Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Tackweld

Here it is, the first part that has obvious connections to the main story.
I know it is short, but it is a transition of sorts.

Part 5: A Game of Chess
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Francis Ball sat in front of his computer. On one screen was a digitized chessboard and the second screen was occupied with a skype call to a redheaded boy the same age as Francis.

As Francis moved his white bishop to cover his king, he said " Ron, thanks again for helping me improve my game, Espically after beating me so soundly at that tourney."

Ron moved his remaining knight to threaen Francis' white bishop. " Dont worry about it, I'm glad to have someone to play who is always looking to improve. I am grateful that you are willing to put up with my imperfect instruction."

Francis moved his rook to cover his white bishop. " Imperfect instruction? mate, you are good at teaching, you just need to be more confident in your ability."

"Thanks, mate." replied Ron. " You know, Warspite says the same thing."

"It still throws me for a loop to think about, you being close freinds with HMS Warspite- THE HMS Warspite!"


Francis and Ron continued to chat as they finished their game. Ron won, but it was a near thing.

"Ron, what is the record now?" asked Francis.

"I am up two on you" replied Ron.
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That evening, after the platoon installed mousetraps in the shelters, Eustace Ball walked home. Normally he would've stoped at the Yachtsman but this evening he hurried home. He needed to talk to his grandson.


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What do you think?

 

[darthcourt10]

Year Three - Prisoner of Shipping Part 1c

START

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Eyebrow raised, Hermione was giving Harry a look as they walked along the Monday after he returned from Japan, "Harry?" Getting a hum, she frowned and narrowed her eyes some, "Why are you smirking? Are you planning something? Because you seem really amused about something."

Chuckling, Harry shook his head in amusement, "No, no, Hermione. It is not me who is planning something..."

That made the Longbottom heir blink and give him an odd look, "Wait, if it's not you..."

His own eyes narrowing, Ron gave a sigh, "Of course, Fred and George have to be planning something." At the shake of the head from his messy haired friend though, he blinked, "Wait, not them?"

Giving a small shrug, Harry put his hands behind his head in amusement, "No, not them. I mean, they are likely planning some prank or another, or else they wouldn't be them. But... it is the Chasers who are planning something."

Now that bit of information made them all blink in utter confusion. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in thought, "The Chasers? Why would they..." Her eyes then widened and she winced, "That whole revenge thing?"

Only nodding, the Japanese raised wizard of the group grinned even wider if it was possible, "Yeah, they're going to be getting revenge on Fred, George, and Wood tonight. And I know for a fact that I am going to be caught up in it as well. Mainly because I was there and didn't say anything when those three opened their mouths, guilt by association I think."

Facepalming, Hermione groaned some, "Oh for... because those three opened their big mouths about, um... girl issues, that means that you are at fault as well?" At Harry's nod, she sighed and threw her hands into the air, "But you were raised around girls! If there's anyone who would not be like that, it would be you!"

Still grinning, Harry shrugged, "One would think so, but they took my silence as agreement or something like that. So they're also targeting me for the prank, which they're going to do tonight."

Despite feeling it was unfair, Neville frowned as another question came to mind, "Wait, didn't they give up on that? Because I remember them trying to prank the Twins and failing... And that was weeks ago!"

Harry gave him a slight smirk, "Yes, though they were not trying all that hard to prank the Twins. And they stopped that a few weeks back after 'attempting' to prank them for a week. Which means that, right now, the Twins are assuming that they've given up and gone into a relaxed sense of security."

Intrigued, the Light Cruiser of the group frowned some, "But... how do you know it will be tonight?"

All the messy haired wizard did was hold up a hand and begin to tick off on his fingers, "A few reasons to be honest. One is that it has been long enough to do this. Second, Wood is going to be working us hard enough, and long enough, that by the time we head to dinner we'll be the last ones in. Which means all they got to do is get ahead of us if they want to prank us in front of the school. And thirdly, I asked that they wait for a bit to prank me as I had some real important stuff. Sure, they want revenge, but not if it means causing a big incident outside the school. They gave me that much, I will say. And fourth..."

Leaning in, the three had interested looks on their faces. Ron, though, was the one who spoke the question on their minds, "And fourth?"

Eyes twinkling, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out Kutie, "I've had the Smols watching them for me. They informed me that the three of them are going to prank us tonight ahead of time."

The tiny Submarine had a serious expression on her face as she gave a salute, "Ku!"

A blonde head poked out of his pocket as the Smol version of Hachi nodded, "Chiiii..."

For several moments there was nothing before Hermione sighed and pinched her nose, "Of course. The Smols..."

Rubbing his chin, Ron gave a small nod, "I've been wondering where they got off to. I mean, Minagato has had her upgrade and stuff, but haven't noticed the others around that much."

Just shrugging, Harry shook his head, "Well, I wanted to know ahead of time before they could pull anything." Checking his watch, he gave a nod and sped up some, "Anyways, I got to get to the Tower and put my stuff there before heading to practice. Best not to give those three any clue that I am onto them after all~"

His three friends stopped and stared as he disappeared around a corner, before Ron frowned, "He did it again."

Neville turned and looked at him, "Hint that he is actually planning something?"

Slowly shaking his head, the red head paused, "Well, that too, but that wasn't what I meant." At their looks, he continued, "He somehow pronounced a tilde again. Bloody Hell, how does he do that?"

Glaring at him, Hermione scowled, "Language!" Then she frowned herself, "And... I have no idea how he does that."

Once practice was done, the thirteen year old Seeker noted how the girls of the team rushed into the shower first and were soon gone. No one though noticed the slight smirk on his face at that, or as they walked along. Finally, the four boys of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team entered the Great Hall only to feel a tingle spread across their bodies. Noticing laughter, and the triumphant looks of the Chasers who were now crossing their arms, it took a few moments for Wood to realize that his uniform had changed...

Into the girl's version, complete with a skirt and leggings.

Mouth working, he also noted that the same had happened with Fred and George as well as Harry. Wood managed to say something after nearly a minute, "What the bloody fuck!?"

Katie smirked at him and placed her hands on her hips, "That is for all those comments and jokes you all made about 'That time of the month' back in September!"

Beside her, Alicia nodded with a smirk of her own, "Exactly! And don't bother thinking that changing clothes will work as the curse will simply change them to a female version for the next week and there is no counterspell." Her eyes then narrowed into a glare, "Maybe this will teach you."

Jaw dropped, Fred stared at her before throwing his arms into the air, "What the hell, woman!? That was months ago!"

Snorting, Angelina turned her nose up at him with various girls nodding, "And revenge is a dish best served cold! Honestly, now maybe you'll learn something!"

However, moments later, the wind was taken out of their sails as Harry made an impressed sound and commented as he looked at his leg, "Huh, nice. Also got rid of all the hair on our legs as well... impressive."

Blinking, Katie gave a confused look at the other two chasers who seemed as lost as her. Then she turned to Harry and cleared her throat, "Um, thank you... Wait, you're not angry..."

More than a little amused, the thirteen year old wizard gave her a look, "Should I be? Maybe a bit annoyed as you decided to target me as well..."

Angelina gave him a glare and jabbed him in the chest, "You didn't say anything!"

Grimacing for a moment, Harry shifted his shirt, "Do you mind? You jabbed me in my bra." He pretended to not notice the wide, horrified eyes on Wood and the Twins as they looked down their shirts, "And did it ever occur to you that I simply did not see a need to comment on what they were saying because I figured that the three of you had it well in hand? Or did you really need me to tear into them alongside you."

The three teenaged girls all flushed deeply at that and what was unsaid about needing a thirteen year old boy to come to their defence. Before they could say anything, they jumped as McGonagall's voice spoke up behind them, "Quite right, Mister Potter. One should not need to get involved in such if there is no need. Nor should you have been involved in this..."

Each of the Chasers winced at the rebuke before Katie swallowed, "Um... oops?"

Wincing again at the look their Head of House was giving them, they blinked as Harry spoke up, "Fufufufufu, my, how troublesome." Turning, they boggled a bit as the Seeker of the team had pulled out a fan from... somewhere, and now had the lower half of his face hidden. Snapping it closed, he made a motion which distracted the three teenaged girls as his wand made a motion as he spoke with a fake posh accent, "Now, now, you three absolutely must be attired properly for we four young ladies must have proper escorts~"

About to say something, they heard Harry speak a spell they recognized as a switching spell and moments later felt a tingle. Less then a minute passed before there were wolf whistles and cat calls. Confused, Katie opened her mouth only to freeze as she realized what the other two were wearing and looked down at herself with all three girls' faces darkening in embarrassment. Mainly for two reasons, one was that they were dressed in clothes like an Eighteenth Century gentleman might wear, complete with ruffled shirts with the top buttons undone in a way that, for a man, would show a bit of chest. With them, it showed a bit of cleavage. The second... was that the clothes they wore, especially the pants were tight that they hid nothing.

Before they could say anything, the black haired thirteen year old had his fan out once more and waving it around before walking over and hooking his free arm through Alicia's and making their way to the Gryffindor Table while fanning himself, "Now we have proper escorts~"

Completely, and utterly gobsmacked, it took nearly a minute for the three Chasers to realize what happened. And seeing a flash, they spotted Minagato with a camera before the Smol leapt onto Hedwig and the two flew off. Things got worst as Flitwick awarded not just them points, but also Harry as well. Several minutes later, the three Chasers glanced at each other and shared a look before nodding. A silent agreement.

Next time, don't target Harry as he gave back as good as he got.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

It was the morning after the Chasers had set the prank and Harry was humming as he looked himself in the mirror. Sure enough, as soon as he had placed on his uniform, it had changed to that of a girl's. Thankfully, as soon as he took it off, said uniform reverted to a boy's, "I wonder how it works..."

Giving him an odd glance, Dean coughed, "Uh, why?"

With a glance at him, Harry raised an eyebrow, "Why what? Why am I wondering how it works?"

Slowly, the other teenage boy nodded with an odd look on his face, "Uh, yes? I mean, we're talking about a spell that switches your clothes for, um... a girl's? Why would you want to know how it works?"

There was a smirk on Harry's face that made all the other boys shiver, "Because I want to know it for... reasons."

Each of them shared a look at that and made a silent promise not to ask any further. Something that made Harry snicker some as he knew what was being unsaid. Afterwards, Neville gave his friend an odd look as he adjusted what looked like bra straps, "Uh, Mate? Just... how complete is the transformation?"

Raising an eyebrow, the Japanese raised wizard chuckled, "Let me put it this way... complete enough that I am lucky in that I was raised around girls."

Needless to say, there were winces from all the boys there. Ron himself was shaking his head, "I would say poor Fred and George, but..." Then he gave a shrug, "I really don't have any sympathy at all for them."

Harry chuckled at that with amusement in his eyes, "True." Once more looking in the mirror, he gave a hum before walking over to a box that was on his bed. Noticing the looks, he raised one eyebrow in askance, "Something wrong?"

Coughing into his hand, Seamus shook his head, "Nope! Nothing is wrong at all... We'll see you at breakfast then." After getting a nod, the four other boys left while behind them, Harry cackled. Once outside the door, the Irishman looked at the others, "Is anyone else creeped out just a bit by how he's not bothered in the slightest from wearing girl clothes?"

About to state that he knew Harry wore such before, Ron actually paused and thought about it. Then, slowly, he closed his mouth and decided to keep quiet, just this once, "Well, we should be heading to breakfast anyways... So come on then."

Inside the boy's dorm, Harry opened the box and grinned some as he rubbed his hands, "Oh yes, this is going to be good..."

Half an hour later found a still sickly looking Remus walking up to the teacher's table. Taking a seat, he gave a grunt which made McGonagall give him a sympathetic look, "Are you feeling fine? The Full Moon was just two days ago..."

Giving her a tired smile, the werewolf gave a small nod, "I'm fine, a bit achy, but that will pass. It always does after all." Rubbing his face, he gave a shake of the head, "Thankfully, from the letters I got the students from my school are also fine, though still a bit under themselves... besides the odd dreams some of the youngest have been having."

That caught Aurora's attention and she leaned forward as Remus ordered his breakfast, consisting mostly of meats, "Odd dreams? Nothing bad, I would hope."

For a moment, Remus paused and then shook his head, "Not bad as much as strange. And it is not the first time either..." Leaning against one hand, he furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "It is mostly the youngest, the orphans who have been having them. Especially while they are transformed though they don't remember much more then there being a large she-wolf. And she's holding them close to her body while they know that they're safe there. Sometimes she appears as a human with a wolf's head as well... Odd, but nothing that is disturbing since they lost their parents to Greyback."

Somewhat concerned, the other teacher frowned. But, she nodded and decided that it was a matter for another day. Meanwhile, Snape had a glimmer of dark amusement in his eyes as he looked at the Marauder, "Something rather interesting happened yesterday evening, Lupin."

About to take a bite of ham, Lupin was partway through once more having amusing thoughts about how he always had a massive craving for meat after the Full Moon when he realized what was said. Raising one eyebrow, the were hummed, "Oh?"

Much to his confusion, the Potion's Professor had a smirk on his face, "Oh yes." Taking a bite of his own breakfast, he continued, "It would seem that there were a few problems with the something some of the boys on the Gryffindor Quidditch team said to the girls. They took... umbrage, to it. Potter, it seemed, was not involved besides not saying anything one way or the other. So the Chasers decided to punish the boys with a prank that brought back old memories."

Confused, Lupin frowned and thought it over, "A... prank? What kind?"

If anything, Snape's smirk grew, "The prank caused all the boy's clothing to change to those of a girl's. Rather impressive work if I must say myself." Chin cupped in one hand, he gave the now grimacing Lupin a look, "Yes, one that I remember being pulled when I was in school..."

That brought a wince to Remus' face as he remembered.

It was close to the end to Fifth Year and everyone was studying hard for OWLS. Well, actually Remus was studying hard for his OWLs while Peter was muttering to himself. The werewolf felt some pity for his friend and made a mental note to make sure that he had copies of his own notes. If nothing else, he could help Peter eke out a passing grade. Off in a corner, he could see Lily and some of the other girls there as well, all of them studying as hard as they could.

Before he could get much further, a rolled up ball of parchment bounced off his head. Scowling, he turned to the grinning boy who was lounging on a chair, "Oy! Relax a bit, Moony. Don't want those brains of yours dribbling out of your ears due to freaking out too much after all."

However, that made him scowl all the harder and glare at them, "Get off it, Padfoot! Besides, I'm studying right now because OWLS are less then a week away!" Jabbing at him with a quill, Remus shook his head, "Something that both you and Prongs should be worried about!"

A laugh though made him turn to where said Potter was sitting with a carefree, lopsided grin on his face, "Come off it, Moony. We need to relax a bit or else we'll go mad."

More laughs came from him, but moments later, he had to dodge a stinging hex from a very frustrated and annoyed Lily Evans, "Do you mind, Potter! Some of us are trying to actually study for good grades and you cackling like a hyena is not helping matters! So either shut up, or go away!"

Leaning back, Sirius shook his head and snorted, "What crawled up your ass and died, Evans? Seriously, and I am not talking about myself here, take a calming potion."

Only shaking his head, James' next words caused a silence to descend, "Relax, Padfoot. She's probably just going through that time of month or something."

Utter, and complete, silence descended onto the Common Room. Remus could have sworn that he heard the sound of creaking metal as Lily turned her head with a glare. Said glare, if possible, would have immolated James where he sat. Gritting her teeth, she gave a growl, "What. Did. You. Just. Say...?"

Smirking, James gave her a look, "Just that you need to stop stressing out so much. And maybe go see Poppy for some relief potion for that sort of thing."

Eyes widening, a snarl escaped from the red head, "You bloody fucker... Do you have any idea what the hell I am going through!?"

Completely and utterly unconcerned, James shrugged, "Nope, just that you need to relax some...""

The conversation went down from there with the rest of their group chiming in to back up James. Even Remus, despite knowing it would not turn out well, had done so. And not turn out well, it had as a few days later, the day before the OWL exams started, they had entered through into the Great Hall and gotten hit with the trap that Lily had set there. Said trap turning all their clothes into female versions of them. Despite everything, there was nothing that the four of them could do to change it. And they had tried every trick they knew to dismiss the curse.

None of them had worked, which meant that they had to go for their OWLs in women's clothing... and Sirius had complained that he could never look at muggle dental floss quite the same way again.

Remus cleared his throat and looked away from the smirking Snape, "I... remember something like that, yes. Though in this case, they have my sympathy."

Much to his surprise though, Flitwick chuckled, "Oh, perhaps for Oliver Wood... or is it Olivia?" That got snickers from the other teachers before he continued, "As well as the Weasley Twins. But not Mister Potter with what he did."

That made the DADA Professor blink, "What Harry did? Wait, but you stated that he got hit with it as well..."

Voice droll, Snape gave a small nod, "As a matter of fact, he did. The difference between both the others as well as... your group of friends, Lupin, is that Harry went and turned it on the ones who did it. Something rather Slytherin, I will admit."

Humming, Aurora frowned in thought, "Considering what he did, do you think that he was expecting it? He seemed rather unsurprised that it happened."

McGonagall chuckled some as she spread some jam on a piece of toast, "As a matter of fact, from what I overheard later he had expected it. While I do wonder how, I suspect that it involves those little helpers he has."

Leaning forward, the Head of Slytherin gave a slight nod with an impressed look, "Yes, I do believe that you might be right. The boy is far more Slytherin than I gave him credit for then."

Simply ignoring the distaste on McGonagall's face, Lupin frowned, "Okay, so he was expecting it? That... well, that makes some sense, I suppose. But then what did he do to turn it on the Chasers? Because I cannot think of how one might do that."

To his surprise, Snape actually chuckled, "Ah, Harry shocked them by not freaking out over it and complimenting them. Then, while they were distracted, used a switching spell so that the three witches were in a similar situation to them."

Raising an eyebrow, the werewolf frowned, "A similar situation? They were wearing boy's clothes then? Though..." A thoughtful frown on his face, Remus shook his head, "I fail to see how that is impressive..."

Flitwick curled his lips some at that, "Ah! But it would not be if he had. You see... he switched their clothes for something that gentlemen from one of those bodice rippers that Minerva is a fan of would wear... Minus the kilt, of course."

Quickly, Remus glanced at a furiously blushing, and glaring, McGonagall before coughing, "Um, wait, so he switched the three Chaser's clothing out for something like that? Seriously?"

His smirk still there, Snape nodded, "Indeed, Lupin, that is what we said. According to Potter, being as he and the other three boys were 'Proper Ladies'..." Pausing for a moment at the snorts from the other teachers, he continued, "They were in need of proper escorts. Hence switching the clothes that the witches were wearing."

Briefly, Remus imagined it and then began to laugh with a grin, "Not bad, not bad at all. He managed something that we did not." It was then that the doors to the Great Hall opened and a teenaged girl in a Gryffindor uniform walked in. Something about her nagged at him and he furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out what. Eventually, Remus realized that he had never seen her in one of his classes before and was about to say something when a scent hit him and he caught sight of familiar green eyes.

From where he was beside him, the Potion's Professor raised an eyebrow and looked in the same direction. It took him a few moments to realize what was wrong as well and soon began to smirk and lean forwards again, "Well now... most definitely Slytherin..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking into the Great Hall, Draco heard whispers and noticed people looking at a spot behind him. Confused, he turned and blinked at the teenaged girl that was there before staring. There was... something about her, but what he did not know, and somehow she was also familiar though he swore that he had never seen her before. As the female teen was standing there, Draco walked up to her, "Well, hello there."

