Diet of Japan.

• While the Kyoto Magical Government is not to be publicly recognized as the legitimate magical government, it would be prudent at such a point to reach out and form ties with them through back channels. While the main agenda should be on ensuring a peaceful dialogue between the Kyoto Magical Government and the Magical Diet of Japan to avoid any further incidents of unrest such as July 27th-28th or the political succession turning from a political conflict into a hot one, at least offering some recognition to the Kyoto Magical Government could lend them a certain amount of clout and legitimacy, even if it is politically unsatisfactory within the Congress and public opinion/unity to outright recognize them at this current time.

The usefulness of maintaining the clout and legitimacy of the Kyoto Magical Government, rather than attempting to break it, is another factor to be considered. On the surface, many of Magical Japan's regions still officially recognize the Magical Diet of Japan as their governing body, but closer inspection and ground level assessment proves this to be a seriously flawed assumption.

Information from M.I.B. Tokyo Station has recently revealed that the Index of Unrest the Japanese Representatives presented to the ICW in an attempt to placate and calm those internationally worried for the integrity of their government, is in fact highly flawed in it's methods of calculation and display of information. Many communities currently considered as 'Loyal' by dint of being above the 80% rating, are in fact middling neutral at best. Others are only on the sidelines because they lack the economic strength or trade connections to confidently pick a side and have faith that they will benefit from the outcome in time. some supposedly listed as in the Kyoto Magical Government's field of influence (such as many of the Hokkaido communities), are in fact still distantly neutral, or are in fact on the fence about hedging their allegiances with Kyoto just yet. However, such larger regional pockets of unrest which unite whole communities, potentially raises the possibility of independent provincial polities splitting off on their own, outside of Kyoto and Tokyo's influence.

While Hokkaido is rumored to so far be the largest and most 'hidden-but-not-hidden' of these regional community alliances potentially contemplating seeing Kyoto as more of an ally than an administrative capital, Okinawa is also said to be considering such an 'independence' from the rest of Japan. This is especially problematic, as rumors suggest these northern and southern separatist factions are comparatively unconcerned regarding the Statute of Secrecy, and may even be plotting towards benefiting from it's degradation.

For these reasons, allowing the Kyoto Magical Government to exist unhindered and without erosion of it's popularity and clout in the eyes of other factions is vital. Given sufficient recognition and 'soft' legitimacy, eventually most of those dissatisfied with Diet governance, should flock to Kyoto's banner by dint of it being the largest and 'universally recognized' as the most liable and functional war to achieve some measure of new independence. With it's larger human population shifting the human-to-magical beast ratio though, this 'Shadow Government' which has already proven itself surprisingly well, should be less likely to risk flouting the Statute of Secrecy.

Walking a delicate balanced tightrope of neutrality and uninvolvement, while still superficially appearing friendly and involved to a limited enough extent that it can be ignored or forgotten later, shall be key in the upcoming months.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magical Intelligence Bureau
New York Office
33 Thomas Street
September 1st 2013

MEMORANDUM: OPERATIONAL NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS GOING FORWARD FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE

TO: MIB TOKYO STATION CHIEF HOWARD SEGRETTI

FROM: DIRECTOR OF MAGICAL INTELLIGENCE BUREAU TAGGART COLMEY

STATUS: [TOP SECRET - EYES ONLY]

In regards to the differing stances between how we shall be publicly acting and holding ourselves as if everything is still situation normal in Japan, but discreetly preparing for a change in regime and power, here are a few notes of interest and operational points to consider;

Firstly, after meeting with the President and Congress, and then with other members of the Magical Security Council, it has been advised to shift the focus of a number of the ongoing missions and operations being carried out via staff of M.I.B. Tokyo Station. In these tumultuous times, and with the Magical Diet of Japan unlikely to survive for more than another two or three years, some re-prioritization is in order;

1. Ongoing Statute Compliance Surveillance is to continue on unabated.
2. The persons of interest list has been expanded.
   • See the attached folders (List 1A) for files and further details.
   • A new category specific to Kyoto Government and Separatist/Secessionist interests, subjects, and spheres of influence has been created (List 1B)
     • Monitoring and assessment of these groups is to be given new priority.
     • No official contact or involvement is to be made, within the public eye or knowledge at this time.
3. There is a push by Congress and the general public media to increase counter-espionage vigilance and awareness. Some of these sources believe or espouse the opinion that this period of turmoil could be an opportunity for outside actors to raise further chaos or unrest within Magical Japan, or damage MACUSA's Special Relationship with the Japanese magical community.
   • Currently our own internal assessments of this, via intelligence sharing and overviews of reports between Far East Stations and Offices, suggest that there is little serious of risk of outside actors influencing the upcoming election, and the ongoing separatism/successionism growing in Japan.
     • China's magical community is for the time being, believed to currently be primarily focused on many of it's own internal issues, such as a recent bout of unrest in Shangri-la, and the still lingering magical refugee crisis from Blood Week and the Fall of North Korea in the northeast. Internationally, they are mainly focused on the border frictions over magical resources between themselves and Vietnam, and their renewed standoff with Taiwan.
       • There is reason to believe that there is further unrest internally within the Chinese magical community, hidden out of the public and offical eye. Suspected elements of the jianghu may be using the erosion of central government control in coastal regions, and the weakening of ICW influence/ability to enact consequences for Statute breaches, to settle old grudges and disputes left over from the Warlord Era and Civil War.
     • While Taiwan under it's current administration and leadership, is increasingly not a friend to the ICW and much of the western aligned magical community, for the time being, they have little care for Japan. Primarily, their main focus is on China.
     • South Korea's magical administration has little care for involving themselves in Japan's issues, when they are still bearing the burden of reintegrating and rebuilding what's left of North Korea and it's magical populace, alongside their nomaj counterparts. While South Korea has expressed some worries regarding the effectiveness of the Magical Diet of Japan over the last few years, and it's increasing instability, they are unlikely to involve themselves in Japanese domestic issues at this time.
     • Russia is the big question mark, but currently it is believed that they have their focus more on maintaining internal unity and rebuilding their sphere of influence in the west at this time. Magical Japan is likely outside their current priority interests, and further destabilization is likely to actually be negative for them, as many of their magical communities on Sakhalin and the shores of the Sea of Japan such Vladivostok, have some measure of magical trade with Japan.
     • Britain has often wielded much indirect influence over Japan through it's prominence in the ICW. While there are currently some British expatriates of note and soft influence within Japan, via direct political channels and harder means, it is considered to be unlikely that Britain will have much effect on magical Japan's current course. Many British persons of interest in Japan or known to regularly visit, may in fact be sympathetic to the Kyoto Government and the Successionist Cause. Whether the British Ministry of Magic try their hand at stemming the inevitable remains to be seen, as the Fudge Administration is currently mired in too much internal infighting and domestic controversy for the London Office to formulate a reliable opinion on their stand point, likely plan of action, and potential effectiveness at this time.
4. It is advised to scale back the ongoing investigation into the remaining questions surrounding the Gashodokuro Incident. As the primary actors have all been identified and charged (if not already dead) or obliviated (if muggle), the Magical Congress considers the matter sufficiently wrapped up to at least transfer more valuable and experienced members of the investigation team on to other matters.
   • As I know MACUSA still has not supplied anyone other than Col. Maleficus for the investigation, and that her primary concern at this juncture is the search for the means by which they controlled the creature, along with the fact that Eastern magical phenomena is not the realm of expertise for Representatives Alms, Bowden, Froude, Scriber and Ursini, I leave it up to your discretion to determine whether or not pursuit of this means of control is still a concern at this juncture.
5. Soft influence and involvement with magical Japan during the upcoming 2014 Election cycle;
   • Though the official stance of MACUSA is to remain friendly but distant, while unofficially we are to remain noncommittal and distant, there are a number of covert goals and considerations that have been deemed of interest or benefit to MACUSA that could be worth pursuing.
   • These shall be the responsibility of M.I.B. Station Tokyo, and select elements of the Foreign Service of the Embassy and Consulate of the Magical Congress of the United States of America in Japan. Secretary Weiss shall be briefing Ambassador Grimsditch, so both of you shall be on the same page, and free to direct those you trust in you departments, between the interests you see fit or viable to pursue.
   • Parties and persons of the Magical Diet of Japan to considering reaching out to (See the attached folders (List 2C) for files and further details);
     • There are a number of figures and groups traditionally sympathetic to MACUSA or of similar beliefs on certain issues, whom it might be prudent to approach before this upcoming election. Some may be better served not running during this election, lest they (and possibly certain MACUSA beneficial view points and ideals) become tied to a state, administration and 'ideology' that is failing. It may be in their own (and MACUSA's) best interests to convince them to either stand aside, and out of the public light until the regime change takes place, or even secure themselves for the future by actively shifting sides and allegiances.
     • Some other groups are deemed not worth the investment and risk of trying to save. Though the National Democratic Renewal Cooperative Party has been a staunch supporter and useful ally of the ICW and MACUSA for the last few decades, they are too fractured and unreliable to be of any future use at this current juncture. As they are already symbolic to the point of being synonymous with governance from Tokyo, some analysts suggest that allowing the National Democratic Renewal Cooperative Party to be the primary scapegoat for many of the issues that have faced magical Japan over the last few decades, maybe be most beneficial for allowing a clean and productive succession by Kyoto if there is an element which can be demonized, cast out and viewed as the antithesis of the new political process. This should also give a solid body and cause for more favorable elements to disassociate themselves from, to further their prospects when joining Kyoto in future.
     • In order to to maintain the official stance and friendly relationship of the Magical Congress of the United States of America with the Magical Diet of Japan, while also complying with the current policy of neutrality and non-interference with Magical Japan's internal political conflict at this time, all involvement between the Magical Investigation Bureau and the Foreign Service is to remain discreet and classified [SECRET].
   • In the interests of fostering and maintaining the Special Relationship with Japan into the likely successor government, a number of groups and persons of interest in the Kyoto Government and associated Successionist factions have been identified. (See the attached folders (List 3D) for files and further details)
     • Some of these figures have been deemed potentially useful and trustworthy if they were to be negotiated with in secrecy. Even if no direct accords or promises are made, sounding them and their aims out through recognition and secret diplomacy at this time, could help lead to the beneficial foundation for future official ventures further down the line.
     • Others may be unapproachable at this juncture, and unreliable or unpredictable if interacted with directly, considering the negative connotations and reputation MACUSA still has with many older demographics, those who see view MACUSA under the same light as the ICW, and those of bestial ancestry or races. In these cases, more indirect support is advised; This being examples such as donations, leaflets/posters, and wizarding wireless political advertisements made through shell groups, with the level of resource or monetary expenditure left to your discretion and within the bounds of the existing operational budget.

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MU-BARK
[ ]
[ ]
September 1st 2013

SPECIAL OPERATIONS ORDER: PROJECT MH-JUVENAL

TO: KEEPER SWORDSMAN

FROM: CITADEL SPIDER

STATUS: [TOP SECRET - DESTROY AFTER READING]

Special orders relating to Scenario File PROJECT MH-JUVENAL.

Please consult your XXXXX Level Clearance STATION CHIEF Scenario Files.

As of this date [September 1st 2013], PROJECT MH-JUVENAL is considered in effect for all Magical investigation Bureau Domestic Offices and Foreign Stations.

Actionable intelligence from the MACUSA Surveillance Wizarding Resources Department and Department of Aurors suggests a currently low-level conspiracy from domestic parties within MACUSA and the magical United States, to edit, falsify, doctor or destroy XXXX Level or above classified documents belonging to The Department of Aurors, The Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-maj Obliviation, and the Magical Investigation Bureau, without Presidential or Director authorization.

These the central actors, while not considered any immediate threat at the time of this order's writing, are primarily theorized to be figures previously involved with the Magical Investigation Bureau, and it's oversight committees under previous Directorships and MACUSA Presidents.

In accordance with PROJECT MH-JUVENAL, all STATIONS and OFFICES are advised to heighten security and remain in a state of vigilance for the foreseeable future. All records and case files of XXXX Level Clearance or above, must remain within record keeping areas and should be kept under watch. STATION CHIEFS and their senior staff are advised to be watchful of new personnel assignments to their operations, or new staff employed at joint facilities.

TOKYO STATION SPECIFIC NOTES:

TOKYO STATION has been identified as one of the key facilities at potential risk of document and record destruction or alteration. The following files and cases at present, are considered primary targets:

Records of Japanese case files gathered under the OPERATION PARCHMENT WEIGHT series;

• OPERATION PARCHMENT WEIGHT I (1945-1950)
• OPERATION PARCHMENT WEIGHT II (1950-1955)
• OPERATION PARCHMENT WEIGHT III (1955-1959)

From the Korean War;

• SPECIAL ACTIVITIES UNIT NUMBER 0

Any records relating to the surviving pre-, peri-, and post-Vietnam War files salvaged from SAIGON STATION by M.I.B.-S.O.G. personnel, that were kept on hand for future reference by TOKYO STATION, over delivery to storage in CONUS or Pacific Archives;

• (See the attached folders (Lists 4E, 4F, 4G) for full file names and further details)

And other assorted Magical Investigation Bureau activities in the Far East;

• (See the attached folders (Lists 5H ) for full file names and further details)

As per PROJECT MH-JUVENAL, all files deemed at risk are to be duplicated and backed up by the resident STATION CHIEF, with storage being in a secure location known only to them and a trusted subordinate.

Until such a time the order is personally rescinded from the current CITADEL or a successor communicating directly from MU-BARK, the secrecy of these duplicates is to be guarded, and contingencies are to be maintained so that should the STATION CHIEF and chosen subordinate be incapacitated, their retrieval should be possible by another KEEPER or CITADEL.


{Personal Annotation}

{The last few weeks have lit a fire under everyone's asses down in New York. Langley may be a viper pit, but at least it doesn't smell like metaphorical shit.}

{All the hardliners and conservatives in the Congress who were content to believe that everything would somehow be alright and go back to normal, are now losing their minds as they finally realize what everyone else has known for well over a year. Tokyo has been past the point of ever coming back for a while now, and Mahoutokoro being in the hands of Kyoto has finally driven that point home. You'd think Japan was still under occupation, or a puppet state we can just march into and 'put right' by the way some people are acting}

{It's made things rather 'interesting' in the Chinese sense of the word, since it's also now got a lot of them looking closer to home and seeing the slow social changes that have been going on domestically thanks to the war as well. What do you know, they don't like it.}

{Thankfully, those idiots are the minority, and cooler, more intelligent heads are prevailing. If there's one good thing this war has done, it's the way it's drained the swamp. Less heads up asses, and more brains between ears, at least when it comes to Departments.}

{Unfortunately, Congress is still full of Reps that were probably elected into office back when Methuselah walked the earth, and they're the biggest headache stopping Quahog and the D.o.S. from actually coming up with a new Foreign Policy or stance in regards to Japan that doesn't sound like an inconsequential wet fart.}

{It's slowly starting to dawn on even the deepest heads in the sand, that the Statute of Secrecy is done for. The next few months are going to be unpredictable to say the least. Doesn't help that it sounds like Britain might be subbing in for Japan in committing crimes of political stupidity soon.}

{-SPIDER}


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Magical Intelligence Bureau
San Francisco Office
2090 Jackson Street
September 1st 2013

PRIVATE MESSAGE: NAME PROBLEMS AGAIN

TO: KISEI SUZUKI

FROM: ERICA ACOSTA

Have you been stateside since your visit a month or two back? Because if you have, I swear to god Kisei.

I heard through the rumor mill from New York that there were some shipgirls poking around the Auror Offices confusing the hell out of everyone. Some people thought they were looking for your grandmother, but unless they were doing the dumb-american-stereotype-thing by asking/writing down things in the order of first name - last name, I don't think they were looking for 'Suzuki Kisei'.

While they were pretty tight-lipped, is sounds like they were kinda mad and embarrassed actually.

You haven't been minge-mashing and dashing while drunk again have you? You're going to get in trouble for that one of these days! Your love of blondes will be your undoing. That, or the karma will finally catch up with you.

And no, I am not jealous or angry. I just figured I at least owed you a heads up. As a friend.

Who hasn't had any benefits in months.

Hint hint.

Seriously though, if you came back from Japan and didn't tell me, go die.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Here's hoping that this didn't come through disjointed or anything.
Thoughtless Detectives

-----

Quickly looking in and scanning the room for people, Tatsuya pulled out a knife and began to work the latch on the window. He finished almost as soon as he had started and began to push it open. At the loud grinding noise, he stopped and glanced at Benio.

"I guess fresh air is unhealthy for intellectual types?" she suggested. Tatsuya grinned and returned his attention to the window, moving it more slowly and carefully. Soon, it was wide enough that they could both work their way inside.

"So," he whispered as his feet hit the floor, "stick together or split up?" Benio frowned thoughtfully.

"Stick together," she decided, "until we need to split up."

"Got it."

