Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

There are Two Kinds of Fools (Part X)...

Castle Moulbaix, Belgium

After a moment, Colombe swallowed and hugged Tonunotakai close to her. She whispered hoarsely, "thank you To-chan."

Toku smiled back and returned the hug, "You are welcome, Co-chan."

Colombe gave a weak smile. "We should not be found here. This place...."

Tokunotakai nodded as she placed her hand on Colombe's shoulder and squeezed gently. "It needs to be cleansed and purified, yes. The worst is over in here, but I would not wish anyone unprepared to enter."

Colombe nodded as she released Toku reluctantly. "Agreed. I'll seal Hippolyte's study back up. It will take some time to process this all."

Tokunotakai made a sound of agreement as they stood. "Hauntings normally do, yes. Especially a bad one such as what you experienced."

Colombe looked curiously at Toku as she locked the door and reactivated some of the wards. "You have experience with this sort of thing before?"

Toku nodded, "Hai. As a miko, I have been called on to intercede with the spirits often. Both those benevolent to ask for assistance from the kami, and at times to deal with the darker sort. Grudges that fester, possession by kitsune fox-spirits, those evildoers who cling to existence on this plane. I must confess that I wished that I had brought along some of my tools for such matters. It would have made matters in there significantly easier."

Colombe turned and looked at Tokunotakai, seeing the minute slump of the Masamune's shoulders. "After the tour, let's get cleaned up and then take a nap. This has been one hell of a morning."

"Agreed. So, what is next?" Toku asked curiously.

"Well this hall leads around the matching image of the rooms in the East wing. All these are closed up, though, since the family has...shrunk." Colombe's voice was quiet and sad as she walked down the hall.
Spoiler: Memories of Moulbaix

(incidentally, in a few decades, that exact piece will be played almost exactly that way by the du Chasteler-Potter family with Tony, Therese, and Amélie on Violin, Henriette and Giuseppe on Viola, Franz on Cello, Ludwig on Double Bass, Yoko on Koto (instead of the lute here), and Birthday Girl Johanna on her harpsichord body conducting)

Colombe stopped and rested her fingertips on a chipped hardwood door. "This was the nursery once. I.... My first memories of home are here." She bowed her head and rested her forehead against the wood as she whispered quietly.

Toku embraced Colombe from behind around the waist as she spoke equally quietly. "And one day it can be our daughter's first memories of her home. Norimune's... ahh..." The Masamune blushed pink, "exploits proved that we shall have a child of our own some day. Once we are ready."

Colombe hesitantly placed her hands over Tokunotakai's where they cradled her belly and gently squeezed them. "Oui, once we are ready."

After long moments, Colombe stirred. "There is very little to see here, or perhaps more accurately, it could take me a week to go through everything, and I would still have much to say. When Hippolyte... died... in 1899 the castle was placed in receivership since he died heirless, and I purchased the estate outright in 1900, although that nearly beggared me. Many of the furnishings were placed into storage during that time and I did not get around to moving back into the castle until 1919. I would have to search for some of the items I know are stored either here or in the attics that dominate the third and top floor."

Toku blinked as she parsed the sentence. "So, what did you do in the interim? I knew about a mess in Sarajevo in 1914...?"

Colombe shrugged as she led the way to a spiral staircase in the northwest tower. "I, incorrectly as it turned out, thought that Kasuyu had corrupted Hippolyte when I found Hippolyte's diaries in a search of his room. He had dealings with a fellow Dark Magician in the Congo, and Kasuyu was the enslaved go-between in a sense. So I elected to track down Kasuyu and finally ran Kasuyu's old master to ground in the Congo in 1902."

Colombe barked a laugh as they descended. "I was persona non grata in Belgium between my actions in the Congo in 1895 and then skewering my bâtard of a grandnephew. Who, true, was one of that whoreson King Leopold II's Councilors, not that I would ever swear allegiance to a man responsible for the Congo! Loyalty runs both ways." She shook her head and opened the door at the foot of the stairs. "So I decided to get too clever for my own good, sailed to South Africa from London and was going to enter the Congo from the south which turned into a mess and a half. I have my souvenirs from my trek from the Cape to the Equator in the billiard room we shall visit anon."

Colombe pointed at ornately carved wooden doors as they walked past them. "This is our private Catholic family chapel that Hippolyte closed down when the priest 'died of a fever' in 1870. I suspect that Father Pierre may have seen something and been silenced while I was fighting the Prussians."

Toku nodded, "So you are Catholic then?"

"I was baptized Catholic in the village chapel of Ath, four kilometers away along the road from Brussels to Lille. I...fear that I am not a good one. I tried, but I have the feeling that my path perhaps lies in a different direction?" Colombe spoke contemplatively.

Toku smiled and responded in a supportive voice, "I can relate. I am Shinto as you know, but my dear sister Fudo is Nichiren Buddhist. We have had many discussions about paths to enlightenment and truth. One thing that I have learned from them is there are many right paths, and some seekers are suited for different paths than other seekers."

Colombe opened the door at the end of the passage to reveal a dimly lit huge room. "A moment of your time please? Wait here until I call you?" She smirked, grinning smugly.
Spoiler: Colombe's Castle

Toku nodded and watched Colombe walk across the shadowed floor with the ease of someone who knew her home by heart and stop at the grand staircase with one foot on the bottom step. Muramasa steel gleamed with its own light as Colombe drew herself and raised her sword high. "Splendeur de ma jeunesse!"

A wave of magical energy flashed from her steel and hundreds of illusionary candles sprang to life around Colombe as she beckoned Toku to join her. Her clothing wavered and seemed to shift to knee-high black leather boots, buff breeches, and a ruffled white silk shirt under a crimson doublet. A pair of black dueling gloves were jammed in her swordbelt and her free hand held a floppy gray hat with an ostrich plume.

Enthralled, the Masamune walked across the black and white checkerboard of the floor, seeing images of lords and ladies out of the corner of her eyes. Ermine, cloth of gold, ballroom gowns in every color of the rainbow, silk, lace, and satin surrounded her in a ever-changing scene with each step she took.
Spoiler: The Entrance Hall

Suddenly Toku teared up as she saw a group of giggling young children chasing a shaggy dog weave through the ghosts of the past. The golden hair of the skinny girl dressed in boy's clothes and with a smudge of dirt on her cheek leading her brother and sister in mischief was instantly recognizable...

Toku took a step forward and the scene shifted. A teenage Colombe dressed in a sky-blue silk uniform was stifling tears as she entered. A young lady recognizable as Marie-Claire du Chasteler rushed to her side across the floor and hugged her; speaking comforting words as she patted her big sister's shoulder reassuringly...

A step and a Colombe visibly about 20 years old dressed in a jet black 18th Century dress wept uncontrollably as a group of pallbearers led by two priests carried a coffin from the chapel past her and her visibly older brothers and sister. Toku was close enough to the devastated young woman's face to read her lips. "I'm sorry Papa. I'll find my Father..."

Another step and a Colombe that looked slightly older entered. She was clad in mud-spattered rough peasant clothes, visibly injured, and exhausted as she carried a young boy with hair of du Chasteler gold protectively in her arms. An elderly man dressed in a scarlet dressing gown moved to support her as a nursemaid took the terrified child. Colombe shook her head and then wept on his shoulder as his own eyes teared up...

Another step and a group of Napoleonic-era officers in the cream white and scarlet sashes of the Austrian army surrounded her. One of them, with hair of du Chasteler gold turning to silver on his temples, sketched a salute to a smugly grinning Colombe who took his hand with the arm that was not in a bloodstained sling as they watched a bloodstained and shot-torn French battle flag get carried past them in triumph...

Another step and a Colombe, dressed in a man's traveling clothes and suntanned from her travels, hugged a short young woman with hair of du Chasteler gold and a visibly swollen belly visible through her loose dress alongside a man in wizard's robes with messy black hair. Suddenly the three ghosts broke down in laughter at the appearance of a young child with messy du Chasteler hair of gold and jam all over his face...

Another step and another Colombe. This one Toku knew, for this was the Colombe that she had first seen in 1864. Still visibly battered from her fight with Hachiman, she slumped in agonized defeat in front of the portrait at the head of the grand staircase. A short plump man in a frock coat and bowtie entered and gave her a piercing stare before walking to pat her back and speak to her encouragingly. Toku gasped as she recognized a younger Hippolyte...

Another step and a weakened Colombe leaning heavily on a cane spoke to Hippolyte as a group of workmen carried a disassembled piano into the castle past Toku...

Another step and the entrance doors boomed open. The Colombe that staggered inside was exhausted, rail-thin, and looked more dead then alive. But the blazing mad fury in her eyes gave her energy that crackled from her and put the lie to any concept of weakness as she drew her rapier and headed for the study where her treacherous nephew awaited...

Another step and a Colombe with haunted eyes dressed in the uniform of a First World War British soldier fell to her hands and knees in the middle of the empty hall after entering and cried in heaving sobs that shook her whole body...

Another step and a Colombe, dressed in the uniform of an American soldier from the Second World War entered with her sword drawn alongside a Delilah de Breuil with her revolver and wand out. Suddenly Colombe gave a happy relieved smile as Kasuyu appeared with his axe in his hand and ran to hug him...

Another step and this Colombe smirked as she stood next to the staircase below a floating "Happy Birthday!" banner speaking to Jacklyn and Delilah while a red-haired girl with green eyes chatted with an elderly witch. Claire played piano as Colombe's guests serenaded her, and everyone turned as Kasuyu entered with a tray of filled brandy snifters and a large cake shaped like a dumpster fire with 300 in icing on it...

A final step and the last Colombe entered the candlelit hall as a storm raged outside. Ehren descended the staircase with a candelabra raised high, then set it down to walk to her mother to welcome her home with a crushing hug....

The visions faded, leaving just the candles illuminating them as Colombe sheathed her sword and gave a courtly bow that Toku returned.

"Welcome to Castle Moulbaix, To-chan. Welcome to my home."

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

"And here are the kitchens, To-chan." Colombe turned to Toku and pushed the door open. The room beyond was a mix of old and new, with massive stone ovens and a dumbwaiter in one corner with a tray full of empty espresso glasses next to it. Right next to them was a modern refrigerator and microwave.

Tokunotakai nodded and looked curiously at the stainless steel computer controlled espresso machine with a taped sign 'Ehren's Kaffeeausgeburt' on the side.

Colombe smiled helplessly "Claire's doing there. I'll make us something to eat and we can eat here then take the stairs up to my room, To-chan. I trust you don't mind sharing a bed with me?" The rapier's breath caught on the last question.

Toku shook her head and responded gently, "Not at all Co-chan. As long as you wish for me to stay. A room near yours to meditate in and keep some clothes and other possessions would not be amiss though."

Colombe pulled out a loaf of French Bread and began to slice it. "Agreed, I'll get on that along with Kasuyu later. I don't lack for space. I was thinking...I can keep those poor Yokai we rescued here until they get their bearings and we can decide what to do with them. Aunt Chisuheri knows people in the JNHRO and I also need to talk to Delilah about them."
Spoiler: A Conversation Over Lunch

"Hai, hai. I would still wish to speak to the Jorogumo first." Toku gave a beaten-copper bracelet on the counter next to the dumbwaiter a look as Colombe fixed two sandwiches. "Where did the bracelet come from?" She idly rubbed it with a finger as she did so.

Colombe glanced over. "Oh, that's from the 1890s. Hippolyte got it from the Congo... well according to Kasuyu when I asked, it's from a nation south of his in the Congo basin. Maybe up near Kukuanaland. He wasn't sure and I never looked deeply into it with all the other crises demanding my attention back then."

The rapier shrugged and spoke thoughtfully. "Put the glasses in the dishwasher please? I normally have it on display in the Billiard Room down the hall from here along with my African hunting trophies like those elephant tusks you were impressed by. Hippolyte mentioned in his diaries that it was enchanted and at one point manifested a spirit like us, but he figured out how to drain it of energies and put whatever animated it into a coma."

Toku turned white as a sheet and spoke in a shocked voice, "That's horrible!"

"That was Hippolyte." Colombe spoke with considerable venom as she placed a sandwich on the counter for Toku, "Anyway, I used it as a directional scrying focus to track down Kasuyu back in 1902, then had it, Kasuyu, and myself shipped out of the Congo thanks to Reverend Shephard. I wouldn't leave a dead rat in the hands of those cannibals that Kasuyu was stuck with. Found it again after World War II as part of the general housecleaning Kasuyu and I did... maybe in '53? Whatever. Cleaned it up, put the usual maintenance charms on it and put it over by my Zulu knobkerries down in the Billiard Room. Under the lion head from that brute that went for me and Karl Potter in 1905 in North Africa now that I think about it."

Colombe smugged a bit as she took a bite of her roast beef sandwich. "Biggest mistake that lion ever made. Blew him off Karl with a spell then used a combat spell Circe taught me. Arrow of Artemis in fact, which is fitting since she was the Greek god of hunters. Dropped him in his tracks, and splinted up Karl's leg that he broke from where the horse threw him."

Toku listened with interest. "So how did you get the trophy out?"

Colombe shrugged, "Karl was no fool and was damn good at making Portkeys. He enchanted one for our campsite while I put my lion under a stasis spell -- never leave home on a hunting trip without one! -- then I used his Portkey to bring it and me to the German Potters' home, and dropped it off with Johann... their servant and Hunt Master Johann Potter. Good fellow, I wonder what came of him? He shipped it to Moulbaix after he mounted it while I Portkeyed back to Karl."

"Clever." Toku glanced at the bracelet as she said those words, then returned to her sandwich.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

There are Two Kinds of Fools (Part XI)...

Castle Moulbaix, Belgium

Colombe finished loading the dishwasher with their plates and the accumulated glassware that the dumbwaiter had stuffed in it.

"I'll put that bracelet back where it belongs. You get used to this kind of thing with children in the house." Colombe shrugged.

Toku shook her head, "We can do that later. For now, we better check on that Jorogumo."

"Point." With that Colombe walked over to a series of brass pipes extending from the roof and bent over the open bell nozzle of one.

"Bonjour, are matters under control up there?" She spoke loudly and distinctly into the tube and waved Toku over.

Ehren's voice sounded from the tube. "Mother! Yes they are. How is your houseguest doing?"

Colombe smirked, "She is doing fine. I'm in the kitchen now, if you need a tray sent up." A fractional pause as Colombe tensed, "I know that you like Bison meat like you shot on your first hunt on Del's game ranch, so should I cook some for the guests?"

Ehren laughed, "Nein, Mutti. There is no need to prepare Antilopenfleisch. Our guests have calmed down somewhat and are quite full of good Schweinswürste. Just bring yourself and our other guest."

"Oui, I shall see you soon then, Ehren. Audieu." Colombe visibly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Auf Wiedersehn."

She turned to Toku as they headed to a small servant's stairway. "If and when you get invited to Del's ranch, don't mess with the bison there. I don't know what's up with them, or with Ehren out there for that matter, but it is worth your life to hurt those overgrown oxen. If Del doesn't get you for hurting them, Ehren will."

Toku nodded. "So when you mentioned hunting Bison?"

"If someone was faking Ehren's voice, or had her under a spell there's no way in Hell that they could know that during Ehren's first hunt last October she stalked and shot a Pronghorn Antelope." Colombe's voice was full of pride as she climbed the stairs. "Big one too, like top thirty for that state."

"Our eight-legged friends won't have broken into Del's ranch to know about that detail. I have been on military bases that were less secure than her game ranch. I don't even know where the ranch is on a map and I'm certain that is deliberate because Del." Colombe continued as she opened the door at the top of the stairs. "My baby sister plays her cards so close to her chest that she can use them as a bra."

Toku listened with a fascinated look, "So how do you get there?"

Colombe shrugged as she reached her study door, "One time use Portkeys hand delivered to Ehren by Zamarad. As I said, that's Del for you. I'm frankly still shocked that she invited Claire and I along for Ehren's first hunt." Colombe paused, clearly thinking things over, then quietly spoke half to herself, "I'm glad that she did. For Ehren's sake."

Toku raised a mental eyebrow at the implications of that statement as the door opened.

"Mother!" Claire dashed over to hug Colombe and got a hair ruffle in turn.

"It's good to see you too, Claire. Give Mommy a kiss before you get out of your PJs and get dressed?" Colombe had a happy smile on her face.

The piano spirit enthusiastically complied and then hugged Toku briefly. "I'm Claire. It's nice to meet you!" With that she dashed down the hall.

Toku looked at the scene inside. Miho, the injured Jorogumo, was resting her spider body on the bench and was considerably more alert now. The younger and more human jorogumo child and the tanuki child were sitting together in the desk chair playing some kind of colorful educational game on the computer. Ehren meanwhile was leaning against a bookcase with some glimmering enchantments over the shelves next to the matching voice tube while Kasuyu packed up his medical supplies into a clearly space-expanded satchel.

Colombe grinned smugly. "Good work, Ehren, Kasuyu. You have Veritaserum and the antidote in there, right?"

The axe nodded. "Yes Mistress."

"Good, leave them with me, please. Toku and I ate and both of us are running on Japan time here, so go ahead and get freshened up, Kasuyu. I need to have a talk with our unexpected houseguests, so come back here once you are set and we can discuss what to do. Two glasses. I took care of the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen."

The axe pulled out a pair of potion bottles and placed them on the desk, followed by a summoned bottle of water and a pair of glasses.
Spoiler: Miho's Story

"Ehren..." Colombe looked at her younger daughter. "Unless you have something else to do, go ahead and stay. I want your input here."

"Jawohl, Mother." Ehren snapped to parade rest, an effect ruined with her South Dakota T-shirt, sweatpants, and tennis shoes.

Colombe walked over to the glasses and filled them both with water. "Miho. Let me explain what I am doing and why I am doing it. Masamune-no-Tokunotakai," the Jorogumo's eyes widened in shock and she shot a look at Toku who bowed from her position near the door, "has informed me of some of the folk stories about your kind of Yokai."

The Jorogumo spoke softly with desperate pleading, "Not my sister Misaki, she is just a child..."

Colombe raised a hand to cut the spider off. "However, what we have seen of you has put those tales at... some variance with our observations. To that end, I must find out the truth. I will not and cannot allow a dangerous magical predator of humans to threaten my family and those muggles nearby."

The rapier uncorked the Veritaserum and carefully tapped three drops into each cup of water. "This is a truth serum. Until I take the antidote for it in the other bottle I will be unable to tell a lie. Now, you tell me which one of the two glasses of the serum I should drink?"

The Jorogumo was puzzled as she pointed with a bandaged foreleg. "Left."

Colombe took the glass and drank it dry. "I shall now demonstrate. My name is Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler. My name is Tok-k-k-kun---ohh---" She trembled and sweat covered her brow. "Merde, can't do it. That said, my previous statement about my motivation for this test being to protect my family and those under my family's historical rule is true. If you are not a threat to those under my protection, I am not a threat to you and yours, Miho. In this matter I speak for Ehren, Claire, Kasuyu... and Tokunotakai."

Toku nodded, "She speaks for me." Ehren nodded her assent in turn, her face cool and her steel-blue eyes intent on Colombe.

The Jorogumo looked shocked. "You wish me to drink the other glass and tell you of myself?"

Colombe shrugged and handed it over, "Functionally, yes. Before I start the questions, I need you to attempt to tell me a lie that I know is a lie, such as your sister's name after you repeat your real name. That way I know that the serum works on Jorogumo"

The Jorogumo drank the glass dry and handed it back. "Watakushi no namae wa Fujii Miho desu."

Colombe nodded and filled both glasses up with water again. "Now for a lie. What is your name?"

"Watakushi no namae wa Fujii Mis--ssa---aaH" Miho trembled as Colombe's eyes bored into hers. "Enough, I am satisfied. Now for my questions."

"Have you ever killed or eaten a human or another sentient Yokai?"

"Never!!" Miho said hotly. "You must believe me!" Behind her Toku's eyes widened.

"I do believe you. To elaborate, you said earlier that you can eat normal human food, and while you prefer meat, this meat can come from nonsentient sources such as sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and other animals that a human would eat. That is correct?"

Miho nodded, "Yes it is. Such was what my mother and my mother's mother ate once we were locked away in the Reserve."

Colombe nodded thoughtfully. "You do not have an inborn need or desire to kill humans or other sentients? I'm unfamiliar with spider mating rituals, but for some of them the male does not survive...."

Miho blushed scarlet, "I... I have never mated, but from what my mother told me as a spiderling, we do not have to harm our mates... too much. We must ingest a small amount of blood during the mating cycle to prepare our eggs for fertilization, and before the Reserves we would inject our mate with a venom which is lethal over time thanks to its aphrodisiac effects. But we have learned not to do that. Those that could not learn," her eyes teared up, "the human onmyōji hunted and destroyed them alongside their allies, and those in the Reserve who preyed on other Yokai..."

Miho trailed off and hugged her human torso with her human arms as Toku's hand covered her mouth in horror. Ehren clutched her dagger hilt hard enough for her knuckles to turn white as her lips thinned. Colombe sighed and pinched her nose. "I see. And for what little it is worth now, you have my sincere sympathies. Two more questions. Are the statements that you have given me true to the best of your knowledge for your sister Misaki and... I don't know the name of the tanuki?"

"She is Misaki's best friend Arakaki Chihiro. And they are both innocent of the crimes that you have questioned me about."

Colombe nodded. "Good. One final question. You mentioned the Reserve and those Aurors were questioning you about smuggling. Are you willing to give me truthful information about it so that I can... take necessary action."

Ehren interrupted harshly as her slender frame trembled and her steel blue eyes flashed with a bottled rage, "We can take necessary action, Mother."

Miho nodded, "I am willing and Kannon bless you for your compassion, Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler."

Colombe nodded, "I heard some rumors that the conditions in the Reserves were bad and getting worse from... an aunt of mine. Is that true?"

Miho's shoulders slumped, "Hai. Life was harsh before, but now we must bear the unbearable. Food shipments are little and sometimes late, medicine is lacking and disease stalks us. Chihiro's parents succumbed to what that drunk of a Healer said was cholera three months ago and we took her in. Then...." She trailed off and looked at the children. "Please do not make me speak of this in front of them."

Colombe nodded as Kasuyu opened the door. "Agreed. Kasuyu, our friends will be staying here. Please take the young ones and collect Claire and show them the castle. And once they are all worn out, fix them a big bowl of chocolate ice cream using the kind that I enjoy."

Colombe watched the axe tsukumogami collect the children and waited until the door closed, then she waved Toku and Ehren over.

"Here is what I am minded to do. I shall give you quarters here in the castle if you swear an oath under Veritaserum to not threaten myself, my family, and the humans around us. I can make arrangements for employment here as... well a maid or cook, or something, we can discuss your skills and talents and how they fit in later. Your wages would be room and board, clothing both for the job and for the outside world, education for you and your children, and a stipend over and above that to enable you to accumulate money for whatever you and your children wish in the way of luxuries. Toku mentioned that Jorogumo can conceal their true nature to walk among humans without appearing like you are now. That is correct?"

Miho nodded, "It is, although I would need to practice to perform it, it is... discouraged... by some of the guards."

Colombe looked like she had bitten into a rotten apple and found half a worm. "Charming. If you and your wards can disguise yourselves, you can travel off the castle property. I am minded to pull some strings and get the three of you false papers so your children can be enrolled in school. My main concern is less restrictions on you than avoiding a break of the Statute of Secrecy that would bring the ICW down on our heads. No doubt by now, my case file has been reopened by the Magical Diet."

Toku spoke gently, still white-faced, "I shall write my sisters and see what can be done."

Colombe nodded as she walked to her desk chair, sat down heavily, and ran her hair through her fingers. "Right, I'm braced for the worst now. What was the information that you didn't want the young ones to hear?"

Miho teared up and whispered, "I... mentioned that our venom has an aphrodisiac effect. We also have the power to... nudge others to relax around us. Not control of a mind, but..."

Ehren spoke thoughtfully, "That explains the singing once you got inebriated on the espresso that I had fixed for myself. Caffeine, especially coffees, apparently makes arachnids drunk and it carries over to jorogumo."

"Hai. But it can also increase lust. Before the reserves, that is how we would get mates..." Miho closed her eyes, "and hunt men. An alchemist before the Pacific War, may he be damned to the Yama King's Lowest Hell, developed a potion to duplicate that. Which requires our venom and also... our newly fertilized eggs."

Colombe winced, "Let me guess, this is popular in some circles?" Toku's hilt creaked as the Masamune grasped it with a horrified look in her eyes.

"Hai. Even without that, we are known as Whore Spiders and during the War we were used to... service troops. That is how my mother was conceived, by one of the hundreds of soldiers who used my grandmother as a comfort woman. Some of the Reserve guards... still view us as such."

"Schweinehund!!" Ehren's hiss was venomous and her eyes blazed.

Colombe shook her head, "I can't disagree, Ehren. With having more experience with bastards in position of power than I ever wanted to accumulate, it wouldn't surprise me if your mother had to do what was needed to protect you and your family. Even if it meant buying protection and food for her family in the only coin that she had. I saw that happen," Colombe looked at the visibly incandescently furious Ehren, "during the War. I salute your mother for her sacrifice."

Toku turned green and trembled as she wept.

Miho wept. "It did not save her. Auror Okada, the one the Masamune killed, frequented the company of our kind. And he was... abusive to us. Mother died shortly after he summoned her to his quarters a week ago. She... went in my place. Her last words were to promise me to take care of Misaki-chan. When I heard that he might be interested in her... I decided that death in the woods was preferable for us to...."

"Say no more, and I am sorry that I had to ask you about this. Know that if you need to speak to us about that in the future or... other matters... you will have a sympathetic ear. I only wish that I could have done more for you and yours. Know that if you wish a place with us under the conditions I outlined, you will have my patronage, and my protection on my honor and my family's honor, Miho Fujii."

"Our protection, Fujii-san" Toku whispered with tears of shame in her eyes.

The Jorogumo girl nodded, "I shall take your kind offer and promise to not harm any humans or other sentients save in defense of my family."

Colombe poured the antidote into the glasses and handed one to the Jorogumo. "And I swear to protect you and yours and be the best employer that I can be for you. Kampai."

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

A.N. Thank Spectral Waltz for this next bit.
Spoiler: Two Kinds of Fools

Colombe stepped out of the bathroom, hair still damp from the shower. She'd sat under the spray, thoughts swirling as she tried to make sense of the utter chaos of the last... A glance at the clock on the wall told her that it had been all of four hours since they'd fought the Aurors in Aokihagara and for a moment she was stunned by how exhausted she felt. Only four hours? Was that really all the time that had passed? Had they remained in Japan it would still be sometime in the late afternoon and she was obscurely grateful for the fact that on this side of the globe it was the middle of the morning.

It somehow made it easier to justify the urge to just go straight to bed and sleep off this utter exhaustion.

Four hours it may have been, but it was four hours of pure emotion, The Aurors, the Jorogumo, the absolute madness Claire had inspired, the spiral that had been her final talk with Hippolyte, the talk with To-chan after what had happened with Hippolyte, the revelations of Miho...

"Co-chan?" Colombe blinked, they were still raw, the wounds he'd opened in her psyche, over and over again down the years. No amount of catharsis or relief would ever heal those, but time and peace would give her time for them to eventually become scars and- "Colombe."

Tokunotakai's hand was on her shoulder, steadying her, and Colombe couldn't help but marvel at how cleanly the simple contact pushed her away from another emotional spiral she hadn't even noticed. Four hours... She repeated it to herself again, she'd had a lot of bad days in her life, bad weeks, bad months, even bad years, but this felt like some of the worst of those had been condensed. Concentrated.