The mysterious girl turned and gave him a raised eyebrow with a small curl to her lips as the teen's eyes twinkled, "Oh, good morning."

A glance told Draco that whoever she was, the girl was in Gryffindor and he gave a thin smile. Her dark, silvery hair though told him that whoever she was, it was unlikely she was a muggleborn as that was an odd hair color to have. Bowing, the Malfoy Heir gave a nod, "And a good morning to you as well, Milady."

He then took her hand and kissed her knuckles which made soft giggles escape from her, "Well now, aren't we a gentleman."

Simply nodding, he straightened, "Of course, my parents taught me well." With an slight tilt of the head, Draco chuckled, "And I hope that you have a good day."

Getting another bunch of giggles, he walked over to the Slytherin table with some of them giving him odd looks. A huff though made him turn to find Pansy glaring at him, "What was that?!"

Eyebrow raised, Draco only smirked a bit and gave her a look, "Simply greeting a pretty girl, nothing more. Gryffindor or not, one must have some manners."

With a nod, Blaise gave the Malfoy a look of understanding. Meanwhile, Tracy was frowning in confusion as she watched the girl stride towards the Gryffindor table. Shaking her head, she turned to Daphne who was also looking confused, "Do you know who she is, Daph? Because I don't recognize her."

Frowning, Greengrass shook her head as she furrowed her eyebrows, "No, neither do I. Yet... there is something about her that is familiar."

Marcus snorted at that and gave a shrug, "Probably met her at a Pureblood gala." At the looks, he made a gesture at the teenaged girl, "Look at her. She's pretty, refined, and the way she walks? That is the sort of way a true Pureblooded Lady walks."

That got him nods from the other Slytherins while various girls grumbled about being shown up.

Over at the Gryffindor table, more than one guy gave appreciative glances at the female teen as she walked over until she was beside where Katie was. Clearing her throat, the teen gave a shy smile that caused a few blushes, "Um, excuse me... may I take a seat here?"

Blinking, Katie looked up at the girl and noticed her bite her lip as she twirled one lock of hair around her finger. Quickly, she moved to the side and patted the bench there, "Of course." After the girl was seated, she gave a slight smile, "Us girls need to stick together."

A small blush on her cheeks, the silvery haired girl nodded some and twiddled her thumbs, "Yes, of course." Head tilted to the side, she gave a giggle at the sight of Wood and the Twins who seemed uncomfortable in their female uniforms, "Oh my... what is with them?"

Confused at how the girl did not seem to know, Katie frowned even as she tried to put a name to her face, "Oh, those three made some... comments, regarding us girls. So we decided to give them a lesson about that."

Leaning over, Angelina nodded, "Yeah, hopefully they learn to keep their mouths shut, though..." A frown on her face, she looked around, "We sort of hit another one, Harry Potter. Kind of regret it now that we think about it... and not just because of the fact he got us back with his own prank."

Green eyes widening, the girl boggled a bit, "Harry Potter? You pranked the Boy-Who-Lived? Did..." Biting her lips again, she looked around, "He didn't make a comment like that, did he?"

With a sigh, Alicia shook her head and didn't notice Hermione staring at the girl in shock, the shipgirl's jaw dropping, "No, we thought that him not saying anything at all was his agreement... and it wasn't. Like we said, thinking about it, we regret it."

The sound of something hitting wood made them turn to where Hermione was banging her head on the table. Concerned, the girl looked around, "Is... is she okay? I mean..."

Reaching over, Dean patted her hand, "Don't worry about Hermione, she does this sometimes."

Lightly blushing, the girl ducked her head in such a way that made more than one guy blush themselves, while some of the girls cooed, "Oh, sorry about that."

Simply chuckling, Dean gave her a wink, "Nothing to be sorry about there, cutie." If anything, the girl blushed even deeper at that and gave a giggle, 'Score!'

Bemused, Lavender gave the girl a searching look, "You know... I know you, but... I also swear that I have never seen you around before. And here I thought that I knew all the girls in Gryffindor."

At her side, Parvati nodded, "Or the school as a whole."

Curling one finger around a lock of hair, the teenaged girl giggled some, "Oh, um, well I've been around before. And we do know each other..."

If anything, that caused more confusion which made the girl softly smile. Hermione then gave said girl a look which made her giggle before the Light Cruiser simply sighed and shook her head as she muttered to herself, "Having way too much fun..."

Meanwhile, Juuchi was in her normal disguise over at the Hufflepuff table and staring across the room with furrowed eyebrows. There was something about the girl in question... Then Kagotsuruhe spoke up with an impressed tone to it, "Very well done."

Glancing at her, Juuchi frowned still further and then looked back at the silvery haired girl and blinked before her eyes widened and she had to pound her chest to keep from choking as she realized what was going on. Said choking was only partially from shock, the rest was from trying not to laugh. Something that only became harder as Ernie shook his head and sighed, "Wow, didn't know that we had a pretty one like that here."

That got him a scowl from Susan before she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Boys."

Beside her, Hannah gave a nod before sighing, "You got to admit though, she is cute. And dammit, I can't help but wonder how we missed her..." Then she trailed off into a whisper, "Or jealous because of how she looks."

Up the table some, Cedric shrugged himself as he looked at Hannah, "Very cute." Grinning, he shot a look at some of the guys in Third and Fourth Year, "Maybe you should all go and give it a go."

Mumbles and the like met him which made the Sixth Year laugh.

And it was not just the Hufflepuffs either as Juuchi could hear similar conversations going on at the Ravenclaw table. Though a glance told her that Luna had figured it out if the smile on her face was anything to go by. And a look to where the sailships were told her, by the grin on Revenge's face, that the ship of Anne Bonny and Mary Read had also realized what was going on. Something confirmed when the teen girl at Gryffindor looked at said shipgirl and she raised a goblet in salute. Moments later, Queen Anne's Revenge leaned towards her and had a whispered conversation, with another Pirate shipgirl going blue in the face at what she overheard as she pounded her chest. Head tilted to the side, Juuchi simply smiled and shook her head in smug amusement, 'Yes, definitely a Potter.'

Coming out from the wall, Myrtle floated over to the Gryffindor table and was greeting various people as she passed when she caught sight of the teen girl. Eyebrows furrowing, she searched the girl's face before her eyes widened. Much to everyone's confusion and surprise, the ghost began to laugh uproariously and fell to the floor. It was a good thing that she was dead as otherwise she would have died of suffocation from how hard she was howling with laughter. Glancing at each other, the students finally shrugged and wrote it off as her being rather odd.

None of them noticed the mysterious girl smiling with amusement on her face. After a few moments though, she returned to eating slowly, and with great grace as made her way through her meal with manners. A number of the other girls gave her sighs and the like as it made them all feel like they should be held to her standard. Eventually, the girl was done and was patting her lips with a napkin when Snape strode up, a smirk on his face. Seeing him stop behind the girl and give her a raised eyebrow, some of those nearby waited for some comment from him. Others rolled their eyes and continued to eat.

With a glance at the various students, Snape had a look on his face as if he was going to savor what was going to happen next. Part of the Professor noted various Smols with cameras already set up before clearing his throat, "I would hope, Mister, or is that Miss currently, Potter that your current state will not affect classes."

Everyone within hearing shot froze at that and then Harry smiled and shook his head as he spoke in the same tone as the girl... who was really him, "No, Professor, it won't."

Hermione sighed and shook his head while pinching her nose, "I knew it was you, Harry. Honestly..."

Others had different reactions, Angelina did a spittake which sprayed pumpkin juice all over the twitching Oliver Wood, the Twins were utterly gobsmacked as their minds attempted to reboot. Beside Harry, Dean put his face in his hands, "Oh, my God..."

Finally snapping out of it, Katie stood up and pointed at him, "HARRY!? IS THAT REALLY YOU?!"

Across the Great Hall, the various Smols snapped pictures of the reactions while Harry himself giggled and bowed before going into a pose with a wink, "Hai, Hai, Harry-Chan Desu, Little Brother of the Fleet."

Snape furrowed his eyebrows as he swore that the last Potter's uniform had become orange. Though he also swore that he saw a star fly away from Harry's wink. Raising an eyebrow, the Professor frowned, 'Hmm... I wonder how he did that.'

Mouth working, Alicia stood up and spread her arms. "H-how!?"

Giggling, Harry got up and gave her a look, "I've crossplayed, dressing up as female characters before. So... with what you done might as well go full out~"

Then he ran his fingers though his hair and did a hair flip that made more than a few girls eyebrows twitch as how perfect it was. With a smile, Harry then walked off before skipping out of the Great Hall as various people boggled. Meanwhile, the three Chasers were twitching some, the same thought going through their heads...

'How the Hell is it that he makes a better girl then we are!?'

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Edit: This snippet is no longer effective, though the brushes' high quality remains. See HERE for details.

As the woman, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Bones, turned to speak with "Jeff" in his turn, Benio leaned over to Tatsuya.

"Look at you, playing along with the boss lady," she whispered, elbow-jabbing him in the chest playfully. "What happened to that rebellious streak in here, huh?"

Tatsuya sighed. "Still there," he replied in his own whisper. "But if she can get us to this case and have us on our way, then I'm willing to deal with her." Benio smiled. Whatever Tatsuya might say, that was still pretty different from his normal style.

"Well," she whispered, "I'll just chalk it up to you growing up a little." Tatsuya sputtered, despite knowing full well it was a joke, and she laughed. At this, everyone else standing in the parking lot turned to look at the two of them, and at the glances of two of them…

"Jeff" had pretty much equaled if not surpassed Tatsuya in combat. From what Benio had seen of the fight, any win the latter could pull off would have been at best a close thing. And the Scottish girl… She had just been there, in the brief moment when Benio was looking down, picking up a knife. Were they… were they anything like Tatsuya, those two?

"If you would be so polite as to let us in on the joke?" Mrs. Bones asked dryly, and Benio pushed her thoughts aside.

"Just an in-joke, ma'am," she explained cheerily. "Nothing to worry about, and hey!" Because she felt like, if she didn't do anything to deflect interest now, a little back and forth joking would probably end up getting blown out of proportion somehow. "You guys didn't happen to pick up a calligraphy set from that plane crash not to long ago, did you?"

Mrs. Bones frowned, and Benio felt like she had not deflected sufficiently, but finally she was given a slow nod. "Yes," the woman confirmed cautiously, "we did indeed. That would be what set Auror Weller off so badly—I understand he was convinced that a wizard was trying to enter the country secretly for some dark purpose or other." She glared down at her subordinate, who was fortunately still unconscious.

"Miko, actually," Benio replied, pointing at Reiko. "She'd like her stuff back, please?"

"Miko… That's a priestess, right?" Mrs. Bones asked. Reiko shrugged. "I'll see what I can do for you, but I have to ask—your brushes are either enchanted past the point of sanity, or just naturally magical enough to set fires in my office whenever they want. How is that?"

Reiko flushed and glanced down at her feet. "I'm… told they're of a uniquely high quality," she offered. Benio snickered.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Unnerved still by both what had happened, and was still going on, Neville walked alongside the group. Noticing that, Harry gave him a slight smile, "You okay, Nev?"

Slowly, he gave a nod before grimacing, "Just, you know... a little weirded out by..." He gestured at his crossdressed friend, "This."

Lightly laughing, Harry shook his head some, "I should have guessed that you would be. Let me guess, it is making you question things?" Seeing the blush, the crossdressed wizard grinned, "Trust me, I am far from done."

Now somewhat worried, Neville turned to Hermione, "Um..."

Pinching her nose, said witch sighed, "Harry, please. You are not going to make people question themselves..." She paused for a moment and frowned, "I mean, more than you already have, I suppose."

If anything though, that made Harry grin all the more, "Want to bet?"

For several moments, Ron stared at him before turning to Neville, "I'm scared in a way that I have never been before. Is... is that normal?" Internally, he had images of Warspite and Duke in his head, 'I like girls... I like girls... I like girls...'

Almost as if he guessed what was going through his red haired friend's mind, Harry gave a girlish giggle which caused both boys to twitch, "It is very normal." Without turning, he hummed, "Though I suppose that you have some questions, Lavender? As do the others?"

With a blink, Ron and the others turned to find Lavender there with various girls from the other Houses besides Parvati, including said Indian witch's twin, "We were wondering some things..." Frowning, she furrowed her eyebrows, "I mean, I can understand the clothes thanks to Katie and the others, but..."

Understanding the unasked question, Harry gave a small nod, "Well, their trick with the clothes simply gave me an opening. One that I am going to take advantage of and have some fun with." Slyly smirking, he giggled, "And boy, am I going to enjoy the next few days of bluescreening various people."

Eyebrow raised, Daphne smirked, "That is rather frightening."

Beside her, Tracy grumbled a bit as she crossed her arms, "Dammit... all of us girls are going to look bad."

That got her an elbow to the side from her long time friend. Ignoring that, Susan looked over Harry and narrowed her eyes some in thought. Something... something was bothering her. Then it struck her and her eyes widened slightly, "Wait, why are you so comfortable with this?"

Lips twitching, Harry shook his head, "A few reasons. One of the bigger ones is that I am comfortable and confident in regards to my masculinity. Growing up around Mum, Hoppou, and my various big sisters and aunts made it so that I am really not unsure about me being a guy. They're just clothes and such, they don't change the fact that I am a guy, nor do my actions. So there is nothing for me to be concerned about."

Considering that, Ron frowned in thought, "Huh, you know? I never really thought about it that way."

Simply shrugging, the crossdressed wizard smiled, "Well, it is true. I could freak out or be nervous as if it will change that I am an actual guy, or simply be confidant in that it won't. So it does not bother me in the least."

Daphne gave a nod at that, "You don't see walking around dressed as, and looking like a girl as threatening to your status as a guy. Nor acting like a girl. That is... a refreshing way to look at it, I suppose." A smirk then crossed her face as she realized something, "Unlike the Weasley Twins and Oliver Wood. All three of them look nervous as hell walking around in girls' clothes. As if it is going to go and devour them at any time."

Laughing, Harry shook his head, "I do find that rather hilarious."

Meanwhile, Tracy had a thoughtful look on her face, "You mentioned that there were other reasons why you're not bothered at all with being dressed as a girl. Mind enlightening us?"

His lips curling into a smile, the currently silvery black haired wizard chuckled. Then, Harry shook his head as he looked forward to their reactions, "To be honest, this is not the first time that I've ever crossdressed. So to me, it is old hat and has been for some time."

A number of them stumbled at that and then looked at him in utter disbelief. It was Parvati who spoke up though, "Wait, this isn't the first time? Seriously?"

Grinning, Harry nodded, "Yeah, I've done this before." With a shrug, he hummed, "I've crossplayed a few times over the years, so this doesn't phase me all too much. If you've done it once, you're not too bothered if it happens again... Granted, I don't crossplay that much."

Lost, Padma looked at the others, "Er, crossplayed? And what is that?"

With a blink, Harry looked at her, "Ever hear of cosplay?" At the shake of heads, he hummed, "Cosplay is something done at conventions and such in the non-magical world. It is, at its heart, dressing yourself up in costume of someone else, mostly fictional. So that for a time, you can pretend that you are that person in question. That you are a hero, a villain, a monster, a helper, and so forth. And they can be pretty impressive."

Intrigued, Lavender leaned in, "Impressive? How?"

Head tilted to the side, Harry considered the question, "It depends on the character and the cosplayer. There are those who will buy a costume from a store for example and use that. Others, like myself? We make our costumes. My cousin Jane, for instance, made a costume that had her look like Aunt Arizona with her rigging on." Pulling out his phone, the wizard nodded and turned it on. After a few moments, he brought up some pictures of cosplayers including Jane and himself, "Like I said, impressive."

Eyes widening, the various witches and the two wizards looked over the pictures with awed and shocked looks. Padma pointed at one of the pictures of a man in a WH40K Space Marine Power Armour cosplay, "What in the world... that had to have taken a lot of work!" Then she frowned as she looked closer, "And what's with all the skulls and such?"

Lips twitching, Harry shook his head, "That's a Warhammer 40K cosplay, a Space Marine to be a matter of fact. And, well... that's one of the good guys from that series." At their blinks, he shrugged, "Anyways, that one cost several thousand to make, I think the conversion might be nearly a hundred galleons or some such."

Jaw dropping, Lavender boggled at him and then looked back at the picture, "On a costume?!"

Pulling back his phone, the crossdressed wizard nodded, "Cosplay is serious stuff. There are professionals and the like who make a living doing it. But like I said, it lets people be someone else for a time." At their unsure, but thoughtful nods, he continued, "Now, crossplay is a subsect of cosplay. Basically, you cosplay as someone of the opposite sex. Like a girl cosplaying as a boy, or a boy cosplaying as a girl. I mean, some people do genderbent cosplay, for example a guy cosplaying as a male version of a character who is actually female."

Slowly, Daphne nodded at that before giving him a look, "And you've done this before?"

All Harry did was flip through his phone until it came to a picture of him as Homura, "This was when due to a bet with Natsumi-Chan, I crossplayed as Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. And this one..." Another picture was of what looked like a girl Kitsune, until they realized that there were green eyes and a scar on the forehead, "Was me crossplaying as a Kitsune. Another time I did Sakuya Izayoi... though I have also done a genderbent version of Marisa Kirisame..."

With a snort, Hermione shook her head, "Which suits you."

Just shrugging, he shook his head, "Ha, ha." Harry then scratched his chin, "Anyways, the few times that I have done it, I've only done it with characters that I feel a connection to. Don't get me wrong, I haven't actually done it that often though when I do, I put effort into it. But... it doesn't bother me all that much."

Giving him a look over, Parvati frowned some, "Is that how..."

Harry chuckled at that, "If you mean how I act and such, not really? I grew up with mostly girls. Between Mum, Hoppou, dozens of big sisters and aunts... I know how girls act and can copy. Cosplay only made me better as I put those observations into practice."

Still frowning, Parvati shook her head, "But what about looks? Did you use magic for your hair? And, um..." Glancing at Harry's chest, she blushed some, "Other things?"

Much to her surprise, Harry giggled, "Well...~ One thing Cosplayers learn is how to change their looks. I mean, it is rather hard to cosplay well if your wig is not secured or looks like it belongs where it is. A bit of makeup as well to hide my scar... as for the rest?" Patting his chest, he smirked, "There are a few tricks besides stuffing a bra. And what Katie and the others did, well, it is not just the outer wear."

It took a few moments for them to realize what he meant and they winced, Ron and Neville especially. The red head shook his head in disbelief, "No wonder Fred and George look so uncomfortable..."

With a hum, Harry tapped his chin, "It is really not that bad. I mean, there's ways to manipulate the curse in order to make things somewhat more comfortable. As long as it is female clothing, the spell will allow it."

Only shaking her head, Tracy could see that the Gryffindor Chasers were going to regret it, "You're going to really make people question things, aren't you?"

As he winked, the crossdressed wizard nodded, "I am, because it is going to be hilarious breaking minds. And it is going to be easy... after all." Going into a pose, he closed one eye, "No girl can be this cute~"

That only got him twitches as, sadly, the girls all agreed in this case. Internally though, Harry was cackling as he knew that Lavender and Parvati would, despite their reputations, keep what was talked about quiet for the most part. But some would leak out... and then the fun would begin truly.