Then they were on the move.
-----

Out of the library and down the hall, Benio opened a large, black door that revealed a staircase leading downwards. They were on the first floor still, so that meant a basement or a cellar probably. Tatsuya looked down them, waving his hand out over the stairs, then jerked it back quickly. Nothing happened. The two glanced at each other.

"Upstairs or downstairs?"

"Downstairs. You still owe me from Tanabata, remember?"

"The whole reason we were at that amusement park was to smoke out that asshole with the camera, and it's not my fault that the swan boat tried to eat us."

"Still not my problem there."

"Why, is it because we looked like we were on a date? Because it doesn't have to just 'look like it,' you know."

"Downstairs."

Tatsuya rolled his eyes, and Benio ducked down the stairs, mentally cursing as her cheeks flushed. Why did he enjoy joking around like that? The hero wasn't supposed to respond so glibly to the heroine's romantic taunts!

So then, down the stairs. Of which, it turned out, there were a lot. Benio sighed—if she met anyone coming up, she might be in trouble. She began to step even more quietly. As she walked, the air began to feel warmer, as if she were holding her face near a heater.

So she walked.

And walked.

Wait a minute, why was she walking down these stairs? Oh, right, because she was looking for what was at the bottom.

She kept going—because this was an investigation, and you don't just stop in the middle of a staircase. But why was she hurrying like this? She didn't want these people to know that she was investigating them, it was a covert check on a possible suspect.

Benio paused at the foot of the stairs, in front of a simple wooden door. The warmth was beginning to get uncomfortable now, a familiar sort of uncomfortable that she didn't like being reminded of. But that was okay, she had something to prevent the heat from getting to her—a ring, that was it. A very useful ring.

Of course, what with her mind going fuzzy down here and all, it wouldn't be too ridiculous to assume that the ring had somehow forgotten it was magic. That would be silly though, wouldn't it? She placed her hand on the door handle, and suddenly something clicked into place.

"Oh shit," she said.

Then the door was open, and she barely had time to register the tables spread with bizarre instruments and papers, the tank built into the wall, the candles burning down to wicks, before the warm air that came from shutting oneself up in a room for days on end punched her in the face like a blast furnace.
-----

Tatsuya found the study without too much trouble, surprisingly. The desk, unfortunately, was much less interesting, as were the papers contained in it. Leases, correspondence, and papers not yet graded, of course, but as minutes wore on and on, and none of them contained anything incriminating, Tatsuya began to feel just a tiny bit irritated. Would have been nice to have more time to go through everything more thoroughly, but there wasn't enough time.

He dropped the grade sheets back into their folder with a sigh and slid it into the drawer. That was the last he had to go through, which meant that if they were going to get something on this guy, it wouldn't be from these. Maybe Benio was having more luck? He glanced over at the desk lamp and paused. He hadn't already checked it, had he? Something was telling him that yes, he had indeed already inspected it, but he just couldn't remember if he'd found anything on it.

He reached over and picked it up.

He didn't grunt with surprise, it wasn't that heavy, but he had to quickly shift his grip when it suddenly tipped over in his hands. The lamp was surprisingly top heavy, which was interesting since it hadn't been so the theoretical first time that he'd investigated it, which was starting to set off more and more alarm bells in his head.

Quickly enough, he found a surface that felt glassier than ceramic, just about the size of his thumbprint. He shifted the lamp in his hand so that his thumb rested on it, and pressed down.

Nothing happened.

Tatsuya glanced at the lamp in his hands. He was inspecting this, wasn't he? Hadn't he found anything other than this button?

He pressed it.

What was he doing with this button? He hadn't pressed it already, had he? Immediately, he did so.

Wait a minute. Why was he standing here, holding this lamp—oh right, he was checking it for clues, like this little button thing that was probably some kind of booby trap, though nothing was going off or exploding, so it was probably gas, or some kind of curse, or maybe even something mundane like a silent alarm, pretty easy for those to slip past when you were used to bigger and flashier traps…

Oh.

Tatsuya slammed the lamp down and bolted from the room. Almost skidding around the corner, he found Benio sprawled on the floor and gasping for breath.

"Benio?" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees and sliding briefly on the hardwood floor as he reached her. "Come on, talk to me!"

"I-it's okay," she managed, raising her right hand with a shaky smile. "It remembered… It's working again." Tatsuya glanced down at her ring, and decided just as quickly that he didn't want to ask what that meant until they were farther away.
-----

She looked up at the window. Someone had come down, someone who wasn't him or him. They hadn't stayed very long, either, they'd been there and gone in a minute or so of gasping and struggling. Who was it, she wondered.

She would do anything to see someone that wasn't him or him. She couldn't stand him, with his posturing and his voice, and the way he acted like she would do what he wanted whenever he wanted it, it was creepy and wrong, and she had been right to turn him down the first time, he wasn't her master or anything else!

And him…

He scared her. He did things to her that made her stomach hurt, took things out of her that she couldn't see but left her empty and broken just the same, and he smiled while he did it. A thin-lipped old-man smile, the kind that dentists had when they told you that everything was going to be alright before they took your teeth out… what was a dentist? Was it important? She couldn't remember what it was, so it was probably important. He'd taken all the important things from her… though he'd taken all of the unimportant things from her too, so what was she thinking again?
-----

Todoh Byakuya stood in his study, glaring at the desk lamp. Soft footsteps came from behind him, much softer than Kiritani's firm, confident strides.

"This seems like a bit of a mess," the old man said calmly. "Where was the maid when this was happening?"

Byakuya pursed his lips. His elderly associate liked to prick and prod, and now was not the time to give in to his more emotional tendencies. "She was out sick," he pointed out, "as I informed you earlier. And how about you, Old Man? What were you doing when this house was broken into?"

"Hah! I sleep when I need to!" the old man laughed, producing a wand. "Now, shall I?"

"Please."

The old man raised the wand into the air, waving it once, twice, back, forth.

The air shimmered and rippled, and an image formed in Byakuya's own chair. He raised an eyebrow, surprised—the housebreaker was surprisingly young, it turned out. Maybe fifteen years old, maybe not even that.

"Impressive," he noted as the boy flicked through every note that he had in his desk in a matter of minutes—which also showed that the boy was no simple robber. Unfortunate in and of itself—if he had come seeking money or some valuable object in Byakuya's possession, he could have let the youth slide.

And then the boy was finished with the papers, and his attention turned to the lamp.

"He was able to ignore your glamour," Byakuya noted as he examined the lamp, and quickly found the thumbprint scanner. He frowned, reexamined the lamp, and pressed it again. A moment later, his expression reset into the same frown and he pressed the button again. He frowned again, then blinked in surprise, and replaced the lamp where he had found it before bolting towards the door. "And he got free from the spell quite quickly.

"Stop it," Byakuya commanded, and the image froze. At that moment, the door opened and Kiritani entered.

"Sir," he said, bowing respectfully, "the basement is as he told us—both doors opened, but nothing tampered with or stolen."

"You distrust my work?" the old man asked.

Byakuya shook his head. He respected the old man greatly, and if he said a place was defended, then it was so. Even then… "Of course not," he said, "but we all of us like to paint ourselves just a little greater than we are, don't we?" The old man snorted, but said no more, and he turned his attention to his other assistant. "Kiritani, do you see the boy?"

Kiritani glanced down at the frozen image curtly. "Yes, I have his face," he replied. "Should I assume that I am to deal with him the same way I took care of the previous maid?"

Byakuya nodded curtly. "If you please," he replied. "Gentlemen."

Kiritani and the old man, stepped out of the room, the picture in the air fizzling out quietly as they did so. Byakuya walked over to his desk and sat down, steepling his fingers and letting a long breath out. Then he turned his attention to the lamp.

When the scanner sensed his own thumbprint, a series of clicks sounded through the room. Then, with a quiet grinding sound, the shelves swung outward, exposing his collection. Byakuya stood and walked among them, stepping in and out, making sure that each was in its proper place. Finally, he came to an open shelf, with an empty set of hooks waiting to be filled.

This, assuming that his further searches for Juuchi Yosamu and Honjo Masamune turned up nothing, would be the capstone of his collection. The sword most worthy of him.

And heaven help the soul who stole from the collection of Todoh Byakuya.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Waking from a troubled sleep, Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes some as he looked at the ceiling. Eyebrows furrowing as he felt himself unable to move his legs, Harry turned to find Shiromizu in her lamia form there with her coils wrapped around his body in a tight embrace. Then his mind drifted back to the night before and how worried Shiromizu had been at what had happened and felt bad. To make sure that he was safe, she had stayed the whole night

Currently though, he concentrated on his wand for one of the tricks he had been taught. "Tempus." His wand on the table lit up briefly before the time appeared drifting above it which made him sigh. "Five thirty..." With a shake of his head, the wizard sighed before patting Shiromizu's head. "Hey, I got to get up."

Briefly though, she tightened her coils on him and caused a wince on his face before she buried hers into the young magical's shoulder. "No, you're staying here nice and safe where your Onee-San can keep a close eye on you."

Grimacing, Harry patted her on the head. "Not going to happen, Shiromizu. Now, I need to get up."

A scowl on her face, the Mizuchi pulled back and crossed her arms as he got out of bed. "Then I suppose that I'll just need to stay with you to make sure." Harry swung his legs out of bed and rubbed them, something that made Shiromizu roll her eyes. "I wasn't that tight."

Lips twitching, the thirteen year old looked over his shoulder. "No, I suppose not... Onee-Chan." Watching as her jaw dropped, Harry took the chance to hop out of bed and then blinked at the sight of Myrtle floating in the doorway somehow reading a book. "Aunt Myrtle? What are you doing here?"

The ghost floated over and examined him before pulling him into a hug. "I came through the Owl Box last night while you were asleep, Harry. And after hearing what happened, I wanted to make sure that you were alright, but since you were sleeping, I thought that I shouldn't wake you." Pulling back, she placed her hands on his arms and looked him over again. "You are alright, Harry?"

With a small nod, Harry let out a sigh. "Yeah, besides some... heaviness from yesterday, I'm pretty good." Not even bothered by her being there, he grabbed some clothes and Myrtle turned as he got changed for his morning run. "But other then that, I'm fine."

Nodding, Myrtle let out a relieved breath. Something that amused Harry to hear. "That's good to hear, Harry. I was worried, honestly... Dementors guarding Hogwarts?! What is the government even thinking there..."

Only shrugging as he finished getting changed, the wizard shook his head and waited until Shiromizu got out in her snake form before picking her up. Placing the snake on his shoulder, he waited until she was coiled around one arm and across his shoulders. "Honestly? I don't want to know what went through their minds for that." Tying his shoes, and performing some stretches, he gave a nod before leaving the dorms and heading down to the Common Room. Upon reaching the portrait, he knocked and the Fat Lady appeared. "Good morning."

Smiling slightly, the painting bowed a bit. "Good morning, Dearie. Are you heading out on one of your runs?"

Lips curling upwards, Harry grinned at her. "I am, can't get flabby or anything. And one does not become an Admiral by being lazy."

Just chuckling, the Fat Lady shook her head. "I would think not, I suppose." Then frowning, she gave him a look. "Do be careful."

Harry gave her a shrug and a nod. "I'll try." She then opened her portrait hole and the black haired began to jog along the empty corridors. Beside him, Myrtle floated with ease as the thirteen year old glanced at her. "You visit the other ghosts yet?"

Shaking her head, Myrtle frowned some. "No, not yet. And I don't need to either I don't think, after all they've ignored me for most of my time here." Frowning deeper, she placed one finger on her chin. "Come to think of it, I had more time paid attention to me in Yokosuka then I did here."

With a blink, Harry tilted his head. "Well, you were told that you could go and visit any time that you want by Rose and the others. So there is that..."

Unable to help herself, the ghost smiled. "And I might just take you all up on that as well." Then she turned her attention onto Harry. "But what I want to know is what happened last night...?"

Grimacing, he took a deep breath and began to tell her. Myrtle did not say anything right away, only once he was finished upon which she asked him questions which he answered, with him shrugging when she asked about the time turner. "According to Professor McGonagall, that was the only way for us to have the classes that we chose is that."

In reply, Myrtle pinched her nose and shook her head. After a few moments, she looked up and met Harry's eyes. "Please, Harry. Promise me that you'll be careful with your time turner. Please..."

As he nodded, Harry gave her a smile. "I promise, Aunt Myrtle."

Searching his eyes, the undead Ravenclaw sighed and smiled back. "That is about the best that I will get from you, I think." Then humming, she tapped her chin in thought. "Moving away from that, I've heard that you have something extra this year?"

Finally feeling the burn as his feet pounded on the stone floors, he chuckled. "You could say that, Aunt Myrtle..." At her intrigued look, his smile widened a bit. "Well, among other things, I have an box with an expanded inside which has some weights in it. Also an exercise bar."

Eyebrow raising, Myrtle gave a nod at that. "Expanding the amount of exercises that you're doing? That's a good idea. Though... an exercise bar?" Head titled to the side, she frowned. "Wherever are you going to put that? It has to go somewhere."

Much to her befuddlement, Harry shook his head with a grin. "Nope!" Grin growing at the expression on his "Aunt's" face, he snickered best that he could. "The exercise bar is enchanted. I just hold it in the air and tap either end with my wand, which causes it to hover at that height. Won't move or anything, so I can do chin ups and stuff, and with the time turner, I got time for it."

Her eyebrows raising, she considered that before chuckling. "Useful and practical... Are we sure that a wizard made it?"

Both her and Harry laughed before they heard hisses to find that Shiromizu was also laughing in her own way. The Mizuchi then joined in and the three of them continued to chat as Harry performed his morning run. Part of Myrtle was amazed though when Harry explained that the "Room of Requirement", as he came to call the one that came and went on the Seventh Floor, was able to create an entire heated pool that he could swim in, which meant he could use that as well.

When they got back to the dorms though, Harry took a quick shower to get off the sweat and then got changed. Sitting down on his bed, he smiled as both Scuffles and Barghast appeared, with the Abyssal AA gun settling on his bed while the Fighter did the same on his pillow. "Hey guys, all done with your adjustments from Hoppou?"

The two Abyssal creatures looked at him and nodded as Hoppou had done some fine tuning of the two before sending them back to Yokosuka. Head tilted to the side, Shiromizu glanced at the beds with their still sleeping occupants and transformed into her lamia form. "That must be why they weren't there yesterday."

Feeling the gaze of his two personal guardian Abyssals, Harry gave a weak chuckle and proceeded to tell them what happened. It was only due to giving Scuffles his favorite squeaky toy and Barghast some food that Harry was forgiven. It was then that Harry's nose twitched some. "Why do I smell... oranges..." Eyes narrowing, the teen stood up on the end of his bed and then looked onto the canopy and growled at the sight of a familiar sheathed sword there with orange peels. "Dammit, Juuchi! Not you too...'

All the sword did though was give off the feeling as if she gave him a sniff of derision combined with her usual amount of smug. Moments later, she was shoved into the Owl Box and sent back to Yokosuka with Harry huffing. Rather amused, Shiromizu snickered. "You know that won't stop her, right?"

Only giving her a look, Harry grumbled. "Don't destroy my hopes..."

Shiromizu only laughed though.

Hearing the Owl Box open, Harry groaned and turned. "Juuchi, I just told you..." Seeing the familiar fox look at him with eyes that contained both happiness and relief, he blinked. "Natsumi-Chan? What are you-"

Before he could say anything else, the Kitsune transformed back into her usual form and hugged him tightly. "You're okay, Harry-Chan... you're okay." Sniffling, she buried her nose into his neck. "I was so damn worried, you Baka."

Gently hugging her back, the wizard closed his eyes and nodded against her head. "I was worried myself, Natsumi-Chan. But I'm alright now..." Pulling back some, he looked into her honey colored gaze. "What are you even doing here though?"

Shrugging, Natsumi shook her head. "I was worried and hurried home from school after hearing what happened over the wireless to see you before you left for classes. And, well... since you know that I'm a Kitsune, I can come and go through the Owl Box. After all, a fox is small enough to fit."

That made Harry blink before he blushed as he realized that meant that Natsumi could visit him any time she wanted. Said thought also made him warm inside at what that meant, though she could not stay long...

Until he felt the cool metal against his chest which then made him smirk. "Natsumi-Chan? How would you like to stay for a bit? We can chat for an hour or so."

Confused, Natsumi glanced at the time herself. According to it, the time was almost seven o'clock, which meant that it was four o'clock back home in Yokosuka. "Um, are you sure, Harry-Chan? That might be cutting it a bit close..." She trailed off though as he brought out the time turner and held it up. Jaw dropping, the teenaged Kitsune stared at him. "Is that...?"

Softly chuckling, Harry placed the chain around her neck as well. "Hai, now how about we take a quick trip back..." He then spun it the once and they could see their surroundings blur until they were all alone in the room besides the sleeping occupants. Winking at her, Harry removed the chain and placed it once more under his shirt before holding out his arm. "So... want to go downstairs for a bit into the study nook?"