She chuckled weakly, her smile a little watery. "Thank you Toku-san... I just..." She shook her head helplessly, feeling a hysterical urge to laugh. "From such a wonderful beginning... This has been an absolutely terrible day." She did laugh, tears on her cheeks all over again, the entire roller coaster of emotions catching up with her all at once as she gave up on 'not laughing' and simply fought the urge to curl up into a ball on the floor. Her shoulders shook, sobbing, laughing, all the same at this point really, and time lost meaning again as she held onto that connection, that physical presence. Distantly she was aware that her partner was holding her just as tightly, and both of them were rambling, laughing, crying, venting out the raw highs and lows of what had happened.

There were no kisses exchanged, even as they tottered their way over to the bed, awkwardly moving so that they never left contact with each other as they wiggled their way between the sheets. Emotionally wrung out, this touch as they lay against each other, hearts settling into a uniform rhythm, breaths slowing as they wrapped themselves in each other, took solace in the sharing of pain, in the mutual need for support.

Before they knew it, they were asleep.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

There are Two Kinds of Fools (Epilogues)...

Aokigahara Forest

"...and then she came out of the bushes there and knocked me into the stream with a Blasting Curse. When I came to and alerted the other guards, she was gone along with the breeding jorogumo that had escaped and we were trying to subdue."

The lead Auror pinched his nose as he looked at the mess on hand.

A fucking jorogumo mother on the loose....

His subordinate came over. 'The stains there test positive for jorogumo blood. It all checks out."

"And you are certain that you confirmed the identity of the tsukumogami?"

"Blond hair, straight European sword according to the statements from the survivor and the one she didn't cut in half according to our nekomata. The magical residue on the rope match the spell fingerprint patterns that ICW has in her file. We have eyewitness reports that she was involved in that mess with the Muramasa's car in Tokyo last October. It's her and she's on the loose in Japan."

"Fuck. We need to stop Colombe or whatever she is calling herself right now before she does whatever she intends to with that jorogumo. Put out the alert."

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

Tokugawa Memorial Foundation Offices, Uehara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Masamune-no-Honjo walked into her office with a small serene smile on her face. Her monthly spar with Kotegiri was one of the high points of her schedule after all. Kotegiri and she had arrangements dating back centuries for certain remotely located and heavily but discreetly warded pieces of property to be available for when they wished to truly exert themselves. Of course, she would need to use a different one next month while the trees in that mountain valley grew back thanks to Kote's spellwork.

With that she took a seat and began to sort through the pile of paperwork and mail on her desk that had bred like hare yokai in her absence from Tokyo.

Bill, bill, coupon for Fuji Apple pies, speaking invitation at Tokyo U's History Department, dinner invitation from Fudo, junk mail to slip into Juuchi's mailbox, bill...

Her thoughts froze at the sight of an ICW notification about a dangerous French criminal on the loose in Japan. A smugly smirking dangerous criminal that she had met at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū last year. A dangerous and now wanted criminal who her little sister Toku-chan was going on musha shugyō with.

A rhythmic thump echoed through the office as the greatest blade of the greatest swordsmith of Japan beat her avatar's head against her desk

"BUTTERKNIVES!!"

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

Taura Plum Blossom Park, Yokusuka

Chisuheri watched the plum blossoms sway in the breeze off Tokyo Bay. A footstep sounded behind her, and she turned, seeing a very familiar avatar.

The Bloodlust Blade bowed to the Honjo Masamune, and got a matching bow in return.

Honjo spoke contemplatively, "It has been long since we have met under the mountain plum blossoms."

"Fourth Kawanakajima." Chisuheri spoke quietly. "I remember hot carmine staining the fallen blossoms when Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin dueled and their men fell faster around them than the blossoms did as the wind blew from the rivers." Her eyes were distant as she did not see the modern city around her, but one of the bloodiest and most famous battles of the Sengoku Jidai.

Honjo nodded, "A great and a terrible day. I am now pleased that you and your wielder survived my attacks during it, and I am even more pleased that you have continued to prosper to this day."

Chisuheri looked over at Honjo and mused. "We are not now what we were then. Life is change and each change brings us closer to release from the wheel of rebirth."

Honjo nodded in agreement on the point and then her eyes sharpened as a third tsukumogami's avatar appeared along the path. Delilah de Breuil walked past a muscular girl and slender boy with glasses sharing a picnic lunch to join them.

"Thank you for coming." Delilah said, absently adjusting the schoolgirl uniform that she was wearing.

Chisuheri raised an eyebrow. "Why the seifuku, Niece? You are a little old for high school."

Delilah flashed a brief smug smirk. "Camouflage in a word. TPD still wants to know who was discharging a firearm in city limits at that hit squad and Aunt Akutoku is still sore about what I did to her."

"Ah." Chisuheri nodded with an expression of enlightenment.

"What did you do to her?" Honjo asked curiously.

Delilah grinned, "I shot her cell phone out of her hand, ordered Colombe to throw a spell that gave her a reverse mohawk haircut, ordered Jackie to steal her car, blew the back window out of her car, drove it over some spike strips that blew all four tires, had it get shot up, and finally dumped it in the bottom of a canal."

Honjo shot Chisuheri a disbelieving look, only to see the Buddhist biting her lip to stifle an attack of the giggles as she nodded along. "You did not mention the Hello Kitty bicycle, Niece."

Delilah shrugged, "Or Dad punching her lights out because she thought Akutoku was behind the wheel instead of Jackie when we nearly hit her. Regardless, I'm not Aunt Akutoku's favorite person and that probably won't change anytime soon."

Honjo gave a small smile. "Tell me you have photographs of this."

Chisuheri shook her head. "Kago does and I'm pretty sure Norimune got a copy of them. I don't, despite nigh-overwhelming temptation at the time."

"I'll have to talk to Aunt Kago or Dad then. Probably arrange a swap of some of my material on Sis and Jackie. Which brings me to the reason I asked you two to come here." Delilah reached into her Hello Kitty purse and pulled out two folders with USB sticks taped to them. "Sis got herself into hot water... again. I swear I need to put a leash on her, maybe with a muzzle and shock collar."

She handed the documents over to Chisuheri and Honjo, who made them vanish into their purses.

"Long story short, Sis and her new girlfriend wound up in Aokigahara Forest and got into trouble with some goons from the Reserve there who were tormenting an escapee." Delilah's voice became ice cold and her eyes hardened, "Apparently conditions there are desperate and some of the guards are worse. Fortunately, Sis had an attack of brains and called me to debrief the escapees after she bailed out to Belgium with them and Tokunotakai."

"That's the good news, the bad news is that Sis is going to Do Something about what she dug up. Believe me, I know the signs, and it is a matter of time before she acts. I cannot blame her either, since I'm really pissed about what she found for my own personal reasons. I'm going to sit on her to ensure that she doesn't go off half-cocked, but you can take it to the bank that if this doesn't get handled discreetly, it will be handled in a really messy manner sooner rather than later."

Chisuheri nodded, "And the files?"

"Are my notes of the debrief on Miho Fujii along with the video footage of our chats. In exchange, I'd like any info either of you dig up about this. That way, if the worst happens we can hopefully sic Sis on the folks who deserve her wrath rather than more innocent bystanders." Delilah spoke in a firm voice.

"I'll do what I can, Niece. And thank you." Chisuheri promised.

Honjo nodded, "As shall I. Ah, I must ask a personal question. Tokunotakai?"

Delilah smiled, "Is fine. Physically at least. Mentally she is a bit shaken, just like you would expect a rookie soldier to be after her first battle. But as much as I want to throttle Sis sometimes, she's going to do her best to help Tokunotakai through this. Just to warn you, though. If this does get noisy, Tokunotakai will be right there alongside Sis making the noise. She's got a very good poker face, but she's almost as upset about what is going in in the Reserves as Ehren. Which is saying something."

Delilah fished in her purse and pulled out several sealed scrolls. "Here's her letters to you and the rest of her sisters."

Honjo put the scrolls in her purse and bowed her head precisely. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Unless you have anything for me while I am here, I'll need to get back to Moulbaix to run herd on my fool of a big sister after I pick up those items from her shrine that Toku wanted me to." Delilah looked at her wristwatch.

"Save to relay that I would like to meet your eldest sister one day for a long private chat, no, not at this time. I need to return to Tokyo and make some calls of my own." Honjo spoke.

Chisuheri nodded, "Same here. I'll send you what we dig up. Thank you again, Niece and I'll lean on Kago or Nori to send you those photos of Akutoku."

"Sayonara."

 

[darthcourt10]

Year Three - Prisoner of Shipping Part 3c

START

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

For several moments, Wanko looked down at the Re-Class in front of her whom was just staring at her. Said Abyssal was rather odd what with the modifications to her tail, but it took her only moments to realize who was in front of her and she tilted her head some, "You must be... Princess Porta's Emissary..."

Reivana looked a bit off put by that, though Wanko was not sure why before she bowed, "Yes, I am her Majesty's, Porta Quee-"

Suddenly, she stumbled back a bit as another Re-Class dropped from the ceiling and began to bounce around her, "Woozies! So you're an Atlantic Re-Class, huh? Huh?! Wait, you're an Emissary? Does that mean that your name is Emi? Because I totally know an Emi! And I don't think that you look like an Emi, but I am not too sure what foreign Emis look like? Oh! Look at your tail that is so cool! Sparkly and sparky! Hey! Hey! What about-"

Out of nowhere, a hand came down on Revina's head in a chop as Wanko gave her a look, "That is... quite enough... Revina."

Bouncing back, Revina giggled, "Okie Doki, Loki! Though not really Doki doki, because that is more Regina's thing when she is around Harry and oh looktheresheisrightnowwithHarrysoI'llgoovernow!"

With that, she began to hop over to where a third Re-Class was talking with a messy haired boy. For several seconds, all was quiet before Wanko turned to still stunned Reivana. Stab gave a look to his other half and back to Wanko, "Uh, what just happened?"

Just sighing, Wanko shook her head and said a single thing as if it explained everything that just happened, "Revina."

Oddly, for some reason, those there could not help but feel that it somehow explained everything even if they did not know how.

Instead, Reivana shook her head to get what just had happened out of her mind and watched as the black haired boy walked up with a smile. From where she stood, the Abyssal could feel the War Demon Flagship IFF coming from him, and when he went to hug Wanko, she caught sight of a black, twisting band of metal around one arm that she recognized as a form of transmitter, 'Huh... now that is rather interesting. Perhaps her Majesty would like to know of this...?'

Meanwhile, Harry gave a hug to Wanko who returned it gently, "Hello, Big Sister! And thanks for coming."

Wanko only shook her head and gave him a small, soft smile, "I do not mind... Little Brother." Glancing around, she frowned a bit, "Is Little Sister here yet?"

A frown on his face, Harry shook his head, "No, Hoppou is not here yet." Unknown to him, Reivana perked up a bit at this information as anything that she could tell Porta about another Princess would be important. Harry checked his watch and hummed a bit, "She should be here any minute though."

Simply nodding, the tall Abyssal smiled, "That is good... to know... Little Brother."

Eyebrows furrowing, Reivana glanced between the two of them as she tried to puzzle out exactly what was going on here. An Abyssal Princess referring to a human as her Little Brother with the human actually returning it? Meanwhile, the human is also referring to another Abyssal Princess as his Little Sister? This... this was far outside anything that she could have possibly expected.

However, before she could comment, there was a pop as another Portkey arrived.

That was something that Reivana ignored though as she felt something else sweep over her. A feeling of power that was extremely familiar to one such as her. It was... muffled though to the extent that it was only due to her having spent so much time around her own Princess that she recognized it. Slowly, she turned her eyes and looked at the two glowing red ones looking up at her own from the face of the Northern Ocean Princess, also known as Hoppou. That feeling...

Which was that of an Elder Princess.

It took everything that Reivana had not to panic and generally freak out. A glance at her companions told her that they noticed the same thing. Stab had frozen in place with barely a crackle of electricity. Meanwhile, Isley had also frozen and was looking down at Hoppou with a face that was paler than normal. Turning back, Reivana swallowed as those eyes met hers once more, with Hoppou's eyes narrowing. She knew, somehow, the little Princess knew what they had realized. That knowing look in her eyes said everything that was needed to that end.

Part of the Re-Class wanted to curl up at that moment because she, of all people, knew how powerful an Elder Princess was. Despite the size of the one before her, she could be torn apart both body, soul, and mind. If Hoppou wanted, she could smother her in her power, ripping away her mental freedom with full concentration, to make her betray her Princess, her Creator. Even now, she felt a swell of power from Hoppou, vast and deep.

Truly, an Abyss of pure might.

And then, as quickly as it seemed like it was about to crush her... it vanished. No... not vanished, just tightly wound back up and once more under control. Instead of crushing her like she had expected considering her Princess' sisters, Hoppou smiled up at her and nodded, "Hoppou is very happy to meet you!"

Swallowing, Reivana nodded with an unsure smile on her face as she realized, with some fear, that unless one was familiar with how an Elder Princess' power felt and was practically right next to the Northern Ocean Princess, they would not realize what was there. A fact that scared her to no end at the level of control that stated... But seeing the thoughtful look, she quickly answered Hoppou, "A-and I am pleased to meet you... too."

With some quick introductions, with Isley, Stab, and Reivana stuttering a bit, Hoppou only nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, the Re-Class could see the other Princess, Wanko, narrow her eyes some. But after a look from Northern Ocean, Wanko calmed down and simply gave the barest of nods. Giggling, Hoppou rushed over and jumped on Harry before quickly climbing up onto his back, "Gah! Hoppou!"

Just giggling, Hoppou brightly smiled up at him, "What is it, Big Brother? Hoppou just happy to see Big Brother after all!"

Only sighing with a bemused look on his face, Harry shook his head and patted her between her horns, "Okay, Hoppou. Now come on, let's go get some breakfast before the game!"

Throwing her mittened fist into the air, Hoppou let out a shout, "PO!"

Lightly laughing, the teenaged wizard gave her a piggy back out of sight with Regina and a Battleship, who Reivana recognized as Nagato, following as well as the Akizuki Class Destroyers. Alongside was the Re-Class, Revina with Wanko and Hagrid taking up the back. Letting out a breath that she did not realize she was holding, Reivana shuddered a bit before turning to Isley who looked a little shaken herself. The Forsaken Island Princess turned to her fellow Abyssal and swallowed a bit, "Was... was that..."

Slowly, Reivana nodded, "It... it was." Turning back in the direction that Hoppou had gone, she shook her head, "I... I thought that our Princess was the last..."

Clearing his throat, Stab then spoke up, "Uh, I hate to be a downer... but how are we supposed to tell the Princess this? I mean... she has another, er... sister? Little Sister?"

Upon Isley's face though, she had a frown, "Is she her little sister...?" Seeing the looks, she continued, "I... remember something. From years before the war, Mother... she was talking with Aunt Nordic about how they were still convincing other Princesses to fight. It was back in what the humans called the 1980s, and she mentioned a Princess up in the North Pacific who called herself Northern Ocean. Aunt Nordic, she had scoffed and stated that said Princess had not done much in decades. The way she spoke of her... Northern Ocean was old. But to see her look like a child..."

Eyes wide, the Re-Class turned in the direction that Hoppou had gone. For the Princess to have survived for decades in the cutthroat environment of the Abyssals. And to have been an Elder all that time and for no one to have realized it...?

Reivana felt a shiver of fear go down her keel.

It was then that Hermione walked up and frowned at seeing the somewhat shocked and frightened looks on Reivana's and Isley's faces. Eyebrow raised, she glanced at one and then the other, "Something wrong?"

Quickly, Reivana shook her head and waved her hands with an nervous chuckle, "Wrong? Hahahaha! Nothing is wrong at all! Why would you think that?"

Briefly, the witch narrowed her eyes some before shaking it off. Instead, Hermione shrugged and gave her a smile, "Well, that is good to hear. How about we go and get something to eat?" Seeing the two Abyssals as well as Stab glance at each other, she internally frowned, 'I wonder...?'

However, Reivana gave a small, unsure smile, "Um, sure? Let's go and get something to eat..."

It was to some amusement that the shipgirl witch noticed the Re-Class twitch a bit at the sight of Hoppou in Harry's lap and stealing his food. The thirteen year old attempting to fend him off, "Hoppou! Stop, that's my food!"

For her part, Hoppou quickly chomped down on one of the sausages there, "Nope! Is Hoppou's food now that it is in Hoppou's tummy! And Big Brother picks best food!"

Sitting down, Reivana and Stab shared a "Look" between the two of them, 'Was this really an Elder Princess...?' But they could still feel the dark power held within that small body from where they were which told them that they were correct despite her behavior going against everything that they knew about Elder Princesses. They did decide to keep a close eye on them though as long as they were there. Even though they were unsure how they would report this to Porta...

A short time later, they were heading to the stadium as Harry walked beside Regina with a smile, "So... excited, Regina? I mean, come Spring Break, I'll be taking you and Shinano-Chan out on a date to Hogsmeade."

Lightly blushing, Regina nonetheless had an excited smile on her face, "Um, well, I am looking forward to it, Harry. Spending the day with you..." Chewing her lip, she poked her fingers together, "That's something that I am happy about."

Brightly smiling, Harry gave her a nod, "Same here really, Regina." Quickly, she gave her a peck on the cheek which made her face go red and for her to pull up her scarf some, "And I am pretty excited about it as well."

Steam drifting from her ears, the Re-Class hummed before perking up, "Oh, um... Lady Wanko stated that you would be visiting us in the Timor Sea during Spring Break?"

Harry nodded at that, "I am, already made the sunblock potion so that I don't get burned during the time I spend down there." Scratching his cheek, he chuckled, "Hopefully you don't mind showing me around."

Only shaking her head, Regina pulled down her scarf some, "I don't mind showing you around, Harry. And the others will love meeting you, especially Ruby. She seems to be looking forward to it."

It was then that she noticed that they reached the stadium and internally sighed as she would need to wait until after the game to talk with him some more. However, the Abyssal remembered something that Shinano had mentioned to her during one of their quiet talks that humans sometimes did. Unknowing of what was going through her thoughts, Harry turned his head to her to find her golden speckled eyes looking at him, "Well, I'll be seeing you after the game, Regina-Mmph!?"

Even his teammates paused to stare a bit as the shy Re-Class kissed him for a few seconds and pulled away, "T-that was f-for go-good luck, Harry..."

When he nodded, she glanced around, blushed even deeper than she was, and took off for the stands. For several seconds, Harry just stood there with his mind completely blank and the lingering feel of cool lips on his own for a few seconds. Then blinking, he turned and walked into the area for the Gryffindor Locker Room with a somewhat drunk stagger to him and a grin on his face, 'Wow... now I am sure to win...'

Behind him, Fred and George grinned some as they spoke as one, "Well, well, Harrykins! A good luck kiss, hmm?"

Suddenly, a voice spoke up, "No worries, here's yours!"

Katie just snickered as the two surprised Wizards were suddenly knocked to the ground with a familiar Re-Class kissing them both and then leaping off before she scrambled up the stadium wall. Hands on her hips, the Chaser gave the two staring boys a grin, "Well, it seems that Harry is not the only lucky one~"

Her fellow Chasers snickered at that and also entered the Locker Room behind her before Fred and George scrambled to their feet and headed inside as well.
_______________________________________________________________

Up in the air, Harry was in his element as he pushed his Firebolt to it's limits. The wind whipped past him as he blew past various other players at well over a hundred and fifty miles per hour, often yanking back to climb out of dives with a grin. To state that he loved his new broom was akin to stating that a Typhoon was a bit rainy and windy. He absolutely loved it to say the least.

Out of the corner of his eye though, he sometimes glanced towards the Gryffindor Stands where he could see his mother, the three Akizukis, as well as Hoppou and Revina cheering for him. Regina just smiled at him and waved a flag with a roaring lion on it while Wanko held a much bigger version. Though he did note one thing that made him confused, and that was how that one Re-Class, Reivana, kept glancing at Hoppou as much as she watched him.

Weird...

However, shaking that off, Harry spun around on his broom to keep from being hit by a Bludger. One thing that he had not noticed though was the glares that Regina kept sending the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang, every time she attempted to use her looks to try and distract Harry. Though the Re-Class was happy that Harry either didn't notice or simply was unaffected by it. What got her boilers hot though was how often times, the black haired wizard just barreled into the Ravenclaw formations, making them scatter to not hit him, or to scare the crap out of one by coming out of nowhere and seeming about to slam into them, only to twist at the last moment out of the way.

The sheer cunning and brutality that Harry showed caused her more than once to clench her hands. Out of the corner of her eye though, she spotted a glint of gold and perked up as her rangefinders locked onto it. And from the small actions of Harry, he had also noticed it and began to dive towards it.

Which, of course, was when she noticed the lone Dementor heading out onto the field and froze.

Already, her tail was coming up with anti-air armaments to shoot and noted that Hoppou as well as Wanko were doing the same while Nagato's own fairies began to pop out with rifles. But something made her frown and she paused in her actions and could see the others doing the same as their instincts tickled them in the back of their minds. Instead, they watched as something silvery shot from Harry's wand at the "Dementor" which fell backwards.

Immediately, Regina was already on the move as the creature broke into three scrambling pieces even as Harry grabbed the Snitch.

Grinning, Harry was laughing as he held up the golden object in his hand only to blink at the sight that met him as he turned to where the Dementor had been. Mainly, that of a growling Regina holding up a slowly choking Crabbe and Goyle in her hands while Marcus Flint was held up by her tail. Hopping off his broom, Harry spared a glance for the three Slytherins, before placing his hand on Regina's arm. He could feel the anger in her when she glanced at him, "Regina, put them down." When she glanced at him again, Harry narrowed his eyes, "Put them down, now, Regina."

Rather than gently place them down, Regina just dropped them onto their asses. Already, Marcus was about to say something when he was grabbed by an enraged Snape, "YOU UTTER BLOODY IDIOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Before the teen could say anything, the teacher snarled, "NO, DO NOT ANSWER! BECAUSE IT IS OBVIOUS THAT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WAS GOING THROUGH THAT EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN YOUR EARS YOU FOOLISH BOY!"

Everyone was treated to the utterly strange sight of Snape tearing strips of metaphorical hide off his three students before dragging them off. For several moments, Harry just stood there before realizing that he still had his arm on Regina's arm. Slowly, he moved his hand down until it reached her own and entwined her fingers and his. When she looked at him, the thirteen year old simply smiled, "Thank you, Regina.' The Re-Class just nodded at that and said nothing. Even while another Re-Class, one with modifications to her tail, was looking between them with a stunned look on her face which melted to one of confusion. However, Harry didn't notice and gave Regina's hand a small squeeze before smiling, "Come on, Regina, let's get ready for the party tonight.

All Regina did was nod and smile back.

 

[darthcourt10]

FluffSteve Omake: There are things Stab is more afraid of than Reivana...

Hazard said:
There's a good chance all three of the idiots that dressed as dementors are on their 'this is your absolute last chance, do not do something stupid again', on threat of expulsion at minimum.

Seriously they nearly caused an international incident at best, followed by the reason there's an international incident having to deal with every abyssal and shipgirl present except the Ambassador and her attendants having utterly eliminated the 'dementors' present.​

And about the time they start to recover from Snape's reaming is when their parents show up in person during a meal. Oh, they don't lecture them in public, but they make sure everyone knows that is exactly what they are being pulled away from the dining hall for. That said they might well get the, "Do you have any idea what it would have done to your mother/father if you'd died!" (Yes, exclamation mark not question) before being pulled away from their meal. They'll be getting the full spectrum of parental lecture: wondering what went wrong that they acted like such idiots in public, given that IIRC their parents are Slytherines too they probably also get reamed for being caught being idiots in public just as much as the being idiots, showing utter failure to think through consequences, scaring their parents with just how close they came to dying, scaring their parents with just how close they came to losing heirs, suggestion that maybe they shouldn't be the heirs after all ("We're not too old to try again."), threats of what consequences they'll face if their actions bring any consequences to bear on their parents... The meal in question is probably over by the time they're cut free and even if they are fanon dense they probably return to their classmates seeming like pale, bloodless zombies.

Being expelled is likely the least of their fears right now.

jmcdavid said:
OLD: It is time to leave, Reivana.

Reivana: But books! Knowledge! Please just give me five more minutes?​

"That is what you asked me yesterday evening. No more extensions. Stab, smack the back of her head if you please."

"Do you know how hard that is?"

"I won't drag her away by her tail."

*CLANG!*

"Stab, you traitor! Ow, not the ear, not the ear!"

"My apologies Madam Pince, this won't be repeated. Will it, Reivana?"

"Ow! But, but the books!"

"Will still be here the next time you visit."

"May I at least check out these?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

More than a little bemused, Hermione looked down at the Re-Class who was on her knees with a look of rapturous awe upon her face, "I take it that you're enjoying this as much as I am?"

Slowly, Reivana grabbed her uniform and pulled her up, "Y-you're evil! S-so..." Swallowing, she gestured around them, "So many books!"

Lightly laughing, the witch smiled a bit, "I know." Clapping her hands together, she looked out upon the Hogwarts Library, "It is just so..."

Beside her, Reivana had much the same expression on her face and was doing the same thing, "Yessss..."

Meanwhile, if he could have, Stab would have rolled his eyes, 'For the love of the Princess... You have to be kidding me...'

Getting back to her feet, Reivana walked alongside Hermione as they made their way more into the library. Already, she could feel her fingertips tingle with the feel of turning page after page. Turning towards her friend, she smiled a bit, "From what you said, there's books here going back hundreds of years?"

With a hum, the disguised shipgirl nodded, "To say the least. The earliest books in the Hogwarts Library actually date back to the 900s. A number are historical ones alongside ones of magical knowledge."

At that, Stab rose up some with a tilt of his head, "Huh, you know what, Reivana? Maybe the Princess would like some of those books."

However, when she looked at Hermione, the Light Cruiser shook her head, "Sorry, the books need to be kept here in Hogwarts." Seeing the Re-Class hang her head, she did continue, "Buuuut, I do believe that the Headmaster mentioned a trip into Hogsmeade tomorrow? There's a book shop that is there that I know you would find interesting. There's a number of history books in it that you could buy."

Now perking up, Reivana nodded and smiled, "Thank you! And that will be one of the first places that I visit when I go tomorrow." With a hum, she tilted her head, "Any titles that you could suggest that might be useful?"

Giving the matter some thought, the shipgirl frowned, "I can think of a few..."

Once four hours passed though, Hermione checked her internal clocks and got up. Seeing that, Stab gave her the best look he could without any visible eyes, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Somewhat amused, Hermione got Reivana to her feet, "We should probably head up to the party in Gryffindor." Already seeing the Re-Class open her mouth, the witch cut her off, "We have a lot of time to go over the library. Besides which... how would your Princess respond to the fact that she sent you here to observe and the like, only to spend the entirety of the time in the library with me?"

That caused the Abyssal to wince as she imagined how Porta would react to such, "Not well..." With a longing look at the books, and a whimper, she followed Hermione to Gryffindor Tower. Upon entering though, she boggled a bit as they were hit with sound enough to stagger them as well as the sight of the massive party that was going on before them, "I... what?"

Unable to help herself, Hermione laughed a bit, "We like to hold parties here in Gryffindor when possible and are known for it..."

All Reivana did was nod in complete dumbfounded shock.

Elsewhere in the Gryffindor Common Room, Isley was looking around in some curiosity while every once in a while talking with various Gryffindors that came up to talk with her. She was thankful to them for being nice to her, especially when they heard that she was the wife to be of Sirius Black, something that she was proud of. Most of them only nodded and smiled at her despite it. After all, the newspapers had been following the trial for most of the month as it was already. Most were expecting that by the end of March at the earliest and the first week of April for the verdict to be read. And almost everyone expected that to be an innocent verdict at that.

Suddenly, Isley was brought out of her thoughts by a tap on her shoulder and turned to find her lover's godson there with a goblet in his hand, "Here, I thought that you could use some pumpkin juice."

Lightly smiling, the Abyssal took the drink gratefully and nodded, "Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it." Taking a sip, she hummed at the sweetness that washed over her tongue, 'Ah, this is wonderful.'