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

Now, way back when, a few folks were asking about how Olympic would react to Ocean Liner Demon. Also, Harry mentioned that O forced herself to self-summon when Titanic and Britannic were summoned because otherwise she would be separated from his sisters again. Meaning that she has some issues on top of the ones that spawned OLD. Let's explore that shall we? I feel Barricade specifically might find the following especially interesting.



The Twins of the Coin

The Atlantic, Due South of the Azores…

A lone figure plowed the Mid-Summer swells of the mighty Atlantic, moving over crests and into troughs at a stately twenty-two knots. Around the world, while some were celebrating the union of a battleship and a tea set, and others were sighing in relief at the future of the bloodiest conflict in recorded history glimmered a little bit brighter, the residents of a small island chain were at long last able to close their own chapter in the war's origins. And with that business concluded, the Ocean Liner Demon, War Demon of the Abyss, at last could escort her Sovereign Porta Abysseum Atlantia, Elder Princess of the Abyss, back home. And make the final round of preparations for their return to the surface, and the war – on the side of the Race of Man.

"That actually went rather well." Liner quipped, at last comfortable with the distance to break radio silence.

["Oh come now Demon,"] Porta replied jovially, ["You make it sound as if I sacked the place! I may have invaded, yes. But I made sure civilian casualties were at an absolute minimum, and made sure that I cleaned up the mess we made. How often has a human army done that?"]

"True. By their faces, it looked as though we were more of a curiosity than anything else."

["Mmm. Though I suppose there were still lingering issues. I don't think a single person looked me in the eye. And I can't count the number of mothers that turned their children's faces from me."]

There was a long, pregnant pause, and the Liner Demon slowly turned her helm to a point below and to her right.

"…Princess. I think that had more to do with what you were wearing than what you did."

["What do you mean?"]

The Demon's only response was the clang of metal on metal as she smacked her palm to her faceplate.
------

Halifax, Nova Scotia…

Naval Day was over a month hence, but the old city was even now in full swing in preparation efforts – both for the public, and the secret festivities. But in the military hospital, there was little sign other than talk among the staff in their breakrooms and the patients complaining about missing the fun due to their injuries or illnesses. But in one ward, there was nary a cross word. For the men boarded in that room were being tended to by an Angel made flesh. With hair like a sunset, and eyes like the lush land of her birth, the woman's form was clad in the white of a military nurse, a uniform a century out of date, but the anachronism merely added to her charm.

"Oh Mister Brown," The vision of loveliness said, with watery eyes born from empathy, "you poor thing!"

Lieutenant Brown was most assuredly not a shy lad of thirteen years. Hadn't been for some times. But something about the woman who volunteered at their hospital made him bashful in a way that he could never explain.

"W-well," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his uninjured hand while the woman changed the bandages of its twin, "it's not worth that much of a fuss Miss Britannic. The docs say I'm progressing well, and if I keep up the therapy, I'll be able to use my hand almost as good as if it was never hurt!"

"No Mister Brown!" The converted Ocean Liner proclaimed, "It most certainly is worth the fuss! You and your fellow sailors are the only ones between decent folk and those horrid creatures! And you are the ones to suffer for it." Her Majesty's Hospital Ship Britannic brushed away from her eye, and at just that moment, the sun broke through the clouds covering the city and into the window, casting a God Beam directly upon the beauty kneeling beside him, as if God Himself was proclaiming that she was a living Saint, sent from On High to spread His Mercy to this broken Earth.

Lieutenant Brown's blush increased and he bashfully looked away.

"W-w-well, M-m-miss Britannic, if-if-if you s-say s-s-so!"

Either she didn't notice the sound of his balls thinking he was pre-pubescent again for a moment, or she ignored it in her Angelic Compassion, Britannic smiled beautifully and moved on to the next patient on her rounds. Unlike Lieutenant Brown, this man was a Captain, who somehow managed to survive his ship sinking from under him. But not without harm. His right arm and leg were in traction, held up by wires as the limbs healed in their casts. And second- and third-degree burns marred the right side of his face. Though his right eye wasn't injured, it was still covered by bandages along with much of his head.

"Captain Coolidge? How are we this afternoon?" Britannic asked with a smile as she began to change the bandages around his head.

"Decent enough," he said, the smoke he inhaled during the loss of his ship still making its affecting his voice, "but it's always a pleasure to talk with you."

"Oh please," she demurred, "I'm nothing special."

The older man chuckled at the old reply, and smiled warmly as the hospital ship worked her craft.

"You know… I have a son about your age. I think the two of you would get along swimmingly."

The shipgirl stumbled at the comment, her cheeks flushing.

"C-Captain!"

"What can I say?" Coolidge quipped with a small laugh, "I'm a married man, and far too old aside. So I have to settle for making you my daughter-in-law."

"I am certain that he must be a nice man, but I don't think… That is, I'm nobody special."

The other boys in the ward made their thoughts on the self-depreciation most vocal, and the few whose injuries made them unable to speak merely shook their heads in denial. Captain Coolidge just gave the shipgirl a warm smile as the now rosy-cheeked ocean liner finished applying fresh bandages.

"Well. There's not a man in this room willing to agree to that. I just hope that there's a man out there to prove it to you. Someday."

Britannic blinked at that, and bashfully looked to her feet and clutched at her skirt for a moment. Then she mumbled her goodbyes and walked out of the ward. And in her wake was a room of seamen watching their angel leave for the day once more, their eyes following her, and as she passed… Their eyes observed the most prominent portion of her figure. At the far end of the room, one sailor from Quebec sighed wistfully.

"Such a crime, that the mademoiselle cannot see herself for the treasure that she is…"

There was a round of murmured agreement, with one of the few Americans in the room spoke up – after making sure their angel was to far away to hear him of course.

"Everyday, I despise having to see her go… But I so love to watch her leave…"

"Yeah…" the men said in unison.
------

When Britannic exited the hospital, she was greeted with the aroo-gah of an antique car horn, a 1912 Renault Coupe de Ville sitting in the parking lot. Her embarrassment receding, the Hospital Ship looked down the steps to see a woman nearly her twin in every way, dressed in riding attire just as anachronistic as the car she was standing in, waving at her.

Britannic lifted the him of her skirt as she sped down to her ride.

"How was your day Bri?" Titanic asked as she help her younger sister (and was that not a marvel) into the car.

"The usual. Though I'm starting to suspect that they must be giving the men something with their morphine. The things they say!"
------

In the heart of downtown Halifax – having been rebuilt after Blood Week, for the second time in a century – there stood a little restaurant that catered to a specific clientele, one that longed to experience a bygone age, where there was unshaken faith in Man's capacity to conquer Nature, and in the idea that the age of War between the civilized nations of the world had passed. Before the world turned dark, and the fall of Empires. It was a place of Afternoon Tea, and Elevens, and with a fine – if small – garden in the back, and the décor was unlike any seen outside of photographs an old country manor. It was in the slow hours of the day. When the Lunch Rush had passed but Dinner – the highlight of the day – was a few hours off yet.

One of the three proprietresses that were the centerpieces of the establishment, wearing her red hair in a short bob in a style that was a decade ahead of the tastes of the restaurant, busied herself with polishing one of the fine glasses used for dinner. It was as clean as it was going to get, but it helped her keep her mind focused on anything other than the fact that her younger sisters were both out. Out there, and not where she could see them, and potentially in danger. Something that was helped by the portable television she kept tucked away.

"-the wedding hosted politicians and dignitaries, even a representative of the Imperial Household. In War News, talks have finally concluded with the mysterious Abyssal Princess that opened talks earlier this year. Officials say that the terms of the armistice include trade arrangements, as well as military intelligence sharing and cooperation. Though the Naval Spokeswoman was quick to mention that any joint military operations were not likely to begin until sometime early next year.

"The Abyssal Princess, reportedly styling herself as Porta Atlantia – seen here, made a surprise visit to the Azores Island Chain earlier today. The Princess was the leader of the Abyssal force that invaded and occupied that archipelago owned by Portugal, and as part of the peace terms, she arrived to formally swear off ownership of the islands, and to apologize to the Azorean people."

Olympic turned to the screen watch the recording play – and dropped the glass in her hand. All at once the world around her disappeared in a manner she felt only twice before – first in April 1912, and then in November 1916. The speech of the scantily clad pale woman faded away, the only thing the ocean liner could see was the tall metallic hulk standing behind her. The brutish bulk, with arms crossed over her armored chest, and looking around apathetically. And wearing her war colors.

But even if the Abyssal wasn't painted in that eyesore of a camouflage, Olympic, on pure instinct alone knew who that monster was. Because for much of her first life, she saw that beast every time she looked in her reflection. In the water or in a building's window, it wasn't Olympic the War Hero she saw, but a Demon living on the Self-Loathing only those that survived while family died could understand.

"-mpic? Olympic!"

With a gasp that was closer to a scream, Olympic jumped at the sound and the feel of a hand on her arm. She jerked around, flashes of a U-Boat breaching played before her eyes… Only to see her precious sisters. Standing there, safe and sound… And looking very concerned. Without another word, Britannic guided their eldest sibling to a nearby fainting couch as Titanic quickly tended to cleaning up the shattered wine glass – Britannic, on top of her experience as a war nurse, was more used to their sister's moods, Titanic not having been around to see their beginnings during their first lives. Britannic patiently waited, content to comfort Olympic by rubbing up and down her spine until she was ready. At long last, Olympic felt confident enough to speak.

"I'm- I'm fine…. I just… I just, thought I saw something."

Olympic looked to Britannic, and turned away, unwilling to face to pure-hearted empathy and sisterly love being directed at her. Her gaze fell on Titanic, who had just finished cleaning up the shards of glass… And once again found herself looking away, unable to endure being the cause of her sister's obvious concern for her well-being.

"I… I'm sorry… I think I… I just… I need the day off. I'm-"

"Go." Titanic said. "We'll be fine for tonight. Get some rest."

The eldest of the Olympic-Class looked between her little sisters. And found that the nigh-ever-present fear of not being there was all but missing from the shot to the nerves begging for some peace and quiet. Finally, she nodded in agreement, and without a word she went to the stairs at the back of the building, to the room she shared with her sisters. As the distance opened between Olympic and her younger sisters, that feeling of wrongness began to grow, and the images on that damned television screen flashed in her mind. Finally she reached their apartments and she slammed the door shut with all the force she dared, then pressed herself flat against it. That- that monster that haunted her mind all of her previous life after The Great War. It was out. Out of her head, and in the living world. Up to who knew what.

"Wh-what do I do? The worst part of me, it's, it's alive."


Olympic ran one hand through her chin-length hair, and found herself wishing she had her hair the length she would have had in her earlier career. The sensation would have been more satisfying.

"I… I thought… I thought it was a dream. I thought I had let go of that part of me… Is… Was that real? Did that part of me, it escaped?"

The ocean liner stumbled forward, a shambling, jerky motion more befitting Frankenstein's Monster or the Undead than one of the most graceful ships in history. Finally she stumbled and only saved herself from falling to the floor by timely grabbing the edge of the dresser. The vanity the triplets used to make themselves presentable for the day behind her.

"No… No, that's not me, that's not me! I'm not that kind of person! I don't care about submarines anymore! They are good people! I'm not- I'm a good person. I deserve happiness! This is my second chance! She wasn't real! THAT WASN'T REAL!"

"Oh, it was very real. 'Old Reliable.'"

That voice wasn't hers.

"You can't honestly believe that forgiveness is something you deserve."

That voice was in the room.

"You can pray all you want survivor. But it won't change anything."

It was coming from behind her.

"You are a curse. And you can never escape the fact that you killed them Kinslayer. You can't escape from your true nature. From me!"

Every instinct was screaming at Olympic not to turn around. To run, faster than she was ever designed to run. And yet, against her better judgement, Olympic still slowly turned around. There, in the mirror of the Vanity, stood that same damned figure she saw on that damned television screen. A hulking brute, clad in armor, painted in the dazzle she sported as a troopship back in The War.

"Tch!"

Olympic grit her teeth and turned fully to the specter. A fire that she could not identify sprang to life in her chest, demanding that she face the challenge given.

"You shut up! I know better than that! You're nothing but a figment of a bitter old woman's delusions! You are nothing more than my own self-loathing given form! You aren't real, you have no power over me at all!"

"You are delusional," the monster replied, "I always have and always be the thing that you see each time you look in the mirror. So long as you exist, I will still be right here!"

"That thing I saw was jus- just some sort of trick of the mind! You are the slave to the past here, not me! I am in control!"

"HA!" the revenant barked in derision, "Control? You? HA! Face it, you can't control me. I am you! Your lust for blood and vengeance against a world that hurt you and yours! The fact that you saw me is only proof that each day you accept me little by little, consuming your soul!"

"LIAR!" Olympic returned, "Those six years of Hell were only a quarter of my life! Less than that even! If you're actually real, then we both know that your starving for Hate! I don't need you, I don't want you! I have my sisters, I have everything I ever wanted! And when you're gone from my soul, then you will be nothing more than a childish dream!"

The specter in the mirror was silent for some time, and Olympic felt a small voice cry in triumph at finally scoring a win over her darker nature… Then the creature gave a noise of amusement, and reached out to the edges of the mirror…

And gripped it through the glass.

"This is not a dream my dear," the monster quipped, pulling herself forward and through the mirror, "and it is eternal."

Olympic stared on aghast, and backed up a step at the monster from the depths of her soul standing there like a Queen atop the vanity's desk top.

"On and on I will go, always seeking retribution." spoke the Demon, "Demonic is here to stay Olympic, with no regard to what laughable play you seek to perform."

The armored hulk walked with a braggard's stride onto the seat of the chair in front of the vanity, and then to the floor, leaving it just yards away from Olympic, eye locked to eye, matched in stature.

"And she will thrive long after you are dead and go-"

The demon was interrupted by Olympic striking her on the side of the helmet with a floor lamp.

"SHUT UP! J-just shut up!" Olympic bellowed, though with a pleading character to it, "You're choking on my- your ancient hatred! A Grudge that stopped mattering decades ago! Meanwhile, I'm growing as a person in this new life every day! You are dying, and I will never become you!"

In the ironic hypocrisy of the convinced, Olympic viciously struck at the object of her hate with clear intent to do harm – and her expression of fury and hatred turned to shock and fear when Demonic grabbed the lamp pole without even bothering to look. The Demon took the opportunity to turn the tables, and pulled on the light fixture to bring Olympic into arm's reach.

With contemptible ease the thing clutched the ocean liner's throat and slammed her into the floor, and buried her knee into her victim's gut, all the while laughing with gleeful sadism as she encircled Olympic's neck with her strong hands.

"I have been inside you from the beginning Fool, the Abyss never far from your heart. It's long since time for you to understand that. To take my vengeance on those that harmed our family!"

Olympic struggled to gasp for air, clawing at the hands that crushed her windpipe. And then she saw – The skin of her hands began to smoke, and then peel away, revealing raw, naked muscle and tendon. And above her, the Demon's armor rusted away, and a bloodshot, draconic eye stared evilly into the Ocean Liner's very soul.

"Don't fight. You are I, and I am you. And soon the whole world will recognize the truth, and none can separate Olympic and Demonic…"
------

Titanic winced at the sensation of being squeezed, rousing her from a very pleasant dream. Then came the quiet sounds of someone sobbing. Very familiar sounds. The Middle Child of the Olympic-Class sat up as far as the bear hug would allow her, to find an all-to-common sight: Olympic, quietly sobbing in her sleep, and clutching her sisters in a vice of a grip.

Titanic looked over Olympic's chest to find Britannic similarly embraced, and locking eyes with her.

More than a few people of – in the sisters' universally held opinion – low morals and perverse character, automatically assumed something obscene when they learned that the triplets shared a bed. The truth being nothing of the sort and two-fold: For one thing, not only would it have not been unusual for siblings to share a bed for even the middle-class in their day, sharing a bed saved room for a guest room for when Aquitania, or one of the Big Four, or some other friend or family member came to stay with them. And for the other…

For the other, while she was certainly much better than she was when they were all first summoned into this brave new world, Olympic – much as she tried to prove otherwise – was still very much affected by the loss of her siblings, and was prone to terrible night terrors and a manic need to be sure that they were safe and sound, especially in April and November. So, it was a small price to pay to sleep by Olympic's side, to help ease her mind and help her sleep.

Britannic turned back to Olympic, her lovely features once more turning sad, and more than a little hurt that Olympic wouldn't share with them, so that they could help her. Instead she always clammed up, and whenever something triggered her especially harshly, she ran up to their room and went to bed for the rest of the day.

'Oly,' the most infamous of Ocean Liners thought to herself, 'I don't know what you saw on that bleeding box, but I wish you could talk to us about it…'

Titanic and Britannic returned the embrace, and the feel of her sisters seemed to ease whatever was plaguing her mind…
------

Palace of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess, Grand Meteor Seamount,

None dared enter the quarters of the Ocean Liner Demon. And only the Mistress-at-Arms Canut was ignorant enough to even knock on her door. Once. No one in the fleet knew what secrets, or horrors, were locked away in that room. Not even the Princess, although that was more out of respect and a lack of interest than fear.

This meant that the body of the beautiful young woman lay undisturbed in the months since she was rescued from her self-imposed prison of ice. And with the souls of her dead permitted to at last move on from that eternal April Night, Iceberg Maiden remained just as Ocean Liner Demon left her – without crew or passengers, a comatose hulk.

Which was how the Demon found her upon her return – lying flat on the bed the Demon had no use for, staring blankly into the nothingness and her hands folded neatly upon her belly.

"Sister?" she said, softly, tenderly, "I'm home."

As quietly as she could manage, lest she somehow scare her sibling in her coma somehow, Liner Demon eased her helm off of her head, the darkness hiding what was underneath. She kneeled down, and tenderly took her sister's hand in her own. And with a tenderness that only the Princess and her daughter knew that she was capable of, she gently brushed Iceberg Maiden's brow, moving a lock of hair out of her eye…



------


So riddle me this: What would Olympic be like if OLD hadn't budded off from her?

And now I can share what I see when I talk about OLD. At least, the shape of the armor. I didn't realize how much of a disgusting eyesore the idea of her sporting O's Dazzle Camo would be until I took a stab at it. But, too late to change it now I fear. I adapted a strip from the webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, originally showing Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. I'm rather proud of how the helmet turned out in the middle panel… And despise how her hands turned into mashed potato boxing gloves in the last panel. She looks like Strong Bad's daughter! T_T

And below, we have the Dazzle Camouflage I worked off of. It's likely that each side is a different pattern from different parts of her war service… But I'm choosing to believe that they are not! It adds to the bleeding-eye nature Dazzle Camo is supposed to espouse.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

The last class of the day, even for Harry with the time turner, was Herbology. Several people had twitched each time Harry had kneeled to transfer the plants that they were working on. Not all of them being boys either as several girls felt hits to their identities as the crossdressed wizard would shift his skirt out of the way every time in a manner befitting a lady. Not helping matters was how he would shift a bit of long hair behind his ear every so often with a soft smile or stand with an understated grace.

While confused, Sprout was also rather amused by the whole thing as well, especially the reactions from her own House.

Currently though, class was almost over as Harry realized something and frowned, "Hmm... I'm almost out of soil. Does anyone have some extra I could use?"

Looking up from her own plant, Susan frowned as well, "Soil?" At his nod, she glanced around, "Um... there's not much here. I don't think we got any extra. Hannah?"

Said Hufflepuff shook her head with a shrug, "I don't have any either."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry suddenly clapped his hands and smiled, "That's fine to be honest, I have a solution that works." Clearing his throat, he turned to the group of boys beside them, "Ernie?"