Looking around, the Kitsune looked at him and smiled before placing her arm in his. "Hai, I'd like that, Harry-Chan." Once the two were inside the study nook, a section of the Common Room just out of sight of the rest, she got into his lap and leaned against him. "I'm glad that you're alright, Harry-Chan. Hearing about the Dementors on the train..."

A grimace on his face, Harry tried to ignore the feeling he got from the girl he was holding being where she was. Something that was rather hard. "I can imagine, Natsumi-Chan. Being there..." Shuddering, he shook his head. "Being there was not fun either with what happened."

Expression softening, Natsumi placed one hand on his cheek and frowned. "What happened, Harry-Chan? How bad was it?"

His arms around her waist, the thirteen year old boy took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It was... bad, really bad. The first sign was when everything got cold in the train, like the windows were freezing up, Dess. And then the lights went out before it felt like the cold went inside me and everything light and good was sucked out."

There was a frown on Natsumi's face as she tightened the embrace she had with him. "Sounds bad, Harry-Chan. Was that..." Scowling, she shook her head. "What am I saying, of course it got worse."

Only nodding, Harry took a deep breath and let it out. Holding Natsumi as he was, it made things better and he could feel a pall lifting from him that he did not realize was there. "Yeah, it got worse. That was when the Dementors boarded the train, supposedly to search it for Sirius Black, or that was what I heard."

Lips a thin line, a growl came from his friend. "I very much doubt that they were looking too hard, Harry-Chan. From what I know of Dementors, they were very likely attracted by the positive emotions on the train from the students. Friends and such meeting for the first time since the end of the previous year and catching up with joy. Hope for the new year, tinged with worry, excitement, and all that was likely something that they could not hold back from feeding on."

Considering that, Harry could only nod. "That... sounds like what probably happened. I only know what the excuse was from overhearing one of the Aurors." A shudder then went through him. "I mean, I remember seeing Hagrid when he came back from Azkaban and now I can understand what he went through. And seeing one..." Looking in Natsumi's eyes, the Kitsune could see the horror there. "The hand I saw looked like a corpse, like one of those that has been in the water for too long. And the rest made me think of the Grim Reaper. Then... I started to black out as I heard cackles I am sure was Voldemort and barely could hear my Mum pleading...'

Eyes wide, Natsumi gasped and pulled him tightly against her. "Oh, Harry-Chan..."

Harry closed his own eyes and sniffled a bit. "I heard her, Natsumi-Chan... I finally heard my birth Mother b-but... only..."

Very few times did Natsumi actually feel pure hatred towards something. And feeling her friend's and not so secret crush's tears against her skin, and hearing him try not to cry, she felt that emotion just then. Unseen by her, the finger nails on her hands turned to claws that could tear flesh easily. However, she was more concentrating on comforting her friend and so ran those fingers gently through his hair. "I am so, so sorry, Harry-Chan. That is not right, if you were to hear your biological Haha-ue, it should have been for a happy time."

Shaking his head some against her neck, Harry closed his eyes. "Yeah..." He pulled back some and made a flicking motion with his wand, producing a handkerchief. One that he used to wipe at his eyes and nose before placing it to the side. "Sorry-"

Before he could get too far, he felt a light pressure on his lips before the Kitsune hugging him pressed their foreheads together. "Don't. Do not say that you're sorry for opening your heart to me, Harry-Chan. You can trust me that I will never harm it when you do and will hold it, and you, when needed."

For the first time in a few minutes, Harry had a smile on his face as he met her eyes. "Thanks, Natsumi-Chan." The two stayed like that for a time before he took a deep breath. "Anyways, um... Professor we were with, Lupin? He used some sort of silvery spell to drive it back some and told it Sirius was not there. Hermione wasn't in a very good state and... I used some Ofuda that your Oba-Chan gave me. And, well... they sort of reduced the Dementor and some others to ash."

On Natsumi's face was a cruel smirk at that. "Good, those foul things deserve to be wiped from existence." Then her expression became thoughtful as she thought back to the lessons that she had been given by her aunt. "Hmm... And that spell sounds like a Patronus."

Eyebrows furrowing, the black haired wizard nodded. "Hai, I think that's something like the spell he called out. Wait... that was mentioned as being the same spell in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that gets used to drive away Dementors and Lethifolds, right?"

Nodding with a hum, his friend smiled. "That's right, Harry-Chan. Though its supposed to be a complicated spell and hard to learn."

Looking at her, Harry smiled back. "Then I'm just going to need to learn it, right?" The two shared a look at that and their smiles became grins as the wizard felt the last of the darkness from the previous day leave him. With a sigh, he buried his nose in her hair. "Thank you, Natsumi-Chan."

Softly smiling, Natsumi leaned against him before kissing his cheek at the corner of his lips. "You're welcome, Harry-Chan. I will always be here for you, whenever you need me." With a sigh, she snuggled in close. "Can we stay like this until it's time for me to go back, Harry-Chan?"

With a hum, Harry nodded before kissing her cheek right next to her lips. "I'd like that..."

By the time the others woke up, Natsumi was gone, but the thirteen year old wizard had a smile on his face. At least part of it being that the Kitsune told him that she could now spend more time with him even as he was away from Yokosuka. Something that made him very happy indeed.
________________________________________________________

Arm across his forehead, Percy let out a grunt as he stared at the canopy of his bed. His sleep was horrible, not what he expected at all for his first day back. Tired, he got out of bed and grabbed some clothes before heading towards the bathroom. In fact, he was so tired from his restless night that he forgot that he was now Headboy and thus had his own quarters. Quarters that he no longer shared with his fellow males of Gryffindor and had someone else sharing them. Which was why upon hearing the water running, he just grumbled a bit. "Hopefully they have not taken all the stalls."

Opening the door though, he walked in and only paused when he heard a voice speak up. "{My Pharaoh?}"

With a blink, Percy looked up before he froze and his eyes went wide at the sight that met him. Mainly that being Amisi in the shower, in all her glory as she stood under the water with only steam hiding things. "Uh..."

Lightly blushing, she gave him a smile. "{Would you like to join me, my Pharaoh?}"

Percy slowly blinked and then flushed deeply as the steam shifted. "S-sorry about that, Amisi! I didn't know that you were in here!" Backing up, he closed the door and held his hand to his chest as his heart pounded at the image now burnt into his memory. Images that made him start to hit his head against the doorframe. "Dammit! Dammit! Bloody dammit all to hell!"

Inside, Amisi frowned to herself. "{Does the Pharaoh not wish to see me?}" Finishing up her shower, and drying off before placing her clothes on, the Sunship walked out to find Percy unable to look at her with his face red. "{Does the sight of me so displease you, my Pharaoh?}"

Glancing at the fairy which translated, the wizard shook his head rapidly. "N-no, its not that! You're very beautiful, Amisi! It is just, um... I intruded upon your privacy! Forgive me for that, I did not mean to do that to you. I forgot that I was not in the boy's dorms anymore."

For a few moments, Amisi puzzled that out as it was translated to her before blinking. Then an expression of bemusement crossed her face. "{Do you think that I would be unhappy with that?}" Placing a hand on his cheek, she smiled at him while giggling. "{My Pharaoh, I would never be unhappy with such a thing.}"

That made Percy choke a bit before he backed up. "W-well, thankfully you're not mad at me." With a deep breath, he let it out before moving around her. "As you are now done, I think that I will do my own business."

As the door closed behind him, Amisi laughed lightly and shook her head. Her Pharaoh was quite silly in this life after all it would seem. But it was somewhat amusing, though just a touch frustrating. For a moment, she considered taking a peek, but then shook her head. No, she was not going to do that to her Pharaoh. Once Percy was done with his shower, the two headed down to breakfast with the two talking as best that they could. Furrowing her eyebrows, Amisi chose her words carefully as she spoke in English, the language still somewhat alien to her. "You want... know spell used?"

Nodding, the Weasley smiled at her as he adjusted his glasses. "Want to know, Amisi. And yes, I would love to learn that spell." As they passed the window, he looked out it. "Just in case."

On Amisi's face was a slight frown and then she realized why and scowled. "Yes... I will teach spell. For you, Pharaoh. Against... foul things of Duat." Then she smiled some. "As long as you teach... spell."

Eyes widening, Percy stared at her before becoming thoughtful. "You mean the Patronus spell?"

Face breaking out into a smile, Amisi nodded. "Yes, Patronus! Is a good spell... guardian!"

Humming, the wizard considered that before giving her a smile. "I can do that, I think. Not sure how well either of us might do learning the magic of the other, but it cannot hurt." Then he frowned some and considered things. "What are you going to do while I'm in classes?"

Amisi tilted her head to the side and frowned, the words coming to her slowly. "I work on reading and... writing? Yes, writing! And speaking..." Making a motion with her hand, she smiled. "Myrtle say she help."

That made Percy relax some and chuckle as he considered what she just said, which brought a look of confusion to Amisi's face. Waving his hand, he shook his head. "Its nothing, just never thought that Myrtle would be willing to teach."

In reply, Amisi shrugged. Myrtle was a spirit after all, and one willing to help her serve her Pharaoh in this life better. And for that, she was thankful and would burn incense while praying to the gods for the ghost. Such should be thanked in her mind.

Meanwhile, said ghost was utterly confused as she looked at her fellow Hogwarts spirits. "I'm sorry, what?"

Gathering his thoughts, the Friar coughed and then bowed slightly to her. "Ah, we were, well, worried when we did not find you. And we wish to welcome you back."

Just looking from one to the other, there was a look of slight suspicion on her face as she tried to figure out what was going on. Unnoticed by her, several of the other ghosts flinched at that. "Thank you? Though this is a bit of a first..."

Needless to say, that caused more flinches from the others. With a sigh, Nick nodded some. "We did some much needed soul searching, dear child. And... came to the conclusion that we have not been treating you right. Something that we regret."

Myrtle blinked slowly, not letting her inner thoughts come out. 'And it only took you almost eighty years? Now you realize that?'

However, all the young ghost did was shrug. For his part, the Bloody Baron decided to just move on from the current issue as it was obvious to him it would take a lot of work on their part. Instead, the Slytherin House ghost decided to ask something else. "Did you have a fun time in Japan, Myrtle? It is the furthest that I think anyone here has ever gone."

Smiling, the undead Ravenclaw nodded. "It was, I had a lot of fun there. There was so much to see and I was surprised at all I found! Did you know that there's a whole category of spirits who deal with washrooms there? Though not all of them are nice." Finger on her chin, she grimaced briefly. "Such as the Aka Mantos, those guys are just plain mean."

Lost, one of the other ghosts furrowed her eyebrows. "Aka... Mantos?"

With a nod, Myrtle hummed. "Yeah, they haunt bathrooms and are a kind of spirit. They ask a person if they want the red toilet paper or the blue. If they say red, the Aka Manto rips their back apart, turning the toilet paper red with their blood. If they say blue, they choke their victim until they turn blue as they die. Yellow gets your face shoved into the toilet until you drown, and so on." Ignoring the shudders and disturbed looks, she shrugged. "Didn't like the one that I met too much, much prefer the Hanakos, they're generally nicer outside of a few."

Interested, the Grey Lady tilted her head in question.

Humming, Myrtle waggled her hand some. "Generally? They look like young girls, my age, and haunt washroom stalls like I do. Its a test of courage to meet them. Oh!" A twinkle in her eye, she smiled. "I also learned a lot from some ghosts over there too. Tricks, one could say."

Now clapping his hands, the Fat Friar laughed some. "Tricks, you say? Perhaps you would not mind showing us some?"

Moments later though, he blinked in confusion as the ghost in question laughed some before holding out her hands. Above each palm, a ghostly blue flame appeared which made their eyes widen and clap. Internally, Myrtle's thoughts were slightly sadistic. 'Oh, just you wait and see...' With a dark chuckle, the other ghosts stopped as Myrtle... changed.

Her clothing became tattered and rotted before her skin stretched tightly over her bones with her eyes sinking into her skull. Meanwhile, her hair became tangled and stringy while her veins blackened against her skin. Backing away some, Nick swallowed. "M-my word, Myrtle... is that you?"

Cracked lips stretched back into a ghastly smile, Myrtle's eyes glowed with barely suppressed malevolence. "What is wrong, Sir Nick? Do not tell me that the Ghost of Gryffindor is... scared now?" Her appearance then shifted back to normal and she tossed her hair back. "Trust me, you would not be the first of that."

An unsure laugh escaped from some of the ghosts as Nick gave her a shaky smile. "Oh, I... uh, quite imagine."

Then shrugging, Myrtle began to change again. However, this time she instead aged until she was looking like she would have as a Seventh Year which made all their eyes widen. It was obvious now that she really was an 'Ugly ducking' as she would have become a swan. Eyes twinkling, Myrtle internally snickered before bowing to them. "Ah, excuse me, I was going to go and meet Harry at breakfast. I am his adoptive aunt after all..."

With a few words of goodbye, the other ghosts watched her head off still in a transformed state before they rapidly began to whisper among themselves about what just happened.

Something that did not compare to what happened when the changed Myrtle entered the Great Hall and got a bunch of spittakes.

 

[darthcourt10]

SkyeFire Omake: Reactions to Todoh

NotHimAgain said:
Well what do you think, sirs?
mikelima777 said:
Why am I imagining that Todoh will end up with his whole collection getting Potter'ed?​

They ducked into an alley, and Honjou paused to take stock of their little raiding party. Tonbo was half-carrying Tatsuya and trying not to be obvious about it, with Benio clinging to her other arm as the hanyou tried to get her breath back.

And the fifth member of their party... Honjo turned to look at the blank-faced sword spirit clinging to her off hand. One of her sisters, a fellow Masamune beyond question... but a sister whose identity had been so thoroughly stolen from her that Honjou could not even recognize her face, much less the pattern of her spirit.

Her thoughts spun involuntarily to the other swords still trapped in that bastard's collection, whom they had had to leave behind or else be caught in the mad sorceror's web of magic... and found her dominant hand reaching for the weapon even deadlier than her true self.

"Juuchi? Yes, it's me. I-- no, it's not-- Jucchi, dammit, I need your help! Well, that shut you up -- no, no time. You remember what we learned about what happened to Kyoshu? I just stumbled over someone using the same magic to similar ends. He had one of my sisters -- no, we got her out, but it turns out he has a large number of other swords, condition unknown. Yes, exactly, we need to extract them quickly, before he can go to ground, but my sister-- no, not as bad as Kyoshu, but bad enough. I need someplace to keep her, and the safest place I can think of-- are you sure Harry-san will not mind? ...yes, I suppose that is a silly question. You're going to call who? Well, normally I would object, but in this case, I'll take any and all help that's willing, and they certainly have a right to be involved. Yes, thank you. Let me send you the location."

FROM: WillItCutOhYesItWill
TO: SisterHoodOfTheTravellingButterKnives
CC: MizuchiBikerBabe
Attention bitches: just got word from Honjou that some leftover from the 731 branch that goldfish'd Kyoshu is alive, local, and trying their hand at an entire collection of swords. Location attached. Making entry in 20min, be there or be square. He already worked over one of Honjou's sisters, I've got her stashed with Bell-chan and some shipgirls who know the score.

Harry Leferts said:
Something that did not compare to what happened when the changed Myrtle entered the Great Hall and got a bunch of spittakes.​

Ah, Myrtle, you've graduated from Ghost to Troll.

Kittle said:
I think she's otherwise engaged in saving her daughter's life right now, isn't she? So long as she knows Harry is okay for now and others are checking on him, she'll defer her personal visit until things are less hectic at her end.​

Hoppou forced herself to breath. "Big Brother... Big Brother has friends, and guards, and can protect himself."
Sunny stared at her, going pale even for an Abyssal. "Uncle Harry... but--" her head turned towards the makeshift repair bath against her will.
Hoppou forced another breath. "Big Brother has help. Renita... Renita only has us." But she seemed frozen in place, torn between conflicting needs. Regalia leaned over and hugged her.
"Grandmother... I know I haven't known Uncle Harry for that long, but... we all know what he would say."
Hoppou found herself sniffling through a tiny, pained smile. "Yes. Because Big Brother is a Big Idiot. Too kind, and too generous, and... too right." She gently pried herself free from her granddaughter's arms, turned to face her improvised operating theater, and marched towards the battle only she could fight.
Big Brother will owe Hoppou-chan all the treats and cuddles for worrying her like this. Later. After.

TempestK said:
An immovable Rod. Some idiot gave an Immovable Rod to a military brat. God help us all...​

Harry knows Looney-Tunes Physics and ACME products, does he not? The shenanigans opportunities abound.

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

I present a thought experiment. After reading up on Irish Folk Lore on Foxes among other things I came to the realization that a person who had red as opposed to ginger hair was commonly thought to either be a fox imitating a human or a human in possession of Fox blood. It would be amusing for Natsumi to meet Irish Foxes who share so many commonalities with Japanese Kitsune, giant Magic Pearls, illusions, shapeshifting, sometimes precognition, powers around luck and healing

Lilly Evans had red hair and this is her first meeting with her many times great grand mother. Unless Harry Leferts says otherwise this should not be considered cannon It has been years since I last wrote anything and I would like feedback.