However, she blinked at the next words from Harry, "You're very welcome, Aunt Isley."

Eyes somewhat wide, Isley stared at him, "Aunt?"

Scratching the back of his neck, Harry nodded, "Um, yes?" At seeing the confusion though, he continued, "Well, you're going to marry Sirius, right?" At the nod, the thirteen year old hummed, "He's my godfather and was practically a brother to my Dad. And my godmother is... indisposed at the moment."

That got a wince from Isley as she remembered how Sirius had reacted to that bit of information, 'I... don't think that's the word for them...'

Meanwhile, the wizard sighed a bit, "But, because of that, you're something of an Aunt? I think..." Giving it a moment of thought, Harry shrugged it off, "Or at least that is how I think it works."

Isley gave it some consideration before taking his hand and nodding, "Thank you, Harry. Being your Aunt is... a responsibility that I hope that I can uphold."

Returning the smile, Harry nodded back at her before glancing at her stomach. Getting a nod, he placed a hand on it and could feel something kick which made him smile all the more, "When are they due?"

For a moment, the Abyssal Princess checked her logbooks and hummed a bit before nodding, "Not very long, Harry. Maybe one more month... According to the progress reports of their construction, they should be born by late April."

All Harry did was nod at that in return.

Just two hours later around dinner time, the black haired boy was piling food onto plates from the table that was on one side of the room. With a nod, he nodded and turned before walking over to one couch with the plates balanced perfectly, and a pitcher of Butterbeer on his head before smiling, "Here you go, Akizuki-Chan, Teruzuki-Chan, Hatsuzuki-Chan, Suzutsuki-San."

The white haired Destroyer smiled up at him as she took her plate, "Thank you, Harry-San."

Seeing Teruzuki about to say something, Harry raised an eyebrow at her and handed her plate, "Do I need to go and get a second bunch of plates?" At that, her mouth snapped shut and she shook her head, 'Which is not to say that I won't... as well as dessert plates.'

Lips twitching, Suzutsuki internally giggled as her sisters thanked the kind, black haired wizard, 'Yes, he does take care of them well. I'm happy.' Taking a forkful of food, she took a bite and hummed as she ate, 'I will admit, I've had more kinds of food in the past few months than I had my entire time as a steel hulled ship.' Chewing, the Destroyer swallowed, 'Which I am not complaining about as many of these foods I would not have gotten the chance to eat with how Japan was...'

Meanwhile, Harry just grinned as he watched the Duckies enjoy their food. It was always something that brought him enjoyment no matter what. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned partially and blinked at seeing who was there, "Regina? What are you doing here?"

With a smile of her own, the Abyssal held up a plate piled high with food, "Um, I am going to eat and..." Her tail rose up with a plate of food on top of it as well, "I brought some food for you as well."

Pounding her chest a bit as she swallowed, Akizuki nodded and pointed her fork at Harry, "She's right, Harry-Chan! You need to eat as well!"

Beside her, Hatsuzuki was nodding before Teruzuki frowned, "Nee-San's right, Harry-Chan! You're growing so you need to eat a lot! So sit down and have some food!"

There was a part of Harry who swore that if this was an anime, he would have a sweatdrop on his head, 'So this is what it is like to be on the other side...'

Suzutsuki was just giggling madly at that with one hand in front of her mouth as she watched. Granted, moments later she blinked as Regina sat down before picking up Harry and setting him in her lap. Something that made Harry look over his shoulder at her, "Regina?"

All the Re-Class did though was smile and bring her tail with his food around, "There we go, that way we can all sit down and have something to eat together." Despite the blush on her face, her eyes shone with happiness, "Now, time to eat up, Harry."

Chuckling, Harry nodded with a smile of his own, "Okay, Regina." Taking his plate, he began to eat as did the Duckies and Regina. All of them happy to be there sharing a meal with friends.

 

[darthcourt10]

Digital Historian

Right, first time trying something like this, I hope it came out somewhat acceptable.
===
The Little Destoyer That Stood
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
During Blood Week


For the second time in a century, Rotterdam was burning. Thick, acrid black smoke hung between the shattered remnants of its city centre. Even though the initial, sudden attack had been five days ago, when dark, distorted twin-engined bombers had let their deadly payload loose again and again, and demonic mockeries of cruisers and battleships had smashed aside the mighty Maeslandkering as if it were a speedbump on their way to shell the port facilities, the haze was still being fed by numerous smaller fires still smouldering. Every new Abyssal raid, thus far a daily occurrence, found new targets to set ablaze, even though any observer would think all flammable materials in a three-mile radius had been consumed already, leaving nothing but ash, concrete and steel.

Miraculously, some of the city's landmarks were still standing, having weathered the fires and explosions. The Euromast Radio tower was one of them, and the commander of the Dutch Royal Marines charged with the defence of the city had wasted no time ordering his observers up to the 'crows nest' at the top to give him some warning of incoming attacks. It seemed these enemies played havoc with radar, so good old mark 1 eyeball it was. And so it was that an hour before dawn on what would become known as day six of blood week, Marine Jan Meyer was trudging up the 589 steps that would take him to the once-restaurant, now observation post. Granted, it was an extremely comfortable position, even with some of the windows gone and the wind coming in, but that was part of the problem. If you're running on little sleep and large amounts of coffee, comfort and complacency are dangerous.

As dawn began breaking over the ruined city, Meyer fought himself awake. The enemy, monstrous abominations of flesh and steel that looked like a Hieronymus Bosch fever dream, were not stupid. They liked to attack just after sunrise, when the low sun on the haze masked their approach, and every minute of prior warning could make a difference. Also, he knew his CO liked to take a walk around the observation deck at this time, to make sure everything was in order and to deliver extra coffee to his men. The Major was a man who knew that if you took care of your men, they would take care of you.

"Good morning, Meyer. Did you have a good night's rest?" Speak of the devil. Major van Zandt, a short man in his early thirties with dark hair and eyes spoke up from behind the scout. His features betrayed his Indo heritage; his grandfather had been in the KNIL. Holding out a flask, he said: "Here's the morning coffee. No milk or sugar, I'm afraid, they're prioritising ammo on the trucks right now."

"Thank you sir. But I'm afraid I didn't get too much rest, haven't since this whole mess started." Meyer put down his binoculars and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Pardon my language sir, but these things creep me the fuck out. Put me on patrol in Afghanistan where there's IED's, fine, I can deal with that. Send the whole Russian army at me, and I'll stand and fight. But these things…" He shuddered. "These are just unnatural. Pretty much nothing that can hit them can harm them, and nothing that can harm them can see them!" He continued in a quiet voice. "Sir, it just makes me wonder, if the Flying Dutchman – or woman, in this case – is real … what else is?"

The major pulled up one of the chairs from an overturned dinging table and sat himself down. "Let's not go looking for more things to fight, marine. We'll worry about that whenever it shows, and instead look at the problem we have now." He sighed. "Like the fact that we're defending a country that's mostly coastline from a sea-based attacker, with the cavalry days away." He pointed to the right, out over the ruined city, to where the Delftse Poort, once a landmark of the city's skyline was still smouldering and bathed in the eerie red light of the rising sun. "We've got just half the men we arrived with, no air support, the tanks are down to what they have in their ready stowage, and the navy …" He trailed off, and both men winced.

Due to the geographic location of the country, enemy heavy fleet units had hit the Chanel, Norway, and the Danish coast first, giving the Dutch fleet in Den Helder an hour to get underway. Not that it made any difference in the outcome. Over the past two decades, the Dutch navy had concentrated on operating as a support element in NATO fleets, investing heavily in air-defence and logistic support craft. Against Abyssal these were of limited use to begin with, especially when the heavier British and German fleet elements were busy defending their own shores. The only ones that arrived to support were the Belgians, but their two frigates were as old as the two oldest Dutch ships. They fought like lions, but it wasn't nearly enough. At the end of the first day, the Royal Netherlands Navy was down to just two frigates and three Holland-class OPV's, whose heavier-then-usual steel construction had helped them make it out of there alive, though badly mauled. No warship was left in any condition to relieve the hard-pressed defenders of Rotterdam.

"What about them ship-spirit-ladies, sir?" Forestalling the obvious question, Jan continued. "I've got a mate in D-company who's got a cousin whose half-brother is in the UK, and he told me he'd heard of this blonde lady who blew an entire raiding fleet trying to force the Thames out of the water! Spirit of the Warsprite, I think?"

"That's Warspite, marine." Van Zandt replied. He didn't comment on the obvious 'leak' of supposedly classified information; no security clearance is a match for a bunch of soldiers gossiping. "And while they seem to be able to fight these deamons effectively, we've got no idea of how they got here. Just turned up and saved the day. So until whoever is in charge works that out, or the fates throw one our way, it's us who'll have to hold the line." A call from the other side of the deck that contacts were spotted ended their conversation. "Right, I'll be downstairs. Get yourself ready, Meyer, It's going to be busy."


Three hours later, major van Zandt and his marines were finding that holding the line was easier said than done. In his forward command post one of his Lieutenants was pleading for permission to withdraw from the Vondelingenplaat area. "Sir, we have to fall back. Half my men are out of action, and we're running very low on ammunition. All our ATGM's are gone, and those were the only things even hurting those monsters. We can't hold them back much longer sir!" From the side of the room, a signalman interjected. "Major, Captain Zwaan of the armoured division reports they're down to ten rounds a vehicle!"

The major leaned over the map spread in front of him, face set in stone. "We can't do that. We go, they take the the Eemshaven, and we'd not only give them a perfect spot from which to shell the Schiedam, we'd also be allowing them a corridor down the Nieuwe Maas, straight upriver to Dordrecht and beyond." He looked his lieutenant straight in the eye. "I can not allow that to happen. We have to hold." As if to underline his words, a shell went off nearby, shaking the ground. "Lieutenant Beek, you may pull back to the Waalhaven basin, but no further. That is here we make our stand. Liaise with the armour to coordinate your retreat. Godspeed." The lieutenant took off at a clip, while the major turned to the radioman. "You, get me general Baarswijk of the Air Force on the line. I've got to speak to him about air support again." Mentally, he added 'and I'm going to have to pray for a miracle while I'm at it,' as the sound of fighting came even closer.

Once, the Meuse at Rotterdam had been one of the most polluted stretches of waterway in Europe. A common joke was that you could drop your roll of film in the river from the van Brienoordbridge where the river entered the city proper, and by the time you fished it back out from say, the Noordereiland, it would be fully developed. Environmental protection laws, mainly on a European level as much of the pollution came from upstream in France, had put an end to that in the nineties, and the river had cleared up exceptionally. However five days of fighting had seen almost a return to the bad old days. The water was slick with oil from ruptured tanks in the Petroleum harbour, steel latticeworks from collapsed buildings and bridges created natural points for debris to clog and turn stale, blood of dying marines and the brass shellcases from small arms and tank guns completed the mix. Meanwhile, through the destroyed locks at the river mouth, the rising tide pushed thousands of litres of seawater upstream, to where the battle raged on a wind-swept riverside and hundreds of men prayed for a someone –anyone- to help and protect them.



Out on the murky bottom of the river, something slumbered in the silt. She had been the first of her sisters to be all-Dutch, the other still carrying some Swedish features, though all six of their sisterhood still showed their British roots. She was born here, in Rotterdam, but had spent much of her time in the Pacific, in the heat and the sun. Yet it was here she had died, and thus, here she rested, though never easy.

Gevechtsposities, Gevechtsposities!
(Combat Positions, Combat Positions!)


No, she became aware, she couldn't rest anymore. Not when history was repeating itself, not when she was needed again! Bulkheads that had not existed for over seventy years started to form back into the physical ream as her boilers and turbines rematerialized, lit, and started to spin up to speed.

Alle hens klaarmaken voor actie!
(Get all hands ready for action!)


She had died a failure, incapable of fulfilling her duty. Not once had she loosed her torpedoes at a capital ship, not once had she fired her main armament in anger at an enemy vessel. Those Godverdomme Stuka's had caught her on the river, unable to manoeuvre, unable to dodge as they ripped her sides open, while her marines fought and died without the fire support she had failed to provide, while half her AA guns had been out of action.

Gevechtsposities, Gevechtsposities!
(Combat Positions, Combat Positions!)

NO! She would not let them down again! She would not let any more men die on that accursed patch of riverside. Not on her watch! Not even if it sank her ten times over! Light filled her – eyes?- and she became aware of the pressure of water all around her, dark, brackish, familiar. Purely on instinct, she pushed upwards, and as the glow around her faded, she broke the surface in a burst of foam and spray.



As she stood on the water, she became aware that she had a body now, but that was filled by her bridge crew under 'deal with later'. What was more pressing was the dark, twisted outline of a destroyer in between her and the mouth of the dock. 'German, G101 class' her watch officer supplied, and that sealed it for her. Before the destroyer had time to respond – in fact, there was barely enough time for surprise to register on its toothy, demonic visage, her four 120mm guns opening up and gutting the enemy craft. There were more ships beyond that, cruisers of various types, but before she could do anything about that, here was a loud cheering from just behind her. As she turned around, she saw a group of soldiers cheering her on, before going quiet as another man, a major by the stripes she could see, made his way forward. But that wasn't what gave her pause; it was the insignia on the shoulder. There men were marines! She could make up for failing them! "… miss? Miss?" Oh wait, he was talking. "Miss, I'm very happy to see you, but could you tell me who you are?"

She saluted. "Her Majesty's Van Galen, pennant VG. Glad to be back."

A large smile broke on the major's face. "You are a sight for sore eyes, van Galen. We're hard pressed by enemy units holed up in that yellow warehouse there-" he pointed to a metal-sheeted storage building on the dockside road, "- but we can't move our armour up without being fired upon by those units on the river." He paused for a moment as he seemed to remember something. "Eum, can you help us like this, or do you need me to go find someone from the Navy to liaise with you?"

She shook her head empathically. "Leave them to me, major. My anti-aircraft defences may not be at full strength, but I can deal with things on the surface. My standing orders when I was sunk were to support the marines around the Waalhaven airfield. That the airfield isn't here anymore, well, that is just a detail. Best of luck, major." With that, she turned on the spot and began to make her way to the river.

The twisted grudge that had taken the shape of an Elbing-class cruiser cackled in delight as it sent another volley of 15cm shells into the harbour, sending a gas station off in a pillar of fire and smoke. "These humans die so messily! Breaking them like this is so much fun!" Beside her, her sister just shrugged. "Meh, there's not much of a challenge to it. It's like crushing shrimp underhoof." The shriek of one of their three escorting destroyers made her turn, just in time to see it eviscerated by a shot from the other side of the river, fired by … Her bridge crew sent her imps to check the rangefinders again, trying to process the two mutually exclusive images she received. Striding across the water, she saw a girl with brown hair wearing a dark blue sailor's uniform and cap, fire burning in her slate-grey eyes. Yet at the same time she also saw the outline of a destroyer, slim, but only a little bit shorter than herself, guns and torpedo tubes aimed straight at them. The thundering of those guns broke her out of her confusion, as another one of her destroyers was sunk. "Sister, behind us!" she yelled as her imps rushed to bring the guns on her now engaged side to bear.

"Godverdoemme klooutzekken!" Van Galen shouted with her thick Rotterdam accent. "You come here to my hometown to burn it and blow it up, hurt my people and kill my marines!" The last escorting destroyer had closed with her and tried to tear her in half with its teeth, but the little destroyer barely broke her stride as she sidestepped the strike and despatched it with two shots to the bridge as it came past. "Go back to where you came from!" Shots from the two cruisers showered her with splinters, which caused deep cuts in her arms and her sides, but she refused to yield. Instead, at point-blank range, she fired her two launchers of 21' torpedoes, three at each Abyssal. "And tell them Rotterdam is protected now!" The last thing the cruisers saw before the fish blew their sides out and sent them to the bottom was an enraged little destroyer, still pinging away at them with her guns.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

Well, time to pick up our favorite cute canine couple.

Pack Dynamics I

Yokosuka Naval Base, Kanmasu Housing

Moriko Ibuki blinked her eyes open as the early-morning sunlight reached her futon. Yawning, she stretched, feeling her keel -- wait, not her keel, her back -- pop. She shook her head briefly at the thought and cuddled her plushy dog that she was now sleeping with to her chest.

For the last two months since she met him, her dreams had been strange. As an Okami Yokai, she was used to the dreams from time to time where she ran through the woods as an alpha wolf scarred from her many fights leading and protecting her sisters as her pack hunted.

After all, that was part of her heritage. Part of her blood.

She gave a lupine grin and cuddled the plushy a bit tighter to her bosom.

Some of those dreams now included other shadowy figures running free with her. A great white Okami that she instinctively knew was Kogamaru was beside the smaller but lithe form of her youngest sister Sachiko. That, of course, was her mind processing what was obvious to everyone as a matter of time. What was unexpected and caused her boi-- her heart to skip a beat as her cheeks became red hot were the new figures who had joined her dreams of the hunt. Of the kill.

Two Akita Inus, the older male equaling her speed and power with his unflagging loyal determination and will to run alongside her shoulder as he led his younger brother in their hunt.
Spoiler: The Miyatas

She looked down at the somewhat squashed Akita plushy in her cleavage that she had named 'Hachiko-chan' after a magical, wonderful, unforgettable first date with him and bopped him on the nose.

"You're a bad influence on me."

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

Hachiko's Apartment

"I'll see you later Tou-san!"

Hachiko Miyata smiled and waved to his younger brother Aki as he headed to school with the carefree dash of the young at heart.

He then glanced at the clock and poured himself some tea while taking a deep breath. Aki had run early today, so he actually had ten minutes before he would have to leave to move that load of furniture into Odawara-san's store before heading to the library to open as normal.

Ten precious minutes....

With that, he walked back to his spartan room and looked at the plush wolf sitting on his battered dresser next to the photograph of his parents.

He bowed his head and gently touched the frame with his fingertips. "Was this what it was like for you, Tou-san, Kaa-san?" he whispered, as his slender shoulders shook.

Moving to the plushy and giving the ears of his 'Moriko-chan' a scruffle, his cheeks blushed a little at the memory of his dream last night.
Spoiler: Ibuki on the Hunt

He had found himself in a massive steel room filled with the thunder of machinery as it rocked to and fro. Ghostly figures in the uniforms of the Japanese Navy from the Pacific War bustled to and fro tending to the massive steam boilers on either side of him. One with his face obscured by the heat haze save for a pair of canine ears tapped his shoulder.

"You're wanted on the bridge, sir."

Silently, he nodded, and in a trance moved through the passages, passing crewman after crewman. Those not clearly busy with their duties saluted him as he passed.

The noise of the ship at sea matched the thunder of his heartbeat in his ears as he reached a ladder and began to climb it. As he reached the top, the smell of the salt air was the most wonderfully intoxicating thing he could imagine.

"Tokumu-kan no omie!"

With that announcement he stepped through the bridge hatch and gasped at the sight in front of him. The warship he was on had a lean, wolfish elegance that took his breath away. Her sleek lines showed her grace and speed, while the triple twin-gun turrets visible along her bow promised matching lethality and power.

The trackless waves of the Pacific were visible through the bridge windows as the sun set, blown by a storm that she was approaching and as he watched, the knife edge of her bow sliced through a massive green wave, sending white spray crashing over her bow as she continued on her hunt.

As he watched, a flash of sunlight on aluminum from the setting sun heralded a flight of aircraft. As he followed their path past the ship, he suddenly realized that behind her steamed a carrier modeled on her hull lines. Further past the carrier was a third, more indistinct ship. A circle of destroyers surrounded them protectively.

The bridge radio crackled and he heard a somewhat familiar female voice. "I lamed those Abyssal convoy raiders, but won't be able to launch another strike before the weather closes in."

The husky, fierce, hungry contralto growl behind him caused his knees to weaken. "Good work, Suzume-chan. I'll take DesDiv Twelve and finish them."

He turned, knowing who he would see before he laid eyes on her. His hammering heartbeat picked up a notch in perfect time with the howl of her engines as they reached flank for the final sprint of their chase now that the end was in sight.
Spoiler: CA Moriko

Moriko stood there in a fur lined black school coat that accentuated her generous fuel bunkerage and muscles as it clung to her, ending in a black and gray tartan pleated miniskirt that highlighted her long, lean legs before they ducked into glossy black leather thigh-high jackboots.

She had a bushy dark gray and white wolf tail wagging behind her eagerly and her lupine ears were perked up and alert. Her glowing gray eyes, now with flecks of gold -- just like a she-wolf! -- surveyed him hungrily and she gave him one of those predatory smiles full of sharp teeth that caused his heart to race with anticipation.

She was so beautiful like this.

She prowled forward, and placed her scarred hand, now clad in a spotless white officer's glove, on his shoulder.

"Hachiko-chan, There's something I need for you to do for me..." Her voice electrified him with something primal that called to both his inugami heritage and his human blood.

The thrill of the hunt. Working in perfect coordination with his pack to harry the predators threatening their young. The moment of the kill when the time came for the alpha pair to rip out the wounded quarry's throat.

"A-anything, what is it?" He gulped, whispering through bone dry lips at her raw feral animal magnetism.

She turned him to the hatch from whence she had entered and pointed to it. With a start he read the kanji of the plaque on it.

'Captain's Quarters'

"I need you to go in there and sign the crew register on your desk. My crew register."

As he nodded with every ounce of determination in his frame, she leaned down, pressing her fuel tanks against him to whisper throatily in his ear. "After all, every wolfpack's alpha female needs her alpha male..."

Silently Hachiko cursed his alarm clock that had chosen the absolute worst time to wake him then.

With that he glanced at the clock and sighed as he braced himself for another day of working multiple jobs to provide for Aki. At least hanami was soon and he could take Aki to see the cherry blossoms, and maybe invite Moriko to meet Aki. Perhaps even a family outing with her sisters.

 

[darthcourt10]

Shinr Omake: One thing that Kane did not plan for...

At least the unintentional mention of Global Defense Initiative resulted in this:

----

In the dead of the night, within a forest in the middle of Italy, a platoon of heavily armed soldiers wearing heavily militarized HazMat suits were advancing along the river Tiber.

And leading them was a bald man in normal military wear, utterly unconcerned with potential bio-hazards that his men were wary of. And so were the men unconcerned with their leader's safety for that matter.

For The Great Prophet Kane was immortal, after-all.

And tonight, He was leading them towards their, or rather HIS, destiny: The meteorite that has fallen from heaven barely half an hour ago, just as He predicted, which contained an extraterrestrial material that will change humanity's fate and will be either named for the nearby river Tiber or Emperor Tiberius, depending on who's asking and telling.

What he did not foresee as they arrived at the impact site, was a tall, deathly pale, skimpily dressed and heavily armed woman eating the meteorite.

If they hadn't maintained strict radio silence, Nod Intelligence would have informed Him that barely two hours ago the whole World came under attack from the sea-borne invaders, a fusion of dead women and sunken ships, the Abyssals.

And said Abyssal, a Ta-Class, was one of the less suicidal ones of her kind who though that attacking humanity was a little unwise, but bringing that up would have been more suicidal than usual in her usual company, so she kept her mouth shut and counted her blessings by using her orders to go up the Tiber to swim somewhere more quiet and hidden from both Abyssal and Human eyes.

Which is when the falling meteorite hit her head.

Nursing the bump on her cranium, she picked up the offending rock and inspected it, noting the green, crystalline things sticking out of it, and she was about to throw it away when her stomach growled like a dying whale. She once again cursed the very stingy Princess she served under, for she never gave enough rations to everyone, and as she thought that she looked at the meteorite she was holding.

Well, beggars can't be choosers.

And thus, the current scene of bewildered Kane watching someone eating away his fortune. Followed by him angrily ordering his men to shoot.

Poor Bastards.

When Kane woke up some time later in a Hidden Temple of Nod in Sarajevo, he would find out how Blood Week and beyond changed the world, how the Brotherhood of Nod suffered from this unexpected war, and how all his plans were basically ruined.

All this Chaos, and he was completely unable to take advantage of it.

As for the Ta-Class, she escaped back to the sea, and survived the six months of Middle World Ocean Princess' "Rule" by being as far away from action as possible, and when the Elder Princess ran away with her fancy sword, plunging what was left of barely organized command in the Med into chaos, the Ta-Class decided it was perfect time to bow out of the war without anyone shooting her in the back for desertion.

But where to run?

Through the Suez Canal? The shipgirls watch over it more sternly than the Girl Dormitory Matrons looking for smuggled boys. Through Gibraltar? She would be one more Abyssal corpse at the base of the Rock before she knew it. Through the Bosporus? Unexpected and surprising as that might be, that way lies the Turkish Fleet and, dear God, the Red Navy.

And just as she was contemplating going deep into the Sahara desert, she stumbled upon a Magical Hidden Island and she thanked the Gods for the perfect hideout, for it was uninhibited and contained only a small magical mansion that was abandoned for years.

Many years later, during the inspection of all hidden islands as part of post-War and post-Statute clean-up, the shipgirls will find a island full of on-going construction projects conducted by a Ti-Class Installation, a former Ta-Class Battleship who some time after coming here had a hell of a stomach-ache, stayed bed-ridden for months, and woke up as an installation with green crystaly bits sticking out.

And a desire to build stuff, with new-found abilities to do so very easily.

Which will be a boon in the reconstruction efforts across the world, but that is a story for another day.

 

[darthcourt10]

RCNAnon

Weasley's Warship Workshop 1

Ron staggered as the Portkey dropped him just in front of the gatehouse. Taking a step he managed not to fall, instead placing his hands on his knees and wincing slightly.

"Are you alright Young Master?"

Ron nearly jumped out of his skin as Victoria seemed to appear right behind him. Turning to look at her he shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I hurt, my heart is racing and I barely had time for breakfast." Ron's voice was just a little testy before he took a breath and calmed down some. "I asked you not to surprise me like that Victoria."

"Apologies Young Master, I did not mean to do so." A small bow. "If you'd like I can prepare you a slight repast, something to hold you over for lunch?"

"No, I ate plenty I was just in a rush." Ron adjusted the time turner underneath his clothes. He hadn't wanted to waste his extra time on eating breakfast, not when he'd be able to make it under normal circumstances by hurrying.

"Very well." Victoria turned and offered her hand towards the walk up the main house, which looked better but was not in full repair. "I can accompany you back to the main building."

"Thank you Victoria." Ron nodded and began walking, with Victoria one step behind and to the right.

"You mentioned that you were hurt? Do you need me to notify someone for medical attention?" Victoria was leaning as close as her positioning would allow, looking Ron over as they strolled leisurely up the drive.

"No, I'm not hurt like that." Ron let out a dry chuckle. "I just… ache. I've started working out properly like Harry does and well he's been doing it a lot longer than I have."

"Did you try to keep up with him Young Master?" Victoria sounded concerned.

"No, no I wasn't that dumb. Well, only the once to see what he was currently doing." Ron shook his head. "I'm currently doing his workouts from… a year ago I think? Maybe six months? He said he thought I could do them and he's right… I just ache afterwards." Ron flexed an arm gingerly. "I'll be fine in a bit."

"Very well Young Master." Victoria accepted the answer for the moment and fell back to her position behind him.

"Is everything set for today?" Ron asked, turning to look at the blonde maid.

"Yes Young Master. We have interviews for the staff until luncheon, then Lady Summer and you will preside over another surgery for that abyssal. Finally you have the meeting with the French battleship." Victoria's sniff of disapproval signaled what she thought of that matter.

Ron couldn't help but glance back at Victoria. "You do know the French are our allies now, right? They've been so for like a hundred years?"

"Of course Young Master. I would never go so far as to offend any French guests you have. I've simply had some… visitors of the type who I wouldn't dignify with the term guest since they were quite properly and summarily thrown out after making a nuisance of themselves."

Ron looked back to Victoria but couldn't make anything out through the maids mask of formality. Instead he made a note to ask about it later and simply let it go for the moment.