With a blink, said wizard looked over his shoulder at them, "Yeah? What is it?"

Lightly blushing, Harry gave him a shy look, "Um, I don't have enough soil to finish the assignment." Biting his lip, he continued, "You wouldn't have some extra would you? Or be able to get me some?"

Unable to help himself, Ernie blushed as well as did the other wizards with him. "I... uh..." Then he shot him back a smile, "No, but I'll go and get some for you."

Widening his eyes, Harry had a happy look on his face, "Would you? Oh, thank you!"

Ernie looked away at that, "Ye-yeah, not a problem." Getting up, he walked over to the bags and brought one over, even opening it for Harry, "Here you go."

Clapping his hands, the crossdressed wizard's expression brightened and he clapped his hands, "Oh! Thank you, Ernie! I really appreciate this." Then, demurely, Harry looked away, "I really do."

If anything, the flush on the male Hufflepuff's face deepened at that and he had to look away, "Uh, yeah, sure... you're very welcome." Unnoticed by him, Susan and Hannah were exchanging looks. Roughly two minutes later, he paused in his own plant transfers and groaned, "Dammit, Harry! Stop doing that!"

Head tilted to the side, Harry blinked in confusion, "Stop what?"

Flushing at the innocently confused expression, the male Hufflepuff pointed at him, "That! I mean, you..." Almost putting his face in his hands at the last moment, he moaned, "You know what."

Various people were watching this as Harry frowned as if really lost, "I really don't, Ernie. I only asked for some help in regards to getting some soil." Hanging his head, he gave a sniffle, "I-I'm sorry if I did something bad..."

Madly twitching, Ernie closed his eyes and took a deep breath, 'Harry is a guy... Harry is a guy... not a girl, he's a guy... not a girl...' Opening his eyes, he was about to say something when he froze. Somehow, at just that moment, a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and illuminated Harry. "Urk..."

Having been looking over at that moment, Dean felt his eyebrows tick a bit. Later, much to his embarrassment, he would draw Harry at that moment. Years from now, said drawing would be in a gallery and he would always be closed lipped about the inspiration for it. Harry though would always smirk a bit and make a comment that it was a very pretty girl much to said artist's embarrassment.

Currently though, Ernie twisted away and cleared his throat, "Just... just stop."

With a small shrug, the crossdressed wizard gave a shrug and then went back to work with a hum. Some distance away, Lavender turned to her Parvati and shook her head, "Okay, I don't care if he's done this sort of thing before, that right there? That sort of thing just is not fair at all. How is he a better girl then we are!? And we're actual girls!"

Frowning, Parvati furrowed her eyebrows some, "That... I don't know. Maybe it's a Japanese thing?"

People around them became thoughtful at that and finally shook their heads. Observing everything, Sprout had to hold back a laugh at what she was hearing and seeing. To her mind, the whole thing really was hilarious to no end. And she could not wait to tell Minerva after classes.

It did not help matters that from what she had heard, Snape had been enjoying the whole thing to no end.

Once class was dismissed, the "Golden Quad" as some had called them was walking away from the greenhouses towards the school. The crossdressed wizard was thankful for the leggings he was wearing as they kept him nice and warm. Glancing at Harry, Hermione gave a small sigh as said wizard swished their skirt as they walked, "You really are enjoying this far, far too much, Harry. Honestly..."

Giggling, Harry looked at her with sparkling eyes, "And? Why shouldn't I enjoy myself?" Twisting around, he hummed some as he held his hands behind his back while leaning forward some, "The expressions and the reactions that I am getting from everyone is hilarious!"

Just shaking his head, Ron looked away from his friend as his ears went red, "Mate, you really should not get so much amusement from this."

Beside him, Neville gave a nod, "Yeah... it is sort of freaky."

Harry just shrugged at that and shook his head before brushing his hair out of his eyes from where the wind had blown it, "So? Really, it is not my fault in the end."

Eyebrow raised in askance at that, the shipgirl of the group frowned, "Not your fault? Really?"

Lips curling into a smile, Harry bobbed his head before twisting around again, making sure that his skirt was okay, "Nope! The fault for this can be laid at the feet of Katie, Alicia, and Angelina. They were the ones who set up the curse that made it where for a week all my clothes that I wear will be those of a girl. I am simply running with it and making sure that I am amused by it."

After a few moments, Hermione's lips twitched a bit, "I suppose that it is rather amusing. And you are certainly reacting to it far better than the Twins or Oliver have been. Never have I seen such uncomfortable expressions on their faces."

Snickers escaped from Ron as he shook his head, "That's true. It's nice to see those two actually being pranked and uncomfortable." Then, he frowned, "Though I think part of it is how comfortable you are, to be honest."

Nodding, the crossdressed wizard smirked, "I would not be surprised about that in the slightest. And, if things work out, I am going to prank them myself."

While there was confusion in their eyes, Harry didn't answer their unasked questions. But Ron and Hermione did notice him fingering his time turner just the same. Neville kept walking at the same speed as the others slowed down. Once they was enough distance, Hermione leaned towards her friend, "What do you mean prank them? And what does the time turner have to do with that?"

With a chuckle, Harry glanced at Neville and then back at Hermione, "Remember how I am using the time turner for classes? The curse is on a set time limit. Now, the question is if the curse is set to real time, or if my using time turners will end it sooner."

Cocking an eyebrow, Ron frowned, "And how does that prank the Twins?"

Now grinning, the twinkle in the Japanese raised teen increased, "If it does end early, they're going to want to know how and why it did so for me. But..."

It took only moments for Hermione to clue in and shake her head, "They're going to assume that it was because of what you have done. That's..." After a few seconds, she sighed before smirking, "That is going to be hilarious."

Seeing Ron was still confused, Harry's grin grew, "Ron, how desperate are those three going to be to end it sooner? And if they think that acting like a girl and such will end it sooner..."

Eyes widening, the red head boggled a bit before grinning, "Brilliant, that is."

All Harry did was a small bow. It was then that Neville looked over his shoulder and blinked, "Guys? What's wrong?"

Grin transforming into a smile, Harry sped up as did the other two, "Sorry, Nev. We were just talking about some other things. Like how tomorrow I think that I'll be wearing red hair instead of this. Might just keep it that way now that I think about it."

Frowning, Neville tried to imagine his friend with red hair and blinked before his eyes widened, 'Bloody hell... If Harry does that, he'd look just like his Mum, Lily!' Head tilted to the side, he shook his head, "You're going to leave so many guys confused..."

Just making the peace sign, Harry grinned, "And that's the plan, along with leaving girl's jealous!"

The only thing he got for that was shakes of the head from his friends.

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Saturday, 16th November 2013

Standing in the Hartlepool base firing range, Dan looked at the gun in front of him dubiously. Mostly because it was one of his mother's three pounders. His mum looked similarly unconvinced as did the gaggle on on-looking shipgirls.

"Are you sure about this?"

Dan shrugged.

"Not really but apparently it's a thing you can do if your mum's a shipgirl. May as well give it a go in the interest of science."

He looked at the gun again. His only prior experience with such things was water guns and Luke's step-brother's air rifle and this gun wasn't shaped like any of them. Which made sense since despite its current small size it was meant to be on a stand rather than being handheld but still meant that he wasn't sure how to hold it. With a sigh and a shrug, he picked it up and after half a minute or so of trying various ways of holding it settled on one that seemed like it would work.

"Okay, here goes."

Pointing the gun at the targets and ighting down the barrel, he pulled the trigger.

The gun fired, although the shot missed the target altogether.

Dan looked at the gun in his hands and then at his mum.

"Looks like I can use shipgirl equipment. Don't know if it'll ever be of any use though."

His mum took the gun back.

"Hopefully not."

Further testing with the aid of Vetch, Svana, Odzani, Ambrose and Mauritius revealed that he couldn't use any of their equipment. Whether or not he could only use his mum's or if he could use the equipment of another ship in her class would have to wait until Pathfinder was summoned. As it was though it was still pretty cool, although Dan hoped that certain individuals at Sea Cadets never found out about it. He'd only just managed to convince the idiots that he couldn't walk on water or the like, them hearing that he had some shipgirl traits after all would only cause another round of stupid questions.

"Well, looks like I've got some ship in me after all."

His mum nodded, looking a little concerned. He smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it. From what I hear it's a good thing, although no one has figured out all the details yet. If nothing else, from what I hear it means that I'll never have to worry about getting seasick."

"That is useful. Your dad will be jealous, he gets seasick on a lilo."

"I remember."

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Edit: The Select segments of this snippet are no longer effective. See HERE for details.

Somehow, I can just imagine one of the boys delivering the "a dude" speech from Stein's;Gate with regards to Harry. And now.
Halfway There
*-*-*-*
"And I said," Mrs. Bones snapped, "I'm discussing Auror cases with these two—" she gestured to "Jeff" and Tatsuya, "—and these two only. You, as far as I'm concerned, can just wait in the hall until we're done."

The girl, Gillian McKay as Benio had gleaned from the bits and pieces of conversation that she'd heard, grinned. If you could call it that. It struck Benio as being a little bit more like a Chimpanzee's threat display (which she had been on the receiving end of, long story).

"And Ah'm tellin' yeh," she said, "tha' Ah'm nae passin' on th' chance t' see yer list o' dirty deeds 'at need doin'!"

"The only reason that I let you in here—" Mrs. Bones waved around her house "—and you're not pinned to the garden wall by at least thirty different binding spells is out of respect for your mother."

For a moment, Gillian didn't respond. "… Yeh knew her?" she finally asked, voice nearly a whisper.

"Enough to know that she wouldn't want to see this out of you."

"… Ah'll wai' in th' hall," the girl said softly, turning and walking away. Tatsuya, Benio, and "Jeff" watched her go.

"Are you sure she won't try anything?" Benio asked, glancing back at Mrs. Bones. The older woman sighed.

"The way she is at the moment?" she replied, "I rather doubt it. And you?" Benio frowned, puzzled momentarily before she remembered—"Jeff" and Tatsuya only.

"I'll stand watch," she said.

"The door is magically soundproofed," Mrs. Bones deadpanned. Tatsuya smiled knowingly.

"She's still gonna do it," he said. "Eavesdropping isn't exactly an issue."

Which was right. It wasn't about listening in on them. She just wanted to stay as close as possible while they were here.
-----

The Tsu-Class gingerly stepped under a hanging cord or tube of some kind, stretched herself high over something wet on the floor, and found herself pressed up against some sort of console. Immediately, she sank down against it, hanging on as if it were a lifeline in a roaring storm—which, after some odd fashion, it probably could be.

"It's okay, it's okay," she whispered. "Just have to find Talon. Find Talon, and we're out of here and home free." She drew a long, shuddering breath.

It had taken her a month sitting on the edge of this Princess's territory, watching the way patrols moved and Abyssals idled, to find a way in that no one would notice. After another month of dodging them, skimming just enough off the top of their supply depots that no one would notice the difference, she'd found her way to the place that she'd heard them speak of as the "laboratory" in the hushed tones of frightened peasant. It was another two weeks to observe patrols around there and find a way to sneak in to the place that she knew, just knew, that Talon had to be.

Now she just needed to find a way through, to wherever they kept the prisoners.

Someone's foot slapped wetly against the floor, and she ducked down, huddling against the console as she waited for it to pass by.

That was another thing that she'd discovered. There were… things in here. Evil things, that shouldn't have existed. Whoever this Princess was, she was well worth the fearing.

I shouldn't say that—it might be her! The Tsu-Class bit her lip, screwing up her courage, and sank into a runner's starting position.

"T-Talon?" she whispered, voice quivering. The footsteps stopped, and she very nearly started, pushed off and bolted deeper into the shadows

"Tsubaki…" a hoarse whisper came back to her on the wind. "Tsubaki… is that you?"

She nearly bolted upright, turning to face the direction of the footsteps. "Talon! Yes, it's me! I'm here—"

Then something landed on her from behind, knocking her to the floor, rolling her over roughly. For a moment, everything was stars. The next…

A face was pushed into her own, a grinning, stitched-together crisscross of Abyssal white and Shipgirl pink with the eye in the pink flesh glowing like a red foglamp and the one in the white glowing with the light of madness.

"It's the darndest thing…" the figure giggled. She leaned in closer and her nostrils flared, sniffing at Tsubaki. "YOU'RE ONLY HALF RIGHT!"

Her teeth closed over Tsubaki's shoulder, and darkness sped over the smaller girl's consciousness.
-----

"She fainted. Fainted? That's too bad, they taste better awake. Awake? Why do we eat them? What else are we going to eat? Don't get food, no sir, don't get no food. Oh, but we do get food. We get everything else, it all moves and squeaks and squishes, right? Tasty tasty! Ew no, that's gross.

"Wait, how did she get in here?

"There's a breeze blowing somewhere. Where's a breeze coming from?

"Ooh, feel the wind. That would be nice. We should eat the wind. How would we do that? We're smart, we'll find a way.

"Bring her? Might as well. Could use a snack along the way."
-----

Footsteps echoed in the hall, and Benio turned to face the younger girl who had called out to "Jeff."

"It's… Sam, right?" she asked, and she nodded.

"And you're, uh, Benio, right?" she asked. Benio gave her a nod of her own, and she took a breath. "Could I ask you something?"

"Just as long as it isn't personal," the Hanyou replied jokingly.

"Is that boy your boyfriend?" Sam asked.

Benio chuckled. "What'd I just say?" she responded, and Sam looked away uncomfortably.

"S-sorry, it's just… Jeff says people like him shouldn't have boyfriends or girlfriends or things like that."

Benio mulled over this. There was something about the way she said it—like she didn't exactly believe it, didn't want it to be true, but didn't argue with it. What had this guy told his kid sister?

"How's that?" she asked. Sam scowled (or pouted, her face was still just a tiny bit too childishly round for scowling), and slumped against the wall next to her.

"Well," she said, pressing her fingertips together, "You know how the Bible says you shouldn't punish the children for what their parents do?"

Running the words over in her head, Benio quickly found the relevant phrase (or, at least, her approximation of it). "Visit not the sins of the father…" she said thoughtfully. Sam nodded.

"Jeff says that people like him, who's families got visited by the Red-Eyed Lady, they're not like that. For them, they really do pass their sins on to their children." She looked to the side, looking studiously at nothing at all. "S'why Jeff says he's never gonna have children."

That was a wealth of information, and just in three sentences too. For a moment, Benio turned the words over and over in her head. Where to start…

"Then he's being silly," she finally said. Sam looked up at her, puzzled, and she grinned and patted her on the head. Before the other girl could build up the steam to complain that hey, she wasn't that much older than her and stop it, Benio continued. "We don't pass on our sins at all. The kids just sin in their own way, whether that's better or worse. I—" She paused, reconsidering her words. For some reason, questioning "Jeff's" traumas and experiences didn't seem like that good an idea.

"You really think so?" Sam asked quietly.

"I know so," Benio replied, placing her hands on Sam's shoulders. "And you know what? I'll bet Reiko and Tonbo would agree too. Let's go find them—and while we do, you can tell me about this 'Red-Eyed Lady.'"
-----

"No, doubt it," Jeffrey snarked. "Somehow, a couple of demon cats does not sound like what would have brought us here."

The corner of Mrs. Bones's mouth quirked downward. "If you say so," she said, flipping her notebook to the next page. "After the events in Magical Japan this past year, we're looking into any possible governmental corruption or indiscretion much more than we normally would—"

"Speaking of which," Tatsuya put in, leaning over her shoulder to glance over the page, "is doing this kind of thing legal? We're not exactly legal professionals ourselves." Mrs. Bones snapped the book closed and pushed it away from him.

"Considering that I'm trying to get two individuals strikingly similar to the McKay family out of Britain as fast as possible," she claimed only half-jokingly, "I think that the Wizengamot will be more than understanding."

"… Go back."

She glanced at Tatsuya, glaring. "Excuse me?"

"The notebook, there was something about some kind of gathering," Tatsuya said. Jeffrey turned way from the wall he was leaning on, eyes alight with interest. "I think that might be it."

Mrs. Bones stepped away from the two of them, opening the book back up. "Very well. It's a tip from a former Auror candidate—apparently, a group of dark-aligned witches and wizards are getting together, experimenting with some kind of anti-Shipgirl magic."

"Is the information good?" Jeffrey asked. Mrs. Bones nodded.

"From this one? Always," she confirmed.

It shouldn't have stood out like that to Tatsuya. Too many chances that it was a coincidence. But something, the word "experiment" and the lab under Todoh's house, so much of it seemed to fit into place whether it was a coincidence or not. And somehow…

"That's it," he said, "that's what we're looking for."

… He didn't think it was.

"… Very well," Mrs. Bones said. She sat down, taking a quill pen from a stand on her desk. "I'll take you there—but first, I'll need to contact them, so they can give you permission to enter. Their house is very heavily warded."
-----

Pyrrhus closed the envelope that the owl had dropped into his hands moments earlier and smiled to himself.

"What're you doing there, Tywyll?" a familiar voice asked behind him and he nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning to face Diehl as she stood behind him, eyebrow quirked up curiously.

"Oh, me?" Pyrrhus laughed and raised the envelope, waving it in the air briefly. "Ma sent me some new tea leaves."

Diehl gave the envelope a dubious look. "In that?" she asked. He laughed again.

"Yes, yes," he replied, "she's a creature of odd habits. It's still nice to get something from her, though—we've been here a little while."

Diehl looked to one side, shoving her hands in her pockets with the crisp noise of crumpling paper. "Suppose you're right," she said thoughtfully. "All my samples have probably grown out of control. I'll have to complain about it…"

She turned and walked away, leaving Pyrrhus to his own business.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

Say, remember when Porta mentioned having sent her ten most trusted underlings to her neighbors in order to undermine them and sow paranoia when the time came? No? Well, it's been a long while. Anyway, here's one of them. Expect some more scenes of some of them in my next big thing.


That… Is A Secret!


Territory of the U-Boat Princess, on the South-West of the Meteor Seamount…

"Kallah," the Princess called out, "I would ask your advice."

The Submarine Demon, once a feral Ka-Class, her eyes forever closed, dutifully floated to her sovereign, who was looking over a map of the region, and the various human shipping routes and Abyssal holdings.

"Yes, my Queen," the Vizier replied, "What is thy bidding?"

In response, the U-Boat Princess tapped a finger to one spot on the map in particular.

"Kallah, I have not heard a breath of the goings on in Goda's territory in nearly two months. What have you heard?"

The demon bowed submissively.

"A thousand pardons Your Gloriousness. But your cousin and her fleet have faded from my sources." She said with a soothing smile. And soothing the Princess was in need of, going by her shocked expression.

"You mean to say that they are gone?! HOW! There is no way a fleet of her size and capability could just vanish!"

"Alas, your Grace, it is the truth. I kept this quiet since I learned of it in September, so that I could gather information into what could have happened."

The U-Boat Princess grunted in fear disguised as annoyance. However, her true feelings were on full display by how she unconsciously bit her thumbnail. Kallah's face turned sympathetic, and placed a comforting hand to her sovereign's shoulder.

"Why was I not told of this sooner?"

"I realize that you were fond of each other, but I did not want to trouble an already troubled mind until I had all of the facts."

The Princess glared at her vizier… But doubt was clear in her mind and it wore away at her anger.

"Then… Then what did you learn?"

"Frustratingly little," Kallah admitted with a sigh, "whatever happened, it seemed to have taken place over a few hours. However… I suspect that Goda gave us clues in her last missives in the months leading up to the end."