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It was raining as she knocked on the door. She had been watching the family inside. There names were unimportant really what was important was that there was an obligation she had to observe.

A man opened the door his features she could not recall really, he startled at her appearance, "You should not have come."

She smiled with to pointed teeth and replied, "But you'll let me in won't you dear"

He stood before her willing her to leave, he had not fought and bled for his country to simply allow this creature into his house. He knew that she only ever brought pain through false hopes and false dreams. But as they stood there with the door open staring at each other his will began to give way until finally he bent his head and said, "Welcome to my home Grand Mother."

The house was warm and cozy and really quite dull. She did not like it, it was too human.

"What brings you hear Grand Mother?" For the life of her she could not remember his name. They faded so fast after all.

She twirled to face him after putting up her umbrella and coat. "Can I not visit from time to time little fox?" She wondered.

He looked at her. She was not his actual Grand Mother. She merely assumed the role through generations. It was the family's secret to keep. She had been his father's Grand Mother, his grand father's Grand Mother and so on and so forth stretching back farther then the family's memory could go. Throughout the Evans family's existence they had been plagued by a beautiful red haired women that showed up from time to time and always brought with her trouble. Lily resembled her greatly.

"It has been twenty five years Grand Mother, I am no longer little and I never was a fox." He said.

There was hurt in her eyes as though he had committed a great betrayal before she schooled her features and smiled.

"Well perhaps your not, but we can always hope that future generations will be less disappointing. Anyway I heard you have children now. Present them too me"

He tried to say no, he tried to throw her out of the house, but he couldn't. The Evans family never could say no to her. After waking his daughters to the living room and his wife setting out her tea pot and refreshments they all sat down. Grand Mother scrutinized his children.

First she looked at Petunia before dismissing her in a huff, but when she looked at Lily she froze. Her eyes looked more alive then he could ever remember.

She stared into Lily's eyes and with a hint of sadness asked, "What is your name child?" She had never asked for his name.

Petunia chose that moment to speak up, "I'm Petunia."

"As you say dear." Grand Mother said as she waved off the eldest child. "Now little one what is your name?"

"My name is Lily and I'm five years old," Lily said with the exuberance that could only be found in small children.

Grand Mother's eyes began to water as she failed to find any words. Finally she crinkled her eyes and with the first true smile anyone in the Evan's family had seen for generations she spoke, "Lily," She paused, "What a beautiful name, I am Siusan which also means lily. I am your Grand Mother."

Lily giggled and Lily's father realized that he had never know his Grand Mother's name. For the next hour Lily and Siusan began to share stories with Lily telling her about her adventures while Siusan nodded and smiled. Petunia looked on hurt as she was ignored for her her sister, her father scooping her up in her arms at putting her back to bed. With his his daughter Petunia staring up at him with tears in her eyes asking why, it broke his heart a little.

"It is just how it is my sweet flower. She draws us in like a warm fire, but like that fire she burns us without regard as we are not fire like her. It hurts. The curse of Evans is that we are always incomplete, always lacking something we cannot even define and her presence reminds us of that. At the same time we always yearn for us to notice us."

Petunia looked up at him and with true venom in her voice shouted, "I wish I was never an Evans! I wish I never met her. It hurts so much."

As Petunia lay in bed crying her father brushing her hair he comforted her, "I had hoped you would never have to meet her. She does that from time to time, forgets about us." He continued to comfort her until Petunia cried herself to sleep.

When he returned to the living room his wife picking up refreshments he found his daughter in Grand Mother's arms asleep. His Grand Mother lightly singing as Lily slept with a look of love toward his daughter that she had never shown him. For the briefest moment he was jealous of Lily and so hung his head in shame.

Looking up at him she smiled at him, a small part of him swelled in pride. "She is beautiful, so much like," she drifted off into to memories before speaking again.

"Anyway I have decided. I can not trust you to not screw up even if you at least got one thing right with Lily," And in speaking she plucked a hair from her head and a hair from Lily's and took a piece of silver from her pocket. Holding them into her hand she then took out a knife before cutting the hand holding the items. Then allowing the blood to pool in her hand she sang. It was like the very world froze, the world suddenly blooming into colors he had never known. He swayed to the music, his conscious taken to a world of dreams.

It ended to soon. His Grand Mother handing him a beautiful silver necklace from which hung a small silver bell.

She handed it to him, "Give this to her when she wakes. It will bring her luck. And tell her that if she ever needs me she need only ring the bell and Grand Mother will be there to help her."

Grand Mother then lent downing kissing Lily's forehead before setting her down on the couch. Standing up she made her way to her way to the door before Lily's father asked, "Where are you going?"

She turned to him with tears in her eyes before whispering two words,

"To grieve."

With that she quickly left the house leaving behind her coat and umbrella. Lily's father never gave her the necklace.


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Not the best I know its a bit jumbled, but just wanted to get the idea out there. Siusan is a very broken woman who has buried too many of her descendants. She tires not to learn their names as it hurts her more if she does. Still she is drawn to them as much as they are to her through their shared blood.

Anyways thoughts.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

Tristar said:
I just realized something Amisi is from ancient Egypt so...body paint yes?​

Or thin linen (I think that she is the thin linen type). Of course, that means that she needs new clothes for a new climate....

Tristar said:
Also poor girl come fall and winter she is going to be so bundled up she going to have to waddle to get around and she doesn't have an internal boiler to keep her warm well more cuddling then huehue.
Harry Leferts said:
True enough, though I fully expect Percy to have come up with something for her. Alternatively, she spends a lot of time in the Gryffindor Headboy/Headgirl's quarters with the fire going.​

True, she probably would be a little gunshy toward fire in fact since she's wooden. Which leads into this idea about temporal culture shock that I have had percolating for a while.

An Egyptian Sunshipgirl in Queen Elizabeth II's London (Part I)

Amisi blinked away soot from her eyes as she stepped out of the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Her Pharaoh followed her out and then gently touched her elbow. "Are you all right?"

"{Yes, my Pharaoh. A fascinating way to travel.}" She responded automatically as her eyes looked at the gathered wizards and witches eating breakfast, scanning them for signs of evildoing directed at him. She had lost him once before and would sooner sink than lose him once more..

Her Pharaoh's mother joined them next. "You have the Muggle money you need, Percy?"

Amisi stifled a giggle at the long-suffering look on her Pharaoh's face as he responded. "Yes, Mother. Can I go now before Fred and George arrive and prank us? Again."

"Yes Percy. Don't get into too much trouble with her!'

She squeezed her Pharaoh's hand as he led her to the door and behind her she heard her Pharaoh's mother speak once more. "Don't tell me that you forgot your second year shopping list, Ginevra Molly Weasley!"

She smiled. "{Best that we hurry to get out of the way of your family.}"

"Yes."

Outside her breath caught in her throat as she looked around. Great structures of stone and glass surrounded her and even the very 'sidewalk' was stone. Such wealth! Not even her Pharaoh's palace from her youth had floors of cut stone, only fired brick, and glass was a rare item used in jewelry.

"Takes your breath away, doesn't it?" He said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as her blue eyes--the color of the Nile that she had sailed in her youth--widened and she trembled slightly.

"{Y-yes it does, My Pharaoh. So tall, so many people, and so much wealth. Even Memphis and Thebes seem like a simple village of mud-brick huts in comparison.}" Amisi responded quietly as they walked down the street, "{We knew of this island in the past, it was a source of tin for the making of bronze, mined by those we saw as barbarians, and some of my lesser cousins spoke of their travels around the Great Sea to trade with those who traded with it. Truly much has changed in the floodings of the Nile before you awakened me from my silent watch.}"

"Um, about that. A wise man said that the reason we can look so far is that we stand upon the shoulders of giants." Their walk had taken them from the teeming masses of the city to a green lawn leading to the 'River Thames'. Trees framed the water as ships went to and fro upon the waters and other people enjoyed a late-August day of rest.

Amisi felt saltwater sting her eyes as she saw the ships traveling along the water. While some were monstrous masses of metal, it was the smaller ones that caused her tears to form. While they were shaped differently than her and flew across the water like a arrow from the bow of Horus, the smiles of those on board brought memories to the forefront. She had seen her Pharaoh's face smile that way as the breath of Amun filled her sails and she cleft the liquid bronze of the Nile at his bidding as the Bark of Ra descended to the underworld. As flutists and trumpeters made music for his enjoyment as he toured his realm to ensure that his hard work of rulership was not wasted by lesser mortals, she stood invisibly at his shoulder, her own smile forming at his pleasure at the memories of the moments that he could relax that she was giving him.

She blinked away her bittersweet tears. "{A wise man indeed my Pharaoh.}" With that they reached the bank of the river and as they turned to walk along it a sudden spike of shock rammed into her hull as the drummer who beat the time for her rowers missed a strike of his palm upon the leather of his instrument.
Spoiler: Cleopatra's Needle


Before her a granite obelisk stood in a place of honor, identical to the ones of her youth along the Nile. While weathered by the passage of centuries, the hieroglyphs carved into it were visible to her eyes and she automatically read the inscription presented. "{I, Horus Mighty Bull Arising in Thebes, He of the Two Ladies, Enduring in kingship like Re in heaven, Horus of Gold Powerful of strength, Sacred of appearance, He of the Sedge and the Bee, Enduring of form is Re, Son of Ra, Thutmose, beautiful of forms smote the armies of the King of Kadesh before Megiddo, by their thousands and tens of thousands I smote them....}" Again saltwater stung her eyes, this time in fierce pride and joy. Despite the uncounted years since her youth, they remembered and honored her people's achievements. She turned to her Pharaoh and hugged him fiercely, saltwater soaking his shirt as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"{T-thank you.}"

A.N. -Yes, that is the full regnal name of Thutmose III who erected the obelisk that stands on the Thames right now.

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

So here is a bit of look into Siusan's mind immediately after her visit with Lily and Petunia. I should note that her decedents and her each have their own interpretations of events and from an outsiders perspective they would both be wrong.
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She had her daughter's face. The child, Lily, her name was Lily. She had her daughter's face. Same nose, same ears, same smile. It hurt. Lily would leave her. They always left her.

And yet for a single moment it was like having her daughter back. She knew it had been a mistake to visit. But she could not help it. She wanted to scoop all of them up and take them away from this world of man. But they never wanted to leave with her and they were to human to live in her forest. For all that she could protect them her forest had dangers older than her.

She could remember all of them. Their faces, their tales of adventure. She watched them. From a distance. There was a time when she was closer to them. When the visits were not visits but years of helping the previous generation in raising the new. When their names did not hurt so much. As long as she never learned their names they would never age her her dreams.

Humans were terrible at naming things anyway. She thought she gave those children better names. They fit better. Honestly who names a child Harold. Could they not tell that his name would fit him better if it was Reynard. Sure the name was French, but really that Harold had been a Reynard.

So she gave the children names. After several generations she stopped sharing them. The children always refused her names despite them fitting better. So she kept them to herself. Those children that looked at her with wonder were never lost to her forever in her memories as she cemented them.

So really she had come to visit her children. To gift them with luck at fortune as she did. And they always refused her gifts. She had taken to forgetting items behind just to ensure that her children were protected. This time it had been an umbrella and a coat. They would forget that the items had been hers using them in their everyday lives. She had been overcome with dread when she had seen Lily. Her name had been Lily. Lily she feared would be lost at sea.

Lily was well named. She was definitely a Lily. Honestly both children were well named. She wished they hadn't been. That she could have given them better names.

As she made her way to her forest she spotted an old abandoned fortress at the edge of her forest. Forgotten and unseen by man. Slowly Siusan began to make her way to the structure.

A young girls laugh. She froze. "Whats your name? I'm Brigid"

The memory faded. Siusan found herself standing in the courtyard.

"What do you mean you don't have a name? I know! I'll call you Siusan cause your pretty like a lily."

It was a terrible name, she was a fox not a flower. She ate rabbits not the other way around. Why was she blushing.

She looked around the hall.

"Siusan guess what? I'm getting married isn't that great." Why did her heart hurt. She left.

"Siusan, please come back. Whatever I did I'm sorry. I miss you."

She found herself surrounded by stone.

"The Witch says I can't have children. That I will never have children. My husband is going to say the marriage was a lie. Siusan what can I do?" She leaned down and kissed the shorter woman.

"I never wanted to get married you know. But it hurt so I smiled." Brigid cradled her daughter in her arms. Cradled their daughter in her arms. Siusan licked her lips.

Her feet always betrayed her. She was surrounded by her children now. Hers and Brigid's. But the family had abandoned this place long ago. Had abandoned her long ago. And so she took care of them in death.

Finally she came to Brigid's stone. Her husband had murdered her. She had made it impossible for the marriage to be called into question while leaving him with a daughter. He was not buried here and never would be.

"I'm back Brigid. Saw the children again. There was this one, Lily was her name. She reminded me of our little one. I, I miss you."

"I know I should spend more time with them but they push me away. I hurt them again. Didn't mean to but I did. Made one of the youngest ones cry when I focused on her sister. Her name is Petunia she smells human like you. But her sister Lily, she smells like me... almost she also smell of ocean and iron. She has your eyes."

"Miss you."

Her den was cold.

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Still thoughts and comments appreciated. For all I know the event might have looked a lot more cheerful to Lily's mom but the combined depression of the Evans clan and Siusan leads their interpretation of events in a cycle of self loathing.

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

The Evans family has a spot of the flu when Siusan comes to visit. I like it, but I don't. So tell me what you think. Also Harry love the Idea of Brigid being reincarnated. It would come as an extreme shock to Siusan though.

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You would expect to find an average British family to be found relaxing on a Saturday morning, but with his wife sick and Lily and Petunia driving him up the wall. Then there were the bills he had to figure out with the added expenses, supper was a mess, the house chores were piling up, and he was starting to feel a bit under the weather himself. He could really use a break at the moment.

There was a knock at his door. He stopped to think, he was not expecting anyone today. There was another knock at his door.

"Coming, coming, I'll be right there," He said as he made his way to the door. When he opened the door and looked at who was knocking. He froze for a moment, with everything else going on this was just what he needed, more stress. Grand Mother stood in the door way.

"I thought I would take the children off your hands for a while," Grand Mother said with a smile that offered no argument before she pushed her way into the house. "Where are your little flowers anyway," She said turning to look at him once more.

He didn't need this not right now, he tried to tell her to leave but he words never came.

"You look terrible by the way," He watched her walk into the kitchen. "What is this supposed to be," Grand Mother said taking a sip from the soup he had made. She sniffed, "Not very good is it."

"Grand Mother the children are in their room so if you could just do what you came to do and then go, I don't need this," he said wiping some sweat from his brow, he was feeling a bit warm at the moment.

She smiled at him cupping his cheek, he hated that he leaned into her touch, "Good boy," She said. His heart warmed just a bit at her approval. "Now I'll watch your flowers while you rest a bit hmm." He was not that tired, but a little nap he could use a little nap he supposed.

He awoke with something on cold on his forehead. He did not remember getting into bed. He smelled soup. He looked over to his bedside table. On it was a bowl of soup and a cup of tea.

"The children are in bed dear," He turned and saw his wife in the door way, despite the fact that she looked haggard from illness she was still the most beautiful women he had ever known, Grand Mother was not a woman.

"Siusan made the soup and tea with the children. Petunia was a bit upset though, apparently she was goofing around in the kitchen and almost burned Lily, she was still smarting from her scolding when I woke up."

He'd have to talk to his little Lily. He supposed Petunia already understood that Grand Mother o"nly brought pain. He took a sip of soup. Like right now. The soup was too good. The world felt less around him now that he had a sip.

"It is good isn't it. I should ask her the recipe, it is better mine." He did not want that. He did not want his wife's soups to always fall short for a lack of something she could never do. An impossible mountain.

"There is more on the stove, when your finished. If you want I can bring you some more," His wife stroked his hair. "You worked so hard taking care of me and doing the house chores, honestly I thought you might be a bit hopeless at that." He had not done the house chores.

"The bills are going to be a problem," He grumbled. Only his wife had a smirk and then giggled.

"You paid those to dear. Don't know where you found the money, but it seems you worked so hard while I was unable to help. You should rest a bit." The soup was warm, the tea was bright, he went back to sleep.

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A bit short. Initially was thinking of showing Lily and Petunia's interaction but I wanted to keep the same perspective. As Always thoughts and ideas appreciated.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

"How bad is it?"

Sunny shook her head. "It's bad. Even if she wasn't already suffering a hull rupture… even if she wasn't at risk of breaking open in rough seas… even if she was still capable of moving under her own power at any reasonable speed… her heart is already failing. She won't survive any attempt to move her."

The rest of the fleet, seated around the table in the palace's throne room, shared distressed looks. "How… how long does she have?" Rivet asked.

"Absolute best-case, forty-eight hours. Realistically…" the Demon stopped to rub the tears from her eyes. "Less than a day."

"Is there nothing we can do for her right now?" Ruadri asked. "To try and stabilize her, until Mother can get to us?"