"So have you looked over the resumes already?" He asked instead, switching topics to the staff they'd been working on getting.

"Oh yes Young Master. Lady Duke and Lady Warspite have already looked over most of them with me and we've had the cream of the crop. Your Mother sent down a very nice list of those looking for work from the magical side. From the attached paperwork I understand the government is being somewhat generous in tax breaks for those who can hiring magically inclined folks so they are more integrated into the workplace."

"So why are you having me take a look at them then?" Ron glanced back at Victoria as the reached the front door to the house and it opened on its own.

"We wanted you to be comfortable with them as well Young Master. You are the Head of the Household after all. There is also the fact that some of them are… unusual in their talents we should say."

Ron turned and looked at Victoria once more as the door shut behind them.

"Unusual in their talents?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at the maid.

"I think you should simply read their resumes yourself Young Master it's..."

Whatever Victoria was going to say was interrupted at the sound of Duke's voice.

"Ron!" Duke came down the stairs, a smile on her face.

"Duke!" Ron called back, watching as she came down the stairs. He noticed that she was walking a little different than normal. "Are you ok?"

Duke stopped at the bottom of the stairs and seemed somewhat surprised. "I took a few hits on my last mission. Nothing a bit more time in the spa won't fix." She paused and changed back to a smile. "It's good to see you again. A month can feel very long."

"It's good to see you too Duke." Ron smiled back at her and leaned up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Are you going to be around all day?"

"Yes, I wanted to sit in on the interviews with you if you don't mind."

"No, no that's fine. I don't really know what to do."

Duke smiled and shook her head.

"Just ask a few questions, I think Victoria has files for you to look over." Duke looked over to the maid.

"Yes I do. They should be in the sitting room along with everything else." Victoria nodded and gestured towards one of the now refurnished and refinished rooms.

"Alright. I guess I can take a look and you can bring them in whenever?" Ron looked between the two women.

"I shall bring some refreshments in first and give you some time, then bring in the first." Victoria did a little bow.

"Thank you Victoria." Duke gestured for Ron to take the lead and he headed to the sitting room where two folio's were sitting on a small table next to two chairs. Ron took the first one while Duke sat to his right.

"Only two?" He asked Duke, picking them up curiously.

"Victoria did most of the screening for us. She says that she likes these two and thinks between the three of them it will work out quite nicely." Duke smiled a bit as Victoria came in with some tea and light pastries.

"Here you are. I'll give you a few minutes to look over everything."

"Thank you Victoria." Ron gave her a nod and a polite smile as Duke began to pour drinks for the two of them. Starting with the top folio he began to read, having to pause several times as he did so.

"Am I reading this right Duke?" He looked up from the first one.

"Hmm?" Duke paused and then chuckled. "Oh, yes. Warspite and I were surprised as well but remember the initial list came from the government and your mother. Everything is just fine."

"Well if you say so. I don't see anything else to complain about."

"There shouldn't be." Duke smiled as she sipped at her tea. "Check the other one as well. It's got some interesting bits in it."

Putting down the first folio and picking up the second, Ron wondered what could be "interesting" compared to…

"What?" Ron's voice came out flat.

"Found the good bit did you?" Duke seemed amused.

"But… but why?" Ron looked up at Duke.

"I don't know. It's not as if you didn't meet some unique people in Japan Ron. Everybody needs to make a living."

Ron nodded to that. "I suppose you're right. Some of the people I've met through Harry..."

A knock interrupted his musings and he looked up to see Victoria waiting.

"Your first interviewee is here sir." She seemed extra formal at the moment, like he was actually important somehow and not just lucky.

"Bring her in." Ron settled himself in his chair and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Duke had set a cup of tea near his elbow in case he needed it.

Victoria bowed and gestured for someone out of sight to step into view.

The woman who did so was large, Ron would have said "quite large" before he'd met Summer and Angie, standing at six feet or more and broad shouldered for a woman. The rest of her frame followed suit, she was not fat by any means but Ron could easily imagine her posing for one of the new posters that encouraged women to work in more industrial trades. She looked as if a workers jumpsuit would have fit her more than the baby blue arm and ankle length dress she appeared to be stuffed into. Whatever fastener was holding the thing together had to be the hardest working thing in the room.

The two most striking things about her to Ron were her flaming red hair, much brighter than his own and the way her face was somehow formed into an expression of extreme meekness despite otherwise looking like she could be a lumberjack once out of the dress.

"One Lara O'Donnell to see Master Weasley and Lady Duke." Victoria introduced the guest, even though Ron had seen her name in the file.

"Hello." Lara's voice even sounded meek, the tenor carefully modulated to be as nonthreatening as possible while attempting to hide what appeared to be a deep Scottish accent.

"Hello Ms. O'Donnell. Please have a seat." Duke gestured to the chair that had been set out for her.

The woman nodded and took a seat, the chair standing up to the strain quite well since it and all its companions had been designed to accommodate capital class ship-girls.

There was a second of quiet before Ron caught Duke looking at him out of the corner of his eye and he cleared his throat.

"Hello. Ms. O'Donnell." Ron put a polite smile on his face. "As Victoria said I'm Ron Weasley and this is Duke of York. HMS Duke of York."

"Yessir." The words were nervous, rushed and the accent slipped in more. Lara then promptly attempted not to flush, succeeded only partway and nodded.

Ron glanced at Duke who gave a barely perceptible shrug.

"Would you like some refreshments?" Ron gestured to the tea and pastries.

"No, thank you." The words were stiff, stilted and attempted to be meek again.

"Very well." Ron wasn't sure how he was doing on the interview, either he was making a hash out of it or there was something else going on. All he had to go through was a vague idea to be somewhat formal and polite about the whole thing.

"So I've looked through the file we received from the government and everything appears to be in order." Ron picked up the thing so he could glance through it but hopefully so the woman could calm down. "You've been cleared for work in a government facility, said you would sign the necessary confidentiality papers and have no problem getting dirty or working with your hands."

"Aye sir." More accent this time, more nerves. Less meekness but the woman seemed to be about to vibrate out of her chair despite clearly fighting to maintain her cool.

Ron looked behind the woman to see Victoria still standing there, face impassive for the most part but somehow subtly encouraging.

"Well if that's the case I see no reason not to hire you on as a maid with the terms already in this proposal."

"...Ya nae care?" The confused question popped from the woman in a full Scottish brogue and she actively stuffed her hand in her mouth for a moment before dropping it again, clearly flustered.

"About what?" Ron looked up as he closed the folio.

"Mabledngwlf." The woman mumbled into her own chest.

"I'm sorry?" Ron glanced at Duke, who almost seemed amused.

"I'm a bleeding werewolf!" Lara burst out, then flushed and glanced down at her lap again. "I… I mean..."

Somewhat startled Ron leaned back for a moment and then leaned forward.

"Should I be?"

"What?" Lara looked up from where she had dropped her head in what appeared to be shame.

"Should I be concerned about you being a werewolf?" Ron kept his tone even, not bringing up the outburst.

"I… don't understand." Lara seemed slightly wary but she wasn't nearly as bad as she had been.

"Are you going to try and attack somebody, run off and terrorize the nearby town or anything like that?"

"No! No I'd never! Ma would kill me if I even thought like that and..." Lara petered off. "You really don't care."

Ron shook his head no. "My friend has a little sister that's an abyssal, one of my other friends is a light cruiser, Duke here is a battleship and I've personally met an ancient Egyptian sun-ship. Oh and a vampire who runs a shop in Diagon Alley. Maybe in a different world I'd care but in this one I don't. As long as you do your work properly we won't have any problems." Ron smiled a bit. "We'll probably even be friends."

Victoria looked a little off put by that.

"Well, as long as it's just us around. Victoria will be teaching you how to act I think."

A small nod from the Head maid.

Lara finally smiled herself, the expression looking much more natural on her face than the meekness she'd been attempting to exude before.

"You got it! I'm your girl sir! Ma'am!" She was positively exuberant.

"Then I think we're done. Unless you have something Duke?"

Duke smiled politely and shook her head. "No, I think Ron covered everything. I'll look forward to you starting Ms. O'Donnell."

"Thank you, all of you." Lara stood and nodded to Ron, Duke and Victoria before following Victoria out of the room.

When they were out of sight, Ron let out a sigh and slumped back in his chair before reaching to take a sip of his tea.

"That was stressful." He said, looking to Duke.

"I think you handled it quite well actually." Duke grinned at him before grabbing a pastry and munching on it. "Lara seems a bit high strung but she'll probably need the energy as time goes on."

"That was kind of my thoughts as well when I saw her. Victoria probably wants someone who can wrangle destroyers and carry heavy things for her." Ron took a nibble of a pastry himself.

"Most likely. She'll do fine I think, which is why I had no issues with her." Duke paused and took a sip of tea. "I'm glad you thought so too."

"I think she means well, she was just nervous and probably not used to getting accepted even for work." Ron nodded, tracing his own thought patterns out loud. "So she was surprised and trying to pretend like what she thought we wanted."

Duke just smiled and nodded as the sounds of someone coming up the hall became clear.

Victoria came around the corner again and nodded her head.

"Mr. Xathonorth to see Master Weasley and Lady Duke."

Around the corner came one of the most friendly looking old man Ron had ever seen. If he'd had a head full of hair to match his white beard he would've met the popular description of St. Nicholas but he was instead bald enough to shine in the afternoon light. His suit looked to have originally been made sometime around when Victoria had been built and patched irregularly since then. If not for the way he clearly had no trouble walking by himself and a quick glint Ron saw in his nearly amber eyes, Ron would have been concerned about the old man asking for a gardening position.

Instead the man smiled widely when Ron looked into his eyes and gave a small bow.

"A pleasure to meet both of you." His voice was deep and grandfatherly… if just slightly off from what Ron would expect.

"Please Mr. Xathonorth…?" Ron attempted to pronounce the name correctly, "Have a seat."

"Yes, thank you. Feel free to call me Xath if you wish." The old man sat down, straightening his sleeves as he did so.

"Refreshments Mr. Xath?" Duke offered pastries and tea.

"Yes, thank you. Just Xath if you don't mind. Too old for all the Mr. stuff." The man seemed as cheery as ever as he took a bite of pastry.

"So… Xath. I understand you're looking to fill the handyman and gardener position?" Ron fell back on formality as his thoughts tried to keep up.

"Yes, yes. Good with my hands and I like nature. Seems like it should keep me busy." The man nodded and the grin remained on his face.

"If you don't mind me asking… why?" Ron couldn't hold back his question.

The jolly looking man looked serious for a moment, matched eyes with Ron and then looked to Duke before going back to Ron.

"The winds of change are coming." The voice was less jolly but no less old sounding for it. "For everyone. I'm too bloody old to want to get involved in it this time around. So a nice easy place doing some yard work and helping out sounds nice to me. You're paying quite well too."

"I see." It wasn't quite the answer Ron had expected but it made more sense than any of the ones he'd thought up.

"Not everyone needs to be mysterious lad." The old man smiled, the jolly grin coming back. He leaned forward as if sharing a secret. "One of my extended family said your family were good folk so I asked around and heard the same. I'll have to thank her." He paused for a moment. "Assuming you're hiring me of course." Still a big grin.

Ron glanced at Duke who nodded to him.
"I'd say we are Xath. It'll be a pleasure to have you." Ron smiled and offered the old man his hand.

"I feel the same Mr. Weasley." As they shook hands Ron could feel a tingle of magic run up his arm. Not unpleasant but simply unusual… and strong.

"I think Victoria will handle everything from here Xath." Ron said. "Though be sure to ask if you need anything."

"I will, thank you." The jolly looking old man stood, having finished his tea and pastry.

As he turned to leave, Duke spoke up.

"If you don't mind me asking… when was the last time you got involved Xath?" Her voice was cool but curious.

The man paused, the light flashing in his eyes as he chuckled again.

"When you were around young lady. Got smacked by an 88 over Berlin. Had to sleep it off for a while and decided I'd had enough adventure."

Duke nodded and the man turned to follow Victoria out of the room.

Ron waited a few seconds before he sighed again.

"Sometimes I wonder when life got so exciting." He said with a small laugh.

"I do believe it was sometime around when Blood Week happened." Duke said. "For everyone."

"That's true." Ron looked over and reached out to take Duke's hand. "I'm not complaining. I wouldn't have met you otherwise."

Duke flushed a little bit, her boilers spooling slightly and she squeezed his hand.

"I wouldn't change a thing either Ron." She smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek.

It was Ron's turn to flush and the boy tried not to grin too much.

"Do you think it's time for lunch yet?" He asked.

"Soon at least." Duke checked her internal chronometer. "Perhaps a game of chess first? It's been a while." She cocked her head at him.

"I think that sounds good. I have some new moves to try out on you so you better watch out."

Duke's throaty chuckle echoed through the room as the two stood and went to find a board.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
AN: Wow that one got out of hand compared to what I thought but I hope you enjoyed! Questions and comments welcome like always.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

You know, you'd think finally getting wifi set up would increase my productivity, not get me so drunk on having 24/7 interwebs that I end up doing pretty much nothing for a week. You'd think that, wouldn't you.
Flash Back: Kung Fu Fighting
The moment that "War" (seemed as good a name as any) rolled fluidly off the back of the couch to avoid Tonbo and the Scottish girl's simultaneous opening strikes, something in Tatsuya's mind clicked to "too easy." Watching as she casually sidestepped her way through her attackers, deflecting them to the sides and bringing up a hand to catch Benio's own opening strike, he was almost tempted to hang back and just watch as she moved with practiced grace and precision.

Basically, she was really, really good. Which was great when viewed on a movie screen, but substantially less so when oh God right in front of me!

His arms snapped up, barely in time to block the kick that still lifted him from his feet and threw him into the opposite wall, then reversed to force the American guy to guard, throwing off his attack and providing War an opening to reset her stance, catch two punches from opposite directions, and throw the two girls at him like ragdolls. Tonbo was in front of her in an instant, blade immediately caught between a pair of Bowie knives that, for all that they hadn't been split in two with extreme prejudice, probably had some crazy degree of magic juice themselves.

And now she's serious. Beautiful.

Okay, okay, so she was basically better than everyone in the room, but everyone's compounded abilities still slowed her down by oh damn here she comes again! Tatsuya threw himself away from the wall, eyes widening as he realized that his head was aimed directly at her knee. Arms up again, head slammed against the wall (it's okay, I've had worse), eyes unblurring as he looked up into eyes filled with if… resignation, more than anything else. It's a shame, she seemed to be saying as she brought a knife up and down, I would have loved to know you—

And suddenly Tonbo was onto her, locking arms in a frantic, enraged attempt at something resembling a half nelson. "LIKE HELL, BITCH!" she screamed, fumbling to pull the older sword away from him.

For a split second, so brief he nearly thought he imagined it, confusion showed in War's eyes. Then her head snapped back to catch Tonbo in the chin, regained her footing and lifted, spinning to put the Muramasa right in Benio's line of attack—she faltered, but the Scottish girl didn't, bringing a knife up to slash through Tonbo's side before War's own blocked it and she had to duck away to avoid a blade to the face. Scrabbling to his feet, getting upright again, Tatsuya missed the next moments, but Tonbo was off her and the American guy was full up against her, opening with a martial arts combo at—Tatsuya wasn't sure what "point blank" would be considered for martial arts, but he was right in front of her, and she wasn't able to block—but she was able to skip backwards, lean just so, and avoid the whole thing. But if she could anticipate everything so easily, why—

Tatsuya caught the thrown blade out of midair with a grimace, then slashed the thrown darts out of midair. Every time he got a chance to think, she was attacking him again! Every attack, every try, she seemed to know exactly where it was coming from and how! The only chance anyone had was to hold out long enough for some sort of miracle, and it was only because everyone here was that good that they weren't already dead—like the knife grating against his collarbone oh God WHY AGAIN!

His hands snapped up and wrapped around War's own, trying to hold it in one place because he like his blood where it was supposed to be, dammit!

"Keep this up," he panted, "and I'm going to start—"

Then she deflected the Scottish girl's flurry of attacks and cracked him on the head with the hilt of her other weapon.

And as if she was dealing a bit of maintenance to a cantankerous computer, a thought that Tatsuya had been trying to form the whole time rose to the surface almost incidentally.

She didn't see Tonbo coming.

That… seemed important. Enough that it almost seemed worth the world going funny the way it had. Distantly, Tatsuya thought he heard the sound of glass breaking. Did someone fall out a window? Things were falling into place, somewhere, somehow… Right, ignore the pain until it stopped you from running walking crawling writhing forward, get UP swing OUT he needed a plan, needed something to equalize the field, now that he had her figured out—phone?

War, standing on Benio's collar, just about to transfer her weight there as she moved from American guy to Tonbo, glanced down at her pocket and rolled her eyes. "Hell," she muttered, "should have left the thing back with—"

"HEY ASSHAT!"

As a Chinese woman flickered out of the air to wrap her arms around her, something flew past her head—Tatsuya couldn't quite make it out, still recovering, but War's arm snapped up to catch it before it hit her compatriot.

Then the two of them were gone.

As everything finally fell into place, Tatsuya regained his feet. Glancing at where they were just standing, he followed the line of fire out the broken window to find Reiko standing there, arm outstretched, breathing heavily. Her pockets were filled with ofuda—looked unused from where he was standing, and Tatsuya realized what the jorogumo must have just thrown.

"Heh," Reiko caught his eye, and gave him a weak smile. "We had a plan. Hope my boss is okay with it."
-----

Whenever I write one of these things, I have this vision in my head of a glorious martial arts battle full of skill, special techniques, and pretty much just style. When I turn them into words, they almost uniformly transform into chaotic brawls with little if any choreography. It's actually a bit annoying.

I think I'm running out of song titles, too.

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

SkyeFire

And now, another installment of OPTIONALLY CANONICAL THEATRE!

Tocatta for Toast, in E minor

"Mother's Day?" Tokunotaki-no-Masamune cocked one elegant eyebrow at the slender blonde woman who was her stepdaughter in almost every meaning of the word other than the formal, legal definition. "Yes, it is celebrated in Japan, though on a different date." Her expression turned pensive. "Though I have never been part of such celebrations myself, of course."

"A lack I am sure Mutti will correct in due time, Toku-san," Ehren du Chasteler replied stoically, just the tiniest hint of a blush touching her peaches-and-cream complexion. Toku felt a similar warmth in her own cheeks, and firmly ignored it, in favor of appreciating the magnitude of this gesture from the young dagger -- given Ehren's reserved nature, the carefully-offhand comment was nearly equivalent to a formal seal of approval of her mother's relationship with Toku.

"I look forward to it," she replied instead. "In the meantime, you said that Mother's Day is coming up soon, locally?"

"Ja," Ehren nodded firmly, obviously relieved to be moving on to safer topics. "Claire has generally taken the lead in planning our celebrations, but given how our family has recently expanded, I felt I should make it possible for her to delegate more to me. I would like to set up a surprise for Mutti this year, and it seemed appropriate to request your involvement."

Toku studied the girl, who had unconsciously drawn herself up into a military stance of attention. She was reminded almost painfully of the various apprentices who had passed through her care over the centuries, eager and awkward and uncertain.

Place her in between helpless bystanders and overwhelming evil, she relaxes, Toku reflected wryly, but trying to connect with her stepmother-to-be has her stressed nearly to the point of vibrating.

"I would be delighted, Ehren-chan," she replied with carefully measured enthusiasm. "And I am truly touched that you want to include me."

The dagger blushed again, and coughed discreetly into her fist. "Ah! It is I who is grateful, Tokunotakai-san. I have the current rough draft of my plans in my office, if you would care to see...?"

Toku gave her her best Approving Teacher smile. "I would, indeed. Please, lead on."

A half-hour later, Toku found her head spinning slightly as she stood over Ehren's desk, staring down at the intricately detailed spread of papers, neatly diagrammed and lettered in Ehren's painfully neat draughtsman's hand, that constituted part of her "rough draft." The in-briefing (she really couldn't find any other way to think of it) had also included a physics demonstration, the results of an in-depth study of pastry ballistic and aerodynamic coefficients, and video recordings of several Chinese wuxia films and an American actor named Belushi.

She shook her head in bemusement, and looked up to find Ehren trying not to look as if she were studying the older blade's face carefully. She hid it well, but Toku had learned enough of Ehren's 'tells' to see that the young woman was chewing the inside of her cheek nervously.

Of course, Toku thought. Some of my sisters would easily consider my part in this plan to be an insult to my dignity. Fudo-oneesan, in particular. And I would have, as well, once. She suppressed a smile. But I would like to think I have learned how to, ah, 'take a joke' since then, as Colombe would probably say.

"A plan I believe Hachiman-sama himself would find thorough and carefully thought out," she said. "Have you made arrangements for a camera? The look on her face will be priceless." She let the smile slip out.

Ehren's shoulders relaxed millimetrically like a sigh of relief. "Section 17, sub-section Alpha, sub-sub sections three through seven," she replied crisply. "Buffered recordings from the concealed cameras in the ceiling corners, and Kasuyu has agreed to have his phone recording from his shirt pocket."

Toku blinked and leafed through the binder of color-tabbed pages. "Where... oh! I must have overlooked it at first. Well, you seem to have everything covered. The only thing left to do, is--" She let her smile widen. "Practice."

Ehren actually bounced on her heels. Once. "Mutti will be out attending to buisiness concerns for at least the next four hours, and Kasuyu laid in training materials before they left. Frau Miho has been sworn to secrecy, and the children agreed as well. At least," Ehren's lips curved a tiny bit, "after I agreed to help them with their Mother's Day plans in exchange."

"Shrewd negotiators, indeed," Toku said solemnly. "Shall we?"

"Jawhol!" Ehren about-faced and lead the way out of her office.

"Do you know," Toku mused as she followed down the hall, "it is at moments like this that your resemblance to your mother shows most clearly?"

Ehren almost stumbled a bit. "V-- vas?"

"Oh, yes." Toku let her smile broaden. "It's when you're plotting mischief -- your eyes dance in almost exactly the same way."

Ehren didn't look back, which was how Toku discovered that her stepdaughter-to-be would blush even on the back of her neck. And while she said nothing, her steps were noticeably lighter.

Maybe I won't be so bad at this step-mother thing after all.


Mother's Day found Colombe waking alone, which would have been a disagreeable experience had she not known Toku's early-rising habits (which Colombe took great pleasure in "corrupting" as often as she could get away with), and suspected that her --their-- daughters might well have dragooned their stepmother-to-be into whatever shenanigans they had planned for this Mother's Day.

(Suffice to say, the typical "breakfast in bed" had never been "on the menu" yet, in her years of motherhood to date)

Her suspicions were further confirmed by a pair of giggling Youkai imps who thought they were being stealthy, stampeding down the hall ahead of her into the dining room from what had obviously been their lookout posting.

It made her smile with anticipatory nostalgia. Parenthood had yet to include "the pitter-patter of little feet," for her, but (exasperating as they could be sometimes) Miho's children were a pleasant preview of what she had to look forward to, once she and Toku could formalize things, clear their schedules, and reduce the outstanding dumpsterfires to something manageable.

So she pretended to be surprised as she swung around the corner of the dining room doorway, calling out "Bonjour, mes--" And then she wasn't pretending anymore.

Ehren and Toku were facing each other over the sideboard, steel bared.

"Are you ready, Ehren-chan?"

"I am, Toku-san!"

"Then... en garde!"

A palm strike to the upturned edge of a serving platter catapulted a steaming fresh loaf of bread into the air, rotating lazily as it reached the top of its arc, began to fall--

"Secret Hachimangu Bread-Slicing Technique!"
(...why is To-chan shouting attack names in English?)

--and met the rising edge of Toku's blade-self in a rising cut that had originally been designed to disembowel a warrior from hip to shoulder.

The heel of the loaf, sliced cleanly off, sailed into Ehren's waiting hand, while the rest of the loaf was propelled upwards again, by a deliberate off-normal twist to the blow.

Ehren had already plunged her blade-self into the butter crock, and slapped a perfect coat of butter across the bread-slice as it fell into her off hand, without dislodging so much as a crumb. The catch-and-spread motion segued neatly into an over-the-shoulder pass to Claire, who was standing beside --of course, a numbed sliver of Colombe's mind noted-- a toaster oven.

Claire caught the buttered slice and slipped it into the oven (butter-side-up, of course) with quick efficiency. The next slice was already descending into Ehren's hand, with its coat of butter rising out of the crock in a neat wad plastered across her blade. And the loaf, another slice shorter, was again arcing up and over before descending to meet Toku's next strike.

Miho, for her part, was standing on the other side of the dual-sided toaster oven, and, as it reached capacity, opened the far side and removed the most-toasted slice. She was flanked by her girls, who were themselves armed with jam, honey, and Giggling Determination. What they lacked in skill, they were certainly making up for in enthusiasm. Well, cleaning the mess would be Kasuyu's lookout (as if Colombe hadn't noticed him standing there pretending his phone just happened to be peeking over the edge of his shirt pocket!).

...later. For now... Colombe let herself enjoy the intricate ballet her family was putting on for her benefit (and their own amusement).

All too soon, it was over, and as much toast as five tsukumogami and three youkai could reasonably be expected to eat was plated and tabled, dripping butter, honey, and/or a variety of fruit preserves.

"You know," Colombe commented between bites, "I've seen drill corps that would have been happy with that level of precision. Whose idea was this, anyway?"

"Oh," Toku replied airily, "our Ehren-chan is a subtle prankster, in addition to a meticulous planner."

Colombe didn't miss Ehren hiding a blush behind her next bite of toast.

"And also a budding paronomasiac," Toku continued blithely, causing the dagger to choke slightly and shoot the katana an et tu, Brute look.

Claire giggled and reached over to pat her sister on the back, while Misaki looked concerned. "Does that mean Ehren-nee is crazy?"

"Because she's not!" Chihiro said stoutly.

This time it was Toku's turn to choke on her toast, while Colombe snickered. "No, no, girls, that's 'paranoid'. A paronomasiac is someone who loves puns, and playing with words." She tipped a sly smile in Ehren's direction. "It's a trait often found in people who are very precise linguists."

"And a very good grasp of iconography," Toku interjected smoothly, having regained her breath. "As she said to me, 'what better represents a union of Bread and Butter Knives... than toast?'"

Colombe reached out and intertwined the fingers of her free hand with Toku's, and looked around the table at her family. An odd assortment, to be sure, and a "some assembly required" project over the years, but... she couldn't imagine giving up a single one of them.

It was Mother's Day. Everyone was here, healthy, and happy, and all was right with the world.


(So... please 'hammer, don't hurt me?

)
Well, I already did a butter-knife gag with Ehren&Claire, so I had to find a way to make a bread&butter pun once Toku joined the mix....

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

Pack Dynamics II

Yokosuka Naval Base, Kanmasu Housing

Moriko smiled as she saw Sachiko come out of her room for breakfast. Two days ago, she had been cleared to use a walker around the house, and while the young wolf was leaning heavily on the frame, she made it from the door to the table slowly but triumphantly.

"Great work, my amazing and determined little sister triumphs once again!" Moriko congratulated her, before giving her a hug and a plate of beef liver on top of her rice. "Eat up so you can grow up big and strong like us!"

"S'Right..." Mumbled a clearly semi-awake Suzume as she made her way to the table for her own breakfast.

"Suzume-chan, you didn't sleep well?" Moriko asked as she shoveled rice into Suzume's bowl.

Her twin shook her head groggily. "So many roads to paint around base.... Between that and needing to study for my engineering certifications so I can train my eventual crew on airplanes, I got to bed late."

Sachiko reached over and squeezed Suzume's hand. "At least punishment detail ends tomorrow, right?"

Suzume gave a faint smile, "Hai. Shigure and I just need to finish up the north pier and we are done."

"That's good. Hachiko-chan has asked about you. He wants to meet you for real." Moriko spoke between bites of her rice and miso.