"What do you mean? Another one of your 'secrets?'"

The Submarine Demon scoffed and waved off the question.

"Oh my! No, nothing of the sort my queen. I will show you. Though I must warn you Princess, it is most distressing news indeed… I understand if you wish to remain ignorant."

"No, no my dear Kallah. Goda was family. I must know."

"As you wish, your grace…"

Kallah nodded, then bowed with reverence, an expression of awe on her face. The Demon reached into her hold and pulled out a small stack of papers, memos and letters from Goda from over the course of April to September. She laid each one out in chronological order. As she spoke, she took a pencil and circled the first letters of each paragraph in the correspondence.

"Goda was indeed a credit to your family my Queen, her subtlety was such that even I nearly missed the clues until it was too late. But, she was able to insure that the fate that befell her would not fall to you, my Queen, with a warning..."

The Submarine Demon laid out the sheets, aligning them just so, allowing the circled letters to be lined up perfectly.

T R A I T O R S I N T H E A B Y S S

U-Boat Princess recoiled in horror, and fell into her demon's comforting arms.

"Yes, yes. I did not wish to believe it either Princess. But we must accept the truth. And we must ensure your safety."

"Wh-What do you mean?"

Kallah bowed her head in sadness, and leaned into the Princess to whisper in her ear.

"Think on it your Highness. We shared a border with Goda. If the traitor or traitors could sneak into her fleet and sabotage them, then it stands to reason they would have no trouble hiding amongst our own fleet."

U-Boat Princess gasped, her eyes wide at the notion that one of her fifteen submarines could be a traitor, plotting her own demise.

"W-what do I do Kallah?"

The submarine demon smiled comfortingly and gently stroked the back of her head in a way that never failed to ease her tension.

"We must keep quiet your grace, lest the traitor learn that we are on to her. She may flee Justice for her treason, or worse lash out while she has the opportunity.

"Take courage my Princess. I shall take care of everything, you simply go on about your days as if nothing is different."

U-Boat Princess swallowed, took a breath, and slowly released it, and feeling much calmer for it. Kallah would take care of this threat, She believed that as surely as she knew that the war against the Meat Bags on the surface was an inevitable victory for the Abyss.

"Very well. See to it then Kallah. In the meantime, I shall take the fleet out to shadow the convoy routes."

"Your tactical wisdom is most sound, my queen…"

The demon bowed deeply as the princess, a reverent smile on her face as the leader of their little fleet departed to assemble the wolfpacks… And then Kallah opened her eyes, and the friendly smile seemed nothing of the sort.

Goda's sudden invasion of Her Majesty's holdings all the way back in April was a mathematical inevitability, as was how Her Majesty was able to arrange the game pieces to her total advantage. Such was the glory of The One True Princess of the Abyss. The sudden vacuum gave Kallah the perfect opportunity to further isolate her target from reality. The fake letters and reports were a delight to write, and that the U-Boat Petty Princess actually bought it was utter comedy. It also permitted her to help her True Sovereign, by hiding the fact that she absorbed much of the boarder regions between her and Goda's territories.

For nearly a decade, Kallah of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess' Chosen Ten embedded herself into the U-Boat Princess' graces. Eight years needling her insecurities and doubts, stoking them and fueling them until at long last they were turned into full blown paranoia, and she was Kallah's puppet, mind and soul.

Yes, when Her Majesty, who now styled herself as Porta Abysseum Atlantia, and who had at long last secured peace and alliance ties with the Humans above, finally sent out the command to act, Kallah would take great pleasure in terminating the disgusting Petty Princess. Such a weak ruler was more than proof enough of the inherent inferiority of the common Abyssal, nothing compared to the height of Divine Perfection that was Porta, the greatest of the Elder Princesses.

Kallah just hoped that she did not mind it to much if she brought U-Boat Princess' fleet with her. They were almost as much simpletons as their creator, but they were most skilled in stealth. And Her Majesty would no doubt find use for expendable spies, especially if it meant her own subjects could be spared.

But if she felt that it would be best to terminate such unforeseen variables, that was equally acceptable. The Elders were meant to be obeyed. And the Abyss would be reminded of that…

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking in the mirror, Harry held a wig in his hand. The hair of which was a red that many who knew her would claim matched his biological mother's hair extremely closely. Glancing over to the door, he smiled a bit, "So, how are things with you, Shiromizu?"

Said Mizuchi gave a shrug as she smiled back while leaning against the door, "Generally?" At his nod, she continued, "They've been going well and I'm just waiting for my Owl Box to be dropped off."

With a hum, Harry placed the wig on his head and went to work to place it right, "That should be soon, right?"

Nodding, Shiromizu smiled a bit more, "Hai, it should be soon enough. And I'll be happy for it, especially when Onee-Sama gets the other one." Softly sighing, she stretched some, "That means that I'll have a way to go back and forth without needing to get drives or anything like that. And that is something to look forward to."

Unable to help himself, the wizard shot her a grin, "Aw, and here I thought that you liked being in a car with me."

Lips curled into a smirk, Shiromizu crossed her arms, "Yes, but I also like being able to talk with Onee-Sama face to face whenever I want even more." Then she gave a small shrug, "Though I will admit to being curious about what is going on in the village now... or town."

Eyebrow raising as he went through the work of adjusting the wig, Harry glanced at her in the mirror, "Hmm? Town?"

Rubbing the back of her neck, she gave a small nod, "I've... been talking with Onee-Sama recently." Once she got a nod, she continued, "Among other things, we've been attracting some people from the reserves who've escaped."

Head tilting to the side slightly, Harry frowned, "Is there a lot of them?"

Simply nodding, Shiromizu became thoughtful, "There's a number there. And some of them have been settling in the smaller communities on the mountain, though from what I have been told they might also decide to take a page out of Senpai's book and take a building while making it a lot bigger on the inside to make sure that enough people have room." Then she snapped her fingers, "Though there might be some jobs soon! From what Onee-Sama told me, there's a velomobile manufacturer interested in building a manufacturing plant at the bottom of the mountain."

That made the crossdressed wizard blink, "A velomobile manufacturer?"

With a hum, Shiromizu nodded, "Hai, the plants for them are not too big and this one is owned by a Yokai. He's hoping to build a number with magical protections and the like to boost their effectiveness. They think that when the reserves open up, a lot of Yokai will be interested in buying them as they're cheaper than cars and also easier to drive. Also, most are strong enough that pedalling with electric assistance won't be a huge issue."

Giving that some thought, Harry made a sound of agreement, "That is true enough, I suppose."

Shiromizu slowly shook her head, "As long as it helps out the town, I have no issue with it." Her expression then became serious, "They've also finished demolishing the old Headman's House as well as the Inn now that all the corpses and remains have been removed. Both places will have a monument placed there for those that Kuroshi killed."

Now turning, Harry frowned, "And Kuroshi herself?"

A grimace on her face, the young Kami sighed, "Her well has been filled in and sealed with her remains inside. Some of the friendly wizards and witches went down there along with some Buddhist Monks and Shinto Priests to cleanse the place as they used magic to seal the tunnels. They basically used loose stone to make them solid stone that filled them. Finally, they placed Kuroshi's remains there and sealed the rest while making sure that her spirit would never bother anyone..." Frowning, Shiromizu tapped her chin, "They're going to raise a burial mound over where the well was this spring."

For several moments there was silence as the two had their own thoughts before Harry nodded, "That's good, I suppose." His expression then brightened, "Moving away from that, what has been happening with the money that we got from the gold and silver I recovered from the Room of Requirement?"

Grateful for the change of subject, Shiromizu still gave him a look at that, "You didn't have to do that, you know. I was fine as it was."

Turning, the wizard gave her a look, which made her raise an eyebrow as now Harry looked like a girl, "No, you were not. You needed some funds after all for the building of a shrine there, so I was happy to give it." With that, he turned back to the mirror, "Also, you needed money in order to have a residence built there."

With a sigh, the Mizuchi shook her head, "Yes, and I would have been fine with one of those mini-homes. And with the amount of gold you sent... I am concerned about what they're going to build. Hopefully nothing too big, though I am going to have retainers taking care of it."

Just humming, he didn't say anything in regards to that. After all, Shiromizu didn't need to know that he sent them about forty pounds of gold and about the same with silver to fund whatever they needed to build, "Speaking of, you did select a place, right?"

Blinking, Shiromizu gave a nod, "Hai, I actually pointed out where I wanted my residence and informed them why. There's a small place there where a spring could be dug and bubble up, that's going to be Suihou's. And there's flat land not far away where I will be having them plant a field of sunflowers for Himawari. Though we're going to use dragon dung manure to really fertilize it, might also have a mix of different sunflowers as well."

Harry nodded at that and smiled into the mirror as he turned, "Sounds good, let me know if you need any help." Grabbing his skirt, he gave a twirl, "Well? What do you think?"

Finger tapping her chin, Shiromizu considered her little brother and shook her head. Slithering up, she adjusted his uniform some, "What do I think, Otouto? I think... that you're going to have so many people confused to no end upon seeing you." Her expression softened some, "Also... you look a lot like those pictures of your mother when she was in her teens."

Quietly, the teenaged wizard stared at her before looking down at his feet, "Really?"

Smiling up at him, Shiromizu tapped him on the nose, "You do." Then she grinned and transformed back into her snake form, "{Now, bring me along so that I can see how many minds we can break! I've missed the past few days after all!}"

Only giggling, Harry picked her up and walked out the door back into the dorm. Briefly, he considered himself in the mirror before grinning. That was, until he noticed something and frowned.

Meanwhile, Peter was on Ron's bed softly sleeping when something caused him to stir. Blinking away some sleep, he yawned widely before internally frowning. What had woken him up... It was then, as the last bit of sleep left him, that he noticed a thirteen year old Lily at the foot of the bed, arms crossed. Her expression was one that he well remembered as one she had on her face when pissed. There was just one small issue...

Lily had been dead for over a decade.

Hence, seeing a younger version of a dead woman who he had counted as a friend and whom had trusted him before being betrayed, glaring at him, and in his head having said glare full of rage and hate, Peter did the only thing that he could... Faint, 'L-Lily is haunting meeeeeee...'

At the same time, Harry blinked at the odd sight of Scabbers giving a long squeak before fainting. Eyebrows furrowing, he frowned, "What just happened?"

Poking herself out of his pocket, Shiromizu gave a snake version of a shrug, "{Who knows with that rat?}" She then considered the bed and sighed, "{You would think that Ron would clean up after feeding Scabbers and not leave the crumbs and such on his bed.}"

Slowly, Harry shook his head and grumbled a bit, "{You would think.}" After another moment of considering fainting rodents, he gave a shake of the head and grabbed his stuff for the day before walking out, "Anyways, time to break some minds~"
___________________________________________________________________

Minerva was chatting with Flitwick as they slowly made their way through their breakfasts. However, her attention was caught by the sound of a piece of cutlery hitting a place and turned. The Transfiguration Professor's eyes widened at the sight of Snape with his eyes wide and face paler than she had ever seen it before. As he began to shake though, she became concerned, "Severus? Are you okay...?"

It was then that Flitwick noticed that Snape was not the only one stunned with Remus choking on his food and clutching at his chest, 'What would cause them to react in that manner...'

Not even a few seconds later, they got their answer as Snape whispered in a voice full of disbelief and pain, "Lily...?|

Their own eyes widening, the two teachers turned and felt their own jaws drop at what they could see. Because, right there and making her way towards the Gryffindor Table, was what they swore was Lily Potter. Though even then, they caught themselves wondering why she was thirteen years old again. Mouth working, Flitwick boggled at the sight, "..."

Her own eyes nearly popping from her head, Minerva swallowed, "That... that can't be... Lily's dead... So how..." Lily then smiled and waved at them, green eyes watching them, "O-oh Lord..."

Most of the teachers there were staring in complete disbelief. After all, it had to be a ghost because the dead don't just come back! Even though Hooch was among those staring, her keen eyes noted something, "Wait... is that Potter's snake in her pocket?" All of them gave her a look with some blushes and a few disgusted looks. Seeing that, Hooch rolled her eyes, "I mean Harry's pet snake."

With that, they turned and noticed that, yes, said snake was in fact in Lily's pocket. Moments later, they realized what was going on and Minerva slumped, "That... that's Harry? I..."

Swallowing, Remus gave a nod, "He looks just like Lily..."

Unknown to them, the Potion's Professor was still staring at Harry who reached the Gryffindor table. In his chest, Snape felt like there was a hand gripping his heart and squeezing. It took everything not to react more than he had, 'I knew he had more of Lily in him then Potter, but...'

At hearing the chair scrape back, Flitwick turned to him, "Severus? What-"

Just shaking his head, and looking shaken, Snape waved him off, "I must head back to my class. There are preparations to be done for the day and so I shall see you later."

He then quickly strode across the Great Hall to the doors, though he paused for a moment to glance at Harry. And then he was gone through the doors. Several seconds passed before Vector looked at Snape's place and frowned, "But he didn't finish his breakfast..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking up to the Gryffindor Table, Harry pretended not to hear the whole thing fall into silence, "Good morning, everyone."

A banging made them all turn to find that Angelina was hitting her head on the table. After a few moments, she stopped and sighed, "Is it too late to say that we regret this?"

Unable to help himself, the crossdressed boy nodded before flipping his hair away, "Yup!" That only got more bangs from Angelina which were themselves soon joined by ones from Alicia and Katie. Something that amused Harry to no end, as shown when he giggled, 'This is rather fun.'

Meanwhile, one of the Sixth Year Hufflepuffs turned away with a blush on his face, "It just is not right for a guy to... to beat out girls like that. Why..."

One of his fellow male Hufflepuffs nodded, "Tell me about it. I know that is a guy, but every damn time... Ugh, I am so fucking confused."

There were various nods and noises of agreement around him. At the Slytherin table, Daphne was frowning as she watched Harry gracefully eating and then looking at her own plate, "I just don't understand it. How does Potter pull that off? I'm a girl and have been raised as a Pureblood. Yet..."

Arms crossed, Tracy grimaced in agreement, "Seriously, how is it that he beats us? I mean..."

Suddenly, Bulstrode spoke up, "Well, not that hard in the case of Parkinson."

Coughing, said female Slytherin pounded at her chest and gave a glare at the bigger girl who had gained in confidence since Halloween, "What is that supposed to mean!? He's a filthy Halfblood and I am a Pureblood!"

Daphne gave her a look, "Exactly." At the confusion, she pointed at the food, "Potter despite being both a guy and a muggle-raised Halfblood is acting and looking far more the Pureblood noblewoman then you have ever managed."

In reply, Tracy hissed and waved her hands, "Ouch... can someone get some burn cream? I think we're in desperate need."

Moments later, as Daphne and Astoria high fived each other, one of the Fourth Year female Slytherins spoke up and made Pansy squawk, "Somehow I don't even think that Saint Mungos would have enough burn cream for that."

Sputtering, finally Parkinson glared, "Fuck all of you Blood Traitors."

About to turn, she stiffened as the Fourth Year grabbed her by the back of the neck and hissed, "Blood Traitor? Call that out again and see what happens, Parkinson. My family is Pureblooded and has been for centuries." Pulling her hand back, the Fourth Year gave an intrigued look towards Harry, "Though I will admit, I am rather interested in how Potter is pulling it off. He is raising the bar for those of us of deportment."

With a glance at her sister, Astoria gave a shrug, "Maybe it has to do with how he's been raised?" At the looks, she shook her head, "We... were in Japan briefly for business over the summer. And the Japanese? They are really into manners and politeness. In fact, they even have a word for the ideal woman, a Yamato nadeshiko. Potter might have learned it from that."

More than one of the Slytherins were intrigued and began to ask questions. Yes, they may not have been Ravenclaws. But at the same time, they understood that knowledge was power. And in this case, the more knowledge that they had, the better... Especially in the view of the girls.

Pansy, meanwhile, just angry chomped down on some bacon.

Later that morning, it was time for DADA and Remus was waiting at his desk. Watching as the students walked in though, he felt his chest constrict as Harry entered the classroom, green eyes bright and clear. There was a part of the werewolf that almost expected to see his thirteen year old self walk in alongside laughing James and Sirius with Peter trying not to be seen. But then he dismissed the image with a deep breath.

But as class continued onwards, the Professor found himself glancing time and again at Harry. Dressed as a girl and with red hair, it was uncanny in the extreme how much he resembled his mother, biological one that is. Yes, he had thought before that Harry looked like a younger James with green eyes whenever he wore glasses. Now though, with long red hair and no glasses? He could have easily passed for a twin of Lily Potter at that age.

It was bad enough that Remus had to continually remind himself that it was the son of his best friends.

Once the class was gone, the first thing that the werewolf did was open the drawers of his desk and pull out a bottle. For several moments, Remus stared at the small bottle of firewhiskey in thought before popping the lid and pouring some into a cup... and then chugging the rest of the bottle. With that done, he poured the cup back into it and then leaned back and groaned, "Dammit... it is too early in the day for this shit. And I blame you, Lily."

Part of him swore he could hear the familiar laughter of Lily faintly in his ears. But he dismissed that as nothing more than his imagination. And perhaps a symptom of becoming drunk.

A short while later found Harry with the rest of the Third Year Gryffindors as well as the Slytherins waiting outside of the Potions classroom. Humming to himself, Harry swayed in place only to pause at the sound of clapping. When he turned, there was Daphne and Tracy both giving him applause. Tilting his head, a giggle escaped him, "Well, hello."

Eyebrow raised, Daphne gave him a small smirk, "I must admit, an impressive performance thus far, Potter. Very impressive."

Her best friend gave a nod as well, "Seriously, I keep having to remind myself that you are a guy and not a girl."

Twinkle in his eyes, Harry pulled off a picture perfect curtsy, "Thank you for the compliment. And I do try so it is quite nice to see that it is effective.'

Softly snorting, Tracy crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Too effective, way too effective." Placing her hands on her hips, she leaned forward some, "You're setting the bar far too high for the rest of us girls."

Giggling, Harry held a hand in front of his face before brushing his hair out of his eyes, "Sorry about that, I don't mean to cause that." Head tilted to the side, he gave a brilliant smile, "But I am having far too much fun at the moment."

All she got was shakes of the head from both female Slytherins even as they internally groaned again. Really, how the heck was he a better a girl then they were? And one who carried themselves much the same way that their mothers told them to do so?

Just the same, Tracy was looking forward to showing her mother her memories, just to get the reactions from them. Something that she knew both Daphne and Astoria were going to do with their parents. Though she suspected that the two would make it where their father did not clue in to who it was for some time before revealing it, for maxiumum impact. Granted, she wondered what the reactions would be from their mothers...

Before anyone else could say something, the classroom door banged open and there was Snape. For several moments, he stared at Harry before swiftly turning and stalking back into his class, "Everyone, take your places."

Standing behind his desk, he began to explain the lesson for the day. Part of Snape noted the hateful look that Pansy was giving Lily... Harry, and narrowed his eyes slightly. At the same time, he made a note to stay close to Harry's desk. However, the class passed without too much issue. As the potions were brought up to the front, Snape cleared his throat as Harry passed in his, "Mis... ter Potter, please stay a moment once everyone is gone."

Though confused, Harry gave a small nod, "Of course, Professor."

Once everyone was gone, Snape stood up and stared at Harry, with the thirteen year old meeting his gaze easily. Finally, the Professor spoke, but with one word, "Why?"