Sunny sighed. "Me and Regalia already have our DC teams trying to hold her together… but it's a losing battle. The damage is just too widespread, too deep. One wrong move… and we could kill her."

The other Abyssals could feel knots forming in the pit of their stomachs. To finally find their beloved lost sister, only to discover she was in her final hours… it wasn't fair. Renita didn't deserve this. "What… what do we do, then…?" Regalia asked.

Sunny sat down on the stone bench that served as her sister's throne, a hand to her temple. "All we can do… is try to ease her pain. Make her comfortable. Pray that Mother makes it in time… even if it's only so that she and Renita can find peace."

For a time, the group was silent, simply trying to digest this information. "…What about the other girl? The Princess?" Rivet spoke up. "What do we do about her?"

The Demon considered the question for a few seconds before she answered. "Well… she might already know Renita's close to death, and is keeping a strong face so as to keep Renita calm. But if she doesn't… I'm not sure how she'd react to the news. Probably not well."

"Should one of us… you know, talk to Fluffy? Try to break the news to her gently?"

After a moment, Sunny shook her head. "No. Regardless of whether she realizes her flagship has a foot in the grave, she's committed to making sure Renita is comfortable and happy… I don't want to ruin that by bringing it up to her. But on that note… there is something else I wanted to discuss with her."

Rising to her feet, Sunny began to make her way towards the room her dying sister was frequenting. Regalia was quick to follow, hoping to take the chance to pick up her stockpile of seeds. As the two walked, she continued to think about her aunt's dilemma. "Aunt Renita… the problem is her boilers, right?" she asked.

Thinking about it for a moment, Sunny nodded. "Those are far from her only problem… but yes, they are what's killing her right now."

"Hm." Regalia was quiet as she contemplated that. "If her boilers are failing… is there no way we could… I don't know, connect her to one of us? Use our boilers instead of her own, to keep her alive?"

Sunny looked to the Re-class in disbelief. "Regalia, I know you're just trying to offer suggestions to help, but that's insane. I mean, Installations like Mother are probably capable of something like what you're proposing—but that's because they would have the facilities necessary for it. You're effectively suggesting one of us share our heart with Renita. Now, if we knew for a fact it could work, I wouldn't hesitate to volunteer… but we have no idea how such a thing would be done, or the effects it would have, or if it would even work in the first place."

Regalia pursed her lips. "Well, how will we know unless we try? It's a better plan than just preparing for the end, if you ask me."

"And what if it does nothing? What if it just makes thing worse for Renita? What if it actually kills her, and the person trying to keep her alive?" Sunny shook her head. "There's just too much to risk. I'm already bracing myself to lose my sister—I can't bear to lose someone else alongside her."

Regalia opened her mouth to retort, but her words failed her. Finally, she hung her head in defeat. "It's just… it's just not right…" she whined.

Watching her niece mope, Sunny let out a sigh. "…look, Regalia. I don't want Renita to die. Just like you. Just like all the others. But the way things stand now, even with the aid we're already giving her… it is very much a possibility." She slung an arm around Regalia's shoulders, pulling her closer. "The best thing we can do for her right now… is to just be there. Let her know her family is at her side, and that we love her. And if she dies tonight… at the very least, she deserves to finally have peace when it happens. Okay?"

"…okay."

"I know it probably feels like you failed your family, by bringing us to Renita's likely deathbed… but that's not true. You've succeeded in giving us all something we desperately needed: closure. For so long we've dreaded what Renita could be going through out there… Was she feral, completely gone? Was she captured by evil Abyssals, tortured, forced to serve them? Was she even still alive?" Sunny squeezed her niece lightly. "But now, we know: she found a friend. Someone who took care of her. Who allowed her to persevere in her search, until our paths finally crossed once more. And that might never have happened, if not for you. Just try to keep that in mind."

Regalia was silent for several seconds. Finally, she nodded weakly. "Okay." Finally, the pair arrived at her room. Coming to a stop at the door, Regalia pushed the doors open and the pair stepped through.

Fluffy sat at the side of the bed next to Renita, a small clay cup in her hands and her back turned to the doorway. "Are you sure you don't want something to drink?" the Princess asked, holding the cup in front of Renita. The Re-class seemed reluctant to accept the drink, weakly turning away from the cup. "Come on, Flagship, don't be like that. If you don't drink something, it'll make it harder for you to eat."

Fluffy flinched slightly at Sunny's huff of weariness coming from behind her. "Here, let me see that." Turning around, the Princess noted Sunny's outstretched hand; glancing between the Demon's hand and the cup in her own, she quietly handed it over. Pulling out a small packet, Sunny ripped it open with her teeth and emptied the powdery contents into the cup. After spending a few seconds stirring with a small spoon pulled from her hold, she offered the cup back to Fluffy. "There. See if she'll accept that."

"Um… okay." Turning back around, the princess held the cup to Renita's lips. "Can you try this, Flagship? Sunny made it for you."

Renita took a couple seconds to look at Fluffy in uncertainty, but eventually she let herself take a small sip. Almost immediately, her eyes widened slightly. "It's… it's sweet…" she exclaimed weakly. "I… I haven't… in so long…" Her eyes glistening with unshed tears of joy, Renita began to sip the drink much more eagerly.

Relieved to see her flagship taking to the new drink much better than the water, she glanced over her shoulder at the Demon. "Thank you… but, what did you just put in the cup?"

"Drink mix," Sunny answered simply. "Raspberry lemonade was her favorite drink."

"…I see." After a few more seconds, Renita had emptied the cup; she let herself lay back once more, her breathing still wheezy and ragged, but just a little bit less than before. Setting the cup aside, Fluffy turned fully towards Sunny and Regalia. "Is there…something you need from me?"

Sunny shook her head. "Nothing in particular. I was just hoping I could speak to you privately. Is that okay?"

"Well, I…" Fluffy paused, looking back to Renita. The Re-class immediately began to stare after her with a confused, pleading expression—she didn't want to be left alone. "I'm not saying no, but… my Flagship gets really distressed if I'm not here to look after her, keep her company…"

Silent up to this point, Regalia raised a hand. "I can… stay with her a little while, if you'd like. I needed to come in here to get something anyway…"

Fluffy looked conflicted, but eventually she looked back to Renita. "Is that okay, Flagship? Will you be alright if miss Regalia stays with you?" Renita's gaze slowly drifted between Fluffy and the other Re-class, her expression torn. Finally, though, she gave a small nod. "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." Quietly, Sunny and the Princess walked out of the room, leaving the two Re-classes to themselves.

Taking a deep breath, trying to clear the heartache-inducing thoughts from her mind, Regalia walked over to one of the dressers Fluffy had pushed aside. After spending a few seconds rummaging through the bottom drawer, she pulled out a small, ornate jewelry box made out of bronze. Cracking it open, she was relieved to see her stock of backup seeds safe and sound. She'd suffered a huge setback, yes, but she could rebuild—and with help from Uncle Harry and the others, her farm would be even better than before.

"I get knocked down, but I get up again… You're never gonna keep me down…" she hummed to herself as she stowed the box away in her hold, thinking back to one of the songs she'd heard the Canadians listen to. Suddenly she paused, beginning to chuckle at the irony of the lyrics. "Huh… seems to be a recurring thing for this family."

Her main objective accomplished, Regalia returned to her bed and sat down beside Renita. Sparing a glance to her aunt, she noted her uneasy expression, the faint tension in her body.

All we can do… is try to ease her pain. Make her comfortable.

Her aunt's words echoing in her mind, Regalia did her best to put on a calm, gentle smile. "I-it's okay, Aunt Renita…" she said softly, holding her hands up. "I won't do anything to hurt you. Honest."

Renita slowly blinked, confused. "…an Aunt? Me?"

Seeing a chance to break the ice and begin to connect with the other Re-class, Regalia's smile grew a little bit more genuine. "Yeah. You've actually got several nieces, now… and a couple of nephews…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I thought you said you wanted to speak to me privately…?" Fluffy asked, fidgeting where she stood. "Not in front of your whole fleet…"

She'd followed Sunny out to the throne room, expecting to just have a brief conversation away from her flagship… she hadn't expected to see a dozen other Abyssals (and shipgirls!) waiting around the chamber when they arrived. The latter had her briefly terrified for their safety… but to her utter bewilderment, neither group was exhibiting any sort of aggression towards the other. If anything, they were completely at ease in the presence of the other group.

Were the shipgirls turncoats, somehow? Brainwashed, blackmailed, just disgruntled with their old leadership? Or had Renita's fleet done the impossible, and actually managed to make peace with them?

"It's alright, Fluffy," Sunny reassured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "They're not really the type to pry."

"Sure, you say that, and then…" Fluffy's gaze fell as Sunny looked to her with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry. It's just that, before I met… Miss Renita… my original flagship was an absolutely horrible leader." She shuddered. "Working us hours, even days on end… taking the best food for herself and making me and the others fight for scraps… and I was dense enough to wait until she killed one of us before I realized that I had to get away."

Sunny was silent. Fluffy huffed. "Speechless, huh? Not surprised. I mean, I know Abyssals are monsters, but where do you draw the line—"

"No. Not another word."

Fluffy found herself cut off as Sunny pulled her into a hug. "From this moment on, you're one of us. You've done so much for Renita… we surely would have lost her forever, if you hadn't found her… if you hadn't taken it upon yourself to be her caretaker." She shook her head. "One little destroyer, holding a broken Re-class together for three long years… keeping her from falling to despair. It sounds so absurd—and yet, you made it work. You've done more for Renita than any of us… and we cannot thank you enough for it." Fluffy glanced over to the other Abyssals. They were looking her way, their expressions full of… gratitude. Acceptance.

"Well… she was the first person to ever be nice to me," she eventually said. "At first, I just did it because it didn't feel right to not repay her, to disregard her kindness. But then… I saw what happened to her when she tried to sleep. Saw the agony in her face. Listened to her screams. Whatever had happened to her, to leave her so broken… it had to have been so unspeakably horrible. Far worse than anything I went through." She took a deep breath. "I couldn't just leave her, let her keep suffering like that. She didn't deserve it."

"And you didn't deserve to suffer at the hands of whatever bitch sired you. You've proven you're better than her in every way that counts." Pulling away, Sunny gripped Fluffy by the shoulders. "We won't do that to you; we don't hate for hate's sake. We take care of our own… and now, that includes you."

Fluffy looked back to the Demon, eyes wide. "…You'd… really let me join your fleet? Just like that?"

Sunny grinned softly as she released the Princess. "Absolutely. You're far from the first stray our family has taken under their wing, and I can tell that you'd fit right in with us. Besides…" she shrugged. "Call it a gut feeling, but something tells me that after spending so long together with her, you'd be straight-up lost without Renita."

…well, she was right on that point. Fluffy fiddled with her hair sheepishly. "Y-yeah… I guess."

Sunny chuckled. "Thought so." She shook her head. "But I'm getting sidetracked. Bottom line, you're part of our family now. No ifs, ands or buts about it." Looking over to her sisters, she called out. "Any objections, ladies?" She got a chorus of replies in the negative. "That's what I thought!" She patted the Princess's back with a wide grin. "Welcome to the family, hon."

Fluffy had never felt so happy/confused in her life.

This… this is going to take a lot of getting used to.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hoppou watched anxiously from a distance as the peculiar crate was loaded into the US-2.

Much to the chagrin of everyone, the Admiral didn't have the pull necessary to book an impromptu flight into unfamiliar waters solely because Hoppou needed it—even if her daughter was going to die without her help. He did, however, have another way to justify the trip: the set of Vanishing Cabinets that was to go to Kushiro had just recently been picked up from Diagon Alley. With Tenryuu and her girls having pinpointed the phantom island's location, it was now possible to transport one of the cabinets over and immediately secure a line of communication and travel to the Fleet of Laughter's mysterious home.

She was just going to be tagging along for the delivery.

"Mother!" Looking back, Hoppou saw Tanith rushing towards her, several of her sisters close behind. "Are you really going to go alone?"

Hoppou nodded sadly. "Daughters can't all fit on plane. The seaplane is big and strong, but not that strong. Only a few could take plane with Hoppou; others would have to sail out or wait for cabinet to be set up. And that's not fair to them."

"And what about Supprin? How will we get the materials to Renita if you aren't here to receive them?"

"Cabinet," Hoppou said simply, pointing to the crate.

The girls shared concerned and uncertain looks with one another, before turning back to their mother. "Please…" Tanith said softly. "Tell Renita… we're sorry. For everything."

Hoppou shook her head, her face set in grim determination. "No. Tanith and sisters can do it themselves, once Renita is safe."

But as Hoppou turned and made to board the plane, waving a brief goodbye, the girls could plainly see her uncertainty.

Her fear that she would be too late.

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

Siusan tries to comfort Petunia after Lily leaves for Hogwarts. It goes poorly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Lily's not here." Petunia glared petulantly at her Grand Mother. She had been crying since Lily had left her behind for Hogwarts.

"I know dear," Grand Mother looked at Petunia with disappointment in her eyes. Petunia hated Grand Mother, she hated her and now Lily. Lily had left her behind. Lily who was always Grand Mother's favorite was also a witch and had left her behind to go to Hogwarts. It hurt.

"Father says I shouldn't talk to you," Petunia said. Her Grand Mother's eyes would no stop looking at her. She could tell she hurt Grand Mother, but Grand mother simply sighed.

"I know that too dear. I did not come for Lily. Lily does not need me...cookie," She said pulling a small bag of cookies from her purse and offering them Petunia.

Petunia stared longingly at the cookies before she curtly rejected them, "Hmph, I must not."

Grand Mother lowered the bag of cookies, "That's okay dear. More for me I suppose." Sitting down she set the bag of cookies between them.

They sat there in silence. Petunia finally could not take it anymore she stood up grabbing the bag of cookies and throwing them at her Grand Mother, and Petunia screamed, "Why?! Why are you here?! Why can you not leave me alone?! I hate you! Just leave! Leave like Lily did. She is the only one that likes you. You only like her anyway..." She trailed off with tears sting her eyes.

Her Grand Mother's eyes widened for the briefest moment before they were overcome with hurt. Slowly, gingerly Grand Mother stood up, she had never looked so brittle to Petunia. Grand Mother's brilliant red hair and soft brown eyes had gone dull. Turning away from Petunia she began to walk away as she left Petunia heard her whisper, "I will always love you my dear Petunia."

With that her Grand Mother was gone. Petunia hated herself most of all.

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

A short snap shot. Will focus on Lily and Siusan's interactions with my next post. It will be happier. Most of Siusan and Lily's interactions are happy ones.

 

[darthcourt10]

Maes Omake: Amisi Times/Renita Reactions

Yellowhammer said:
Once Percy accepts that he is a reincarnation of her Pharaoh, true.
I agree that Amisi will be floored when she realizes how important that she will be for Percy and for history.​

For the sake of that specific argument, Percy doesn't have to accept being the reincarnation of her Pharaoh, just accept she believes him to be and not bring it up.

A specific turn of phrase came to mind to express just how important Amisi and her sisters are, especially considering the 'immortality through remembrance' aspect. Most likely said by a passionate historian. This might have been inspired a bit by the monologue by the museum curator in 'Vincent and the Doctor'. (warning: video is potential tearjerker)

~~~
"Lady Amisi, while the Modern World does honor the memory of the Old and New Kingdoms, it's only what despairingly minuscule amount we managed to remember or rediscover. The world rediscovers more every day, but so much has been lost to the sands of time, or looters, or the forces of nature, or the folly of fanatics... You, and your sisters? You are the living memory of Old Egypt, of the Egypt of Gods and Pharaohs, Myths and Legends, so you can help us remember or reveal the glory that was lost and honor it as it deserves. By every right, it should make you more important, more vital, in this current age than every Pharaoh ever."

Percy: "He's right, you know?"
~~~

Yellowhammer said:
I can absolutely see this happening, probably over coffee/hot chocolate as they compare how they go doki-doki for Percy.​

"Since we can't really punch his lights out when he does things like... well.... like him, or other things until Mrs. Weasley allows it, how about an alternative?"

"Hm. What do you have in mind?"

"His mind? Let's blow it."

"Iiii'm listening?"

*mischievous grin* "Outfit swaps."


Now... Percy's reaction when he sees Ooyodo walk around in Amisi's clothes? Or Amisi in Supprin's? Or Supprin in Ooyodo's?

Yellowhammer said:
His mistake was telling her to stand back and twiddle her thumbs without a good reason for it.​

"Oh, that, yeah, that's my fault. Sorry, 'protect the beautiful woman' reflex and all that. It's pretty strongly ingrained. My apologies."
"... protect the be-" *sputtering sunship noises*

Savato93 said:
Seeing a chance to break the ice and begin to connect with the other Re-class, Regalia's smile grew a little bit more genuine. "Yeah. You've actually got several nieces, now… and a couple of nephews…"​

(crossposted)

"Oh, and grandma Hoppou has a mommy now, too, so I guess she'd be your grandma? She's really really nice. Oh, and an uncle! He's the best! He even makes cookies and treats for us!"