Suzume drank her coffee, looking slightly more coherent, and then spoke. "I should personally apologize to him for... well..."

Moriko barked a laugh, "It was pretty funny, though. Wasn't it, Sachiko-chan? My own sister charging through the gate to save me from getting assaulted by a boy half my size."

Sachiko giggled. "Oh yes, the look on Suzume-chan's face when she realized it was a simple goodbye-for-now chat and not," she blushed pink, "that! I think Suzume-chan has a dirty mind~~."

"I do not!" Suzume flushed scarlet as the salvo bracketed her.

"Do~ too~!" Sachiko grinned as she loaded another round of shells.

Moriko's phone rang. "Just a second... Moshi moshi! Oh Hachiko-chan~~!"

Suzume rolled her eyes as she knew quite well that Hachiko had gotten a special ring tone on Moriko's phone settings. Sachiko contemplated that her oldest sister was a lousy liar, since her surprised voice was as clearly fake as a 2300 yen bill.

The budding sisterly slap-fight across the table was shelved with a hasty cease-fire as two sets of lupine ears swiveled toward their happily-smiling sister. Hot blackmail and gossip was available!

"Yes, yes, I'd love to go to hanami with you..." A certain MMA fighter fistpumped with a smile of victory, "Saturday is fine for me... Oh, Aki is coming too? We can make it a family outing then! We all go have a picnic and view the flower blossoms!... right, I'll meet you at the main gate then, ja ne!"

Moriko hung up and looked up from punching in the date on her phone's calendar function to see two she-wolves surveying her like they would a stray tender yearling calf after skipping meals for a week in the wild.

"Suzume-chan, Sachiko-chan, what did I say?"

----------------------------------
Spoiler: Another Day Working Toward A Better Future

Hachiko hung up his phone as he reached his bicycle. Uncontrollably, he smiled at the thought of seeing Moriko-chan again while he unlocked the bike lock and mounted his battered and rusty bicycle.

He slipped the phone into the pocket with the money that he had been paid after unloading the furniture for Odawara's Outfitters.

A full 2500 yen toward the Ring Fund. Yay!

Even though he was well aware that she would no doubt make far more than he would as a kanmasu officer in the JMSDF as opposed to someone who had not even gone to college, he would not hesitate to hold up his end of the relationship.

If only rings were not so expensive....

He shook his head at the thought.

He might as well wish for his parents to be alive while he was at it. Wishing for something would not make it happen, only effort would.

He sighed as he continued to pedal, ignoring the protest from his agonized muscles. One step at a time. If he skipped lunch, tightened his belt a little more, perhaps he could scrounge a few extra yen for Moriko-chan's engagement ring.

She deserved nothing less than his best after all. She and Aki....

With that he parked and locked his bike at the library and took a deep breath.

"Is there something wrong, Nephew?"

He turned to see his aunt looking curiously at him.

"Aunt Naomi. It's...nothing really."

She gave him a quelling look. "Is Aki sick?"

"No no, it's not Aki. It's... I met this wonderful girl and...." He trailed off, visibly struggling with himself. "Is it wrong to want something for yourself even though it conflicts with your responsibilities?"

Naomi Miyata hugged him, "Not at all, Nephew. So what's this girl named?"

"Ibuki Moriko, she's a martial arts instructor at the JMSDF base." Hachiko smiled slightly at the thought of Moriko-chan.

Naomi's eyebrows raised at the sight of her nephew's smile. A smile that she knew well from seeing her husband's face over a decade and a half of happy marriage. Clearly, this was not a 'girl who is just a friend' but something romantic. "I see. How did you meet her?"

"She and her little sister were visiting the Cafe while I was waiting tables seven weeks ago, I wrote it down on my scheduler. One of the other patrons bumped into me and I lost my glasses." Hachiko's smile grew more goofy at the memory of the first time that he had seen her. "She was kind enough to help me out and we started talking while we cleaned them off, they landed in her parfait, if you can believe that."

Naomi blinked, and made a mental note to follow up those rumors of Kitsune in Yokosuka. This sounded like a Kitsune prank and she didn't want her nephew to get hurt, he deserved much better. If one of those tricksters was targeting her nephew for sick kicks she would have a fox's tails and ears nailed to the wall above her desk at work. "I see.... What's she like?"

Hachiko beamed, "Oh, she's so strong and caring and beautiful and..." Naomi nodded along with the stream of words about this girl who according to her nephew was an angel sent down from the Christian Heaven. She blushed slightly, remembering a younger herself talking about her future husband in these kind of glowing terms to Kiku-chan in the back of her Potions class at Mahoutokoro.

He paused briefly, but knew that his aunt and grandfather would find out already, and it was not like she had a really dark secret such as his Inugami brother. "She is also a natural born shipgirl, although unawakened."

Naomi froze, visibly taken aback "I see, may I ask for a favor from you? If you have a picture of her, can I borrow it?"

Hachiko pulled out his billfold and then pulled a picture of himself and Moriko taken three weeks ago at a photo booth. "Here you go."

Naomi pocketed it, and handed over the envelope of rent money. "Thank you. I'll speak to your grandfather about her...."

Hachiko winced, "I suppose there's nothing for it." he sighed.

Naomi hugged him again. "Father is not an unreasonable man, just... constrained. Which reminds me. If you see this woman around, stay clear and if possible contact me." She pulled out a flier with a magical photograph of a blonde Frenchwoman smirking smugly from it.

He blinked and pocketed the flier after glancing at the header. "Sounds like the plot of a bad movie. International terrorist visits Tokyo. I'll keep an eye out."

"Good. For what it is worth, Nephew, I trust your judgment and your heart. And Ibuki Moriko is getting herself one of the best men in Japan if this bears fruit. I just worry more if she is worthy of you."

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

Eight Views of Moulbaix
Spoiler: Music for Moulbaix

To Miho Fujii, the Castle was a place of refuge.

She had never believed that the outside world could be like this. She had heard stories about the outside world from her mother, who had heard them from her grandmother and from her great-grandmother.

But in all the stories, the outside world was a harsh, cruel place with all men's hands turned against a jorogumo such as her and her baby sister.

She shook her head gracefully in disbelief at that thought now as she spun her silk to clear her mind. The spinning was not even a condition for her employment but something that she could practice of her own free will to gift or use as she saw fit. In this case, heartfelt gifts were her plan for the hand-spun jorogumo silk robes that she was weaving for the rest of the household.

With Lady Tokunotakai's aid -- and who would think that the spirit of a Masamune blade would rescue one such as herself! -- she had constructed a small shrine in her room to give thanks to Hachiman-dono, Konohananosakuya-hime, Lady Tokunotakai, and Lady Colombe for answering her prayers.

The other tsukumogami were equally welcoming in their own ways.

Claire was, as one might expect the tsukumogami of a musical instrument to be, an artist, and a gentle soul. Rapidly she had gained the trust of the children, and served as their big sister and primary minder and playmate. She would have to find a biwa somewhere and see if she could teach Claire some of the traditional songs of her people.

Discussions with Kasuyu about potion crafting were fascinating, and the axe had shared many of the spells used to upkeep and preserve the castle in exchange for the lore that her mother had taught her in the casting of illusion spells. While he was no kitsune, tanuki, or jorogumo, he did have some ability with them. They also shared an interest in cooking, and had been exchanging recipes.

The one who truly excelled at illusion magics was the dagger spirit Ehren. While she was the least welcoming on the surface, underneath the cool expression, lurked the heart of a honorable warrior. Something in her story of grief had touched something within the dagger's steel heart, for it was certain that the source of the chocolate-coated coffee beans that had arrived unexpectedly two weeks after her arrival was the dagger.

With that, Miho took one chocolate coffee bean from the bowl in her room and shivered in bliss at the taste of pure delight as she expelled more thread for the black silk robe with subtle gray spiderweb accents and hidden pockets for her weapons that she was weaving for the young dagger.

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

To Misaki Fujii, the Castle was a place of wonders.

Food was plentiful and she could actually eat until she was full. Even if Big Sister Miho restricted her to no more than eight chocolate coffee beans a day until she had her First Molting and her abdomen emerged.

Anyway!

There were so many interesting things to see and do!

Some of the rooms were fascinating, ranging from small cubbyholes to the massive great halls on the ground floor.

She was even allowed under supervision to climb up the walls of the large halls and explore the rafters!

Using her own silk and under her big sister Miho's direction and guidance, she even constructed a few hidden pathways twenty meters above the floor. Well anchored silk lines to let her scurry out of sight to play hide and seek or tag with Claire-chan, Ehren-chan, and Chihiro-chan.

But the halls were only the second most wonderful place that she had found!

Above her room that she shared with Chihiro-chan, right next to Miho-nee's room, there were attics!

And such attics, stretching for meters in all directions and filled with chests, crates, boxes, old clothing and a thousand and one other treasures! Full of hiding places, rafters to swing from, even nooks and crannies to practice spinning her webs like the Lady of Joro Falls did to find her true love according to Oneechan's stories.

And then when playtime was over there was chocolate ice cream!

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

To Chihiro Arakai, the Castle was a place of exploration.

Both in her human form and as a tanuki cub, she explored the castle rooms and attics alongside Misaki-chan, but that was only the start of her explorations.

Her illusions and shape shifting had so many items and people here that she could duplicate! Paintings, photographs, old newspapers, artifacts of every description.

And then there were the libraries.

Sweet Kami, the libraries!

So. Many. Books.

Ehren-chan and Claire-chan were helping her and Misaki-chan read them, and teaching her the languages she needed to read them for herself.

Ehren and Claire-chan were the best new big sisters that a tanuki could have.

And each book was a new place of the mind to explore.

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

To Claire du Chasteler, the Castle was a place of music.

Places for her to sit and play, paintings and artifacts to use for inspiring a fresh piece of music.

(A thought that made her giggle and segue into The Promenade from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition before shifting to a variation on Brahms as she idly played)

Reams and reams of sheet music, and iTunes songs.

And best of all, an audience for her works. Ehren, Mother, Kasuyu, Tokunotakai, Miho, Misaki, Chihiro all enjoyed her playing as they went about their lives.

All she lacked was a fellow musician to join the experience.

Mother was a delight to play with, Tokunotakai and Miho had both mentioned that they would like to play their traditional instruments with her, and Little Sister Ehren was eagerly devouring music in their times together.

But none of them quite loved music the way that she did. But Claire was certain that would change one day.

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

To Kasuyu, the Castle was a place of safety.

He was old, old in ways that made the antics of the Mistress, much less the even younger 'children' of hers seem like the morning dew on the lawns.

He knew full well how harsh and evil the world could be. This was a lesson only the Mistress and her Younger Daughter comprehended, and even that imperfectly.

But they had carved out this safe haven for innocence to flourish and beauty to shelter unthreatened. This was something that a worthy Chieftain would do, and was one reason among many many reasons that he followed the Mistress willingly.

But he knew that the safe haven must be defended and strengthened, because one day the Evils of the world would threaten it once more.

Complacency was death, after all.

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

To Masamune-no-Tokunotakai, the Castle was a place of insight.

Her love had shaped it, and it had shaped her in turn

Here she had walked her first steps.

Here she had taken her first sword lesson alongside her adopted kin.

Here she had bid farewell to her adopted father whose portrait loomed large over the grand staircase in the castle, and loomed equally largely in Colombe's life.

Here she had been betrayed by Hippolyte.

Here she had experienced mono no aware the night Debussy played Claire's piano body incomparably, creating a performance of surpassing beauty and equally surpassing transience and impermanence, save in the memories of the rapier and the piano.

Here she had confronted her traitorous nephew and slew him to save her family honor, just like in a great noh play.

Here she had celebrated birthdays and holidays with her true sisters and her new family, born from the ashes of the old.

Here her children had manifested, first Claire and then Ehren.

Here had lurked the ghost of her greatest failure, until Toku had managed to exorcise it and purify the room properly, leaving the newly cleared soil fallow for new and better memories to grow there.

Here she had taken her masks of nobility, of pride, of duty, of honor totally down for Toku to comfort the wounded soul within.

Here Colombe had been shaped, just as the Hachimangu had shaped Toku.

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

To Ehren du Chasteler, the Castle was a place of growth.

Here she had rested for well over half her life as she gathered her strength and learned by observation of Mother.

Here she had manifested, and faced her Mother in struggle the day of her birth to protect Claire.

Here she had found out the terrible truth about her past and her heritage.

Here she had denied the evil forged into her very soul, pushing herself to the brink of destruction in her rejection of her dark heritage.

Here she had found a Big Sister, found Aunts... and finally found a Mother who she could love and who loved her.

Here she had sworn oaths of service, of nobility, of honor... of commitment to things that she could believe in.

Here she had begun to study the arts of combat and magic, preparing for the day when she must use them in the field of battle, to triumph or die.

Here she had learned the arts of business and management to hone her mind to the same sharpness of her steel blade.

Here she had studied ethics, and morals, honing her spirit to face the challenges outside the walls and within her spirit.

Here she found herself, forged herself, prepared herself.

Finally, from here, she would sally forth to battle the demons of her nature and the evils of the world when she had grown enough.

For here she had learned what it was to be a du Chasteler.

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

For Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler, the Castle was a place of memory.

Every door, every turning of the passage, every room, every seat and painting and item there was part of her memories.

The good times with her brothers and sisters, learning to fence, watching her sisters, nieces, brothers, nephews, and cousins get married, celebrations, triumphs, family and friends, the birth of a new baby with the wail a challenge to the darkness as her family endured.

The bad times, funerals, failures, betrayals, doubts, a broken bird struggling to lean to fly again with her shattered wings, weeping in a darkened room in an empty castle.

Papa at the head of the stairs, judging her, inspiring her, challenging her to do more to live up to what he saw in her.

Hippolyte's ghost locked in the tower, tormenting her, reminding her of her failures, tearing her down, whispering the poisons of regret, loss, guilt and shame into her ears.

Her daughters and Kasuyu manifesting, and filling her life in wonderfully unexpected ways.

Tokunotakai accepting her at her worst, at her most dishonored, at her most stained...accepting that no matter what happened, she could share her burdens, share her heart with the Masamune. A gift of love that she did not deserve, did not earn...but needed.

A place like no other, that no matter where her paths would take her, they would always lead back here.

Castle Moulbaix.

A.N.-Yes the music is relevant and yes certain characters 'corresponded' to certain movements in Pictures at an Exhibition when I wrote this. Hints for people guessing. No one gets Promenade (it is the 'theme' of Moulbaix as a whole), Chihiro is The Ballad of Unhatched Chicks, and the sequence and tone of viewpoints is not random (the viewpoints are portrayed in the order their movements come up). Have at it.

 

[darthcourt10]

MagisterAurelius

The following is not part of my Ship of Fools snippets. We've seen those who something special or just are lucky achieve great things, find true love, etc. Those who overcome massive obstacles to achieve happiness. Waff and warm fuzzies. We've seen the winners and heroes. This snippet is about the flip side of that coin. Because sometimes the villains aren't the losers. Instead it is someone who despite their efforts, morality, sense of duty, etc, has ended up unnoticed, unnecessary and unwanted. This is a place called Lonely Street.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*

At 0530 hours the alarm clock sounded off in the spartan bedroom of the small house currently the residence of USCGC Master Chief Dalton Longstreet. A meaty hand landed on the noisy appliance as if offended that it had dared to break the silence. Getting up, he stripped off the tee shirt and boxers he had worn to bed and stepped into the shower. He let the hot water beat on him for a few minutes before washing up and finishing his morning ablutions. While he shaved he noticed in the reflection the angry blue and brown bruising on the pinky finger of his right hand. Guess it's been set well enough.

By 0600, he was chewing through his breakfast and the first cup of coffee of the day. He sighed. I salt, I pepper, I use tabasco sauce. Nothing seems to make any food more than just a chewing exercise. He glanced at the calendar. Oh it's Saturday already. Maybe there will be enough backlogged paperwork to need me to go in on Sunday as well.

It was 0700 hours but the chance to pass the day in dealing with paperwork was denied him. Apparently Captain Yonehara had given everyone in the building time off for hanami, leaving the building secured and Dalton to make the day pass by some other way. As he stopped to puzzle over if there was anything he could even think of, one of his coworkers, a Lt Kawaguchi approached him.

"Master Chief Longstreet-san. I knew you would be here. Most of us don't even need watches anymore, we just see if you've arrived at work yet to know the time."

Dalton replied quietly, "Is there something I can help you with Lt Kawaguchi?"

The young lieutenant laughed nervously, "Well since Cpt Yonehara gave us time off for hanami, the guys from the office and our girlfriends are having a picnic. Thing is, my girlfriends' sister is single and well, we end up needing one more guy so she's not left out.."

"I see. Do you think she is expecting an old broken down Coastie chief? It might not be fair to her after all."

"No no. It will be fine. She's a total Christmas cake, so she might be a bit assertive, but you shouldn't mind that right?"

Dalton shrugged. "Very well. I will at least go with you and see. If she's unhappy though, I will not impose myself."

"It'll be fine. You'll like her and she'll like you, I'm sure of it Master Chief!" Kawaguchi grinned.

They entered the park and approached the group of friends that Kawaguchi pointed out as his girlfriend, his co-workers, their girlfriends, his girlfriend's sister and then Kawaguchi's voice faded out as he was about to point to the young man whose arm was being held in a death grip by the sister of his girlfriend. "What the... I don't get it... my girlfriend said she was single..."

Dalton clapped Kawaguchi on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. This sort of thing has been happening to me for almost twenty years Kawaguchi. I'm not surprised anymore. This is what happens when I try. Have fun and enjoy your day. The day will pass whether I fill it with something or not." With that Dalton walked out of the park alone.

-------

If this is too much of a downer to the thread, I won't continue this. But the concept is interesting to me. What does happen in the HatSG universe to those for whom happiness is something that happens to other people?

 

[darthcourt10]

Digital Historian

Introductions and Reunions

Den Helder, The Netherlands
Around two weeks after the defence of Rotterdam

It had been a busy two weeks after the Abyssals, as everyone now called them, had been driven back from Rotterdam and other cities on the Dutch coast. With a lull in the battering the defenders were taking, there was finally time to send Van Galen to Den Helder for an official re-introduction to the Koninklijke Marine. So far, all communication with 'upstairs' had run through a midshipman that was assigned to be her minder, so she was a little nervous when she sailed into the Nieuwe Haven the first time in this life, past the heavily damaged steel hulls that had found refuge there. She sailed all the way down, to the low floating gantry between quay's 19 and 20, passing the monument to fallen submariners on her right. More names might have to added to the list, as several submarines that had been out on patrol when the attacks happened had not reported back, though Hr. Ms. Dolfijn had somehow managed to make it from her patrol route around the Somali coast all the way to Perth in Australia, claiming two battleships and a cruiser princess sunk in the bargain.

As she came onto solid 'ground', the floating platform dipped down quite a bit, before she noticed and reminded herself she was a girl now, forcing her 1600 tons to disappear. An ensign was waiting for her, and escorted her up the road to the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy, a post that was unknown to her, but she was told it was the successor of what Admiral Fürstner had been in her day – so a man to sit up and pay attention to. She was shown into an office where she was introduced to the new admiral of the Dutch Shipgirl fleet.

Admiral Peter Schippers had been about to retire before the current crisis hit, after spending the last two decades as the commander of Den Helder naval base, interspersed with stints of teaching at the Royal Netherlands Naval College. Based on the tentative experiences of other navies, shipgirl personnel appeared to need a commander that could manage their personalities as much as direct them in military matters. Thus, an older officer with experience moulding inexperienced recruits into a tight-knit cadre of professionals was considered a good choice. Of course, it didn't hurt that, from the perspective of the general staff and the government, with his retirement postponed 'for the duration', if needed Schippers could be sidelined quickly if it became expedient.

"Hello, Van Galen. It's good to have you back with us." With his greying beard and windswept face, the admiral looked like an old sea dog, and he sounded like one too. "It's good to finally meet you face to face. We've been waiting for you to try and summon more scheepszielen, as we've been calling them, so with you here we can give that a shot tomorrow. About that, is there anything you remember from coming back?"

Van Galen was quiet for a moment. "All I really remember," She began, "was a overwhelming need to be there, to complete something I had left undone. There was this weight of the event pushing down on me. A thousand voices calling out, telling me I had to come." The thought for a second, before adding: "that and the taste of salt, steel and oil. That was particularly pronounced – though it may just have been the Meuse." An apologetic look crossed her face. "I'm sorry sir, that's all I remember."

The admiral had been taking meticulous notes while she spoke, and capped his fountain pen. "Don't worry lass, we've talked much with the other navies, and we've got good hopes for the ceremony tomorrow. You've just confirmed much of what we thought we knew. For now, go get yourself some food, and I'll see you tomorrow when the summoning takes place." As she left, she could hear him chuckle. "Summonings, rituals, never thought I'd see the day the navy adopted 'hokey religions as a match for a good rifle'. I wonder if we'll see wizards next."


The Den Helder summoning pool was not very impressive. It was, in fact, the Naval Academy's swimming pool, repurposed for calling forth ship's spirits. This purpose had, unsurprisingly, not been accounted for by the original designers, and thus there were a lot of makeshift elements that were considered 'good enough' until a purpose-built structure could be erected. Nowhere was this more evident than in the fact that the admiral in charge of the summoning was stood on the diving board, while the windows had been covered with dark paint. Lanterns provided lighting, while the Naval Museum next door seemed to have moved half its collection over to surround the basin, filled with seawater for the occasion. Grand paintings of naval battles and admirals lined the walls, while above the pool hung the flags and banners of renown, with the standard that flew from 'Zeven Provinciën' at the four-days battle taking pride of place. By the time Van Galen got in, most of the naval personnel had already arrived to line the sides of the pool, while the band of the royal marines had taken position a the opposite end. As she moved to stand beside the admiral – or as near she could anyway- they struck up the national anthem. A few moments, it seemed like nothing had happened, when motes of light entered the pool, and the water beagn to churn. Before their eyes, the spray and light coalesced into the forms of three young women, stood upon the surface of the water as if it were solid ground.

The eldest of the three was probably in her late twenties, though her clothes and hair made her look much older. Her copper hair was done up in a bun, held in place with a silver hairpin. The neckline of her dark high-cut princess-style dress was accentuated by a silver chocker with a golden gryphon on black field. Surprise briefly flashed over her face, before she his it between a regal mask. "Good day, admiral, you seem to have my companions and me at a disadvantage. My name is Hertog Hendrik, though I went by Ariadne for a while too. Pray tell, where are we, and how did we arrive here?"

Admiral Schippers cleared his throat, quickly stamping down on the elation at the successful ceremony. "I am Admiral Schippers of the Koninklijke Marine. The year is 2006, and you have been summoned in your current form to defend your country once more from a threat only you can combat. The vengeful spirits of those who died at sea in conflict have returned to destroy the living. While we realise that you have all served your country well, and deserve your rest more than anyone, we have to ask: will you aid us?"

The Coastal Defence Ship frowned at the mention of her homeland being under threat, and her answer was resolute. "While I was already getting on in years when the last war was fought, I was ready to try my best. I will gladly do so again."

The two other girls were also a sight to behold, if only because of their contrast with the Coastal Defence Ship. They were taller than Van Galen, but not by much. They had dark, wavy hair and chestnut brown eyes, but what stood out most was their lack of milk-white skin. Instead, theirs had a distinctive tint, betraying their indo roots. Both wore white naval shirts and scarves, but instead of a skirt like the Destroyer, or a dress like the Hertog Hendrik, they wore sarongs as bright blue as the Pacific Ocean, with intricate nautical patterns embroidered in darker thread. One had a sewar on her hip, the other a kris. They had listened closely to the explanation of the admiral, and were ready to give their answer before they were even asked.

"Her Majesty's Java, reporting for action, sir."

"Her Majesty's Sumatra, ready, admiral."

Admiral Schippers smiled. Three ships was a good showing, by all accounts, and while more destroyers would have been nice, you had to take any port in a storm.

"I'll help too!" A squeaky voice without a clear source added. Everyone, the onlookers, admiral, and even the ships looked around for the speaker, when out from behind the skirts of Hertog Hendrik stepped the smallest, and visually youngest, shipgirl anyone had seen. Van Galen realised the newcomer would only come up to her chest, but more odd was the fact that when her rangefinders tried to look at her, they reported her hull was … indistinct was the only way to put it. She didn't wear navy dress, but was instead clad in a two-tone green sundress, with a slouch hat balanced on her mousy brown hair. Her blue eyes, however, shone with eagerness. "I may only be a minesweeper, but I'll do whatever I can to help!"

The poor admiral was by now thoroughly confused. "Sorry miss, we all overlooked you at first."

The girl seemed to deflate a little. "T's okay, I get that a lot." But almost as quick as the gloom had set in, her youthful exuberance took over again. "Oh, I didn't tell you my name! I'm Abraham Crijnssen!" Van Galen noticed the coastal defence ship, now recovered from her surprise, begin to fuss over the littlest addition to the Dutch shipgirl corps – even as she also noticed the admiral looking like he felt a headache coming on.


[I have been chipping away at this instead of the paper I'm supposed to be presenting next week. Please send help...]

 

[darthcourt10]

WickedestCard

So, I've been meaning to post this snippet for a while but I got nervous and stressed as I had a interview with the Director of my department last week and couldn't really focus on anything else. Still, I finally finished it up. Too bad it's one of a three part Christmas snip I'm working on involving the Smols, So-class and Norihara, and Gabby + Friends.. Let's see how everyone likes this one.

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What happened during Christmas: The Smols


MiniGato was beaming as the sounds of Christmas music filled the air while she and the rest of the Smols were in a side table enjoy their own mini feast. All the Smols had brought food of their own but everyone of them would admit to having nicked most of the food from different sources of the larger party. Still it didn't stop them and the large gathering of Shipgirl fairies from enjoy the good time. SmolGina and Hibitiki were enjoying drinks (with Harry, MiniGato and Hibiki making sure the tiny destroyer had non-alcoholic versions), ShiNANO was out on a ride on Harry's head, and MiniGato was sure the mini submarine girls had ghosted away to take photos of the party.


All in all it was turning out to be a fun time but MiniGato looked around trying to find her girlfriend Alli. She had last seen the fairy after they had eaten with some of the fairies from Nagato and was MIA since. Granted she was a bit tipsy from the Fire Whiskey that Alli brought to the party but the tiny battleship was sure she didn't have that much.


Suddenly Minigato heard a gasp even over all the festive noise and looked to find the source. Luckily it wasn't that far from their table that she saw the visibly drunk and blushing duo of Naka and Harder looking up at a floating batch of mistletoe. As Harder made a half-hearted swipe at the offending plant it darted out of reach and flew out of sight. Realizing what her girlfriend was doing Minigato sprang into action and hopped off the table, running towards the large entrance door where the flying festive plant was heading. As she neared the entrance to the rec room, the Smol had to head off to the side due to the trio of Yamato, Yahgai and Enterprise coming through the door.


The American carrier was so busy talking to the other two that she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until she was hit in the face with flying mistletoe. Enterprise sputtered and coughed as the plant took off again, her face bright red.


"What the actual...since when does mistletoe go flying around looking for Christmas victims!" She exclaimed as MiniGato continued her pursuit. Leaving a smirking battleship and stunned light cruiser thinking about their next course of action.


The chase took her throughout the main building of the base, bumping into several other couples and groups like Goto and Kongou, the destroyer trio of Fubuki, Yuudachi and Mutuski, and a not very stealthy Kaga, Akagi and Taichi. Eventually the chase made it out of the base and MiniGato knew it wouldn't be long until she lost the fairy in open air when she spotted something white flying out of Harry's window. Hedwig was heading out for some night flying and the Smol couldn't be happier.


"Gato! Gato Gato!" The miniature battleship yelled to get the owl's attention. Hedwig banked to the left to find the source of the noise and it didn't take long for the Snowy Owl to spot the tiny being. Quickly flying down the owl looked at her friend with a curious look, waiting to see what the commotion was about.