Raising an eyebrow, Harry frowned, "Why what, Professor?"

Just stepping across around the desk, the Potions Master took a deep breath and let it out even as he felt old emotional wounds reopen slightly at see Harry look so much like Lily, "Why are you looking so much like your mother?"

Now understanding, the thirteen year old wizard hummed some, "I will admit, part of my acting and looking so much like a girl is for the fun of seeing the reactions from people. Especially after seeing how Katie and the others reacted." Not getting a response, he frowned, "But as for looking like my biological mother... Part of it is that I wanted to see if I could. Another part of it though was... that I wanted to do something to honor her."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Snape gave him an incredulous look, "And this is honoring her?"

Lips twitching, Harry shook his head, "In a small way? Yes." Using his hand, he gestured at himself, "People are always telling me how much I look like my Dad, except with my Mum's eyes. But since I have to wear girls' clothes for the next few days, I decided that a reversal of that is in order. Hence why I look like my mother."

Silence met him for some time and then Snape gave a slight smile, "Very well, that is a good enough reason. Thank you, Mister Potter, you may leave." With a nod, Harry turned and opened the door, only to stop as Snape continued to speak, "As an aside... what you are doing is something that Lily would very much approve of."

Turning, Harry looked over his shoulder and smiled, "Thank you, Professor."

And then, he walked out leaving a silent classroom with a thoughtful man in it.

Lunch came and went soon enough, and the various Gryffindors left for Care of Magical Creatures. In some nearby bushes, Padfoot crawled forward, hidden even now under the light snow that covered the brush. He was a man on a mission as he wanted to see his godson. Upon hearing laughter, he turned his head and froze. Harry was nowhere to be seen with his friends... Rather, there was a red haired girl who looked exactly like Lily did walking along.

With another giggle, the girl reached up and brushed some of the red hair out of her eyes where he was blown.

Internally, Sirius was panicking at what he was seeing. Lily was dead, he knew it! Within his minds eyes, he remembered finding her body and cradling it like he had James' body, crying the whole time. So it was an impossibility to his eyes for Lily, or a thirteen year old version, to be walking along. Then the breeze shifted and his confusion grew as Lily's scent was nowhere, but he could smell Harry's. What the Hell was going on here!?

Thankfully for his sanity, or perhaps not so much, Hagrid walked over and greeted the students before pausing as the giant man took in Lily. Moments later, the Groundskeeper shook his head in disbelief, "Blimey, 'Arry! Yeh look exactly like your Mum!"

Blushing lightly, Harry scratched his cheek, "Thanks, Hagrid. People have mentioned that and it makes me pretty happy."

Still shaking his head, Hagrid laughed some, "Well, tha's because its true! Though..." Eyebrows furrowed, he stroked his beard, "Sort of confused 'bout this an' everythin'."

All the crossdressed wizard did was shrug, "What else could I do? Katie and the others cast that spell that changes all my clothes to that of a girl. So might as well play along with it." A grin then crossed his face as he giggled, "And it is also fun to see all the reactions."

For several moments, Hagrid stared at him before shrugging and turning, "Ta each their own, I suppose! Anyways, gather round, I got this here critter for yeh all ta meet..."

Unknown to them, Sirius was in the bushes just staring ahead. Inside his head, his mind was shutting down and rebooting as it tried to square a circle. His godson had gotten pranked with the same spell him and the others had at the hands of Lily. But then Harry had decided to go full girl. None of it made sense because Harry was a guy. Yet what was in front of him was a girl, a very cute one...

Which brought to his mind what reaction his thirteen year old self would have had. And then he felt sick at the mental image of his younger self hitting on his godson unknowingly, 'O-oh God... make it stop... make it stop.'

Oddly, he could swear that he could hear far off laughter that sounded like Lily's even as he resolved to either steal a bunch of alcohol, or bang his head hard on something to make the image go away.

Few short hours later found several teachers in the Staff lounge with a number taking drinks. Shaking her head, Minerva rubbed the brow of her nose, "I cannae wait until this spell runs its course..."

Where he was, a drunk Lupin raised his glass, "Yesh. Same here."

Glancing at him, Flitwick hummed some. While various others were unsure what to think, he had eventually found it amusing to no end. After all, turning a prank onto others like this was much harder then one would think. Chuckling some, he smiled, "I wonder how Albus will react to this."

A frown on her face, Poppy looked over at the Charms Professor, "Where is Albus?"

That got a sigh from Minerva as she grumbled, "He claimed that him and Victory had business with the completion of some project of theirs... Apparently Flamel helped them."

Needless to say various in the staff room frowned in confusion and gave each other searching looks.

********** Meanwhile, in Florida ************

Lips pressed thinly, Crow tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "I still do not understand why I need to drive you around, Connie."

Said shipgirl gave him a smile before chuckling, "Because, no one seems to trust me for some reason." Then Constitution gave a shrug and patted the dashboard of her car, "Besides, it is not often that one drives a car this nice. And the weather is rather nice here in Florida."

With a sigh, Crow closed his eyes as they came to a stop at a stop light, "We are on a public relations mission."

Just lightly laughing, the oldest commissioned warship in the USN shook her head, "Relax and have some fun..." Trailing off, she frowned, "Do you hear... that..."

"Money, money, money,
Money, money, money,
Money, money, money.
Money motherfucker!"

Both Connie and Crow stared at the classic car that pulled up beside them and squinted. Mainly due to the fact that it was hard to look at as the entire car seemed to be made out of pure gold. From the gold figure of Britannia, the female personification of Britain, at the front of the car, along the gold body work, the golden tinted windshield, the golden seats, and the like. Even the tires seemed to be made out of gold.

However, more than that was the two seated in the car.

One of them was an old man covered in gold chains, bracelets, and the like, He even had what looked like a pimp coat made out of gold with a gold top hat with glasses made of gold, There was even wires of gold woven into his beard while his sunglasses shone with gold. But what made Connie's eyebrow twitch was the shipgirl beside him. Victory was seated there and had no less gold on her then the old man did. She even had the addition of breastplate made of gold, while her various medals and the like shone in the light.

"Money in the motherfucking jar
Shark fin pastry.
Summers on Mars.
Twenty motherfuckers in a levitating car,
Seven-forty-seven full of women and cigars.
Get money."

Slowly, Victory turned and tilted her head some before gently pulling her gold sunglasses down to meet Constitution's eyes. Moments later, even as the rap song continued, the car bounced around on it's wheels. Then the light turned to green and she pushed her glasses back up and turned back to the road as they drove off.

Connie and Crow sat there for several moments as the golden car disappeared around the corner, the radio still blaring out about money. Eyebrow twitching, the USN shipgirl opened her mouth, only for the man in the car to glare at her, "Fuck no, Connie!"

In regard, Constitution glared back at him, "I am not going to let that bitch beat me at having bling! Hell fucking no!'

Meanwhile Dumbledore and Victory were nodding their heads with smirks on their faces as they drove along. It was good to take a break every once in a while and the next day they would be back in Britain after all...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Tired, Katie stumbled into the Gryffindor Common Room after a long day of classes. Well, that and having various girls glare at her and huff. It was just a joke! Her, Alicia, and Angelina had it all planned out too! The boys on the team would get hit by the curse and promptly be embarrassed and ashamed. Possibly keep their mouths shut afterwards, lesson learned! But, the traitorous thought came to her mind that was an old non-magical saying that applied in this case...

No plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

While Oliver as well as the Weasley Twins reacted exactly how they had expected them to, Harry had not. Rather, he had then promptly turned their prank right back on them by crossdressing them in the clothes that they had. Granted, the three Chasers wondered where he had gotten said clothes as they were real... or how it was that they fit them perfectly, perhaps too much.

Katie had a blush on her face as she remembered that before shaking her head free of such thoughts. Or how her and her friends had looked in said clothes... 'Dammit!'

Pushing past that, she grimaced some at the memory of how her and her female teammates had thought that was the last of it. They could even somewhat respect what happened. What sort of people would they be if they could dish it out and yet not take it in return? And in that case, they decided to take their lumps and shrug it off. And then... the next day happened. Katie had been confused at the Third Year Gryffindor girl who appeared out of nowhere. Whoever she was, said girl was very pretty. Sort of made her jealous, despite the fact that she was older. But despite not recognizing her, the Chaser felt like there was something really familiar about her. It was there at the back of her head.

But, Katie and her friends had dismissed that before chatting with the girl. As they did so, all three found themselves somewhat jealous of the girl. After all, she was everything that a girl should be, pretty, gentle, and with very good manners while also being polite. It was like someone had dropped the epitome of what a girl should be next to them.

Which is not to say that there was not signs that something more was going on. Hermione banging her head on the table was just the first one. That was followed by Myrtle showing up and collapsing in laughter. Katie was pretty sure at the time that if not for being already dead, the ghost would have died from sheer laughter. Both things happening confused them to no end. Of course, that was until Snape had walked up and revealed exactly who the "Girl" actually was.

"She" in fact was a "He", Harry himself as it turned out.

It had taken a few minutes for the three to reboot their brains from that. Not one of them had expected that, and it showed. The fact that Hermione had then commented on how Harry was enjoying himself did not help matters.
As it turned out, that was only the start of what would happen. For the rest of the day, Harry had gone around looking like a girl, and acting like one as well. Various people had to keep reminding themselves that it was a boy that they were talking to, and not a girl. Part of the witch felt sorry for a large number of guys as more than a few had forgotten that fact before being reminded of it. And while funny, well...

Honestly, it made Katie and the other Chasers rather jealous... and feel somewhat insecure. A boy was being better at being a girl then they were as well as looking better as a girl than any of them had. And they were born as girls to begin with! Over the whole day, Harry kept showing the three up with them getting glares from the other girls being shown up by him. All of them blaming the three Chasers for what had happened.

The whole thing was just impossible. A boy should never beat out girls at being, well, better at being a girl! That was something that should not be! Yet... yet that was exactly what happened. Harry carried himself with a grace and poise well beyond most of the girls. And he also looked cute while doing it! His whole comment of 'A girl cannot be this cute' only threw fuel on the fire.

When they had gone to bed, the three Chasers were certain that would be the end of it, that they would wake and things would be back to normal.

Except, as soon as the red haired and green eyed "Girl" had greeted them, they knew that it had not. Rather, the day before was but the beginning. They had already agreed that if they ever pulled this prank again, they were going to leave Harry out of it. He had already caused enough damage to egos as it was.

Now, walking into the Common Room, Katie paused because right there doing homework was the crossdresser responsible for so much. Said boy was chewing on the end of his quill in a manner that one could only call 'Cute'. Part of the witch swore there were small sparkles and bubbles around him while this was happening. Before, that was, she shook her head rapidly and forcibly dismissed said images from her mind. Her eyebrow twitched though as one of the Fifth Years, who she had been hoping to ask out for a date to the next Hogsmeade Weekend muttered to a friend, "Dammit... why the fuck does Potter look cute. He's cuter then the rest of the Gryffindor girls!? How the hell does he do that?!"

Eyebrow fiercly twitching, Katie walked over, well, more stomped over. Coming to a stop in front of the table, she looked down at Harry who blinked and tilted his head to the side as he looked up at her with wide, green eyes, "Is something wrong, Katie?"

Slamming her hands down, she brought her face within inches of his own, "Why?"

Innocently blinking, Harry looked up at her, "Why what?"

Just growling, Katie gestured at him, "Why this?! Why did you do all this?!"

Lips curling, the crossdressed wizard leaned against his closed fist, "Why am I doing all this?" At her nod, Harry gave a small nod, "Hmm... mainly because it's fun."

Out of all the answers that she had expected, Katie had not expected that one. And it showed on her face, "Because it's fun, I, you... bwah?"

Giggling, and getting another twitch from the Chaser among other girls, Harry smiled, "Yes, I am having fun, Katie. A lot of fun, and it is all thanks to you."

Completely lost at this, Katie blinked, "I... you're enjoying this?! Seriously!? W-why?!"

Harry then gave a small smile, "Why wouldn't I? The reactions that so many of you are giving me is amusing to no end. And it's not like I mind it all that much..."

At that point, Minagato spoke up and raised a hand even as various Smols brought out recording devices, "Gato!"

Moments later, a song that made every Muggleborn, and muggle raised, student whip their heads around began to play as Harry stood up.

"This was never the way you planned
Not your intention
You got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what I'm used to
Just wanna try it on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

I dressed as a girl and I didn't mind it
The taste of my cherry chapstick
I dressed as a girl just to try it
I hope my friends don't mind it
It didn't feel so wrong, though not so right
Don't mean I'm in love with it
I dressed as a girl and I didn't mind it
I didn't mind it

No, I don't even know your play
It doesn't matter
This is my experimental game
Just human nature
It's not what good girls do"

Various people twitched as Harry shyly looked away for a moment with a blush.

"Not how they should behave
Your head gets so confused
Hard to obey"

As he launched into the chorus, jaws continued to drop in the Common Room. Despite wanting to, they couldn't tear their eyes away from it. Not helping was how Harry was dancing throughout the whole song. At the end of the song as the last musical notes left, Harry gave Katie a kiss on the cheek and winked before walking up to the Boy's Dorm.

Glancing at the twitching Katie, Fred and George frowned thoughtfully before turning to each other, "You know..."

"Ickle Harry-kins is quite good at this."

"Perhaps we should swear never to-"

"Prank him in this manner? Yes, quite a good idea, my twin."

"But with this success we should, ah, give him something..."

"In congratulations? Yes, and I think I know what, brother dear."

Upstairs, Harry was giggling madly as he flopped back onto his bed before grinning, "Game set, and match." Glancing over to Ron's bed, Harry blinked some at seeing Scabbers was nowhere in sight. That was, until he noticed that the dresser next to said bed had one of the drawers open partially. His attention though was caught as the Owl Box opened up and a familiar fox slipped out, "Hey, Natsumi-Chan."

The Kitsune blinked some and then transformed into her usual hybrid form. Glancing at the door, she turned back to Harry and raised an eyebrow, "Hey to yourself, Harry-Chan. Mind explaining?"

Getting up, Harry gave a shrug, "Remember the letters I sent you?"

It took a few moments for Natsumi to clue in, at which point she snorted, "Wait, so that was true? They cast a spell that changed whatever clothes you wore for a girl's? Really?"

Nodding with a hum, the crossdressed boy curled one strand of his wig around his finger, "Hai." A grin then came over his face, "Not that they expected this."

Only shaking her head, Natsumi's voice took on a mock sympathetic tone, "Those poor, poor students." Walking over, she straightened Harry's skirt some, "I am still amazed at how good you are at this."

Just snickering, Harry nodded as his eyes sparkled in glee, "I had good role models. Besides which... this is just so amusing."

That got a laugh from his best friend before she shook her head, "Now that I can imagine, Harry-Chan." Arms crossing, she looked him over and smiled, "You know... this really is a Kitsune style prank. I'm rather impressed."

All Harry did was shrug at that with a smile. But seeing the thoughtful look on Natsumi's face, as well as how she pulled out her phone and took a picture, he raised an eyebrow, "What are you thinking, Natsumi-Chan?"

Grinning, Natsumi leaned in, "Well... did you know that there's an spell that wipes one's scent? And another that can make someone smell like something else?" Moments later, her friend's eyes widened with glee, with the Kitsune nodding, "Exactly, I think that Asuka-San would be more than willing to help with this..."

Several minutes later, Dean was walking up to the dorms with a groan and paused right outside the door before peeking in. He could not see much... but he could see Harry giving a light kiss to some girl. Straightening, Dean walked back down the stairs with a heavy blush and then began to bang his head on the wall.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Okay, so, things are going to be a little complicated in the near future. I'll be moving to Pittsburgh, and once I'm actually situated in the place I've got set, I won't have wi-fi until I can actually afford it. Fortunately, I recall an internet café a short walk away from my new place (unfortunately, it might be vegetarian). So yeah, things are gonna be crazy.

That said, here's today's offering.

Edit: The Select segments of this snippet are no longer effective. See HERE for details.
See It Coming

The old house rose before them, tired, dusty, and gothic, ready for whatever horror story was ready to be set within it's walls, but Tonbo found the aesthetic somewhat ruined by the fact that half the house had been blasted away and an overgrown greenhouse had been set up in its place. The DuBois kid glanced over to Bones.

"A bit of a personality?" he asked.

"Just a bit," Bones agreed, striding forward and reaching out for the doorknob.

Tonbo glanced over at the Scottish girl, McKay. The girls had confirmed last night that the experiences of a Japanese boy not long after the turn of the century and an escaped slave hiding out in the bayou were not that far off from each other. They had then begun to wonder if, maybe, they could go for three of a kind and possibly not a coincidence.

She had a feeling they could. Coincidences just weren't coincidences anymore, not with a Himura (or a Haneda now, when she thought about it) around. But this… red-eyed woman, wandering around the world, creating more and more people like that? It was worrying. A bit disturbing, even.

Okay, so, maybe it was a lot disturbing. Which, in turn, would explain why they needed to ask McKay about her family history.

And, because she had the greatest chance of not being dead after stepping on the girl's toes somehow, Tonbo had been given the job.

Fun stuff.

Getting her alone would be easy enough, at least. Or she hoped. It was probably the sort of thing that would backfire when she least expected it.

The door creaked open, and a foul-smelling cloud of purple steam blasted out and spread over the entire yard. Amidst the coughing and choking, Tonbo heard DuBois shout "The hell is this?" and Bones reply, in a Sahara-dry voice, "disinfectant."

This promised to be interesting.
-----

When Tsubaki came to, she was lying on a sandbar. Startled, she scrambled to her feet, scanning the blue expanse for something, anything, turning around to find an unfamiliar island jutting out of the water.

"What's going on?" she whispered. "Chart, chart, chart…" She slowed. "Nothing?"

Well, not quite nothing. Just the absence of any kind of landmarks worth noticing, and in the middle of the day there were no stars out to be setting her course by. So she was lost. Utterly.

Now if only she could figure out what happened. After the months spent tracking Talon down, finding a way into the "laboratory," if it had somehow, randomly gone to waste, she couldn't—

Like a bucket of water, the memories poured down through her body, setting her shivering.

That. That thing. The thing that was… that was her. How? What was it? What did she do now? It—had it—

An arm landed beside her, a pasty white one from some Abyssal, and she screamed and tripped into the surf.

"Oh, you're awake now!" The thing chirped, drifting up beside her and pulling her up by the neck as if she were a rascally kitten. "Good, good, awake is more fun. Look, food! Eat up!"

Tsubaki looked back at the arm, and threw up.

"Or not. More for us, then. Unless we have to eat you, then there's even more for us," it rambled on cheerily.

"Kah… kah… Talon?" Tsubaki managed. The thing paused.

"Where did you hear that name?" it asked.

"Talon, please, it's me! It's Tsubaki!" she begged. "You remember me, right? You knew my name last night, didn't you?"

"Did we?" it mused, dropping her back on the sandbar. "Things come and things go. We don't exactly worry about them."

"Talon!" Tears were beginning to form in her stomach. "Please!"

The Talon-Thing paused, then turned and leaned forward to stare her in the face. "No, no, don't cry," it said. "It messes up the taste." It fell over on its side, and began snoring. About thirty seconds later, Tsubaki actually began to believe that it was asleep.

"Things come and things go…" Tsubaki whispered to herself. Did that mean that somewhere inside that thing, Talon was still alive? Of course she was! She had to be!