"... wait, what? Nephews and uncle? That's... that's not... I mean, there's no Abyssal boys, no? Right?"

"What? No, no, grandma Hoppou's big brother is human, his and grandma Hoppou's mommy is the battleship Nagato. They're the ones who saved her and adopted her and keep her safe and happy."

"You're pulling my... no, no you're not." *sigh* "This is going to take some getting used to."

~later~

"Regalia, 'keeping company' didn't have to involve 'blowing her mind'. The only things some of her imps have been saying for the last half hour are variations of 'dafuk?'"

"'M'sorry!"

Barricade said:
Harry: "I take my inspiration for this new spell, from a Ms. Takamachi & a Ms. Testarossa-Harlaown."

Hermione: "Oh hell...TACTICAL NUKE! INCOMING!!!"​

"Right, which one of you successfully divided by zero in a 'maxima' spellcasting?"

*all hands point to one Mr. Weasley*

"Errr... it was Harry's idea?"

"Hey! I mean, it's not wrong, but still!"


Considering Harry's exposure to Japanese (and possibly Chinese) magical systems, chances are he'd also have exposure to their own versions of numerology, with the eight trigrams (though that's more Taoist cosmology) and everything else.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Floating over and lowering herself next to Harry, Myrtle gave a small smile. "Feeling better, Harry?"

A smile on his face, the black haired wizard nodded at the older seeming ghost. "I am, Aunt Myrtle. What happened... I really needed it." The sound of choking made Harry look up the table to see Katie pounding on her chest. "Poi?"

Eyes wide as she sucked in breaths, the Muggleborn gave him a shocked look before her eyes went from Harry to Myrtle and then back. They did this several times as her mouth worked soundlessly before finally managing to restart her brain. "Harry... Did... did you just call that ghost, Myrtle!?"

Somewhat amused, said ghost smiled at her. "That is because that is exactly who I am, Katie. Why..." Head tilted to the side, her smile became a smirk as her eyes glowed in glee. "Is something wrong?"

Once more, Katie's mouth worked. "You were..." She made a motion with her hands, which looked more like flailing. Most of the others would have laughed usually, but they were just as gobsmacked as she was. "And now you're... this! How?!"

Leaning forward, Myrtle's smirk grew some. "Because I am."

With a groan, Katie rubbed her face. "It is far too early for this shit... I do not need this for the first day..."

Moments later, Myrtle's grin widened as she heard one of the Ravenclaws comment to another. "Holy shit! That's Moaning Myrtle?! She got fucking hot!"

Lips curling, the ghost continued to take in various other comments including curses and the like. Though she did make a note to scare the shit out of a few for making comments regarding her new looks and her nickname. Oh yes, she most definitely would. Shaking that off for now though, she turned to Harry who was holding a rasher of bacon up for Hedwig to eat. "Have you gotten your schedule yet?"

Shaking his head, Harry leaned back and looked around for McGonagall. "Not yet? Though I think that Professor McGonagall is handing them out now."

And, sure enough, a few minutes later the Transfiguration Professor reached them and handed the three their schedules. "Here you are, Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, and Mister Potter. Do remember what we talked about..."

While they nodded and agreed, she trailed off as she stared at the ghost. One who waved at her with a grin. "Good morning, Minnie." It went without saying that there were several spittakes from students at that, with Flitwick stumbling while he tried to hold back laughter. A few moments later though, he turned and cast a silencing charm on himself as McGonagall's glasses slid down her nose some. Though the shaking shoulders gave him away. Meanwhile, Minerva snapped out of it and then looked closer at this ghost who's grin widened. "Something wrong, Minnie?"

Frowning, the Professor gave her a look as she ignored the various snorts and the like. "Don't call me 'Minnie', Miss..." Then her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she finally recognized who it was. "M-Myrtle! Is that truly you?"

Unable to help herself, Myrtle laughed. "Yes, it is I, Myrtle." Her expression then softened a touch as she gestured at herself. "This is what I would have appeared like if I had lived longer."

Her own expression softening, McGonagall nodded. "I see, a shame that no one was able to see such. It would have shown, well... you know."

Waving her off, the ghost shrugged. "Maybe it would have, but who knows? All that is in the past though, Minerva. Nothing for it now."

Only nodding, McGonagall thought back to her own school days, which was right around the time that the spirit in front of her was still flesh and blood. And the regret that often welled up in her when she thought about it. Shaking that off, she had an interested look on her face. "Hmm... may I ask how...?"

Myrtle leaned forward some, her shoulder brushing against Harry's. Unlike with most people though, it seemed like it was solid. Something that always made Minerva wonder a bit, though her attention was caught by Myrtle's next words. "While I was in Japan over the summer, I decided to learn some tricks and such from ghosts there. My Sensei was very good at teaching and quite knowledgable. And this..." With one hand, she gestured at her current form. "Was something that I was taught as a ghost's form can be a bit mutable."

With a hum, the Professor smiled at her. "I see, that is good news then that you are continuing your education." Giving her another nod, she chuckled. "Perhaps we'll talk later as I am still interested in what else happened, though I must be off to hand these out."

The only thing that Myrtle did was nod and wave goodbye before turning to look over Harry's shoulder. Finger against her chin, the ghost gave a nod as she looked over the schedule. "Quite the amount of work there, Harry."

Lips curled upwards, Harry made some notes on a notepad he had. "Yeah, though I'll go over it when I have some time and make up a schedule. Get planned out how to deal with this like I would at home." Tapping his pen against his chin, he hummed. "I already got a few ideas as to how to handle it."

Glancing at him, Ron raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit intimidated?"

All Harry did though was give him a look of amusement. "Not really? I mean, I did go to school in Japan after all. To be honest, this brings back some memories for me, though I didn't have the advantages that I do now." Looking it over, he made a few more notes. "It's going to take some time though for me to figure everything out and some trial and error. If you want though, I could help you there as well. Mealtimes as well as sleep."

Relieved, Hermione sighed and gave him a thankful smile as she continued to eat. "That would be much appreciated, Harry. Thank you."

Confused, and looking between them, Neville blinked before looking at Ron's schedule and coughing. Rapidly blinking, he looked gobsmacked at it. "What the bloody hell? Some of those classes are taking place exactly at the same time! How...?"

Glancing at Harry and Hermione, Ron gave a shrug. "Um, sorry, Mate. Can't tell you as McGonagall made us promise not to say how we're doing this."

Thoughtfully frowning, their friend only nodded before shaking it off. Meanwhile, Myrtle was finished looking over Harry's schedule and gave a nod. "If any of you want, I can give a hand as well." At the surprised looks, she gave a chuckle. "I have been at this school for more eighty years or so. And when one is bored, even sitting in on classes seems interesting. So I know most of what there is in the curriculum. Even up to Seventh Year."

It went without saying that the three quickly agreed to that before they headed off to their first class.

Upon entering the Divination class though, Harry found his eyebrow twitching as they entered the class. Not just because of the teacher going on with what she obviously considered a mystical voice, but also due to the fact that he could smell incense and the like. Especially as he was reminded, and not in a nice way either, of a certain incident with a fortune teller. What did not help was that he could just spot a empty sherry bottle.

One which, when she realized he spotted, the professor gently moved out of sight before anyone could see. At that, only one thought went through Harry's head. 'Dammit...'
____________________________________________________________________

Eyes slowly trailing to the others, Harry gave them a look. "Hippogriffs."

Slowly, Hermione let out a sigh before doing her best not to pinch her nose. "Yes, that does seem like what Hagrid has brought out." Looking at them, she smiled slightly. "They are magnificent though."

Hands in his pockets, Ron nodded though he also had a frown on his face. "Yeah, and dangerous. I remember Charlie talking about them one time and they're not something that you really want to mess with." Pausing, he glanced over at the Slytherins some of whom were giving Hagrid sneers. "And, well..."

Now also looking at them, the Light Cruiser frowned some. "Agreed. If you want, I'll keep close to them." At the looks, she shrugged. "I can take anything that is dished out. Just be ready to cover me if something does happen."

From there, the class continued onwards with Harry getting a laugh when he revealed that he knew the secret to how to open the textbook. All the while he was thanking actually writing Hagrid to ask how to do so. Granted, said book was also extremely scared at this point of both Verniy and Inazuma, to the point of having somehow locked itself in his trunk once.

It also got him a five year discount at the bookstore in Diagon when he told them how.

Much to his joy, after some time, he got to ride one of the Hippogriffs named Buckbeak. Something that Hermione took a picture of even as she kept close to the Slytherins. Much to her surprise, Draco didn't say anything too insulting, at least only about Hagrid and under his breath. In regards to the magical beast, he only patted its snout with a frown on his face before he was about to move back.

Then he froze as Pansy crossed her arms and gave a glare at Buckbeak. "I'm expected to bow to a dumb, mangy beast like you? Ha!" She then sniffed and turned her nose up. "Like I'd ever-"

Draco was already whipping around as he saw the Hippogriff's eyes widen and its pupils shrink before it gave a shriek and lashed out. As if in slow motion, he could see Pansy's eyes widen while behind her, Millicent was already scrambling back as Buckbeak raised one taloned foreleg upwards, while Hagrid was already rushing over when the claws came down towards the Slytherin's chest, obviously about to disembowel her.

Which was when there was a blur when Pansy was tackled to the side and there was the sound of cloth being torn. At the same time, one could almost hear something hit metal as well, and Buckbeak jerked back his claws with a screech of pain. It was only when the two bodies stopped rolling that it was revealed that Hermione had gotten in the way and was now laying on her back with a hiss.

Time then seemingly went back to normal as most of the class looked gobsmacked and were shouting as well as panicking. As for Harry, he seemingly teleported next to his friend and had placed his cloak around her shoulders. Hagrid grabbed hold of Buckbeak and literally dragged him back with a shout. "WHA' DO YEH THINK THA' YEH ARE DOING, BUCKBEAK!" Turning, glanced at Hermione and then at Harry. "Get her to th' infirmary." When Harry got Hermione up, he turned and glared at Pansy. "And you! We're gonna be taking a trip ta see Professor Snape, we will! I warned yeh!"

All Pansy could do was lay there nodding as she looked from Hermione to Buckbeak, whose claws seemed to have blood on them, and back. Once Harry, Ron, and Neville were inside the castle though, they looked at Hermione who straightened up and moved Harry's coat to reveal the tears in her clothes... and the unblemished skin. Looking at the clawmarks, the Light Cruiser grimaced. "Great, and this was one of my favorite uniforms too... Just great."

Eyebrows furrowed as they made their way through the halls, Harry frowned. "Um, Hermione?" Getting a grunt, he continued. "Where did the blood on Buckbeak's claws come from if you don't even have a scratch?"

Opening her mouth, the shipgirl was about to say something when she frowned and thought it over. "I... don't know. Pansy is okay from what I could see though, so it was not from her."

However, that thought was pushed aside as Ron began to laugh. Blinking, Neville frowned some at him. "Uh, Mate? What's so funny? Someone could have been hurt there."

Still grinning, Ron turned his gaze on to him before clapping the other wizard on the back. "Nev? Think for a moment. What did Hermione just do?"

Confused, the Longbottom Scion raised an eyebrow. "Uh, save her life most likely? Why..." Trailing off, he blinked and then facepalmed. "Oh..." Shoulders shaking, Neville began to laugh himself. "Oh God, that is just hilarious!"

Now lost himself, Harry looked at Hermione who seemed similarly confused. Turning back, he cleared his throat. "Mind explaining the joke to two very lost people, Dess? Because I don't see what is so funny."

Lips curling into a smirk, and shaking his head, Neville looked at Harry directly. "Harry? Hermione just save Parkinson's life most likely, from her own stupidity to boot. What makes it hilarious is that she now owes a life debt to Hermione. She's going to absolutely despise that fact to no end. And the rest of her House is going to make damn sure that she won't forget it either."

Opening and closing her mouth, Hermione finally blinked. "Oh."

With a blink, Harry nodded in complete agreement as he realized what they meant. "Poi."

Two hours later, Hagrid entered the Infirmary to find Hermione sharing a cup of hot chocolate before rushing over. "Are yeh okay, 'Ermione? Not badly hurt, are yeh?"

Just smiling, Hermione took a sip of her drink and shook her head. "Wasn't hurt badly at all, Hagrid." Rapping her knuckles on her stomach, one could hear the ding of metal against metal. "That was why I was where I was, just in case something like that happened."

Slowly blinking, the giant man looked from her to the clock and back before his bushy brows met as he tried to puzzle out something. "If yeh are not hurt, then why are yeh still here?" Then his eyes widened and he waved his hands. "Not tha' I'm not happy that yeh are unhurt, but..."

Her lips twitching, Hermione chuckled some. "Mainly? I'm here because I'm killing some time. Best not to make too many people think that I'm barely hurt and maybe it'll make a lesson stick."

Wincing as he shook his head, the newly minted Professor sighed. "Aye, I be thinking that this be sticking wit me fer some time. Though... Professor Snape? He was angry with Pansy when he found out what she did, he was. Took twenty points off her an' everything."

A frown on his face, Harry turned his attention onto Hagrid. "Um, Hagrid? Can I ask something?" When he nodded, the black haired boy continued. "What happened with Buckbeak? Because he had blood on his claws."

Hagrid grimaced a bit at that before scratching his beard. "Ah, well... Buckbeat hurt 'imself when he attacked yeh. Not badly, but tha' was his blood. Gonna be making sure tha' he's alright tonight."

That night though, it was not just Hagrid who had to deal with things. All of Slytherin House was called down into the Common Room for a House Meeting and Snape was in fine form as he turned his ire onto his House. "Never! Never have I seen such a feat of stupidity from one of my own Slytherins! Parkinson! What exactly were you even thinking!?"

Giving a wince as she could feel the stares of her housemates on her, Pansy tried not to show how it was affecting her. Not that she was doing too well. "I was thinking that as a Pureblood, I needed to show that I would not bow to anything lesser! Especially with that oaf teaching that class!"

For several moments, Snape stopped to stare at her. Then he narrowed his eyes and stalked in close before bending so that his face was inches from her own. "And here I was thinking that what you did was something that I would expect a Gryffindor to do, Parkinson. But that is far stupider then I would have expected from even them!" When she opened her mouth, he held one finger up which silenced her. "Do not say... another word. I am speaking right now, you foolish girl. And you shall listen!" When she nodded, Snape continued. "That 'Oaf' you stated is a Professor of yours. Despite everything else, and my own personal opinion of Hagrid, one thing that even I will admit is that he is quite knowledgeable about dangerous creatures. And in this case, he was quite correct, which you would have known if you looked it up in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as I am sure most of your peers had enough between their ears to do, unlike you! Because it says the exact same thing right there that you were told!"

As Professor Snape continued to lambaste Pansy in front of the House, Daphne winced before muttering to Tracy. "He seems fit to be tied..."

With a glance at her friend, the other Slytherin nodded. "That he does, though can you blame him? It was in front of the entire class and everyone knows it. And they also know that Granger saved her life. He'd be doing this even if it was a minor one wound, though letting no one else outside of the House know though we still need to show support for her outside."

That got her a nod and several minutes later, Snape finally calmed down enough to simply glare at his student. When she mentioned that she could act like she was hurt, he rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, you certainly could and I would not stop you as that is your prerogative. But that would only work if you were actually harmed, in which case it would be perfectly Slytherin to play it up. However, you were not. And in this case, it would make you look more like a dunderhead as you would not have any excuse. Now, all of you head back to your beds... now!"

Only once was he out of the Common Room did he shake his head and sigh. There were times...

"At least it seems Draco has actually grown up some or else it would have been him..."
________________________________________________________________________

Silently, Myrtle floated up and out of the roof of the Astronomy Tower until it looked like she was standing there. Walking forward, the ghost came to a stop at the battlements and stood there as she gazed out onto the grounds of the Castle. As she did so, her lips curled slightly and she turned before seemingly leaning against them as she did so. Up here, it was just her, no one else. No other ghosts bothering her, no students whispering or anything. It was just...

Her.

The slight smile on her face, she gazed up at the Moonlight in thought now that her first day was back. Inside of her head, thoughts went to and fro. Her form blurred until she was once more older, as she would have looked if she had lived. "So hard to imagine..." Holding up one hand, Myrtle could see the stars and the Moon through it. Their lights shining as the night sounds surrounded her. "Just three years ago, I would never have imagined this... That everything has changed so very much."

Briefly, her mind went back to earlier that day when she had been stopped by a student who she had recognized as one of the First Years that she had guided to their classrooms the previous Year when the Basilisk was on the loose. Said student had his younger brother with him and pointed at Myrtle. "See, Phillip? This is Myrtle, you saw her look older this morning."

Eyes wide, the new First Year had looked up at her in awe. "Wow... You're the awesome ghost that my brother said protected him all year!" Face lighting up in a smile, the eleven year old had laughed. "So cool!"