"Gato gato gato! Na Gato Na." MiniGato explained to her favorite bird who quickly nodded and lowered a bit to let the Smol on her back. With a quick bark and battlecry the two took to the air in pursuit. Thankfully for the two of them it wasn't that hard to find the bustle of flying mistletoe as she neared the entrance to the Mess.


Quickly going through her internal storage, MiniGato eventually pulled out exactly what she needed for a situation like this. She had a firm hold on the owl as Hedwig swooped down and started flying level with Alli when the Smol threw the lasso in her hands around the midsection of her girlfriend and roped her back. Hedwig quickly banked over and flew back towards the rec room holding the party with her passengers. Once the three got back the other Smols got together on the couch and sentenced Alli to cuddle prison with MiniGato and took her whiskey for the rest of the night.


No one really noticed that Hibitiki was the one that made away with the alcohol.


-The next morning-


"Ra!" came the battle cry as all the present Smols jumped into the confetti pile that held all their presents. One by one the found their gifts and given them to the proper recipient and soon enough the sound of gift paper ripping filled the air.


"GATO!" MiniGato declared as she held her new bamboo kendo stick aloft and gave it a couple swings. Soon enough she started to pose with it a little bit to figure out how to hold it and work with it. MiniGato figured it would be useful in some of the small missions they tended to go, such as helping clear out the base from pests. The battleship was soon knocked out of her musing as Alli fluttered over, showing her gift of a diorama kit featuring actual mini sakura trees and a scale koi pond.


A little way down the table their were gathered at Hibitiki looked at the adorable phoenix plushie she was given, nodded and then placed said plushie on her head and sat down with a content look on her face. Not a small feat as the plushie was about as big as she was.


ShiNANO gave a squee as she opened up her gift which contained a few costumes ranging from detailed accurate mini samurai outfits to regal kimonos. She, much like her full sized counterpart and her sisters were very big into traditional Japanese clothing.


SmolGina looked happily at her new clothes as well, seeing as she really only had her mini poncho for the longest time. They were all the same black or dark blue color scheme but they looked really comfy and felt really warm to the touch. The box mostly consisted of dresses or long shirts and shorts but that was more than what she had expected.


The only presents left where the ones for the smol subs as they were out doing some delivery to Admiral Goto and the shipgirl fairies. Still, the others were certain that they'd enjoy their new waterproof speakers.
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Well, hope you all enjoyed the silliness of this snip, it was actually pretty fun to write. Though one has to wonder how many other couples were victims to Alli's matching making power.

Also, I wonder if anyone can figure out what may be found out in a later snip/chapter.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Regina slowly came awake from her sleep and the first thing that she felt was... warmth. It did not take her long to recognize that the warmth was coming from a very familiar source and her two gold specked eyes opened to reveal her cuddled up beside a sleeping Harry. Said boy had his own eyes closed and was breathing in and out slowly with his head leaning against her chest. A glance around showed that the Akizuki sisters were also still asleep where they laid on the bed as well.

On top of Harry laid Teruzuki quietly slumbering while Akizuki was holding his arm and Hatsuzuki was spooning her older sister. As for Suzutsuki, she was behind Hatsuzuki and also sleeping quietly, though part of the Re-Class expected them all to be awake soon enough. Some aspects of the military did come through after all, and waking early was one of those. Not that she minded all too much in this case.

Deciding to ignore that for now though, Regina turned her attention to Harry and softly smiled as her eyes glowed. Not with the normal malevolence that many Abyssal eyes did, but with something else, something both softer and more gentle. Something else that always made her boilers burn hot, hotter than even rage sometimes could. But unlike the fires of rage, this fire did not burn, but warmed her deep down. It was a special fire, and one that she adored as well as the reason why it was stoked within her.

The thirteen year old wizard shifted his head slightly, unintentially pressing it more into Regina's chest as she laid there.

Not that the Re-Class minded all that much really, not if it was Harry. It actually made her smile some at what he was doing. Gently, Regina brought up her free hand and with tenderness that would have surprised some, brushed the hair from Harry's brow. A hand that could crush steel, and snapped necks... was full of gentleness for this one person laying next to her. Lightly blushing, though also smiling, Regina continued to brush his hair with her fingers.

Her fingertips barely touched his warm skin, but she could feel it. Not just the heat of his body, but... something else. The warmth of his very soul, somehow coming from within him. She could feel it both from his body as well as from the connection that the two of them had. At times like this, she liked to simply lay and focus on it. On the peace it brought as well as the gentle warmth, like the sunshine of a spring day.

Eyes closing slightly, Regina leaned her head more towards his, her nose in his hair. Slowly, she breathed in and out, utterly relaxed. There was no battle needed at the moment, no fighting. No bloodshed would come at this moment. But... there was peace. Like sailing through the calm seas.

Such peace was helped along by the fact that there was a scent of sorts that she could smell. A scent that tickled her nose. It was not a normal scent in that most could not smell it.

But she could as could others, she knew, as it was more a spiritual scent.

One was Shinano, her friend and someone she held close, as were the Duckies. For a while, as calming and wonderful as the scent was, it was not until she asked Shinano that she got an answer as to what it smelt like. For a time, her friend had stood there in thought before turning to her with a smile and telling her that Harry, to her, smelt like spring on the seashore just after a rainstorm as the Sun broke out. A scent that carried just a whiff of ozone like after a thunderstorm, which she knew was his magic.

The two had agreed that it was one of the best scents out there. And so, the Abyssal just laid there with her eyes partially closed as she inhaled that scent and found peace. Both from the scent and the warmth from the body beside her. Lips curling upwards into a smile, Regina softly sighed as the minutes ticked by. Eventually though, she felt Harry stir some and looked down at his face as he woke up. And as two emerald green eyes opened, eyes the color of life in her mind, she smiled a bit more, "Good morning, Harry."

Humming, Harry looked up at her with sleepy eyes, "Good morning to you as well, Regina." Getting a giggle from her, he raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"
Lightly blushing, the Abyssal shook her head, "Um, it's nothing, Harry." Gently kissing the top of his head, she hummed, "Nothing at all."

Internally shrugging, Harry chuckled a bit and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which only deepened her blush, "Okay then." Looking down, he snickered a bit as he noticed that Teruzuki's eyes were partially opened and patted her head. He followed that with doing the same with Akizuki's and Hatsuzuki's heads as well, "Good morning, Teruzuki-Chan, Akizuki-Chan, Hatsuzuki-Chan."

All three Destroyers smiled and replied back, though Hatsuzuki's hair tufts moved as well as she nodded. It was then that the final Destroyer made herself known, "Good morning, Harry-San, Akizuki-Nee-San, Teruzuki-Nee-San, and Hatsuzuki-Chan." Sitting up, Suzutsuki stretched with a sigh, "Mmm, these are nice beds to sleep in."

Only nodding, Hatsuzuki smiled a bit, "Hai, they are."

Grinning, Harry shook his head and glanced at the clock, "Well, we should be going, breakfast will be in about a half hour." He then gave a narrowed eyed look at the Destroyers, "Which means that with how people sleep in on Sunday, there will be plenty of time for stuffing."

Much to his amusement, Akizuki, Teruzuki, and Hatsuzuki all looked both awed and frightened. Suzutsuki just laughed and smiled herself, "Hai, that does sound like a good thing to do."

With a hum, Harry turned to Regina who was smiling, "What about you, Regina? Ready to get some food?"

Regina only hummed back and nodded, "I would not mind some."

She then gave him a kiss to his cheek, she threw off the blankets and got off the bed. Whatever Harry was about to say died in his mouth though as he remembered that she had simply shrugged off her cloak the night before. Which meant that she was wearing the bikini that all Re-Class wore underneath which showed that she was both Battleship and Carrier. Mouth dry as she stood up and stretched, Harry swallowed a bit, 'Uh, wow...'

However, moments later, he was internally beating his hormones viciously while cursing as well.

Once he shook it off, Harry also got off the bed followed by the others. After getting changed and ready for the day, the group left the guest quarters behind and walked to the Great Hall. Upon seeing the tables filled with breakfast food, Suzutsuki's eyebrows raised before turning to Harry, "Is this normal?"

The thirteen year old boy only chuckled and nodded, "Hai, it is normal. One of the big things about magic is that it allows for you to make more food easily from what you got. You can multiply it or enlarge it with little issue. Let's say that I have a small slice of Kobe beef, for example. I can use magic to triple the amount of it before I have issues." Glancing at Akizuki and her other sisters who were listening in, Harry smirked, "Something that I have been learning."

All three of the other Duckies had awed looks on their faces as they imagined various things that Harry would cook for them. Things that included Kobe beef. Much to both Harry's and Suzutsuki's amusement, and some of Regina's, the three other Destroyers whimpered a bit as they clutched their hands in front of their faces.

Giving a nod to his mother and Hoppou, Harry made his way to the table. Though he was somewhat amused to find that Reivana and Hermione were already there drinking coffee. And a lot of it as Reivana had a massive mug in one hand. Isley, meanwhile, was slowly making her way through a pile of food. As for Wanko...

Said Harbour Princess was up at the Staff Table beside Hagrid as the two of them shared breakfast and conversation. Harry was somewhat amused by the fact that Wanko had a small flush to her cheeks though. However, he just shook his head and sat down at the table before gathering his own food. After that was done though, it was a mostly quiet day with Suzutsuki accompanying Nagato down to Hogsmeade. Said Destroyer returned with a lot of treats for her sisters though.

Come that evening though, one thing did happen which left a confused Harry looking up at Isley with his eyebrows furrowed, "Um, I'm sorry, but... what was that?"

With a sigh, Isley grimaced a bit, "I am looking for Reivana as we are going to be leaving, but I am unable to find her. I was hoping that perhaps you might know where she could be..."

For several moments, the thirteen year old stared at her before sighing and pinching his nose, "Oh, I have a very good clue as to where she might be..." Twenty minutes later, after going through the library, Harry just pointed, "Right there."

Now it was Isley's turn to stare in confusion. Somehow, a large number of books had been stacked in such a way to create a... building. Complete with massive ones forming a roof of sorts. From inside, she could hear two voices and see a light. It was then that Stab raised up and, despite not really having anything that could provide for such an expression, gave them one that told them he wanted help.

It was much to Harry's amusement that five minutes later had an bemused Isley walking out with a pouting Reivana under one arm and Hermione under the other.

As they were gathered around the Entry Hall, Harry smiled up at Regina after saying his goodbyes to his mother, Hoppou, and Wanko. Hugging the Re-Class, the wizard sighed a bit, "I'll see you in a few weeks, Regina."

Blushing, Regina nodded, "And I'll see you then as well, Harry." She then gave him a quick kiss and pulled back, ""U-um, bye..."

Two minutes later, and they were gone as Harry sighed and shook his head still giving them a wave.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

A Breadknife Conversation

Castle Moulbaix

After the Events of Two Types of Fools Chapter XI...

Masamune-no-Tokunotakai watched from the window as the Jeep carrying her love and Kasuyu headed down the driveway away from the castle. With the arrival of herself and the unexpected jorogumo family at Moulbaix, an urgent need to make some purchases was required. Food, clothing, and an ink brush set were all on the list for today.

Which left herself, her future stepdaughters and their new permanent houseguests alone in the bulk of Moulbaix. Which... was perfect for what Toku needed to do.

With that thought, she walked across the expanse of the entrance hall, following the piano music to the ballroom. Unbidden, a serene smile lit up her face at the sight presented.
Spoiler: Claire Serenades Some Spiders

Ehren was sitting with the tanuki cub Chihiro reading to her in a pool of sunlight. Judging from the soft murmur of conversation, the subject of the day was a German lesson assisted by a book of fairy tales.

"Chi-chan! Watch this!" A cry from overhead made Toku look up and grin as in the rafters crisscrossing the ceiling two stories above, Misaki swung from beam to beam with the agility of a spider in her natural element. Behind and above her, her older sister Miho carefully played out a silk safety line in case the young Jorogumo child slipped.

Judging from Claire's happy smile and segue into one of the songs from Tarzan from where she played her true body in her favorite spot by the windows, inspiration had struck.

Toku wiped a tear from her cheek with her thumb and then quietly closed the door on the scene. As much as her heart wished to linger and enjoy the moment, another matter called to her duty.

With that thought, she walked briskly across the entrance hall's marble checkerboard to enter the billiard room.

Weapons, battle flags, and hunting trophies greeted her at the entrance, but she only had eyes for one object among the many, many artifacts present. Nodding to herself, she locked the door behind her and then crossed over to the door to the main hallway on this side of the castle, closing and locking it too. Finally reaching the door to the dining room, she shot a third set of bolts home and then incanted in Japanese while making the hand symbols of the mandala for a privacy ward.

"You can come out now, we need to talk."

Silence answered her, and Tokunotakai cocked her head.

"I see, you do not wish to reveal your face at this time. Well then."

With that the Masamune grabbed a heavy wooden chair and pulled it to face the battle flags along one wall. Sitting down in it with her back to an African lion's head, she leaned back and made herself comfortable.

"Is that better? I won't force you to come out unless I have no choice, but we are going to have this conversation one way or another."

A long pause, then a harshly accented female voice spoke from behind her. "Speak then, and I shall judge your words."
Spoiler: A Breadknife's Conversation

Tokunotakai nodded in satisfaction, "I'm glad that we are being reasonable here. You should know that I mean to make my life with Colombe here, and if you are a threat to her and hers, you should take the lessons of what I did to Hippolyte's ghost to heart. If your intentions are benign to her, then mine are benign to you."

Shocked silence answered her words, then the voice spoke with suppressed emotion in her words, "Ngendawo has been destroyed then?"

Toku spoke with calm certainty, "At my blade and my hands, he has. I shall be cleansing the aftereffects of his filth from the room he inhabited once I gather the necessary tools for the chore. But you can go up there and see what became of him tonight, I recommend that you do."

Another thoughtful pause, "If true... I owe you a great debt indeed..."

Toku spoke quietly and with hidden pain in her voice., "An equally great one to Colombe for enduring as the focus of that foul spirit's malice. If she had not fought him as she did even untrained, others in the household would have been attacked."

"Perhaps, but I do not trust ibhinqa legolide elimhlophe. Her people's actions toward my adopted people...."

Toku sighed, "No people are innocent, truly. My own nation has committed terrible deeds in the past and even now commits some that are a stain on our honor. All we can do is our best and repair and mend what we can."

Another long, thoughtful silence.

"No, not yet. I have Seen that she is not the umfazi omhlophe I must show my face to when the time is ripe." A bitter laugh from behind Toku. "True seeing, not what I was forced into speaking sixteen decades before to cause my people to slay their cattle in madness and starvation."

Toku nodded in sad acceptance, "As the recipient of a prophecy, and the witness to another one, one cannot fight her fate. One must merely prepare for it, and act when the conditions are met. What else can you tell me of it?"

"Little at this point. Save that a great beast comes from the South, from the valley of the Three Kings in Stone past the peaks like a woman's breasts. The daughter must choose between her parents. And... you have a part to play."

Toku inclined her head. "Thank you for your counsel. I suspect if you wish to speak further with me, you will find a way?"

"Ewe."

The Masamune cracked her neck, "Once you see what became of that onryō, please seek me out once you have thought about the changes in the household. I would prefer not to be your enemy, but what must be, must be."

"I shall judge your words and deeds."

"Good" Toku smiled serenely, "Ah, a question, does anyone else know your presence?"

"Kasuyu alone and he is sworn to secrecy."

"I shall not speak of it until you reveal yourself, or a threat to my family forces my hand then."

Another long pause. "...That is acceptable."

"Still I should go before one of the children starts looking for me." As Toku stood up from the chair, for the briefest second she saw the gleam of blood-red cat eyes from behind her reflected in the gleaming steel of a hussar's saber.
Spoiler: A Mystery Spirit

A.N.-Ahh foreshadowing! Feel free to speculate about who our mystery houseguest is (there's hints to her ID scattered in the conversation).

 

[darthcourt10]

It_agn02

Above Hashirajima, the night sky was only lit by either the stars up above or the sparse city lights of Kure itself. At the darkest hour of night, nary a soul was stirring in the naval base, save for several patrols of ship girls and military personnel. Despite being situated in the Pearl Harbor of Japan, it was no excuse for laziness.

Far away from the night patrols, a single small boat made its way onto the shore of the Seto Inland Sea. A dark cloaked figure slowly exited the craft and waved its hand, making the boat shrink and disappear into the figure's clothing. It let out a small sigh of relief, thankful that its job is done for the night. With that in mind, it disappeared into the Kure Naval Base, carefully avoiding the night patrols on their usual routes.

Elsewhere on the base, a man exited a restroom breathing his own sigh of relief. Hindsight being 20/20, he lamented choosing the Midway Special despite knowing he was unable to handle spice. Barely able to keep his dinner down, he spent two hours in the infirmary with an old ten-liter plastic bucket clutched to his chest just in case the salmon he ate decided to seek revenge.

But on the other hand, the flavors and textures were just so addicting! It was like not just tasting the fish itself, but the various herbs and spices that soaked into its pink flesh. The flavors that Houshou packed into that one meal was almost heavenly! Just as he was enjoying the salty umami taste of the ocean, the spice took its effect.

To pretty much everyone else, it was just a simple dash of hot sauce mixed into the savory sauce ladled on top of the main dish. Just enough to add some heat, but not enough to have that "fire" in their mouths. To the man, however, said "heat" felt more like the gates of hell opened in his mouth.

Groaning, he adjusted his military police badge and set out on his nightly patrol. Sure, he was late, but it was better to be late than not show up for his watch at all.

The dark-cloaked figure pressed her back against the wall as per the norm and checked all directions. From her cloak, she palmed a small cylindrical object and placed it close to the corner. With one end pressed toward the wall, she pressed the other end toward her ear and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

On cue, she heard the tapping of boots on concrete slowly approaching.

Like she practiced numerous times, she curled up into a ball right behind the bushes almost directly at the corner.

Exactly on cue, the footsteps approached the corner and made its turn. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the usual MP making his rounds. The light from his flashlight darted every which way and that, yet never once even came close to the dark-cloaked figure hiding in the bushes.

Finding nothing, the man continued his walk toward the armory as his next stop.

She saw her chance and took it. Getting up, careful not to make noise with the leaves, the dark-cloaked figure turned the corner to disappear further into the naval base.

'Sendai may be eccentric, but I can't deny her skills work.'

With that in mind, the shadow dashed off toward the mess hall, confident in her memorization of the night patrol routes.

The MP checked his watch as he rushed with his flashlight to his checkpoint on the base. Even is his condition was a valid excuse, he didn't want to risk bringing it up to his CO, especially after he was explicitly warned about the food and still ate it. As such, he rushed to the place where he was supposed to be at the current patrol time.

As he turned the corner of the mess hall, he felt something slam into his side like a freight train. There was a brief moment where he found his own feet had lost all contact with the ground before he felt the full impact of the asphalt parking lot on his face.

He groaned in pain and turned around to see the truck that hit him. Said truck was dressed in a blue and green camouflage-patterned cloak and appeared to be taken by geniuinee surprise at literally running into an MP at this time and place. The cloaked girl stepped back a bit as the officer shambled to his feet in a daze and more than just a little bit of pain.

"All right, then!" he grumbled as he turned on his flashlight. "Who are you and what are you doing here this late at night?!" He tried shining it downward into her face, but she hastily pulled the upper edge of her hood down in an attempt to hide it. "I.D., please."

Before the man could get any closer, however, the cloaked woman turned on her heel and bolted in the opposite direction.

'Crap, crap, crap! That route was supposed to be clear!'

"This is Lieutenant Yamanaka!" the MP shouted into his radio. "We have an intruder near the mess hall! In pursuit now! Requesting backup! Suspect last seen moving toward Dormitory Row!"

After successfully entering the base numerous times undetected, the thought getting caught never crossed her mind. At least, until now. When she ran around a corner, she spotted another group, this time ship girls, on their way to confront her. In front of them was one particular ship girl with paler skin and a black uniform.

'Crap, it's Akitsu Maru! She'll have me on the ground in seconds!'

The cloaked girl's mind raced. Three ship girls to the fore. One MP to the aft. She clicked her teeth and turned a hard starboard, cutting across the grass to hopefully lose her pursuers. There was an izakaya up ahead. There. That would save her.

Easier said than done.

While she had avoided those ship girls and the MP, she had neglected one crucial detail: her escape route was out in the open. She was more exposed than Carrier Division One at Midway.

[PATROL, SEARCHLIGHTS ON! SUSPECT MOVING TO IZAKAYA!] came the call over the radio.

Light flooded the pavilion, blinding the cloaked figure as she attempted to flee. Desperate, she looked around Still, she continued to cut across the grass until another searchlight illuminated right in front of her face.

And she screamed.

"Good work, Houshou-san!" one of the pursuing heavy cruisers called. "Thanks for the assist!"

The carrier lowered her searchlight and stepped closer to the hooded girl.

'Houshou-san…why…?'

The girl looked toward the carrier with tears in her eyes, yet the only thing she could see on her face was one of seriousness and sobriety. It wasn't one that took joy in taking down an intruder or taking a life. It was that of a mother looking at a child who got their 'just desserts'.

That look alone crushed her.

One of the light cruisers latched onto the girl's arm in an attempt to force her to the ground. Without thinking, the cloaked figure twisted her arm away and threw a punch in retaliation. Steel met steel and the cruiser staggered for just a moment. It was in that moment that the girl got a good look at the ship girl she just hit. The ship girl wasn't Japanese.

'Oh, no....I just punched Brooklyn.'

"I…I…" the cloaked girl stammered just as the light cruiser wiped some blood from her mouth.

The light cruiser took one look at the blood and immediately put her fists up in a boxing stance. "Ya wanna throw hands? FINE, LET'S THROW HANDS!"

Under her hood, the girl's face dropped.

As three ship girls closed in on her, the cloaked figure swung madly in front of her, trying to not only counter the punches being swung at her, but also keep the ship girls an arm's distance away. Yet the cruisers in front of her continued to close the distance. The light cruiser she punched earlier slammed home two punches to her gut while a heavy cruiser landed a kick to her knee. She managed to score one hit against another ship girl, but that one took the opportunity to get low and swing her leg out. In a mere second, the cloaked figure found herself staring at the sky when her head slammed against the ground. Before she could yelp in pain, she saw an Army ship girl standing over her.

"You are under arrest," Akitsu Maru said. "Do not resist."

With that said, the Army ship wrestled the girl's hands together and bound them together with anchor chains. The searchlights around them focused on the cloaked girl, who was trying to keep her head down even as she was forcibly hauled to a sitting position.

"Now then, let's see who this intruder really is." With that, Akitsu Maru grabbed the hood of the cloak and yanked it down, revealing her face to all present.

Everyone, as one, voiced the only thought in their minds.

"ASO?!"

...---...

With her hand on her face, Admiral Shimada stood on the other side of the cell bars.

"…Admiral, I can explain everything," the ship girl said, still wearing her midnight blue and green-patterned cloak with the hood shamefully trying to cover her face. "Y-You see…"

The admiral's hand went up in a stopping motion, which the ship girl immediately obeyed.

"Save it, Aso. I know what you've been up to this whole time."

Aso's face dropped as she slowly scooted to the far wall of her cell. "You…you did?"

Shimada nodded. "This whole time, you've been sneaking out and delivering supplies to that yokai village."

"B-But Admiral! I was…" the ship girl started to hug her legs. In this new life, this second chance, she felt her heart shatter. Aiding the youkai village was one of the most treasured things she had. It was both her lighthouse and her anchor. It gave her life meaning. A purpose. "…I was…"

"I'm not angry about the humanitarian aid, let's be clear. It's part of our job."

Immediately, the carrier looked up at her admiral with hope in her eyes.

"What I am angry about is that you went behind my back, snuck off-base, and lied through your teeth about why you are unavailable on certain days or nights. I may go out of my way to ensure aid is given where it is needed, but I will not tolerate a ship girl sneaking off behind my back to do as they wish. What's worse, you went alone. I know you're not exactly a fan of the 'battle buddy' thing we're taking from the Americans, but it's for your own sake. You could've gotten hurt out there."

"I-I'm sorry, Admiral…"

The admiral put her hand up to halt the carrier's train of thought in its tracks. Her tone was exasperated, yet trying to stay as even as possible. "I'm not done. After I sent Maruyu to figure out where you were going and what you were doing, I gave you every chance to do the responsible thing and come clean about it."

"Needless to say, I'm disappointed in you. In normal circumstances, had you been honest with me, I would have gone through enough administrative bullshit to make the majority of these problems go away." She gave a sigh. "Unfortunately, with you getting caught by the MPs and trying to knock out a few ship girls that tried to detain you instead of explaining everything peacefully, I have no choice but to give you punishment duty. You are free to return to your dorm for the night. I will have Agano escort you to my office at 1000 hours sharp tomorrow. Understood, sailor?"

Aso nodded, hugging her knees tightly out of shame.

 

[darthcourt10]

SkyeFire

Yellowhammer said:
A.N.-Ahh foreshadowing! Feel free to speculate about who our mystery houseguest is (there's hints to her ID scattered in the conversation).​

My first guess was that this is the spirit in that bracelet from Africa that has been playing Checkhov's gun on Colombe's mantlepiece for quite a while now (I recall that Toku found it lying on the kitchen counter when they first got back to Moulbaix from Mount Fuji).
OTOH, the scene suggests it could be the lion's head on the wall?

Either way, I know someone recently mentioned in-thread a case during the Colonial period where a young woman suddenly got all "prophetic" and talked her tribe into slaughtering all their cattle, which would cause the gods to give them the means to fight to encroaching Europeans. Of course, it all ended in starvation and worse, instead.

So this African spirit's (judging by her language and comments) mention of "being forced to spout prophecy" sounds awfully familiar.

Yellowhammer said:
Very very true for Ehren. She really does want approval from both parents.
Yellowhammer said:
Ehren's secret 'if you had one wish' fantasy would be to have her parents (Wolff and Colombe) get together and resolve their differences utterly. In this respect she is a lot like Delilah who wants to see Norimune and Jezabel make amends.
MagisterAurelius said:
Oh I think Herr Wolff will be most insidious in his offer to Ehren. "Mein Tochter. You are everything a father could wish for. Come. Join your Vater. And if she will repent, I can even forgive your mother and we can be a whole family as it should have been from the beginning."​

Yeah, that was my thought, too. Wolff would really have to sell it, to get past Ehren's instinctive "NAZI! KILL!" reaction, but... if he approaches her just right, that probably is the single biggest weak point in Ehren's psychological armor.

The only way I see him having a chance of making it work is if he has a good handle on Ehren's frame of mind in advance, which suggests that Wolff is going to be doing very careful recon of Castle Moulbaix in advance. And I think he'd still have to convince her that he had abandoned Naziism... or was at least open to reconsidering. Get Ehren to believe she could be Luke to his Vader... yeah. If there's one childish hope that could cause Ehren to fail a Common Sense check, I think that would be the one.


And now, another edition of CONDITIONALLY CANONICAL THEATRE (b/c I just can't stop thinking of Toku/Ehren "trying to be family" scenes)
This one, I think, happens before Wolff shows up again.

The flickering light of the candle drew Toku across the garden, towards the secluded alcove whose arrangement made her suspect it had originally been created to give couples a modicum of privacy. The tiny bench her missing step-daughter was sitting on supported that surmise.

She made certain to make just enough noise in the darkness that Ehren would not be startled. And as she stepped into the vine-shrouded cul-de-sac, Ehren did not look up from the candle she had stuck to the flagstones... but did move over to press herself against one end of the stone bench. Toku took the unspoken invitation and sat down.

There was just enough space that their shoulders did not have to brush.

Toku studied the candle, watching it dance, but not gutter, in a breeze that should by rights have blown it out. Had Ehren used magic to protect it? Just what spells the dagger-soul could perform was just one more thing the priestess needed to learn about her step-daughter.