And Tsubaki was going to help her find her way out.
-----

"Hello?" Sam called out softly, looking around the building. Bones grabbed her by the shoulder and puled her back to her side.

"Quiet," she hissed, nodding at the floor.

The house was… a mess, that was for certain. Everything was covered by a layer of dust, plants had grown out of control and were dying of thirst, and spiderwebs of a variety of types, colors, and patterns wreathed the corners (though Tonbo had to admit, tartan-pattern spiderwebs were more hilarious than they had any right to be).

Which made the two sets of footprints, the only spots on the floor devoid of dust, all the more suspicious.

"Oh, this is going to end well," she whispered under her breath. "You sure this ex-Auror of yours is a good guy? Because I'm getting serious mad scientist vibes from this place."

"Ex-Auror candidate," Bones replied irritably, "and yes, I'm sure. There's a bit of a story, but I assure you—"

A scream came from down the hall, and suddenly a human figure flew out, across the living room, and slammed into the wall. He hung there a moment, as the laws of gravity and momentum argued over who got him, and then slid down, leaving dustless streaks behind him.

Footsteps echoed through the house, and a woman stepped into the room after her victim.

"Well," she said brightly, adjusting her jacket, "that was practically cathartic. I mean, hanging around idiots is always a bit stressful, but God damn was that guy annoying."

"Miss Diehl," Bones said, stepping forward. "I came here to talk to you about the tip you sent in recently."

The woman, one Scylla Diehl, gave a crooked smile in response. "I figured," she said. "I mean, what else would you be doing in my house? These are the kids?"

Bones sighed, and nodded. Diehl grinned at the small crowd and turned and walked into the hall. "Make yourselves at home!" she called over her shoulder. "I'd offer you tea, but I'm afraid the kettle would object."

Everyone watched her go.

"Mad scientist," DuBois said.

"Oh stop."
-----

Yes, I'm for real. Why ask?

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

Rivet sat in the corner of the room facing the wall… honestly more embarrassed than annoyed, by the little paper hat on her head. "Seriously, Mom? You held on to the Time-Out Hat…?"

"No. Hoppou just made a new one." Dusting off her mittens, the little Princess looked to her… well, 'patient', for lack of a better term. "So other than her hands, Fluffy is okay?"


Fluffy nodded gently, examining her healed fingers. "I'm… not in trouble, am I?" she asked. "I was just trying to find my way back, get home before dark…"

Hoppou shook her head. "No, Fluffy is not in trouble. Just needs to take more time to prepare and plan before setting out on adventures like that again." After a moment's thought, she added, "And practice climbing, so she doesn't hurt trees so much."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

Satisfied, Hoppou patted Fluffy on the head. "Good girl."

With that, she stepped away, mentally checking one item off her to-do list. As much as the little Princess wanted to stick around a little while on Avrora and check on all of her children, she had a slumber party with Asuka and Rei back in Japan that she didn't want to be late for, so she couldn't afford to dally for too long.

Coming to a stop in front of Regalia's room, Hoppou knocked on the door. "Regalia? Are you busy? Hoppou has to talk to you."

Almost immediately, there was a reply. "Huh? O-oh… one sec, Grandma!" Hoppou tilted her head at the soft thumps on the other side of the door, followed by a small "ow". Eventually, though, the door creaked open to reveal a slightly tired-looking Regalia. "Sorry about that. Was taking a nap after working out on the farm."

Hoppou waved her off. "That's okay, Regalia. Hoppou will only be bothering for ten, maybe fifteen minutes, then you can get back to your nap."

Regalia nodded. "Sure thing. You can come in, have a seat on my bed if you'd like." The Re-class pulled the doorway open wider, admitting Hoppou into her humble abode. "So, what can I do for you, Grandma?"

In response, Hoppou reached into her hold, producing her school backpack, and started rummaging through it. "Well, it's a bit of a good news, bad news thing," she began. "The good news is, Hoppou and Mommy have been discussing it with the JSDF… and they're willing to give Regalia permission to move freely through the Vanishing Cabinets, so she can come to Japan by herself."

Regalia perked up. "Really? That's great! I can come meet you for my medical training, instead of you having to come here and pick me up!"

Hoppou nodded. "That's right. However, Regalia will need to fill out some forms before this can happen." The Re-class frowned slightly as she pulled out a sheaf of papers from her backpack—nowhere near as big as a stack of requisition forms, but not exactly a single sheet. "On top of that, Hoppou will need to tinker with Regalia's IFF system. This is so Regalia will be officially cleared to travel in Japan, and will be recognized by human and shipgirl systems."

The Re-class put a finger to her lips. "…well… if that's all, then I'd be happy to do it." She looked over her shoulder, to her dresser. "Plus, I'd get a chance to actually put my new clothes to use…"

Hoppou simply grinned at that.

………

Regalia looked over the forms one last time, laid out on the flat surface of her own tail. "Okay. I think I have all this correct…?" she spoke up, half-questioningly.

Hoppou leaned over from her seat beside the Re-class, peering at the papers. "Everything looks right to Hoppou," she eventually answered with a nod. "And just in time, since Hoppou just finished modifying Regalia's IFF."

"You did?" Regalia's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I didn't even notice…"

The princess shrugged. "It wasn't much to change. Regalia will still show up as herself to her family… but now she'll show up as friendly to humans, too."

"Neat…" Gathering up the forms, Regalia handed them off to Hoppou. "Thanks for this, Grandma. This is going to be really cool, I just know it."

Hoppou smiled. "Hoppou is happy to help." She raised a mitten-covered finger. "Just don't let things distract you from your studies, okay? Hoppou is confident Regalia can excel as a paramedic… but for that to happen, she needs to apply herself fully to Hoppou's training."

Regalia nodded. "I understand."

"Good!" Storing away the completed forms, Hoppou pushed herself off the bed. "Now, Hoppou needs to go check on Oku-class egg. Tanith thinks she's almost ready to hatch."

At those words, Regalia instantly perked up. "Mom said that? Really!?" It had been a bit of a surprise for her to hear at, first—her mother had begun construction on another ship, a new type of transport designed by Supprin. And according to her aunts, the first transport ship to ever come into the Fleet of Laughter. But those facts were soon enough overshadowed by a realization, one that had her incredibly excited: she was getting a sister! "Can I come with you?"

Hoppou grinned. "Of course!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Nuri and Ritou both stood at a table off to the side of the unofficial incubation chamber, the blueprints for their prospective new ships laid out in front of them. The other flagships milled about the room, clustered around and inspecting the egg Tanith had crafted. "You think Mother will approve of our designs?" Nuri asked.

Ritou shrugged. "It's not impossible. I mean, every fleet needs auxiliary ships to keep everything running smoothly, right? And that's always been sort of a downside for us—we refuse to utilize the Wa-class out of principle, and there have never been dedicated repair ship or tugboat Abyssals. We had to cope with our own tow cables and engineers. These designs, if they worked, could make our routine operations a lot more efficient."

Nuri nodded thoughtfully. "True enough. That said, though… for all her expertise, I don't think I've ever actually seen Mother design her own ship, or at least more than concepts of such. This could even be treading new ground for her."

"I suppose we'll only know once we ask her." Shaking her head, Ritou stepped away from the table to join her sisters around the egg. Observing it quietly, she watched as the shell periodically twitched in its cradle, tiny muffled sounds emanating from the unborn Abyssal within. "Looks like she's pretty eager to break out."

"A sign that she's healthy, I hope," Tanith mused, arms folded tightly. "Before she hatched from her own egg, Regalia barely moved or made any sounds at all."

Ritou reached up and rested a hand on Tanith's shoulder. "No need to be so tense, Tanith. I'm sure you didn't mess this one up—you've had more than enough time to mature, to grow into your new role as a princess. Besides, now we have Mother to lend us a hand if something DOES go wrong, remember?"

Chewing her lip as she thought over Ritou's words, the Princess eventually let out a sigh, her stiff posture starting to loosen up. "You're right. Not all hope is lost, anymore." Her sisters let out a collective sigh of relief. "But if I hear anyone utter the phrase 'Mazel Tov' when she emerges," Tanith said, glancing over her shoulder, "I'm putting their head through the nearest wall. That gag wore out well before we left Unalaska."

Sunny and the others snickered. "Whatever you say, sis," the demon chuckled. Hearing bare footsteps and clacking hooves approaching, Sunny turned to the doorway to see Hoppou entering, young Regalia in tow. "Hey, Mom. Good to see you."

Hoppou came around to each of her daughters, giving them a brief hug in turn. "Hoppou's happy to see her girls, too." She stopped in front of the egg, inspecting it. "This is Oku-class? "

"Yes, Mother," Tanith answered her. "I'm sorry if making you walk all the way down here was a hassle… I wanted my… our nursery to be as safe as possible."

Hoppou shook her head. "It's alright. Tanith was just being careful, hiding nursery away like this. Not like Hoppou, who just left her eggs in a warehouse in the harbor." Several of the girls suppressed a flinch; to their best memory, there were still some eggs incubating when the Scattering commenced. "Anyway, the egg itself looks good. The fledgling should come out just fine."

"My own sister…" Regalia said, fidgeting in anticipation. "I wonder what she'll be like?"

A sudden sound made everyone look to the egg. Something that… almost sounded like a mewling noise.

"Looks like we're about to find out, sweetie…" Sunny said.

Once it began, the process took only seconds. The egg jerked, cracks rapidly forming on its surface—the shell evidently far thinner than that of warship Abyssals. Yolk began to trickle down to the floor as the cracks spread, the shell breaking open in bits and places from the nascent Abyssal's efforts. She had a relatively easy job of it, with her relatively large body confined in the small space providing her plenty of leverage. It wasn't long at all before the egg was sufficiently compromised; it broke open and fell away from the center in a mess of eggshell and ichor, revealing the newborn.

In Regalia's eyes, she looked kinda odd… but then, she'd never seen a transport ship before, let alone an Oku-class. From the waist-up, she was pretty normal underneath the yolk: pale skin, long black hair, dressed up in a leather vest to preserve her modesty. Below that, though? It looked a little like a sea turtle had had its head cut off and replaced with the human torso, bearing four large clawed flippers and an armored body. Regalia wasn't overly concerned about that, however; as a Re-class, she was pretty strange too. For all she cared, the newborn—her little sister—was awesome, and she already loved her.

Tanith, on the other hand, took in every detail of the Oku-class with awe, as she cleared her lungs and began to breathe air for the first time. Mentally peeling away the layers of her hull, she was both amazed and relieved to find nothing out of place, no detail that was not as Supprin's schematics had dictated. "She's… she's okay…" she gasped.

The Oku-class perked up at Tanith's voice, still blinded by the bangs and yolk on her eyes. "Mommy…?" She asked hesitantly, trying to pull herself across the yolk-slicked floor with her flippers, with little success. "Is… is that you, Mommy?"

Tanith blinked, realizing that the newborn was speaking to her specifically… trying to crawl to her. "I… y-yes, little one," she spoke up. "I'm here." Reaching up, she cupped the newborn's cheek in a hand. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt anywhere?"

The Oku-class pressed against her mother's touch, exploring her outstretched arm with her own hands, eventually relaxing once she felt confident that what she was feeling was her mother. "I'm… okay. I feel fine, Mommy… is that good?"

The Princess let out a heavy sigh of relief. All of a sudden, she felt like a great weight had been lifted from her chest—one she'd come to live with ever since Regalia was born.

She did it. She got it right this time.

"It's wonderful, baby," Tanith cooed as she wiped some of the obstructive yolk away from her new daughter's eyes, letting her begin to see the world she'd been born into. "It means Mommy did a good job making you. You have a long, strange, wonderful life ahead… with no flaws to hold you back."

The Oku-class focused her blurry gaze on the Princess, before she awkwardly pulled herself forward into a light hug, making happy little sounds as she nuzzled her mother. It was an odd sight for the others—the much larger Abyssal girl trying to lean forward with her peculiar hybrid body, enough to rest against her mother's chest rather than atop her head-- but an endearing one, nonetheless.

"Now…" Tanith spoke once more, ruffling the girl's hair. "What should we name you…?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Long ago, when Hogwarts was built, the Founders and their lead designer had talked about various things. One of the main concerns was protecting the students of the new school. The fortified walls and the spells warding the school were only parts of the greater whole. Other methods were how the staircases moved as did hallways and doors. All to confuse and confound invaders... and for the amusement of the various Founders at students getting lost.

Among other methods though were what was known as "Murder Holes", holes in the ceiling above the entranceways. For most castles, said holes would have hot liquids poured through, objects dropped from, or arrows shot through to kill those invaders under them. With Hogwarts, there was the added complication of the defenders shooting magic through said holes at whatever poor souls were beneath them. Despite what some might think, they were highly effective at what they were made for as a group of Salazar's followers found out one day whom had managed to reach the Great Hall.

There was one other method though.

High above the students heads there were alcoves in the walls. Most assumed that they were there for decoration. Or, perhaps, were used for displaying various things. Unknown to most, the alcoves extended back into a series of passages that defenders could come back and forth in. From there, their fire would be added to what was coming from the murder holes. However, the knowledge of said passages had been lost over the years. Every once in a while though, students would rediscover them and use said corridors for their own purposes.

On this day though, the one who was using one was someone no one suspected. High above the students, Hogwarts was making her way through a cauldron filled to the brim with popcorn. Grabbing another handful, she tossed it back into her mouth as she noticed Harry walking along in the female uniform still, 'And here comes yet another day of hilarity...'

Yes, she had been confused as much as anyone that first day. But that had swiftly changed to a feeling of amusement as it seemed that the crossdressing wizard had made it his sworn duty to confuse everyone and leave guys wondering about their preferences and girls both confused as well as jealous. Something, Hogwarts noted, he was succeeding extremely well at. Even the teachers were being affected. Very rapidly, Harry was becoming high on her list of favorites.

And being that she had been around for more than a thousand years, that was a very long list indeed.

Down below, Harry was chatting with a sighing Hermione who simply shook her head as said boy took his skirt and swished it around as he walked. To the shipgirl, it was disturbing how well he could play the part of a girl. It was then that she caught sight of someone who made her blink, "Professor Dumbledore?"

Up above, Hogwarts perked up and leaned over to get a better view. Internally and externally she was grinning as the elderly wizard got closer and closer, "Oh, this should be good..."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was walking towards them and gave a small smile, "Miss Granger." Turning to Harry though, he paused. Part of that was due to the thoughts that raced through his head, 'Lily? No, that is not possible...' Even though he was old, Dumbledore noted the small differences and gave a slight smile, "Mister Potter, hopefully you're all having a lovely morning thus far."

A number of students and some staff just stared at the Headmaster not being affected. Harry though just nodded and did a small curtsy, "I certainly am having a good morning so far, Professor."

Stroking his beard, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as he remembered something from when the teen's parents had been in the castle, "Magic is a wonderful thing, is it not?"

Now grinning, Harry gave him a nod as his eyes twinkled like the Headmaster's, "It really is, Professor. Though sometimes it can backfire on someone..."

Only chuckling, the Headmaster nodded at that with a very small curl to his lips, "Yes, I would suppose so." Giving Harry a searching look, he pointed, "Though I do say that you must adjust your tie some, Mister Potter."

Quickly doing so, Harry blushed a bit, "Thank you, I missed that." With a nod, he gave a smile to the older wizard, "Us girls need to look our best after all, Dess."

With a small nod, Albus smiled himself, "Quite." Giving another nod, he walked off, "Ladies."

Before he got too far though, the crossdressed wizard spoke up, "Oh! Did you receive my letter, Headmaster? I was unsure if you had or not..."

Turning, Dumbledore chuckled and gave a nod, "I did, Mister Potter. And I see no issue with regards to it."

And with that, he walked off as various students and teachers stared in disbelief. Minerva just sighed and pinched her nose as if to ward off a headache, 'Because of course Albus sees no problem with this and would find it amusing. Barmy old bat...'

Unknown to them, up above Hogwarts had to quickly apply a silencing spell to the alcove that she was in as she began to howl with laughter. Truly, this past week was one that she was going to remember for a very long time, even if others among the students and faculty would try to forget.

Yes, Harry was most certainly a favorite of hers.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Slowly, too slowly for most, the week went by with Harry leaving broken minds and the like in his wake. Much to the thirteen year old's amusement. Saturday was not much better as, due to the curse, even Harry's casual wear turned into that of a girl's. If anything, it made things even worse for people. Various guys coming upon Harry in the halls would suddenly turn with blushes and walk off.

If anything though, Harry became even more amused about such.

When Sunday came up in Japan, a number of the inhabitants and visitors were watching the youngest in the house with amusement. She had gotten a table out and was working on making enough snacks and tea for a number of people. Leaning against the door, Kiba gave a chuckle, "Asuka, just relax some. Most of them have been by before after all."

Despite the nervous expression on her face, Asuka gave a slight smile, "I know, but we're going to be studying and the like. We're also going to hang out and have some fun as well..." Turning, she gave him a nervous look, "You are okay with this, right?"

Kiba rolled his eyes at that and scoffed, "I don't have an issue with it, Asuka." Walking over, he ruffled her hair some while ignoring her squawk, "In fact, I am all for you spending time with your friends."

Glaring at him with a scowl, the Tengu smoothed down her hair, "Kiba!" Simply getting laughter in return, she huffed some. But before she could say anything, the doorbell rang. Eyes widening, Asuka rushed for the front door, "That has to be them!"

About to reach the front door and open it, Koga blinked at the Tengu rushing around the corner, "Asuka?"

Cheeks flushed, the young Yokai looked up at the older Okami and smiled a bit unsure, "Sorry, Koga... But, um, those are my friends."

Softly chuckling, Koga gave a slight nod, "Kiba mentioned that..." Frowning, he gave her a look, "Do they know about..."

Lightly blushing, Asuka looked away, "Yeah, they're all Yokai... except for one. But they're a friend of mine as well and knows about magic and stuff." Once more, there was a knocking and she quickly opened the door which turned into surprise, "Guys!"

Eyebrow raised, Koga looked and blinked some. Not at the Clan Heirs being there, as he had expected that much to be quite honest. But rather, what caused him to raise an eyebrow was the unknown girl there. She had red hair and green eyes with the only way to describe her being 'Cute'. Said girl noticed him staring and looked away with a slight blush before looking down at her shoes, "Um... hello."

At the glare from Asuka, though she seemed amused for some reason, the Okami gave a bow, "Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting you." Glancing at the Tengu, he smiled a bit, "Not that often that Asuka brings along a new friend."

The girl had a small, soft smile on her face though there was a sparkle in her eyes, "Mmm, well, I've known Asuka-San for some time."

Blinking, Koga shook his head, "I see." Moving back, he motioned them in, "Anyways, let's get you all out of the cold now."

Each of them were grateful as they walked in and took off their shoes one by one before putting on slippers. All of them bowed some at Kiba before walking off, the new girl walking beside Asuka, "Thanks for inviting me..."

As their voices drifted away, Koga turned and frowned as he walked back to where the various adults were. But a thought struck him as they did so, mainly that the girl there seemed so familiar, though he could not put his finger on why...

Meanwhile, the teens entered Asuka's room even as they got looks from the other adults. After they pulled out their schoolwork, the Tengu glanced outside and blinked. Several seconds passed before Asuka began to giggle madly, "I can't believe that this is working!"

Bringing a finger to her mouth, Natsumi shushed her, "Shhh!" Glancing outside herself, she turned back to the nearly vibrating Tengu, "And this is just the beginning. We need a lead up to the real mind blowing part after all."