The former First Year had nodded beside him and grinned as well. "Tell me about it. Anyways, if you ever need help, Myrtle is one of the better people here to go to and get it..."

Shocked, the ghost had stared at the time and after they left, had dismissed it as a one time thing.

However, soon enough, she discovered that she was wrong.

Throughout the day, some of the former First Years, now Second Years, would point her out to those who were now new to Hogwarts. They called her a guardian and the like. As well, stating that she was someone that they could go to for help if needed and she would make sure that they would get it. More then once, Myrtle would smile and thank them before telling said students that she would be happy to help them.

It was only after they were gone that she would find a quiet spot to have a good cry.

Unlike the other times though, these cries were not of sadness. And they were not of loneliness either. No, these were happy cries as she was finally, after so very long, wanted.

Needed.

For the very first time since even before she had died, Myrtle found herself enjoying her day at Hogwarts as a whole. People looked up at her and a number greeted her with smiles. Even though her heart no longer beat within her chest, the ghost could almost swear that it hurt. It hurt so very much. But it was a good hurt, one that she welcomed for what it meant. Tears running down her cheeks, she let out a laugh. "Everything has changed for me..." A smile on her face, she turned and smiled at Gryffindor Tower. "Because of you, Harry. Thank you."

Almost unnoticed, the light no longer shone through her body. In fact, it looked solid as it slowly touched down onto the flat stones of the top of the Astronomy Tower. Placing her hands upon the battlements, Myrtle let out another laugh, this one carrying the purest joy. "Thank you, Harry, thank you so very much." Head tilted back as small flames orbited her, for a few moments she stood there before opening her eyes which glowed softly in the night. "You would be so proud of him, Andrew. So very, very proud."

The wind seemed to caress her gently, blowing her hair out of her face as she laughed again, even as she could almost feel two arms wrap around her waist as she stood there.

Watching over the castle and those within it.

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

Here is the promised bit with Lily age eight.
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"Grand Mother?" A small girl with Brigid's eyes, her hair, and their daughter's smile looked up at her.

"What is it dear?" She replied crouching down so the young girl did not strain her neck.

"You're not my real grand mother are you? You're look younger than mother and father showed me pictures of his mother, so..." Lily trailed off kicking her shoe into the dirt. Looking around the park they were in was rather empty.

Siusan looked at the little girl, at Lily. She was shaking, slightly afraid. Her tiny hands scrunching up her dress, her head hung low. Carefully, so slowly so to not frighten her little Lily, she held the girls cheek so that they could look eye to eye. The she smiled, "My sweet little Lily, most Evans never question me you know? They just accept that I am Grand Mother, but you see me don't you?"

At this point Lily stood straight her eyes growing with determination but before she could speak Siusan interrupted, "You are right dear, I am not your grand mother. I am much to old to be your grand mother, you would need to add 41 greats to grand mother before you reached me." She said before briefly tickling Lily til she giggled for her to stop.

"How?" Laying down on the park grass Lily looked up in curiosity at her Grand Mother.

Siusan gave Lily an impish grin and with a startled gasp Lily scrambled to her feet, in her Grand Mother's place was a massive red fox. As Lily tried to back away she her foot caught on a rock and she fell onto her rear. Siusan began laughing as she returned to her human appearance.

Lily sputtered, "N-n-not funny!" But that only made Grand Mother howl in laughter and roll on the ground, Lily looked on indignantly before she broke down into giggles as well. Eventually they stopped and when they Siusan spoke.

"Understand something Lily child, I may be fox but you are my blood and I will never seek harm upon you. You and everyone of my little children are precious to me." Siusan said as she sat up.

Lily gained a thoughtful look, "Does father know?" She wonder aloud only to watch Grand Mother grow sad and distant.

"Ah, deep down he knows. He denies it, they all do." And with that Siusan flopped back down to the ground. She began to curl up on herself.

"Can you show me again?" Lily asked.

"What?"

"I said can you show me your fox form again?" Lily said only for the next moment finding herself laying beside that same massive fox. She ran her hand through Grand Mother's fur, it was so soft.

"You're so pretty Grand Mother."

"Ah, don't worry Lily dear when you grow a little older you'll be just as pretty as me, I'm sure of it."

The two of them lay like that for several hours and as they did Lily began to hear stories about her family she never even imagined. Then her Grand mother paused in the middle of telling her about this one many times great uncle who had been a knight and friend to a young prince.

"Promise me Lily, promise me you will never go into the ocean," Grand Mother looked worried.

"Why Grand Mother? That seems like a silly thing to promise. I love the ocean." Lily inquired.

"Ever since I was a little kit I have seen premonitions, its something every fox can do. Weather is a big, but its not always." The look of worry on her Grand Mother's face had taken on a haunted appearance.

"We see the doomed Lily, especially the owns destined for ill fated voyages. I'm afraid. The ocean has become truly terrifying recently and it only grows more so. I see you sinking under the waves." The next moment the massive fox had been replaced by her Grand Mother hugging her tightly. "Just Promise me you won't go swimming in the ocean anytime soon Lily child.

Lily hugged her Grand Mother back and with a courage that belied her 8 year old frame she spoke, "It will be alright Grand Mother, I promise that when I die it will not be on the ocean." Lily said it with such conviction she knew it to be true, she would never sink beneath the waves.

Finally Grand Mother let her go and stood up, the sun had begun to set.

"Well then we should probably be heading home, looks like you need a bath." Lily giggled, she loved her Grand Mother.
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So A bit of explanation, in Irish mythology foxes or beautiful women with bright red hair were known to approach people, usually sailors, at dawn. If they did it meant a disaster was fated upon the person who was approached if they continued as they were. I interpreted this as the foxes warning the sailors as it has been hinted at it several mythos that the foxes of Ireland were precognitive to a degree specifically in regards to weather and fortune. What this means for Siusan and the rest of the foxes in the British Isles is that Blood week will be particularly traumatic as they are effectively assaulted with images of every single person in their influences death.

Also if anyone else wants to write snippets of Siusan feel free. I am a bit worried my own skills might screw up her portrayal, although so far I feel like i have done at least a decent job. Anyway, enjoy and as always appreciate questions, corrections and feedback.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Harry was almost vibrating as he sat at his desk in the Alchemy Classroom. And as it turned out he was not the only one as there was a lot of whispering going on between the various students. Beside him, Hermione was flipping through her textbook while Ron was looking at some of the various alchemical devices that sat around the room in curiosity. Though Harry was pretty sure that his friend was also interested in perhaps using them for his own projects of sorts.

For his part, Harry was more interested in the various pieces of art that were visible around the room.

When they had arrived, they found a list of rules outside the door. Mostly, they had been common sense ones which reminded the thirteen year old of rules used for chemistry labs and such. A few had raised eyebrows for him though, such as specific ones regarding experimenting on their own time must be done in the lab. Though he had blinked at the one demanding students not to try 'Immortality Serums' that they came up with or found in a book without consulting with the teachers. And then Harry remembered some of what he knew about such and winced.

Upon the door itself were three symbols done in gold. The top one looked like the symbol for Venus, except for horns. Below that was a circle with a line through it. And, finally, there was a triangle with a cross attached to the bottom. All of them softly shone in the light of the hallway.

Inside the room was also fascinating as well as it looked much like a mix between a modern day chemistry lab and old woodcuts he had seen of alchemy labs. Tables topped with polished granite stood with stools behind them. Along the walls, in displays, were various devices. From what he could see, Harry recognized condensers, distillatorys, and various others. All of which were in full function bubbling and the like. It was amazing to see.

Above the teacher's desk was a golden snake eating its tail. When one looked at the ceiling though, there was another symbol there. Said symbol was a circle with a triangle inside, which had a square inside of it, with the square having a circle. Starting from the inside, the whole symbol would be black, then slowly turn white, then yellow, and finally red before seemingly resetting. More then that, no matter from what angle Harry viewed it from, it looked like he was viewing it aligned with the bottom of it.

Needless to say, he found it neat.

Besides that, there were old woodcuts and such on the walls which showed things like red suns and so forth. Somehow, Harry knew, he could spend just hours looking at each piece of it and not really get bored. However, he was brought out of his thoughts when the door shut and the class turned to find Wilhelm walking down the aisle with Gwen beside him. Their teachers took in each one of them with a small smile and a nod before reaching their desk. Looking around the room, Wilhelm chuckled some. "Guten Morgen, class. As the Headmaster already told you, I am Wilhelm Wolff and beside me is my ever lovely wife, Gwen Wolff."

Despite the blush on her face, Gwen gave him a look. "Flatterer." Turning to the class, she chuckled some. "Sorry, you'll find quite a bit of that going on in his class."

Only humming, Wilhelm reached over and placed his arm around her waist while some of the girls cooed. "Ja, but it is true that you are ever lovely, my love." Turning his attention back onto the class, he glanced at the parchment on his desk before clearing his throat. "Now, I will be calling your names one by one, please answer promptly." When he reached Harry's name, he hummed. "Potter, Harry..."

Raising his hand, said boy smiled. "Present."

For several moments, Wilhem gazed at him before chuckling. "Now there is a name that brings back memories." At the confusion, his smile grew a touch. "You would not be the first Potter that I have taught, Mein student. Henry, your... great-grandfather was a student of mein many decades ago. And a friend as well afterwards." With a slight nod, the alchemist turned to his wife. "Is that not so?"

Lightly laughing, Gwen shook her head. "Very much so, though I have known the Potters much longer then you have." Gazing at him, she sighed some. "You look quite a bit like my friend, Elizabeth Potter. The shape of the eyes in particular... her husband took her name, you know."

Eyes wide, Harry stared at her. "Really, Professor Gwen?"

Humming, she smiled and shook her head. "Oh yes, though I do hope that you will not be the last Potter that we will teach." Clearing her throat, Gwen gave her husband a look. "Though perhaps that is enough until later."

A small smile on his face, he gave her waist a squeeze and continued the rollcall with comments when he came across a familiar family name. Once he was done, Wilhelm walked out behind his desk and made his way around it until he was at the front. Then, casually, he leaned against it as he looked out onto his class. "With that done, we can get started. You are all here because you wish to learn the art of Alchemy, as a word of advice, the door is right there if you find it not for you. I will not judge, and neither will mein wife. But I will not have one of you continue to learn in this class unless you are interested and giving it your all. One who is disinterested in a subject will often not pay attention or be distracted. And that is something that could be deadly here!"

To empathize his speech, he slammed his hand down hard on the desk and created a clap that made the whole class flinch.

Walking up beside him, Gwen went into a similar pose as her husband. "Alchemy can be quite dangerous to learn, and to practice. Most of you, I suspect, have an idea as to how dangerous potions can be. Alchemy, if done wrong, is even more dangerous. Many alchemists have been badly harmed or died because they were not paying enough attention. With potions, the effects can be reversed easily enough. But with alchemy? You might not even realize that something has gone wrong before it does. For example, many who use it to search for immortality have died because they poisoned themselves accidentally, killing themselves over time without knowing. In many ways, it is like muggle chemistry which is descended from alchemy on the non-magical side of things. You will respect what you are doing here or else we will force you to leave the class. As well, if any of you feel ill after a class, come to either us or to Madame Pomfrey immediately."

Gaze sweeping across them, Wilhelm made a nod before walking over to the blackboard. With a wave of his hand, chalk began to animate and start writing before he turned back to the students. "It is for the reasons that we have stated why, for the most part, Alchemy is not offered until one is into their NEWTs. Because by that time the students are often much more cognizant of the dangers due to potions. Albus however wishes to see if another way could work. In this class, there shall be no experiments for some time. Rather, we shall build a strong foundation first before anything else is done. For a house will not stand well, or for very long, if the foundation is weak. Instead, it will shift and eventually collapse."

Just nodding in agreement, his wife continued to lean against the desk. "I have mentioned chemistry previously. Within the non-magical portion of the world, people see chemistry as the child alchemy. Formed out of what was into something new. They are not exactly incorrect in this opinion as without alchemy, chemistry would not exist. In many ways, the two are intertwined with one another and we can note many similarities on the material side. However, that is not all there is to alchemy."

Clapping his hand, Wilhelm made a motion with his wand and the image of a golden cross with a red rose appeared in the air. "Within alchemy, there is also the spiritual aspect. Some of you may know this as the Rose Cross, which has been used as a symbol of alchemy." It then faded away as he continued. "To put it at the most basic, on a spiritual level, alchemy is a search, one that will never end. To go from ignorance and have a journey to enlightenment. To transform one self into something more, something better. And not just them, but also the world around them through their knowledge. But it is not something that will ever be complete."

Finally moving from the desk, Gwen brought out her wand and pointed it at the wall with a beam of light reaching it. "To paraphrase something that I have come across elsewhere, what matters in alchemy is not the end point, though some lose sight of that, it is the journey of discovery. This beam of light represents the search for knowledge. And on the wall, the circle represents the destination, the enlightenment of the human soul. The brighter the beam, the brighter the circle, and thus the greater the Magnum Opus. One could stare at the circle and consider themselves enlightened, but you cannot touch the circle in the end, only observe it and reach for it. But we must always stride forward, attempting to reach that enlightenment. For that is the way of the alchemist."

One of the students raised their hand and got a nod. "Um, that sort of sounds like those transhumanists..."

Eyebrow raised, Wilhelm gave a hum. "You are muggleborn, yes?" When said student nodded, he chuckled. "Yes, in some ways it is similar, I will admit. An alchemist will wish to transmute ignorance into knowledge. To make themselves, and humanity, greater. As I have said, there is a spiritual aspect alongside the material. Neither is greater then the other, rather they are complementary of each other. You cannot separate them, for they are one in the end, and both. Material and spiritual, magical and not, male and female... together and not."

With a nod, Gwen looked around and noticed some confused looks before chuckling. "I suppose that this is rather deep, but this is part of the basics. As we move along, you will discover more about the mystical art of alchemy. Perhaps, if we are lucky, by the end of the year we shall get started on some minor alchemical compounds. Mainly dyes, but ones that are rather useful. Now, open all your books to page ten and we shall start..."
__________________________________________________________________

It was getting into late afternoon as Harry entered the classroom down the hall from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Glancing at the skull with ruby eyes in the sockets, he could only shake his head before blinking at the classroom. The windows were shut with heavy, dark curtains while greenish flames burned in the scones. Shadows flickered and shifted into strange patterns on the walls and ceilings.

And what did not help the creepiness factor were the moving pictures on the walls.

Harry tilted his head as he passed one, as it showed a man with a large bag full of various wares, with what had to be Death gripping him and trying to pull him away. Another picture showed what looked like a desiccated corpse digging into a grave before it pulled out a bone that it gnawed on. In other picture frames one could see spectres, wraiths, and the like. There was one creature that looked like someone had merged a deer, a bear, and a human with the intestines falling out as it stood in the middle of a raging blizzard. Its red eyes glaring malevolently at the students. 'Well... this looks a bit creepy.'

Making his way to a seat, he sat down in it. However, to his surprise he was soon joined by the Carrow Twins who nodded at him. A voice made him turn though and blink at who was there. "Harry? You're taking this class as well?"

On Harry's face was a small smile and he chuckled. "Hey, Susan. Didn't expect for you to be in this class as well." Then he nodded at the Carrow Twins. "Nor did I expect either of you to be here as well."

A slight upturn of the lips visible, Flora shook her head. "We're here because it is an interesting subject. Besides which..."

When she trailed off, her sister took over. "Let us just say that the knowledge we might gain could help us later in life."

Even though he was puzzled, Harry simply nodded before Susan spoke up. "I decided on it because my Aunt suggested it. I want to follow in her footsteps and she told me that it is a very useful subject for Aurors and the like, though not exactly needed. Though..." Glancing around, she grimaced. "I did not expect this place to be quite this creepy."

Hestia coughed a bit and looked away from one of the more gruesome pictures. "The... teacher, has a very unique sense of taste, let us just say. And we have heard stories about him as well."

Nodding, Flora frowned a bit. "Yes, such as the one where he had some sort of skeleton woman as a lover."

That made Harry blink and turn his head to look at her. "Skeleton woman? Do you mean a Hone Onna?"

It went without saying that all four jumped when a voice spoke up. "Indeed they do, Mister Potter. And five points to Gryffindor for recognizing such a being." The teacher smiled down at him. "I foresee you going far in this class."

As the teacher continued to smile down at them, Harry took in his appearance. The man looked to be middle age with a pencil mustache on his face and a silver streak on his hair on either side of his head. For clothes, he wore a black suit with a dark wizard's cloak over it. Granted, Harry stared a little at the cloak clasp which looked like a red eye with a slit pupil. One that reminded him of the Eye of Sauron of all things.

Which then blinked.

The teacher then chuckled and strode forward with his cloak dramatically moving behind him. Something that made Harry tilt his head a bit. 'So Professor Snape is not the only one who can do that? And I wonder if I can get him to teach me...'