"Did mother send you after me?"

"No. Oh, she and Claire both noticed you slipping out as they lit the candles, but they said nothing. They did seem concerned, but... uncertain as to what they should do. Or could do."

"Concerned. Ja. If one of them were lighting a candle for a monster the world is better off without, I would be concerned as well."

There was a dangerous, brittle edge to Ehren's deliberately matter-of-fact tone. Toku weighed that edge, and the dark swirling undertones driving it, and debated internally if she was close enough, yet still sufficiently distant, for Ehren to feel safe opening up on this topic. Because the dagger spirit needed someone to unburden to, plainly obvious to everyone but herself. But in Ehren's mind, Claire needed to be protected from this, and Colombe... Toku sighed, considering the minefield that existed between mother and daughter, despite their obvious love for each other.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

"After the war," Toku began, falling into the Storyteller Voice she had used over generations of students, "there were many who came to the temple of the Protector of Warriors, seeking... divine intervention for their husbands, sons, and fathers who stood accused of horrible crimes."

Ehren didn't move, but Toku could feel the young dagger's attention shift towards her. "Some simply sought to understand how a beloved member of their family could be so accused. Or... could have committed what they were accused of. It was not uncommon for some to--"

Toku found herself forced to pause and breathe, to her own surprise. Strange, how these old ghosts could return with such force. "There was one I recall especially. Her father was on trial before the Tribunal of... truly horrific acts. But to her, he was the Tou-san who had read to her, cast the yurei from shadowed corners of her room, took in the orphaned children of their neighbors who had perished. At first, she denied that the accusations could have any truth. Later, in the face of mounting evidence at trial, she moved to insisting the accusations were exaggerated... then that he must have been forced into participation... and later, that the enemy had subjected him to such horrors that his sanity and honor failed."

An unexpected tear ran down her cheek. She let it fall, staring through the candle's flame into the depths of memory.

"I... to my shame, I failed to help her. I had known some of what my nation had done, and suspected more, but... the constant drumbeat of revelations, and accusations, of thinking the worst had finally been revealed only to be proven wrong again and again...." She closed her eyes, unable to meet Ehren's as her daughter finally looked away from the candle. "My faith... wavered. And in that wavering, I who should have been a pillar to shield those left behind in the ruins of war, was less protection than a willow reed...."

It hurt. So many years later, and it still burned. I should tell Colombe this story of my past, she realized a bit numbly. After she has bared so many of her shames to me... she deserves to know that I am equally fallible. Moreso, even.

The feather-light touch of Ehren's hand on hers startled her into opening her eyes. And in her daughter's open gaze, she saw....
That same "bleeding heart" that Colombe wore on her sleeve. Behind Ehren's careful reserve, burned that same inability to look away from someone in pain. That same need to reach out, to do something--

Toku realized her hand had turned to grasp Ehren's. Lightly, cautiously... but her daughter did not pull away.

"She took her own life, ja?"

...when did I become so easily read? "It was an accident, everyone insisted. But given her state of mind when last I saw her... when I failed to help her find a way to deal with the dichotomy between the father she remembered, and the monster the world told her he was... I suspect it was an accident she could have avoided. And chose not to."

Ehren looked back at the candle, her erect carriage slumping. "That... is not a problem I have. I know what my father was. I was there when he-- when he committed most of his crimes. When he nearly killed mother, disemboweling her with me. The father I loved, who loved Mutti... I know he was merely an illusion. A child's dream. So why--" her hand tightened spasmodically on Toku's, and Toku squeezed back. "WHY can't I stop?!? Why do I light a candle for a man whose death I should celebrate?"

That brittle edge was cracking badly, now. Toku slid across the tiny gap between them, pressing their sides together as her daughter trembled.

"One of the things that lead to that young woman's death," she began slowly, "was that the world would not permit her to mourn. Her father was a monster, so mourning him, treasuring her bright memories of him, was the same as approving of his crimes. That... was wrong. Ehren-chan -- there is nothing wrong with mourning someone you loved." She stared into her daughter's eyes, praying that she could succeed this time, where she had failed before. "Even if you are mourning what could have been, rather than what was...." She took a deep breath. "For all that your father was, and did... you mother loved him. And the knowledge that no amount of love could bridge the gulf between them... believing that there was no way she could sway him away from his evil path... it haunts her. She blames herself for being unable to give you the whole family you deserve -- for the fact that your only memories of him are painful -- for you feeling your only recourse is to sneak away and mourn alone."

"...but why doesn't she say anything?" A child's wail, faint as a whisper.

"Oh, my Ehren-chan," Toku crooned, hurting for both Colombe and the daughter they shared. "Guilt. And shame. And fear, that re-opening these wounds would harm more than heal." She steeled herself. "Before tonight... I have never spoken of how I failed that young woman, whom you remind me of so much. I was... ashamed. And... in my hubris, I decided that burden was mine to carry alone. My punishment for my failure. My burden, never to be shared, because to lighten it would be to evade my responsibility."

On sudden impulse, she leaned in and planted a kiss on her daughter's temple. "Thank you, Ehren-chan."

The dagger spirit's crystal blue eyes were enormous in her pale, candle-lit face. "Wufor?"

Toku smiled and let her forehead rest lightly against Ehren's. "For needing me to re-open that wound. For giving me a chance to get it right this time." Her lips quirked in a lopsided smile. "For reminding me that I am no longer 'Miko Punchable Face'."

Ehren's eyes widened even further, if that were possible. "Vas?"

"What, your mother never told you that story?" Toku teased lightly. "How, on our first meeting, more than one hundred fifty years ago, she beat the arrogance out of me with her steel?" She touched a thoughtful finger to her lower lip. "And maybe her boot. I'm fairly certain it made robust contact with my rump at least once."

It was gratifying to see Ehren's eyes go from "wide" to "bulging". "And it was a most salutary lesson, one I certainly needed at the time." She winked. "Of course, your mother didn't lack for arrogance of her own, back then, and she got her turn learning humility at the hands of Hachiman-dono himself, immediately afterward." A light sigh of nostalgia. "She probably remembers it differently, but she was magnificent. Facing the God of Warriors Himself, and she would not stop, until he literally hammered her into submission...."

Lost in nostalgia and entranced by the story, respectively, neither of them noticed the candle eventually gutter, and go out....


....soooo, um... that happened.
It was just supposed to be Toku getting Ehren to open up about her tangled feelings concerning Wolff, and then Toku suddenly went into War Stories mode and what the hell where is all this stuff coming from?
It was supposed to be Ehren opening up to Toku b/c, unlike Colombe, Toku's not entangled in the entire Wolff issue (and also didn't try to kill Ehren on first meeting, always a plus!). And then... suddenly Toku was the one who needed Ehren to throw a lifeline, and suddenly they're treading water together.
Anyway, this inserts more stuff than I'd intended into Toku's backstory, and touches on one of Ehren's key issues (which is likely to be a major plot point, soon enough). So, again, CANONICITY OPTIONAL unless/until Yellowhammer blesses it (or mines it for whatever bits work, in the larger context).
As to the candle thing... I couldn't find a specific holiday for "lighting a candle for missing loved ones," so I just decided that Colombe has a regular "thing" where she lights candles for the people she misses, and Claire of course joined in years ago, but Ehren... felt like her candle didn't deserve to be among the others. And Colombe and Claire couldn't figure out how to open such a painful subject with her. Enter Toku, who is on A Mission From God (ahem) to fix the boss's butter knives... and get fixed up herself, in the process.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Gunfire and screams could be heard all around as one man in a National Guard's Corporal's Uniform ducked as several bullets punched through the car that he was hiding behind. Just days ago, him and the rest of his fellow National Guardsmen had been watching the news regarding the War in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. Some of them wondering if and when they were going to be sent into the meatgrinder there. Others had shrugged and stated that they were likely not to be sent in at all. That was just three days ago...

And now they were fighting on American soil against what could only be said to be Legions of the Damned.

Poking his head up over the rim of the car window, he took aim and shot one of the... creatures in the chest, which went down screaming. It looked like how one would imagine a body left too long in the water would, skin waxy and slimy looking. From parts of it's body were black hunks of metal while it's eyes glowed a ghostly blue in sunken eye sockets. And the wounds from it dribbled black blood, fetid and rank. What made it somewhat worse was that they all did not have the same uniform.

Some of them wore American uniforms, some what looked like Spanish or Mexican uniforms from late 1800s... and some wore Confederate Uniforms. All of them though were out for blood and death. Civilian or soldier, it did not matter. Nor did it matter if they were man, woman, or child, all would be killed by them. If you had told him that he would be facing beings not even a week before, the Corporal would have laughed at you. It was like something from a horror movie.

But no one was laughing now.

For years now, there had been mysterious disappearances of ships out at sea. Ships vanishing with all aboard, sometimes without getting even a warning. Everything fine right up until they suddenly were not, only shown by the ships disappearing. As the years went on, the number went up. Not that the Corporal had ever really thought much of it, being a ground pounder. But now he wished he had...

The attacks, when they finally happened, arrived out of nowhere. Strange aircraft appearing on radar only minutes before they began to drop bombs on cities inland from the coasts. Meanwhile, coastal communities were shelled by what could only be described as monstrous women. The United States Navy, those that were there, went out to fight and a large number of ships were sunk, though they gave as good as they got. The Coast Guard, too, fought like lions on the high seas, desperately trying to save lives of those ships at sea with their own. But then came the ground troops, the almost corpselike soldiers and odd, crab-like things that functioned as tanks. It was that which they were fighting against.

It was then, watching as they pulled back, the Corporal internally cursed as he knew what that meant.

Not long from now, there would be another surge.

Glancing around only confirmed what he already knew, that if there was another surge, they would not be able to hold. Out of nearly sixty National Guardsman from three hours before, they were lucky if there were only a quarter of that. And most of those were walking wounded at best. The road was barricaded by using cars and a bulldozer to create a makeshift fortification. It was not much, but it did the job, and that was all they could hope for.

Head low as he crouched, the Corporal ran towards the Lieutenant that was there, the last of those in charge. A shout of "Tank" followed by a whoosh of AT4 and then another made him wince. Sliding to a stop even as a explosion made his ears ring more than they had, the Corporal threw his back against what had once been a SUV, "LT, what's the word!?"

Radio to his ear, the Officer glanced at him, "I'm trying to find that out myself." Growling, he shouted into the radio, "What is going on with the evacuation, Over!"

From the radio came a somewhat tired, but also frantic voice of a civilian, "{We need twenty five more minutes! We found a group of children in one of the schools along with their teachers that no one realized were there! They're getting onto the buses right now, but we need some more time! Especially with the roads bombed and shelled, we only have one route in and out!}"

Both National Guardsman as well as those within hearing range shared a look at that. Going by previous surges, the creatures were going to hit in ten minutes. And with the numbers they had, they would not be able to hold... or at least hold and get out themselves. For several seconds, the LT looked around at the remaining Guardsman and saw their expressions.

He already had their answer.

With a deep breath, he brought his radio to his lips, "You got your twenty five minutes, but we cannot give anymore, Over."

Relief colored the voice inside of the radio not knowing of the nods that the soldiers were giving each other, "{Thank you... just thank you... We'll see you when we get to the rendezvous point... Frank, I think.}"

Grimly smiling, the LT nodded, "Yeah, we'll see you there... good luck, Out." Closing his eyes, he hung his head some before sighing. Raising his head, he gave a look to each of his group, "Okay people, you heard the lady. We got to hold the damn line for them to get the last civvies out, and that is what we're going to do." For a moment, he seemed lost before nodding as he steeled his nerves, "It's been an honour and I'll see you all on the other side for beer."

One of the few female soldiers clapped a male one on the shoulder with a grin, though it did not reach her eyes, "Tell you what, Andy, when we get out we'll go for a nice steak dinner, you and me."

Adjusting his glasses, Andy gave her a raised eyebrow, "Wasn't that what I asked you back in high school? And you turned me down right there and then, Susan?"

Expression falling, Susan looked at him and seemed to be seeing him for the first time. Sadly smiling, she gave a nod, "I did, and I regret it. But that was then and this is now."

Something passed between the two of them and they nodded before turning back, Andy frowning, "So what's the plan?"

Just reloading, the LT looked at him, "We hold, nothing else. Now get to positions, we only got a few minutes left. Any wounded that can't hold on, get on the pickup and get out." Turning to the Corporal, he grimaced, "You'll be driving." When the Corporal opened his mouth, the LT shook his head, "No, Jake, for some of these guys, they're too badly hurt to be much more than meat shields. You've got the experience with trucks and can drive fast. You get them the hell out of here. That is an Order, Soldier."

For several seconds, Jake was going to argue before he sighed and his shoulders slumped, "Yes, Sir. Under duress."

Thinly smiling, the LT only nodded, "Good." Pausing, he reached for his neck and pulled out his dog tags. With a yank, he gave the Corporal one of them, "Here... take this. And... tell my niece that her uncle is always going to watch over her. Even when she can't see me."

One by one, the others gave him one of their dog tags as they helped get the last of the badly wounded onto the truck. Getting into the truck, he gave one last look to them before saluting, with them saluting back before he started it and drove out. His last sight of them being them holding the salute before they headed to their stations.

It would be the last time that anyone saw any of them alive...
_______________________________________________________________

Watching as the Sergeant nursed his beer, Cameron was quiet for a few moments. Finally, the teen looked at the older man who had a haunted look on his face, "So they all died?"

Slowly, the now older Jake nodded as he sipped his beer, "Yeah, to a man at that barricade. One of the nearby buildings had a CCTV still running and caught the whole thing. They did not hold it for the needed twenty minutes... they held it for thirty before being overrun, giving enough time for both the last civilians and the wounded to get out." Taking another sip, he continued, "It took two days for the Army to roll in and push the Abyssal ground forces back enough to recover their bodies and I was there with them since I was still not badly injured. LT was... almost unrecognizable. Andy had fallen stabbing one of the Abyssal Infantry in the head with his knife even as it disembowelled him, standing between it and Susan who must have fallen... already dead considering that the bullet had gone right through her heart.

From where she stood, Alaska blinked away some tears, "They did their duty and none could say otherwise."

Atago gave her own nod before giving a salute, "Hai, they did."

Inside her hull, she could feel her own crew in agreement with what she just said. To them, they upheld their honour to the greatest. After a few moments, the Sergeant cleared his throat, "My friends and comrades... they were magnificent." Briefly, he paused before shrugging, "Though one of the Army guys, well, he gave a whistle before shaking his head stating 'Damn, not bad for a bunch of weekend warriors.'"

That got him scowls from the other three before Cameron growled, "He what? After what they did?!"

Darkly laughing, Jake grinned though it was all teeth, "He did, though a second later his Sergeant grabbed him and practically slammed him into the Humvee that they were using for transport. The Sergeant told him that he was not to disrespect the soldiers who died there within earshot of him ever again. And that the only thing that he was right about was that they were warriors. National Guard or not, they, and we, had bled ourselves white for our nation." Drinking the rest of his beer, he snorted, "Saw the guy later all roughed up, claiming that he had tripped over something."

Simply sipping her own drink, Alaska nodded, "I wish that I could have met them."

Lips twitching, the Sergeant looked over at her and smiled, "Same here, Andy would have been over the Moon to meet you girls." A far off look entered his eyes at that, "Over the damn Moon..." Shaking it off, Jake glanced at his now empty beer and sighed a bit, "Anyways, that's enough time that this here old war dog takes up you three's time."

Cameron only shook his head and held out a hand, "No Sir, it was our honour to hear about your friends."

A small smile on his face, the Sergeant grasped the young man's hand and shook it, "Thank you."

Giving a salute to the two shipgirls, and receiving one in return, he soon walked off. Feeling movement, Cameron looked to find Alaska on one side of him and Atago on the other. He then ordered another drink for his girlfriend from the bar that they were at. Granted, he did wonder why Alaska brought along Atago on their date, not that he minded too much...

 

[darthcourt10]

mikelima777

In the harsh winter off the Aleutians, a pack of abyssals were shadowing a convoy of human transport ships, using the weather as cover. After the fall of the North Ocean Princess, some of the ferals occasionally ventured into her former holdings, hoping to find easy prey.

The convoy was rather large, with plenty of tempting targets to choose from. While there were escorting human warships, they were few and were apparently busy protecting a battered warship that was struggling to stay at 12 knots. The same could be said of the humans' shipgirls. The flagship of the pack, a Ta-class battleship snarled in annoyance. The shipgirls had limited the packs hunting grounds and made life as a feral abyssal hard.

Her musings were interrupted by a worried shout from the pack's Nu-class carrier, whose scout plane spotted something strange. There were abyssals in the convoy, but instead of attacking the humans, they were working alongside them. Stanger than that, they were flying one of the human flags, and to the concern of the pack leader, there was another Ta-class there, but a much more powerful one. Just as they realized what IFF the abyssals possessed, they realized that all of the shipgirls and the abyssals working with them were staring in their direction.

The feral abyssals panicked as an aura of terror overwhelmed them. The Ta-class lost all composure and ordered a hasty retreat. Even as the pack fled, they felt terror like never felt before, boring into their backs. It was, in fact, similar to the feelings of soldiers of the German 6th Army on the morning of 9th of April, 1917 at 5:30 am, as hundreds of British and Canadian artillery pieces fired simultaneously, preceding a terrifying roar as thousands of Canadian infantry rushed forwards.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

Pack Dynamics III

Diet Building, Magical Chiyoda

Naomi Miyata rubbed her temples before taking a sip of her tea to chase down the Headache Potion.

If the job she was doing riding herd on Councilor Ito was not hard enough....

She flipped through the JMSDF Civilian Contractor file generated by the Civil Service for one Ibuki Moriko, age 24. Schooling was listed as Iai Joshi Women's Academy in Hakodate.

Which had been destroyed in an Abyssal attack during Blood Week.

Parents were listed as deceased when the Abyssals attacked Hakodate..

Considering that a trio of heavy shells had landed on City Hall then and blown the birth and marriage records to the four corners of Japan, that was awfully convenient.

Family was listed as two sisters, Ibuki Suzume, age 24 -- twins perhaps? -- also a JMSDF contractor and an Ibuki Sachiko, 19. No male relatives. No extended family.

Another sip of tea and a scowl at the file. There was something fishy here, and she knew it.

Especially since more than a few unregistered Yokai and criminals had used the near-obliteration of Hakodate in Blood Week as a convenient way to make false identities.

Another flip to her qualifications. Kyokushin karate, second Dan. No tournaments listed there.

Naomi examined the photograph in the file of a rather battered tomboyish young woman. She might have been cute without the slightly bent nose and a haircut rather than the unruly mane of hair.

Mane....

At least with comparing her to the photograph Hachiko supplied, it was clearly the same girl. That was something. Just not enough something to make a decision.

With that she closed the folder and drained the rest of her teacup. She was not looking forward to the discussion she would have with her father.

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

"Daughter, you look troubled." Shigeru Miyata looked across the dinner table at his child.

Naomi spoke slowly. "I spoke to Hachiko today as per our arrangements. The news was... not what I expected."

Shigeru's eyes widened. "Nothing bad, surely!"

Naomi shook her head. "I'm not sure. He has met a girl who he has fallen for. Hard."

Shigeru leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his bare scalp. "You do not sound overjoyed, Naomi."

"That is because I am not. This 'Ibuki Moriko' has... well see for yourself. I called in a favor to get access to the unclassified files that Tokyo has for civilian contractors working for the Self-Defense Forces." Naomi handed her copy of the Civil Service files to her father.

Shigeru opened the folder and his eyes bulged at the photograph of Moriko clipped to the first page. "Well I can see a reason for my grandson to be interested in her, or rather two reasons. She is definitely female with those breasts. Even if her face... mmm... She looks like she fought a truck and lost though. And she looks like she's built like an oni."

Naomi nodded. "Yes, which is concerning. Hachiko-san is not the most masculine or assertive soul I know. I can see her dragging him off and the family needing to pay for pelvis surgery to go with the gallon of orange juice and IV drip the next week after she has her way with my nephew. Also," Her voice trailed off and she frowned as Shigeru looked up at her, "there's something wrong with that dossier. I cannot put my finger on it, but I know that there's more to her than the report says."

Shigeru flipped through it and then grunted, "I agree, it's a lot like a politician's campaign speech. All words and no real substance. This is all you have?"

"Yes. Hachiko claimed that she told him that she is a Natural-Born shipgirl, but that data is under lock and key by the Navy, and I can easily see a Christmas Cake like her working at the Naval Base saying that to get his attention. Plus the way he described their meeting, it reads like a particularly trashy shoujou manga scene." Naomi sighed.

"How so?" Shigeru's gaze was sharp.

"Apparently he was waiting tables , another customer bumped him, and his glasses went flying and wound up in her parfait. And then it was love at first sight, and he is badly smitten with her." Naomi shook her head. "Add in the reports of unregistered Kitsune in Yokosuka and..."

Shigeru nodded, "It fits. So, what do we do?"

Naomi sighed, "Gather information about Miss Ibuki now. Of course I can't use official means with the policies in place toward Yokohama and the naval base."

Shigeru gave a toothy smile, "I will call Mitsue Kiho tomorrow then. She took up private investigating after being too good as an Auror in uncovering political... ahh... skeletons. I'm sure that she will be interested in making some Ryō by compiling a 'supplemental file' on this young lady."

He then looked across the table at Naomi. "Keep me informed of what comes of this. And counsel Hachiko to not do anything rash before the family decides how to deal with this situation."

"Yes, Father."

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

So. For the past few months, I've been marinating the idea of showing what OLD was up to during Blood Week - because there's no way she was going to participate in sinking merchant/civilian craft, and while Porta isn't nice, she's not Heartless enough to force her. Harry's most recent snippet gave me a touch of inspiration, of just one more bit of madness that is no doubt lost amongst the chaos and stories of nobledark sacrifices of Blood Week, and will likely stay that way for years unless someone puts two and two together. So I wanted to do something of a proper chapter. but given how I still have a LOT of snippets to work through, I'll just give impressions of what I envision. Hopefully I'll be able to get back and fill these out properly.



Transcript. Excerpt.
Debrief of Korporaal Pierre Longstreet
Concerning the Battle of Antwerp, August 2005

Interviewer: Now, to clarify, you say that your platoon then received reinforcement.

Longstreet: Yes.

I: But, not from the army, nor any NATO force, correct.

Long.: Yes, that's correct. They were...

I: Were...?

Long.: They were ghosts, sir.

I: Indeed. So you said in your Action Report. That they were soldiers from the first world war.
Spoiler: Dämontruppen of the HIMT Demonic

Long.: Yes sir. Gas masks that seemed to- No. They were glowing, it was night. Their eyes were glowing with Hell's own fire. They had rifles like what my Great-Grandfather used, but the bayonets were as long as my arm. And they were black, smelled of... Of brimstone.

I.: Yes. And you called them... Dämontruppen?

Long.: Y-yes. That was, that was Private Vandoorne's name for them. His mother was German you see, and he was our unit's resident historian for World War One, so he came up with the name and it stuck. And... And with him... Gone, it seemed right that, that I use his name for them...

I: And where did these... Demontroopers, come from?

Long.: A demon cruise ship.

I: I beg your pardon?

Long.: It's insane, but that's the best word I can think of. It was only there for a second, I blinked and it was gone. But I was in the steeple of a church, the Lieutenant sent me up there to do recon. I looked to the port to see this giant black ship. Looked like one of those passenger ships a hundred years ago. Four funnels, but the smokestacks were belching blue fire along with the smoke, and in the back of my head I heard some animal growling, like that lion I saw at the zoo when I was a kid. And something in my gut was yelling at me to just get the Hell out of there. Then I blinked, and it was gone. An hour later and the Sea Demons that were about to over run us at our barricade were getting attacked from behind. I heard artillery fire that wasn't ours, and then shells started landing in the teeming horde. But they didn't explode, they just released clouds of gas. Then the troopers started marching from the side-streets with gun fire, then the Dämontruppen just ran up to the enemy and impaled them on their beyonets. And to my dying day, I swear I saw one whack an enemy with his rifle like it was a club just for fun. Then the crowd parted to reveal a platoon of Dämontruppen wielding flamethrowers and... Well, point is, they saved our lives, helped us hold the line until we were given the order to fall back the next morning, at which time they just disappeared.
------

CCTV Footage recovered Post-Blood Week, CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET!

The footage shows abyssals swarming the Antwerp Port, when one - an as-yet unidentified Abyssal outside of her being a probable Demon-Type, wearing armor not unlike a Medieval Knight - running into the group and killing them one by one. With nothing but her bear hands. Of particular note are two instances: One is her ripping the leg of a Ru-Class off at the hip and beating a Ta-Class to death with it, and in a separate incident reaching under the surface and lifting a Yo-Class submarine by her hair before crushing her skull in her hands.

The Minehunter Primula then opens fire on the group - by now mostly light cruisers and destroyers - indiscriminately with her 12.7mm M2 guns. While the smaller Abyssals winced away from the small gun fire - Intel suggests the 50 cal. bullets were peircing the unarmored areas of their superstructures - the Demon simply turns to the minehunter and runs to her, and breaks through the hull on impact. Seconds later the small ship lurches violently, then the upper deck explodes. For a few frames the Demon is seen holding the sinking minehunter's diesel engine over her head before throwing it at the remaining Abyssals, the engine skips on impact with the Abyssals and flies towards the camera, where the footage cuts out.
------

Excerpt from "Surviving Blood Week at Sea," part of a series on Blood Week originally published in The Chronicle Herald December 21st, 2005

...while there are many tales such as Ms. Keller's, where newly self-summoned shipgirls stayed with survivors and assisted with military and government officials throughout Blood Week, what struck this reporter the most is this one of a shipgirl that seems to be shy. Jacques Bordeax is a Quebec native, and had been at sea for forty-one years. His ship, the Arcadian Dream, a 65,000 tonne bulk freighter registered in Panama, was on its way in from Japan when Blood Week began.

"We were all very nervous at the time. With the growing number of missing ships through out the past few years, we'd be fools not to be. But then we started getting maydays, until the airwaves were flooded with them."

Over the following days, Arcadian Dream and its crew ran for their lives, hoping to make for a friendly port. New York was closest, but they found a major naval battle between the US and Canadian navies against a large Abyssal force between them and their destination. Not wanting to get in the way or be sunk on accident, the captain turned the freighter north. Boston was tried next, but were told to try further north, as the city had been brutalized and could not handle taking in more shipping. It was then that the Arcadian Dream and a small convoy of merchant ships began to group together on the way to Halifax, the largest city north of Hampton Roads and New York City to survive the days of fighting with only moderate damage. But they almost didn't make it, when two fleets of Abyssal ships closed in on them.

"Mother raised me a good Catholic, but I'm a little ashamed to say that I had lapsed," Jacques Bordeax recounts, "but some sixty hours with no sleep and fearful of ones life makes one reprioritize things. I had just finished my turn at the wheel when those monsters started closing in, and I just went to my knees and started reciting the Hail Mary, as if it hadn't been some thirty years. I think towards the end I stopped bothering with the words and just went to begging for God to send someone to save us. And He did. Suddenly one of those monsters screamed as it was dragged under. Then some... thing burst from the sea and started literally tearing those demons apart. Real brutal business. Like a lioness among gazelle.

"We, that is, all of us among the ships, tried to train our spotlights on our savior as she circled the convoy, but no one could get a good angle on her. It was like she was shy. But she stayed with us all through the night. When she would turn sharply in one direction, we'd turn the other way, because that meant was going after another fleet, waiting for us. Then an hour or two later she'd be right back, leading us north. When the sun rose we finally met with the Cape Roger and Haida. And that was the first time any of us had actually seen a shipgirl. Though she was the second we ever met. The first being our mysterious savior."

The identity of the Jane Doe Shipgirl of the Blood Week Convoy has yet to be determined. Given the darkness and the rain, no one was able to get a clear picture or description of their savior. Though what little could be made out in the dark and compared to other currently serving shipgirls, Navy insiders speculate that on size alone, she had to have been a Capital ship in size. But none can answer why she did not utilize her weapons, as all shipgirls have been shown to use the weapons on their rigging as easily as breathing. Even aircraft carriers have either their planes, or smaller arms. When asked, Haida claims that she did not see any sign of a shipgirl. This is because by the time Haida knew about her, the shipgirl had already left the convoy.

"She must have known that we were in good hands. It was just as the sun was breaking. I couldn't get a good look at her because the sun was directly behind her. But she just stood there on the ocean, watching us, then she turned around and sailed away. And none of us saw her again after that."

Still, Jacques Bordeax and the surviving crew and passengers of the ships of the Blood Week Convoy all wish for the shipgirl that saved their lives, whomever she is, and wherever she makes port, to know that they thank her for saving their lives.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sipping her tea, Kathleen Dippet looked out from the balcony of the small café that she was at out onto Portsmouth base. Her eyes searching for those that her many great grandfather's sacrifice had allowed for their existence. After mourning her ancestor, she had taken to keeping an eye on those that he brought about. It was, after all, the least that she could do for him.

Kathleen could even remember dropping them off on the beach close to Fort Gilkicker and sending a message to the Naval Base at Portsmouth. Not that she just left them there, she had stayed until one of the shipgirls had arrived, only disillusioning herself when they got close. Backing up, she had continued to observe as they gathered up the shipgirls laying there. Once she was absolutely certain that things were good, she apparated out.

Her next two months were spent mainly taking care of her many greats grandfather's last will and testament as well as his funeral. That, and grieving for the man who had raised her and comforted her after her parents had been killed in Blood Week. Kathleen was not ashamed to admit that she had cried many days alone in her bedroom. Not the Master Bedroom, not yet, as to her that was still Armando's, but a smaller room in the family estate. When she finally had grieved all that she could, Kathleen had gone back to work at Saint Mungoes best that she could.

But despite that... she still made time to come down to this small café outside of the Naval base to simply watch.

At least once a week, the Medi-witch would sit at the café and, after a few weak spells to not draw attention, would spend an hour or two having tea as she watched. It was not until February that she had seen the first of the shipgirls who were born due to her ancestor's sacrifice heading out onto Portsmouth Harbour. It had lightened her, until then, heavy heart. That what Armando did had meaning. Despite that, she had continued to simply watch and observe as well as listen to the non-magical news. Hearing that the Dutch accepted the never built warships lightened her spirit still more, and she could remember talking to her ancestor's grave about it when she had visited, believing that he was happy wherever he was.

Currently, Kathleen had omniculars up to her eyes as she scanned the waves before nodding at seeing the Malta Sisters out on the waves practicing. 'They're getting much better. Grandfather would be proud, I think.' Pulling the Omniculars away from her eyes, her smile brightened a bit, 'I needed that, especially after...'

For a brief moment, her mood soured a bit at the reminder of what had happened. Mainly, Rita Skeeter publishing one of her lie filled books regarding her grandfather. Something brought to her attention by how one of her fellow Medi-witches had shown her it and was swallowing the lies in it. Not that Kathleen had expected much better from Skeeter, having had the unfortunate luck to have gone to school with the woman in question. The fact that the "Reporter" used the fact that there was not much in the way of defamation laws on the magical side of the world to her advantage.

Granted... Skeeter herself had a lot of skeletons in her closet. And Kathleen had quite a bit of money and connections. Enough to hire many people to put together all those skeletons in her own book. Published under a pseudonym, of course. But enough that she was going to see that woman's life utterly wrecked. Part of Kathleen believed that if her parents were alive, they would have argued to just leave it be. But since they were not, she was not going to leave it lie...

Taking a deep breath, Kathleen let it out, 'No, forget about that woman. She is not worth it.' With a sigh, the witch took a sip of her tea before turning her attention to the slice of cake that was on a plate, 'This is much more deserving of attention then...' Carefully getting a forkful, she put it into her mouth and hummed, 'Yes, much more deserving of attention...'

A moment later, there was the sound of a throat being cleared and Kathleen blinked as a voice with a tinge of an Irish accent spoke up, "Hello there, can I take a seat here?"

Only swallowing, the witch nodded as she turned, "Of course..."

She trailed off though at seeing one of the N3s there with a smile and a cup of tea in one hand while the other had a plate with what looked like a quarter of a cake on it. Red hair cascaded down her back from it's place under a black cap while two green eyes twinkled from beneath the bangs of said hair. Hanging off her shoulders was a black naval jacket while the white shirt strained at her chest while her similarly white skirt was far too short. The twinkle only increased as she noticed Kathleen's open staring before she pulled one of the chairs away from the table, "Thank you..." With a chuckle, the N3 smiled a bit and held out a hand, "Where are my manners... I am HMS St. Patrick, of the Saint Class. Patty to my friends and sisters."

Having snapped out of her surprise and lightly blushing, Kathleen took the offered hand, "And I am Kathleen Dippet."

Moments later, her blush increased as St. Patrick smiled and leaned over to kiss her knuckles, "Charmed to make your acquaintance."

Within her chest, the witch felt her heart pounding in a way that it had not for some time. As some termed it, she was a Chaser for both teams. 'It... has been some time since...' Rapidly shaking that thought off as it was still far too soon after her grandfather's death to think of such things... as much as she might have wanted to otherwise. Instead, Kathleen smiled with a small nod, "Same, Miss Patrick."

Leaning against one hand, St. Patrick hummed a bit and gave her a glance over, "Please, call me Patty, if you must."

Softly giggling a bit, Kathleen shook her head some, "Charmer." Getting a wave of the hand, she sighed a bit before tilting her head to the side. After all, this was a chance to get to know one of the shipgirls her grandfather had brought into existence. And, while she was not exactly looking for such, having nice company was always a plus, "If I may ask... Saint Class?"

Chuckles escaped from the massive Battleship as she took a sip of her tea, "Indeed, myself and my sisters are each named for one of the Patron Saints of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. St. Patrick, in my case and St. George, St. Andrew, and finally St. David. Hence the name of the four of us as the Saint Class."

Bemused, Kathleen chuckled as she placed her hands under her chin, "Well, I think that they suit you."

That got her a smile from St. Patrick. For the next hour, the two of them chatted though Kathleen did dance around some subjects regarding the magical world, though she admitted to working in the medical field. Eventually, the tea and cake ran out and the N3 leaned back with a small smile, "Nothing quite like enjoying tea with a friendly, and lovely, face."

Despite the blush on her face, Kathleen laughed and made a shooing motion with her hand, "Begone, you."

Humming, the Battleship scratched her chin before sighing, "You know, as a Battleship, I do not do subtle." At seeing the confusion, she continued after a glance around, "I will admit that when I came in here and saw you, I had to come over and talk with you." Slightly smiling, St. Patrick nodded, "Which I have not regretted and would not mind doing so more often."

Now confused, Kathleen frowned, "You... had to come over when you saw me?" At the answering nod, she frowned more, "Why?"

With a deep breath, St. Patrick leaned in, "Because, Kathleen... I recognized you."

Lips dry, the witch licked them, "You... recognized me? From where and... how?"

For several seconds, St. Patrick was quiet before speaking in a soft whisper, "I... remember, when they found us on that beach. When the lid on the container I was in opened, I was somewhat conscious at the time and some of my fairies caught sight of your tearful face." Reaching over, she placed her hand on a now pale Kathleen's, "And the name... Dippet. Are you related to an Armando Dippet? As... as I remember him, though hazy. An old man sailing past as I and my sisters as well as the others went on to this world. Some of my fairies know his name."

Voice soft, nearly inaudible, Kathleen looked up at her with teary eyes, "You... you all remember him?"

Slowly, the Battleship nodded, "We do, and we honour him. Despite the... issues regarding the divide, enough is known that we know what he did to give us the chance to live." Eyes soft, St. Patrick pulled out a cloth and used it to dab at Kathleen's eyes, "What he did, we can only thank him."

Nodding, Kathleen took a shaky breath, "Thank you."

Only smiling, St. Patrick did not say much though she looked out towards the base, "You've been checking up on us, have you not?" From the corner of her eye, she could see Kathleen nod, which made her smile, "I see."

Just running a hand through her hair, Kathleen sighed, "You must think me as some sort of stalker. But I had to know that you were all alright."

Much to her surprised, she felt her hand being gently squeezed by the other woman, "No, I do not. Far from it." When she turned to look at her, the witch found herself blushing from the look from St. Patrick who smiled, "It says much about your character that you are willing to spend the time and effort to make sure that we are treated well."

Lips curling upwards into a smile, Kathleen hummed a bit, "Thank you."

Staring her in the eyes, St. Patrick shook her head, "No, thank you and your grandfather." After a minute, Kathleen nodded but said nothing. Getting up, the Battleship stretched a bit before helping the witch to her feet, "I must thank you for the enjoyable company."

In return, Kathleen shook her head, "Not as much as I have. It... has been too long, I think."

Eyes narrowing slightly, the Battleship hummed before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a piece of paper, "Here, this is my telephone number." Leaning in as Kathleen took it, she smirked, "Perhaps... we can make it so that it will never be nearly as long as it has been?"

Kathleen's eyes widened a touch as she searched the Battleship's own eyes. After a few moments, her expression softened and she took the piece of paper with a small smile, "I... think that might well be quite lovely. As friends at least, for now."

Rather than look disappointed, St. Patrick smiled instead, "Yes, as friends at least."

Both of them walked out of the café next to each other and the witch gave St. Patrick a peck on the cheek. Seeing the blush, Kathleen gave a wink before walking off and the shipgirl heard a crack when the witch walked into an alleyway. Smiling herself, the N3 began to walk back to the base whistling.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Tsukiakari walked into the guest house on the Potter Properties before blinking at who she found there, "Andraste-Senpai?"

Looking up from where she was cleaning her true self and polishing, the purple haired girl smiled a bit, "Good afternoon, Tsukiakari. How are you this morning?"

Just walking over, Tsukiakari sat herself down, "I'm fine, Senpai." Watching as the Shield continued her maintenance, the Kyu-Gunto cocked her head to the side, "Can I ask you something, Andraste-Senpai?"

With a hum, Andraste glanced at her and smiled, "Of course..." Pausing, she snapped her fingers, "It is the glasses that I am wearing, isn't it?"

Blinking, the sword frowned, 'Glasses...' It was then that Tsukiakari realized that, yes, Andraste was wearing glasses with light purple frames along with more modern clothing. Lips twitching, she shook her head, "Well, I was wondering about that as well, I suppose. Though they look good on you, Senpai."

A light dusting of pink on her cheeks, Andraste giggled some before adjusting her glasses, "Sabah suggested them for me..." Her blush deepened a touch and she smiled slightly more, "She said that they looked cute on me."

Unable to help herself, Tsukiakari also giggled and blushed as she nodded, "Yes, they certainly do make you look cute." Becoming thoughtful, she hummed, "Though... that does make me wonder. You and Sabah-Senpai are both really close to one another, and I never did come across the reason why...? Though I think it has to do with how she became a Potter blade?"

For a moment, Andraste was silent before she hummed some, "Ah, there is a bit of a tale there." Gathering her thoughts, she continued, "I was forged shortly before the Fifth Crusade for Hadrian Potter, whose mother was the Queen of the Local Fae with Richard Potter as his father. Yes, it was part of the deal to tie the Potters and the Fae Band closer together, via blood. But... she loved Richard, I think, and loved her son as well as much as a Fae could. When both died, she visited their graves despite the pain of being on consecrated ground." Cloth gently swiping at the shield, the Spirit nodded, "She also had me created in the forges of the Fae for her son when she heard he was going to join the Crusades."

Eyes wide, the Kyu Gunto stared at her before shaking her head, "I know that it was mentioned before, but..."

Chuckling, Andraste shook her head, "Surprising, is it not? But she had me forged by the smiths of the Fae. Some of my metal came from a star that fell from the heavens. These stones..." She tapped the ones circling the shield's boss, "Came from the stone from which King Arthur withdrew Caliburn... but the central boss..." Her finger slid across it, "Comes from the anvil that sat upon that stone and from which the Sword in the Stone was drawn from to prove that Arthur was King. Powerful artifacts, but ones that were left behind to rust and turn to gravel. Into the metal and stone were poured protections."

Now leaning forward with a childish look of interest, Tsukiakari smiled, "How powerful? I know that Sabah mentioned poison, but...'

Lips curling upwards into a smile, the Shield lightly laughed, "Powerful. As shown one day when we were journeying along a road in the Alps and were set upon by a group of trolls lead by a giant. Said giant had a great axe and knocked Hadrian from his horse. Scrambling to his feet at the same time that the giant brought his axe up for an overhead blow, my first Master brought me up, extending me from where I had been disguised as an armlet. The axe met me... and shattered, with Hadrian barely moved. Some of the shrapnel embedded itself into the giant, and gave him time to slide his blade between it's ribs, slaying it." Pausing, she frowned some and made a motion with her hand, "Not that was the last time that I was used to slay giants. Jonathan Potter used me about... 1346 during a spat of giant attacks since I was able to turn their blows aside to give him room to kill them. One of his Welsh friends called him Iach, or 'Healthy', due to how he never really got hurt."

For some odd reason, that nickname made Tsukiakari frown some in confusion, 'Iach? Why does that tickle the back of my mind...' After a moment, she shrugged it off, 'Probably not important.'

Instead, she turned back to the tale as Andraste told it, "Anyways, besides being able to turn aside blows, I can deflect many spells and wearing me allows for one to be unaffected by the heat of the desert sands while making their skin as tough as leather while still looking normal. As well, poison cannot affect one with me nor can spells that cause secondary effects such as withering. All that became very useful as the Crusade went on." Finger tapping her thigh, she hummed, "Though the fighting did not begin until we arrived in what is now Syria. It was shortly after the battle where we defeated Saphadim where Sabah's master snuck into the encampment to slay as many of us as possible. It was night when Hadrian came across him and deployed me as the two fought across the encampment... It was magnificent. A slash from Sabah killed other Crusaders from mere scratches. But my Master... he fought and fought, getting cut again and again. The poison in his veins making him fight all the harder."

Tsukiakari was unable to help herself as she was drawn into the story. In her mind, she could almost hear the blows between the two fighters as they fought, "So what happened next?"

Not saying anything right away, the Shield hummed, "Well, it was a draw at first, until the Hashashin, who was part Efreet, used his fire magic to heat up Hadrian's sword until it was red hot and began to melt. But if he thought that would be the end of it, he was wrong. Hand burned, my Master charged him with me held in front of him when the Hashashin attempted the same trick on me." Thinly smiling, she brushed some hair from her brow and adjusted her glasses, "It... did not work for I withstood the flames. His eyes widened as we burst from the flames, the fire trailing along my edges before I was slammed into him. Once we was down, Hadrian smashed him again and again with me before getting off as he lay dying. I remember him chuckling and calling Hadrian a worthy warrior before he expired. As he was without a sword, my Master took his, which was Sabah." With a shrug, Andraste smiled a bit, "The two of us have been together since then to be honest."

Considering that, Tsukiakari only nodded, "That makes sense... but what about the rest of the Crusades?"

A small frown on her face, Andraste shook her head, "There... is not a whole lot to speak of. During the Crusades, we fought across the Middle East until we came to Egypt. When we took Damietta though... Hadrian saw how the Commanders were fighting amongst themselves for control. That, as well as an inkling that things were going to turn, led to him heading back home. It was only after we arrived back in Britain that the word reached us of the disastrous defeat. Hadrian retired from Crusading after that, though his grandson, Jeffery, joined the Crusades under King Edward the First. He brought me along and it was during that Crusade that I met... Prydwen."

Upon hearing that name, the other Tsukumogami stiffened, "Prydwen? As in the same one that..."

Slowly, Andraste nodded, "That has searched for Carnwennan? Yes, the very same... it was on the travel back that we met each other as a matter of fact..."

***********************************************

Jeffery was in a deep, magical sleep behind Andraste who stood between him and the woman before her. Narrowing her eyes, the Shield growled as the other woman jerked back her hand as if shocked at her appearance, "Who are you!? And why have you placed my Master within slumber?!'

The woman looked at her for several seconds before narrowing her eyes, "I am Prydwen, Shield and Ship of the Once and Future King of Briton, King Arthur Pendragon. May I ask who you may be?"

Hand tightening on the strap she held her true body with, the Shield narrowed her own eyes, "I am Andraste, Shield of the Potters. And you still have not answered why you placed my Lord into slumber."

Only tilting her head a bit in acknowledgement, Prydwen frowned, "I have not. As for why... I search for the Relics of my King, to keep them safe until his return. Through magic, I sensed such here..." Her eyes narrowed to mere slits, "And coming from you, it would seem."

Shifting slightly to better cover her Master, Andraste scowled, "What right does it give you to take such items? Did King Arthur give you such a duty?" Her own eyes narrowing, she continued at seeing how the other shield stiffened, "Or is it one that you have assumed?"

For several moments, there was no answer. Then, Prydwen scowled back, "I do not need to answer to you. Give me the items that belonged to my King and I shall be off."

Andraste only shifted again and tightened her hold as she prepared to defend, "Than you shall have to break me, Prydwen, Shield of Arthur. For what you seek is as much a part of me as your steel is of your own body."

Now it was Prydwen's turn to shift a bit and mumble something. Before Andraste could do anything, the stones in her shield glowed as did the central boss. The other shield grimaced and had the expression of deep thought on her face, "They used the Stone and the Anvil from which Caliburn were drawn for you."

With a deep breath, the other Shield swallowed, "Yes, after both were left in the field to rust or turn to gravel."

Hands on her sword, Prydwen had a look of consideration upon her face as one finger tapped out a rhythm on the hilt, "That material, ultimately belongs to my King..." Seeing the stiffening stance of Andraste, she held up one hand, "However, you are right in that my King also left such items behind of his free will. And I can sense the magic of the fae within you."

Slowly nodding, Andraste frowned, "Yes, my Lady had me forged for her son who she had by a mortal in the Potters."

Deep in thought, the Shield of King Arthur was quiet and for several minutes there was only the crackle of flames. Then, slowly, she gave a chuckle, "I see. Under most circumstances, I would take you, but as you said, forged from items that my own King discarded and by the Fae. I know better than to even attempt to take you." With a slight bow, Prydwen smiled, "Accept my apologies."

Relaxing some, Andraste bowed a little as well, "Accepted, as long as you lift the spell from my Master."

Waving her hand, Prydwen did so...

******************************************

Head tilted to the side, Tsukiakari frowned, "Wait, so she let you go? Despite..."

Simply shrugging, the Shield shook her head, "She did, though she did state that if the Potters ever died out, she would attempt to claim me, but not until then." Chuckling, Andraste shook her head, "She journeyed with us for some time, much to Jeffrey's moneybag's misery whenever it came time to stop at a tavern for a meal. As she stated, the greatest enemy was hunger and she ever sought it's defeat."

Eyebrow raised, Tsukiakari shook her head before placing her chin in one hand, "But obviously at some point in the journey she went on her own way. Why?"

With a sigh, Andraste shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Mainly? She had this small... being, I suppose that a shipgirl would call it a 'Fairy', which was that of Merlin. Allow me to just state that he had... issues regarding how close Jeffery and Prydwen became on the journey. Enough so that he caused many, many problems. Enough so that Prydwen commented that she was reminded of a certain Paladin before stating that Jeffery reminded her of him greatly, especially the one time he had to cross-dress as a woman." Ignoring the snickers from Tsukiakari, she continued, "To the point where she mused that they might have been related somehow... But eventually there came a point where what Merlin was doing, and dragging the others into, was too much and they went their separate ways. Apparently, from what I know, Merlin believed that if he could not have Prydwen than no one would... and said shield reacted as well as you could imagine when I told her. Last we saw was her tossing Merlin into a nearly frozen mountain stream with a scream of rage."

That made the Kyu Gunto blink until she put it together, "Jealous pervert?"

Her tone utterly dry, Andraste nodded, "Jealous pervert."

All Tsukiakari could was shake her head with a sigh.

 

[darthcourt10]

jgkitarel Omake: Why it is not a good idea to get Andraste mad at you

And when they meet again, I can see her running into Carnwennan, get royally chewed out by him, have Merlin get on her shoulder, and our favorite dagger glaring, well, daggers at him.

Carnwennan: "And now it makes all too much sense." *pauses as Andraste steps out* "Umm, Andraste?"

Andraste: "Just a moment, Carnwennan. Prydwen, can I have Merlin for a moment?" *Prydwen hands him over* "Ah, thank you, my dear."

Fairy Merlin: *Angrily* "Pip! Pip pip pip, pipipipippi- GACK!"

Andraste: *squeezing Merlin* "Enough of that and watch your language. There are ladies present. Now, it seems as if you were the, what is that term they use these days? Oh right! You were Prydwen's Good Idea Fairy, or Gif. And given that the entire Potter Armory is here, as well as a large number of Shipgirls and Abyssals who happen to like our Harry. Why, one of them calls him her older brother, and her daughters call him uncle. Isn't that cute? Well, enough of that. You are going to cease and desist in pushing this quest on Prydwen. Arthur and his knights will return in their own time, no sooner, or later, than that. So you are going to stop making Prydwen's decisions for her, yes I know who is truly responsible for this. You. So, you are going to stop, and don't think about using the others as proxies, we will know. So, again, you are going to stop this. Or all of us are going to get... Angry. And you would not like us to be angry at you, let alone me now, w̹̥̜̲o͇̭̣̘͡u͏̖̯̳̰̲l̼͟ͅḍ̺͉̲̯̯ ͈̞̣̮͇̺̼y̗͔̣̣͞o̤̙̯u̶̫̮̗̖͙͎?"

Carnwennan: "And this is why none of us want her to be mad at us. Ever."

 

[darthcourt10]

Hazard

Crossposted from SV.

(Matters of interest on the river IJzer during and following Blood Week)


Battle of Nieuwpoort and associated riverine action.

Concurrent with the raids, assaults, bombardments and other hostile action during Blood Week (see also, the First Battles of London, Hamburg, Rotterdam, 's Gravenhage and Antwerpen, and the Raids on Den Helder, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Bergen, Oslo, Calais and Dover, as well as the Waddenzee Campaign), the Battle of Nieuwpoort and the forcing of the IJzer was a relatively minor event. Under the cover of the much larger fleet and amphibious action occurring across the Noordzee, the flotilla of destroyers and corvettes that made their way to Nieuwpoort was easily missed. While lacking the sheer fighting power of the cruiser and battleship fleets, a dozen I-class destroyers and at least 50 corvettes of unknown type assaulted the town.

While most of the destroyers stayed behind and started shelling the town, 2 of the destroyers and all the corvettes only took shots of opportunity as they rushed up the river IJzer towards Ieper. Survivor's accounts and post battle analysis of the damage indicate that every building and village by the shore was fired upon, and all war memorial steles and stones were directly and physically assaulted by a small group of corvettes while the remainder stood guard. When the group arrived by the Dodengang Memorial they cleared the preserved section of trench, killing the civilians hiding there, before continuing on to Diksmuiden where they shelled the river shores and brought down the WW1 memorial tower and museum.

Apparently satisfied with the state of Diksmuiden, the group continued on down the IJzer, eventually taking the Ieper-Lee branch channel towards Ieper. Although like with Nieuwpoort and Diksmuiden the Abyssals shelled Ieper, casualties this time were very light, with less than two dozen confirmed killed and all accounted for. Messages send ahead of the Abyssals allowed the sirens to warn the civilians, but those are not credited for the extremely low casualty numbers. Forty minutes after the sirens first sounded a thin, green fog spread over the town, followed swiftly with at first vague images and far off sounds of soldiers in WW1 era gas masks gesturing at citizens. As the Abyssals approached the fog became thicker and the soldiers more solid and clearer, until with only minutes before the Abyssals' arrival the ghostly soldiers started physically hauling and shouting at the civilians in a somehow perfectly understandable creole of Dutch, English, French and German, guiding them into ancient trenches with instructions to keep walking until the soldiers at the end told them to stop.

When the Abyssals arrived they found a ghost town, still caught in that green fog. At the end of the channel they made landfall, spewing forth several hundred Abyssal soldiers as they rapidly made their way south. When they tried to cross the remnants of Ieper's ancient moat however they were met by a hail of small arms fire that stalled them in place. Reacting swiftly, Abyssal infantry took position in the buildings while the ships took cover behind them. Over the next half hour or so a stalemate developed, with neither side willing to press the attack against potentially catastrophic losses, until the Abyssal destroyers took a small group of corvettes back with them to the channel and started firing as heavy artillery support to suppress the defenders while the remaining corvettes rushed forward with the infantry to provide heavy machine gun support.

The situation untenable, the defenders abandoned their position and fell back in good order. This situation repeated itself with the next street, if with a swifter Abyssal answer, before the Abyssal forces swung their line further east to take advantage of the moat to open up their firing lines and let their corvettes offer effective fire. This also allowed them to more easily take the Menenpoort, a key memorial for the Battles of Ypres. When the Abyssals approached within a hundred meters of the gate, a thunderous roar greeted them from afar, with ancient artillery position both east and west of Ieper speaking. A devastating, constant barrage then started raining on Abyssal positions and leveling part of the town in the process. Curiously, neither the Menenpoort, nor the Church, nor the Flanders Fields Museum in Ieper were hit by so much as a stray bit of shrapnel, despite the size of the barrage and the combat being very close to these buildings.

Forced into cover, taking severe losses, severely outmatched in artillery as even the destroyers were getting shelled and their cover literally getting blasted to pieces right around them, the Abyssals routed, with only 2 damaged destroyers and a half dozen corvettes fleeing north, the remainder cut down in Ieper.

As the battle in Ieper progressed the population was further evacuated, eventually spilling out of the trench system in the nearby towns in that same, green fog. With the battle now to a close however the fog started dissipating, lasting only long enough to evacuate the last citizen to enter before fading along with the soldiers and trenches.

In Diksmuide rescue operations were well under way by the time the Abyssals came back at speed. Nearly caught by surprise again, the emergency services none the less managed to hide themselves and the victims from the Abyssals among the already blasted rubble. They passed through without issue until they approached the Dodengang memorial. Passing into a bend of the river and forced to slow down, the Abyssals took heavy fire from a crossfire of massed machine guns and direct fire artillery. They were sunk to the last.

After shelling Nieuwpoort for several hours the destroyers there retreated without further incident.

For weeks following Blood Week, ancient, WW1 era trench and artillery positions along the route from Nieuwpoort to Ieper would occasionally be marked by loose piles of brass munitions cartridges still smoking a pale, green haze in the sun or glowing a faint green glow at night.



The Dodengang Warning.
On All Hallow's Eve 2013, a group of German soldiers on leave in Diksmuide disappeared. When they were found on the following All Souls Day in the Dodengang Memorial early in the morning following a series of extraordinarily dense fog events they spoke of having been warned by the White Women of folklore of the repercussions of the summoning of Halifax by the Canadians. While the Canadians main memorial is on Vimy Ridge, even Ypres felt it happen.

And so did much of Europe's own place spirits.

While all of them yet rest, some are now resting uneasily. Le Mort Homme at Verdun whispers most loudly of them in its sleep for more, Ieper, Wieltje, Hullugh and Wulverghem have started coughing in their sleep along with others, many places in the Alps and Balkan regions have started bleeding even as the mountainsides grow less safe, much of Eastern Europe is seeing its fields watered with blood spilled long ago, and in certain camps in current day Poland and other areas of what was once the Third German Empire, ovens that should have never been build in the first place are heating up once more.

It is possible these places never wake. It is possible to still their nightmares and let them rest easier once more. But things are stirring that should not stir, and Europe is not alone in this.

And this is the only warning they'll get.