Coming to his desk, the Professor went through the rollcall quickly, with nods here and there. Finally, he stood and addressed the classroom. "Allow myself to welcome all of you to Ghoul Studies. I am Professor Ghul, and I have already heard all the jokes I assure you. This class can be considered a supplementary to Defense Against the Dark Arts as it deals with creatures and beings covered under DADA. In this class, you shall learn how to identify and deal with various ghouls and spooks. How to tell a ghost from a spectre, or a European house ghoul from its much more dangerous, Middle Eastern counterpart which would gladly rip out your throat. Or how a Moroi differs from a Strigoi, as well as the differences between the two types of Strigoi."

Susan raised her hand and waited until their professor pointed at her. "Are we going to be covering things like Inferi?"

Just smiling slightly, Professor Ghul nodded. "Yes, we shall cover them eventually in this case. We will also cover their lesser known cousin, the Zombie. Something found only in the Southern parts of America and parts of the Caribbean as noted in The Dark Forces: Guide to Self-Protection. We may also cover the Chupacabra from generally the same area and Central America."

Another hand being raised made them look to where Padma sat. When she got a gesture to ask, she stood up. "You mentioned dealing with spirits and such? What do you mean?"

Leaning back, the Professor was quiet for a few moments before speaking. "We shall be learning how to protect one self from some of the nastier ones. At the same time though, we will also learn how to communicate with them as needed and how to recognize when one is, ah, offering a bad deal as it were. And, yes, that means that shall slide some into discussions of necromancy. By which, I mean, the traditional meaning. Not creating undead beings as a lot of muggles now assume, but rather communicating with spirits. The Resurrection Stone of the Tale of the Deathly Hollows can be considered the pinnacle of such. If you take the NEWT level classes, then I shall bring out my copy of the Necronomicon and allow for you to study it. The subject, can be quite... maddening, to be honest."

He then laughed with more then one of the students giving each other looks before Harry raised a hand. "Um, the Necronomicon? Not the one from Lovecraft..."

Calming down, Professor Ghul gave him a smile. "No, there are no eldritch abominations involved. It simply deals with the dead and beings thereof, I believe that current theory is that Lovecraft heard of the book, or came across a copy, and used it as a basis." Then without looking at another raised hand, he sighed. "And no, Mister Williams, the book is not written in Sumerian, nor penned on human skin and in human blood." Giving said Hufflepuff a look, he raised one eyebrow. "And yes, I know the reference, your older sister Ashley already did so five years ago. So please, do not come to my class with a shotgun or chainsaw else I shall be quite cross."

While said student sheepishly sank below his desk, Harry only shook his head. 'Low hanging fruit that is. Honestly...'

Meanwhile, Professor Ghul turned back to the class. "As well, we shall compare muggle viewpoints of the beings that we are talking about in comparison to the reality. So, yes, that means that we shall have horror movies hosted by myself at times. The house elves truly do make some wonderful popcorn. As well, we shall look at other forms of literature, though I am certain that those of you within Flitwick's Book Club will be ahead in some ways in regards to that. I prefer the works of Poe myself, nevermore... Now then, class, please open your textbooks and we shall begin..."

Doing so, Harry pondered another issue. One that, unknown to him, many others had wrestled with over the years. A mystery that none had solved yet.

Why did their professor look and sound like Vincent Price?

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

So I got this done earlier than I thought. Don't know if I got the characterization right but I did my best. Hope you all enjoy.
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When Lily returned from Hogwarts she was greeted at the station by her parents. Her father took her luggage and her mother enveloped her in a warm hug.

Her mother welcomed her home, "Its so good to see you sweetie, my you've grown. Just yesterday I swear you got your letter and now look at you, graduating as Head Girl of Hogwarts. We are so proud of you."

Lily looked around, she could not see Petunia anywhere, "Where's Petunia?" She asked.

Her mother looked saddened, "She was to busy to come sweetie."

Lily was a bit at a loss for words, she was hoping to see her sister. "Oh..."

"Everything is ready," Lily's father called slamming the trunk of the car.

After clambering inside it did not take long before Lily had begun to happily share her adventures at Hogwarts with her parents. It was nice. This moment away from the world of magic. Lily knew she could not stay long, it was simply not safe anymore and so had arranged with James to stay with him after saying good bye to her parents.

After returning home Lily was bombarded by the smells of good food. Her mother had already prepared many of her favorite foods to welcome her home. Soon the conversations that had started in the car carried over into dinner and the house was filled with laughter.

After helping her mother with the dishes she excused herself for some fresh air and made her way to the park. So lost in her thoughts, she practically learned to fly on the spot when a voice spoke up behind her.

"Welcome back Lily child," the voice spoke behind her.

Lily quickly turned around and there before her was, "Grand Mother!"

"It is good to see you Lily child," her Grand Mother said approaching her, "Let me have a look at you will you child. You grow so very fast." Her Grand Mother reached out and brushed back her hair.

"It is good to see you too Grand Mother."

Suddenly the visage of her Grand Mother grew serious. "Stay with me," she commanded.

"Grand Mother?" Lily grew concerned.

"Stay with me, don't go back, the wizard's war does not have to be your war." Grand Mother's eyes had gone slightly frantic.

"What do you mean? Of course it is my war. I'm a muggleborn witch and the death eaters kill muggleborns. This is my war as much as anyone else." Lily said as she took a step back from her Grand Mother.

"But you're not muggleborn are yah. No you've got enough fox blood in yah that you're not muggleborn at all." Grand Mother said before grabbing Lily by the shoulders "Let me take you away, let me take you home. I've kept it in good condition, the family hold. I could take it all away from you, you wouldn't even miss the part of you that's human. It could be just the two of us forever, no worries."

Lily began to cry, it hurt, "I can't," She said backing away further. "I'm..."

Grand Mother took a great big sniff of Lily's hair before she suddenly stopped eyes growing wide, "You're in love," She took another sniff, "Not the dog thank goodness, I always tell you, dogs love to chase us foxes but it never ends well for the fox," She took another whiff, "Not the wolf either, he would have been a good choice but that means the deer, oh Lily child what have I said about playing with prey. You have him now but you'll chase him off for sure."

Lily pulled free of Siusan, "James isn't like that! You know that! You told me you liked James!"

Siusan's face became almost hate filled, "He's a thief! He's a bloody rotten thief stealing you away from me!" Siusan's face grew melancholy, "Remember… remember how you used to always brush my fur and ask when you would have fur like mine, how we went on treks through forests and chased after rabbits. Remember how you told me that you wanted to be a child forever. You can be that child Lily, you can be my child. Let me protect you."

Lily took a step back slowly shaking her head. Her friends needed her, James needed her and she needed James. She couldn't see anymore she turned and ran, and she ran and ran until she was asleep in her bed.

Siusan's desperate pleadings for her to stay, to not leave her all alone haunted Lily's dreams, she wondered if she made the right choice. That night would continue to haunt her dreams until the night she found out she was pregnant. Every once in a while she would catch a glimpse of a red fox but it was always gone when she went to look for it. It hurt, but after the war was over she could find her Grand Mother again. They could talk after the war.

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So yeah this is the falling out between them, thoughts, adjustments. Open to ideas.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

I have back-to-back finals first thing in the morning, and what do I stay up until 11PM doing? I'll give you a hint: it wasn't studying.

I'm an idiot.

Anyway, something a little more light-hearted and brief before I tuck in for the night. Wish me luck... because I'm gonna need it.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey… don't you think my Flagship could be upset right now? Wondering where I am?"

"Honey, you've been naked and covered in grime since you emerged from your shell. That is no way for a princess to present herself." Holding her water hose in both hands, Sunny gave her newly-adopted niece a playful smile. "Now, this will only take a few seconds. Just do a little spin once the water starts, and we'll have all that stuff off you real quick. Okay?"

"…alright, fine. Just warn me before you sta–EEPCOLDCOLDCOLDWHYISITSOCOLD!?"

"YEAH, SKIN'S A LOT MORE SENSITIVE THAN CARAPACE…" Sunny called out over the roar of her hose. "REMEMBER TO SPIN!" The young Princess's agitated response was drowned out by the torrent of water hitting her; to her credit, though, she didn't tumble to the ground under the barrage.

Eventually, the hose was cut off. Walking forward, a very soggy and shivering Fluffy groaned as she tried to wring out her hair. "Alright, I'm clean… now what?"

Sunny shrugged. "Just summon your rigging. Your clothing should appear with it."

"Alright, if you say so…" Fluffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing. It took a moment, but with a flash of light, her Abyssal rigging eventually manifested around her. Almost immediately, she much of the biting cold fading from her body, something she was immensely thankful for.

She heard Sunny let out a low whistle. "Well, you clean up pretty nice..." Curious, she opened her eyes and looked down at herself.

Where her skin was once completely bare, she was now dressed in a collared shirt and matching micro-shorts, just the slightest shade of white lighter than her skin with black detailing. The Princess was thoughtful as she continued to inspect herself, examining her new pair of gloves. Something about this attire truly felt… natural. Fulfilling. Like she was always meant to wear it.

Holding out a leg, she was intrigued by the toeless leggings she now bore…

And then she noticed the freakish little thing next to her foot.

Both Abyssals' heads tilted in confusion as their minds registered the critter, which looked like the head of a Re-class's serpentine tail had been chopped off and grafted onto a small, pudgy body with stubby limbs. Letting out small growls and grunts, the creature began to sniff the ground around it, waddling back and forth; as it moved around, Sunny and Fluffy noted the gun barrels and torpedo tubes poking from just underneath its flight-deck crest. Finally, it came to a stop and plopped itself down on Fluffy's exposed toes with a little huff.

Fluffy was speechless, the utter bewilderment evident in her expression. Sunny, on the other hand, could barely hold in her giggling as she kneeled beside it. "Oh my GOD, that thing is adorable!" she squeaked.

"…this… is my rigging?" Fluffy eventually managed to ask. "It's a little… underwhelming."

"Oh, it's not that bad. It's cute. Like a little Abyssal bulldog…" Sunny leaned over and began to scratch behind the creature's crest, causing to roll over and making its limbs to spasm and wave. "The other girls won't believe this… oh, Mother is gonna love you," she cooed gleefully.

The young Princess's twintails visibly sagged in mild dismay. "…and here I thought I'd left behind the dog comparisons when I evolved…"

 

[darthcourt10]

Mushapi

Harry goes to Diagon Alley for the first time and Siusan is made aware of his return. She slinks behind at a distance and takes an unobtrusive location to observe him.

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Lily's Harry child. She found him. He was back. Siusan began to tear up. The boy child had been beyond her reach, lost to her. But he had returned to the isles. She did not ask why she had to find him and then… and then. She'd figure out what to do from there.

She followed the pull of his blood until she came across a familiar tavern. Of course! That made sense to her.

Siusan faltered in her approach to the tavern. What if… What if he didn't want her? What if he hated her? She hadn't been around for his childhood, She had been unable to approach Petunia's home in Little Whigning ever since Petunia had cast her out of the home, had rejected the blood they shared. And then he vanished, her connection to him growing faint with distance.

Would he still need her? She needed to observe. Yes that made sense. She would watch over him as best she could. He'd being going to Hogwarts right? When did the school year start again?

She slipped into Diagon Alley without notice. And then she saw him and froze. He was beautiful. Harry child had so much of Lily in him. She gasped softly upon seeing his eyes, it warmed her to see Brigid looking back at her once more. She reached out but she could not bring herself to go to him.

He did not know her. To him she would be just another young woman and he already seemed to be surrounded by those. The calls of sailors, the smell of saltwater, these were shipgirls. She sighed. He was safe. She watched him laugh at something one of the girls said. He seems

As she contemplated moving out from where she watched the group Harry vanished from her sight. Siusan curled into herself. She wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to approach him yet. But soon. She needed to figure out how to approach him. Yes, she needed to figure that out and then… and then her and Harry could be a family. She wondered if he would like to here stories about the Evans family. For now she headed back to her forest before she would head to Hogwarts. She was still afraid but hope, she felt hope.

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A short little bit to explore what Siusan did when Harry came back to Britain. I imagine if she was noticed the most that would be chalked up was that she was one of Harry's many fans. As for her knowing his name, Siusan has tried to find out about him, she is just not good at it so she has his name and not much else. So thoughts.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

An Egyptian Sunshipgirl in Queen Elizabeth II's London (Part II)

Amisi smiled happily as her Pharaoh finished translating the inscriptions on the plaques on the base of Thutmose III's Obelisk. Clearly she would need to burn incense to honor 'Erasmus Wilson' who had paid to have the monument transported from Egypt to be erected here to educate his countrymen and honor Thutmose! Equally as important, she would burn incense for his monarch Queen Victoria of the Secrets who not only had been granted by Thoth the knowledge of the most wonderful 'brasserie' but had also decreed that her royal lands along the river were a suitable site for the obelisk to be honored in the forty-second year of her reign.

Inside her hull her chief scribe gave the captain a thumbs-up as he finished drawing the obelisk on the enchanted papyrus scroll that served as her logbook, along with copying the inscriptions for her to remember. "{Thank you for showing me this. what else did you wish to do, my Pharaoh?}"

Percy rubbed the back of his head. "Well we need to get you clothes for the winter at Hogwarts." He blushed slightly in memory of her normal near-transparent linen dresses. "Otherwise you will freeze; we get snow up there more often than not."

"{As you wish, my Pharaoh.}" Amisi responded, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently as she smiled happily. "{Lead on to the Merchant's Quarter.}"

She blinked in puzzlement as he escorted her to a chariot of metal and glass that awaited his command. Then as the sudden movement jerked her into the padded bench that she shared with her Pharaoh, she squeaked and clung to him in fright. S-so fast! The cab driver gave a chuckle as he accelerated past slower cars, ignoring the irate honking as he cut off a Mini Cooper. "Don't worry missus, I'll get you to Harrod's faster than you can say Jumpin' Jehosaphat!"

Amisi whimpered and burrowed closer to Percy.

A half-hour later, the cab pulled up to the entrance to Harods, and a pale-faced Amisi exited the cab on shaking legs as Percy paid the fee, mumbling under her breath. "{Get back! Retreat! Get back, you dangerous one! Do not come against me, do not live by my magic; may I not have to tell this name of yours to the Great God who sent you; 'Messenger' is the name of one, and Bedty is the name of the other...}" She paused in her invocation for protection and then stared in surprise, looking from the glass windows showing dresses of fine silk in many colors up... and up... and up... the massive stone building built in 1905.
Spoiler: Harrod's

"{By Ra's Eye!}" Amisi whispered, scarcely noticing Percy's arrival next to her.

"According to Supprin and Ooyodo both this is the best store in London to shop for what you need, Amisi."

Amisi blinked and refocused on her Pharaoh as she heard the names of the prospective wives of her Pharaoh. While she was still shaken by the sights of London, she would not let it get to her. After all, what would her Pharaoh think if she acted like some village bumpkin with dung on her feet who gawked wide enough to catch flies with her mouth upon seeing Memphis or Thebes?

"{Then let us shop, my Pharaoh.}"

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Amisi giggled at the memory of the look on her Pharaoh's face as he finished paying the merchant for the Secrets of Queen Victoria that she had selected for her usage.

While she had restricted her purchases to painted 'cotton' from her home country of Egypt rather than any of the more exotic fabrics, his eyes had bulged like those of the frog-goddess Hequet when she asked him which he preferred for her to wear after using the provided rooms of changing. His command of judgement that the third one "looks great on you Amisi" was in a croak like those of a frog as well, which increased her mirth at the memory.

At his nod, she stowed the bag with the Secrets in her hold and then proceeded to the next merchant, who offered bathing supplies and perfumes. With a squeal of delight, she zeroed in on some bars of goat milk soap with cedarwood and vanilla and after a sniff to insure the quality of the offered product turned to her Pharoah. "{These ones, my Pharaoh! They are perfect!}" She then turned over a row to the displays of incense.

Percy nodded glumly, still with his face flushed from the impromptu fashion show that Amisi had just subjected him to in the lingerie department, and began to count the rapidly shrinking money that with his father and Ron's help had been budgeted for this nightmare. "After this we will take the escalator...ahh moving stairway up a floor to the ladies' clothing department." His tone suggested that the prisoner's appeal of his sentence had just been denied by the judge.

"{As you command, My Pharaoh.}" Amisi smiled happily and hugged him around the waist 'for safety' as they boarded the escalator. Her happy smile, combined with the natural cedarwood scent of her hair relaxed him as she examined the escalator curiously. "{This is a strange spell indeed.}"

"It is Muggle engineering, like those of the automobile that we rode in to get here. My father could explain it better."

"{Ahh, so I see. I should---}" Amisi broke off suddenly at the sight ahead and stared slack-jawed as Percy facepalmed.
Spoiler: Clothing Department of Harrod's


For the life of her, Amisi did not know whether to laugh her stern off, or cry at all the details that were just wrong in the picture presented before her.

A.N. Yes, that is the clothing department at Harrod's. Blame the Egyptian billionaire who bought and remodeled it. Also Amisi was quoting an actual spell of protection from The Book of the Dead (hurriedly repurposed from protection against crocodiles to protection against London taxi drivers

).