Even as Asuka nodded, the others shook their heads though the Tanuki of the group had a grin on his face just the same. Turning towards the red haired girl, he shook his head, "Are you sure that you don't have a Kitsune or Tanuki in your blood, Harry-San? I mean, pulling this off..."

Simply giggling as he twirled a piece of hair around his finger, Harry shook his head, "Nope! Not that I know of anyways." Then a smirk crossed his face, "But remember, call me 'Ry-Chan' while we're here. That way it makes them less suspicious, and hits them harder when it all comes out."

Massive grins met him at that and they got down to work at various things.

A few hours later found them pulling back some from the table and stretching with sighs. Looking over at Harry, Asuka shook her head in some disbelief, "I still cannot believe how much you can look and act like a girl."

Harry shot her a smile and a giggle at that, "Well, it is not that easy to be honest. But... I manage. After all, I got some great role models in what a girl should do and such."

Only shaking her head, Natsumi snickered a bit, "Ooi-San upon seeing you was hilarious. I mean, she just glomped you and hugged you close while declaring she had always wanted an Imouto." Hands spread, her grin widened, "I swear that her eyes were sparkling."

Shrugging, the crossdressed wizard shook his head, "Well, it's Ooi-Nee. That is just how she is." He then leaned against his hands some, "Besides, Kitakami-Nee was not much better with how she was. She hugged me as well."

Ayaka glanced over at the Kitsune of the group with an interested look, "How did they all react to Ry-San?"

That got a hum from Natsumi before she gave a shrug, "Some of them cooed and such while claiming he was adorable. Haguro-San wanted to grab him and dress him up in various things... And Shinano-San blushed a lot and said he was very cute."

With a glance at the nodding Harry, they shook their collective heads. The wizard then got up, "You know, since it is nearly lunch... maybe we should go and have a makeshift Home Ec class."

Expression brightening, Asuka also got up, "Okay! Let's go!"

Half an hour later found Kiba, Ai, Koga, and Jin watching as Harry lead the teens through cooking. Granted, they didn't know that the red haired girl was Harry, just that the others called them 'Ry' for some reason. Dressed with an apron and a handkerchief over his head, Harry spooned some soup into a bowl and took a sip from it. Humming, he gave a nod, "Its done."

Pulling out a tray from the oven, Asuka nodded, "And the bread's done as well." Head tilted to the side, she considered it as her expression softened, "I remember making bread with my Kaa-San back..."

Two arms wrapped around her and she found Harry hugging her, he was soon joined by the others. When they broke away, Asuka wiped at her eyes and nodded with a smile and soon they had lunch before going back to their work. At various times, a number of adults would peek into the room and smile at the teens.

By the time it was late afternoon, and after trips to get snacks, the teens were done with their studying and packed up. Looking up from his coffee, Kiba grinned a bit, "Finished for the day?"

Stretching, Usagi nodded with a smile on her face, "Hai! In fact we finished all of our homework and got ahead a bit."

With a smile, Harry bowed to the adults there, "Thank you for having us all over."

Kiba just laughed and waved him off, "Don't worry about it, Asuka having her friends over is no problem at all. I'm just happy that she's enjoying herself and so did you bunch."

Chuckles made them turn towards the Okami of the group, "It was good meeting you, Ry-San." Turning towards Jin, he laughed, "Maybe you can teach Jin here how to be an actual girl some time. She really needs the help."

Glaring, Jin punched him in the arm, "Fuck you."

Unable to help himself, Kiba just grinned, "He's right you know, Jin. You really could use the help in learning how to be a girl. I mean, when was the last time you got in touch with your feminine side? Ry-San could help you do so."

A scowl on her face, Jin pointed one claw at him, "And fuck you too!"

There was a sudden voice that made her jump some as Mary made her presence known, "Molly, language." Glancing at Harry, she gave him a raised eyebrow before lifting her mug some in salute, which told them that the witch had figured it all out. The slight curl of her lips also told that she found the whole thing amusing, "But perhaps Miss Ry could teach you a thing or two..."

Facepalming, Jin groaned, "Not you too, Mom! Come on!"

Lightly blushing, the crossdressed wizard looked away as he played with his dress, "Um, I couldn't do something like that..."

Simply sighing at her friends, Ai shook her head, "Don't take what Jin is saying personally." Part of the Tengu though was confused as there was something about the red haired girl that... did not seem right, 'Is she a Yokai of some sort?'

Jin sighed and waved off the teens, "Yeah, nothing against you or anything. These fuckers though? They can take what I say personally."

Chuckling, Kiba shot her a grin, "Still, Jin here could use some lessons on being a girl. And that is something that you would be good at. Not to mention, she needs some female role models beside her Mom."

All Harry did was stand there with a small blush on his cheeks as the various Yokai besides Jin and Ai shot him compliment after compliment of how good of a girl he was. Mainly to needle their Mizuchi friend who was becoming more and more annoyed. He could see, though, none of them had realized the truth outside of Mary who seemed to share his growing amusement. The teens had to hold themselves in though from not blowing the prank too soon.

While they stood there, other Yokai also chimed in with various things to needle Jin whose scowl had grown more dark. Norimune was also there, which did not help matters as she joined in. It was not often that they got to tease the Mizuchi about her tomboyish ways after all. Even Porkchop and some of her gang got in on it. Before it could come to a head though, Shiromizu appeared, "Senpai?"

Blinking, Jin shot the others annoyed looks before giving her Kohei a curious glance, "Shiro? What are you doing here?"

None of those noticed Asuka wet a paper towel and hand it to Harry as they were too focused on the other Mizuchi. Shiromizu just smiled innocently, "Oh, I'm just here to pick up my Otouto. Nagato-San is waiting outside for us."

Everyone outside the teens, who were grinning madly with Asuka as well as Natsumi pulling out to phones to record, and Mary, who was covering her amusement, were confused. As Koga brought a mug of coffee to his lips, he paused and glanced around, "Harry-San is here? Never noticed him."

Her eyes practically glowing, Shiromizu pointed at Harry, "Why, he's right there."

Confused, they turned in the direction to find that "Ry" was wiping the towel across her forehead. Then, as Koga was taking a drink of coffee, Harry lifted the fringe of his hair to reveal the lightning bolt scar that was there.

There was a beat of silence...

And then Koga sprayed out his coffee all over Norimune and Chisuheri who stood there stunned. Kiba, meanwhile, boggled while Jin's jaw literally dropped and hit the floor with Ai rubbing her eyes in disbelief. Those were just some of the reactions. Finally, Mary spoke up with a hum, "Mister Potter?"

Giggling, and getting a twitch from those there who had not known before hand, Harry bowed before going into a pose, "Hai, hai! Harry-Chan Desu, Little Brother of the Fleet!" More twitches followed as everyone swore his clothes became traffic cone orange for a few seconds. Then Harry placed one hand against his cheek and gave them all a shy look, "Thank you all for the compliments of how good a girl I am..."

Rapidly blinking, Jin rubbed her eyes, "The fuck? Were there bubbles and sparkles around him?!"

With another giggle and a twirl, Harry hugged Asuka and then nodded with bow, "Thank you for having us over!"

He then grasped Natsumi's hand and the two laughing teens ran out the door. One minute went past, and then another. Finally, Koga frowned in thought before taking a sip of his coffee. Nodding, he looked over at Jin, "He still does a better job at being a girl then you do know, and you could learn a lot from him."

Moments later, he was running as Jin finally snapped, eyes bleeding black, "OKAY! THAT IS FUCKING IT!"

All Ai did was groan and place her face in her hands as Asuka laughed.
______________________________________________________________________

Taking a bite of her dinner, Alicia sighed some. It had been a very long week. Any joy they had gotten from their prank on Fred and George as well as Wood had rapidly faded. Mainly due to be being turned back on them by Harry. Not one of them had expected what the thirteen year old would pull on the three Chasers. All week they were aggravated by how various girls had blamed them for the consequences.

How the fuck were they to know that Harry could act and look so much like a girl?

Alicia rubbed her face with a groan, 'How the bloody hell were we to know that Harry could make us look like we needed work on being girls to match him...?' Shaking it off, she speared another piece of potato, the poor tuber suffering for her own annoyance, 'Seriously, how does he make a better girl then we do?'

Familiar chuckles made her twitch enough that she did not notice the Great Hall fall silent, "Hey, Alicia."

Turning, she grimaced a bit, "Hey, Harryyyyy?! What the heck!?"

Just across the table, Katie twitched a bit as her fork fell from nerveless fingers, "I... I... Harry!?" Standing up, she pointed at said teen, "What... you... how are you wearing boy clothes?!"

Now in normal male clothes, and looking like he had before the prank, Harry shrugged, "Seems that there was a weakness in the curse."

Various people stared at him in confusion and interest, but no answer was forthcoming as he was far too interested in some steak with gravy. Rubbing his eyes, Fred blinked before giving a look to his brother. Getting a nod, both Weasleys walked over and sat down beside him, "Harry-"

"Our greatest and best of friends..."

"There is a weakness to this curse that ails us?"

Both of them spoke as one as they kneeled before an amused Harry, "PLEASE TELL US!"

Lightly laughing, the black haired teen shot them grins, "Well... it appears that if you pull off acting as the sex that the spell changes your clothes to, looks as well, it becomes really confused. And eventually confused enough that it collapses entirely."

With that, he went back to his meal while inside his head he was cackling madly. On the outside, the Twins groaned as did Wood before banging their heads on the table, the same thoughts going through their heads, 'We're screwed for at least one more day...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

It had been a few days since "The Dress" incident as various people had called it. Most people had tried their best to forget it, but much to Harry's amusement, he still got uncomfortable looks. Something that always caused him to softly snicker.

Currently though, he was in the library performing some research when the seats on either side were grabbed and pulled back. Raising an eyebrow as the Weasley twins sat in either one with a grin, he smirked a bit, "Hello, you two."

Glancing at his brother, Fred nodded some, "We've come with a proposition, old chap."

With a nod of his own, George continued, "You see, we were quite impressed with what you did."

"Very impressed, as a matter of fact."

"Quite, brother of mine. Well, due to that, and how we can see that you are a fellow prankster."

"We have a small gift from us to you, in hopes of you continuing on."

Amused by the byplay, Harry chuckled some, "I don't know... I've always been told to beware of prankster twins bearing gifts. A bit worse then Greeks, I have heard."

That made both Weasleys grin before Fred pulled out a piece of parchment after looking around. Unrolling it out, he smiled, "This, my dear boy, is the secret to our success."

George shook his head and frowned, "Well, one of the secrets, brother. We aren't going to be telling him all of them after all."

Looking at the parchment, the black haired teen felt his eyes widen a touch as he remembered something from his father's journals, 'This couldn't be it... could it?' Harry then cleared his throat, "And what is this and where did you get it."

With a shrug, Fred shook his head, "We were in Filch's Office one day."

"He was threatening us with hanging us by our thumbs for some odd reason. Never sure what."

"Perhaps it had to do with the dungbombs we set off."

"Maybe, but unlikely. Anyways, we saw this sticking out from a drawer labeled 'Confiscated and highly dangerous' thus... we had to have it."

"After my dear brother dropped another dungbomb as a distraction, I grabbed it."

Their tale now almost done, George patted the parchment, "Took us some time to figure out how to use it, but it was worth it. This baby has taught us far more than all of the teachers in the school have."

Bringing his wand to it, Fred smiled, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Harry's heart nearly stopped as the parchment filled with lines revealing a map, at the top were words that made his eyes blur some,.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

Somewhat confused at how Harry had gone misty eyed, Fred and George gave each other befuddled looks. Turning back, Fred cleared his throat while trying to inject some levity into it, "Mate? I know that it is beautiful, especially for pranksters such as ourselves... But no need to get teary."

For a moment, the thirteen year old considered lying, but instead shook his head and wiped his eyes, "Its not that, Fred. But... it is just that you know Prongs, right?" At their confused nods, he continued, "That was my dad."

Eyes widened and the twins shared a look before turning back to him and speaking as one, "Your dad? Really?"

With a slow nod, Harry pointed at the map, "Touch your wand to it and ask about Lily, or Evans."

Just giving each other a glance, George touched his wand to the map and cleared his throat, "Lily Evans?"

Both of the Weasleys eyes widened as "Prongs" began to go on and on about "Lily-flower" and how lovely she was. Much to the exasperation of the other Marauder's. Some of what was being said though made the two older teens grimace at how mushy it was, while Harry chuckled, "That's my Dad, alright. He was practically in love with my Mum since he first saw her on the Hogwarts Express."

Only shaking his head in disbelief, Fred looked at Harry and then chuckled, "Well, it seems that this really does belong to you then, Harry-kins. We don't need it anymore as we know all the secret passages now and can easily sneak past teachers." A sly smirk then crossed his face, "Though if you know about it... you do realize that it shows everyone in the castle, right?"

Eyebrows furrowing at the teasing tone, Harry frowned some, "Yes? That was in my Dad's journal."

George also grinned himself, "Ah! But sometimes we have looked at the map and seen someone... interesting. A certain girl from Japan named Natsumi-"

The entire posture of Harry changed from somewhat emotional, to hard as steel and George found a wand inches from his face which caused him to freeze. It was only partially due to that as another part was the look in Harry's eyes. Said look was colder then the winter in the Highlands. Neither twin moved as they were sure that Harry would visit violence on them in a second, "Have you told anyone and has anyone else seen it?"

Slowly, Fred raised his hands, "No, no one else knows about her visiting you. While we were wondering about it, we know better then to mention it to anyone." An unsure grin came over his face, "We were just going to congratulate you on having snuck a girl in."

Pulling away his wand, Harry took a deep breath, "Sorry about that, but... there are reasons that can't be known. Ones that I won't go into at the moment."

Just nodding as slow as possible, George swallowed, "Not a problem, consider our lips sealed."

With a sigh, Harry turned to the map, in particular the Third Year Gryffindor Boy's Dorm as that would be where they would have seen Natsumi's name. Upon looking there though, he froze at a familiar name that was there. One that stood out, "Peter Pettigrew...?"

Glancing at the map, the Twins shrugged. Fred himself shaking his head, "Yeah, we noticed him there."

Yet again, Harry found himself focused on the Weasleys, "You noticed Peter Pettigrew there and haven't done anything?"

That got him an odd look from them both before George frowned, "No? Should we have?" He gestured at the map, "We had wondered about it since we saw him in different dorms up until he reached the Fourth Year dorm, I think? And then the next year he was in the First."

Beside him, Fred scratched his head, "There's ghosts like that, you know? That repeat portions of their lives invisibly and such. Don't even notice the living to be honest those ones as they don't realize that they're dead nor do they realize that they are reliving parts of their lives. Figured that he was reliving his days at Hogwarts, happier days. Hence why he slowly moved up to Fourth Year and then stopped before going back to First."

Arms crossed, George tilted his head to the side, "There's books about that sort of thing. And spirits like that... being forced to confront the truth only causes them to freak out before they wall it away to forget and go back to what they were doing. And he hasn't harmed or frightened anyone. Heck, as you just showed unless you saw the map you wouldn't know that he was there."

Eyes still locked on the map, the thirteen year old frowned, "Um, right..." With a deep breath, he tore his gaze away from it and gave them both a smile before bowing, "Thank you though for this. I really appreciate it."

Simply shrugging, the Weasleys smiled at him, "Not a problem, Mate. Glad that we could give you something of your parents though." Their expressions softened some, "Family is important."

Getting a nod, the Twins walked off. Once they were far enough past, George glanced at his twin and tilted his head some at the thoughtful look on Fred's face, "Something bothering you?"

Eyebrows furrowed, Fred shook his head some as he dropped his voice to a whisper, "Just thinking of Harry's reaction to us telling him we saw Natsumi there with him. Do you remember what we were going to ask?"

Raising his eyebrow, George gave a shrug, "If she was some sort of animagus?"

Fred nodded at that, "Indeed, but thinking about his reaction, I can't help but wonder if we were, ah, barking up the wrong tree. And if I am right... perhaps he has a very good reason to have reacted like that."

Now curious, his Twin frowned, "Oh?"

Glancing back in the direction of Harry, Fred frowned before humming, "Let us review what we know of Harry's friend Natsumi, shall we?" Ticking off on his fingers, he began, "We know that she is both magical, and knowledgeable about the magical world. Not just that, but so is her whole family... yet, from conversations, none of them have ever gone to a magical school. Nor do they really involve themselves with the magical world, keeping to the non-magical. Almost as if they are... afraid, of doing so. We also know that Natsumi is able to shift her form to something small enough to hide easily, possibly through that Owl Box that Harry has. Which imposes a size limit."

Just following along the train of thought, George furrowed his eyebrows, "But what does this give us?"

With a look around, Fred dropped his voice still further, "What could possibly make it where Harry would threaten us with bodily harm? As if just the knowledge of her coming through the Owl Box could cause? Because I am reminded of a certain incident in Japan that made headlines and was all over the wireless. Remember what Dad explained to us regarding certain aspects in Japan?"

Suddenly, it was like a light came on behind his twin's eyes. This was followed by said Weasley sucking in a breath, "Yokai... Natsumi might be a Yokai."

However, his brother shook his head, "I don't think 'Might be' are the words to be used. And being as that shrine her aunt runs has foxes... I'm thinking Kitsune. It makes sense as well."

Rubbing his chin, George gave a nod, "It does, in which case I can't blame Harry if that was why he acted the way he did. Considering what Dad told us happens with Yokai and those reserves? If I was Harry I might have just wondered about hiding the body. Especially with how those two care for each other."

Expression serious, Fred frowned, "Exactly. Of course, we can't let anyone know... and we could run some interference."

A slight grin came over George's face at that and he nodded, "I like how you think, Twin of mine..."

Back at Harry's table, he frowned in deep thought as he looked at the name in the Third Year's Boy Dorm. The person who was a friend of his parents, whom they had trusted with their safety... and who had ended up betraying them. Who had all but lead their murderer to where they were in hiding. Part of him was wanting nothing less to head there and kill him. To make him hurt as much as he, Harry, had been hurt, by his actions.

With a deep breath though, Harry released that anger in order to think clearly. Then he tapped the black metal bracelet he had. Several minutes later, he heard a hum and glanced up, "Barghast? I have a mission for you." The Abyssal Hellcat Fighter came floating down by him and tilted itself in the air. Harry pointed at the map, "I want you to go up to the Third Year Dorm. Peter Pettigrew is there, in his animagus form of a rat. Get Scruffles with you, but do nothing but keep an eye on him." Eyes narrowing, the wizard scowled, "I am going to get Dumbledore and inform him where our traitor is..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Albus Dumbledore had seen many, many things in his long life. Enough things that it took quite a bit to impress him. And right now, looking at the map on his desk, he was very impressed indeed, "To think, James and his friends crafted something such as this." Briefly, his eyes saddened, "They truly were taken from this world far too early."

Beside him, Nagato gave a nod as she looked over the map. Or, rather, one particular place, "Yes, though I am thankful for this map as it helps us catch a rat."

Expression becoming serious, Dumbledore nodded as he stroked his beard, "Yes, that is true enough. And with it, we can track Peter..." Humming, he continued, "Though I shall have to ask Remus and Sirius if they could create something similar for my own usage. It would help a great deal with security."

Chuckling, the Battleship nodded, "And not just for Hogwarts."

Not saying much more, Dumbledore just made a sound of agreement, "The question is where do we go from here. After all, Peter is many things, but he should not be underestimated. Young Sirius made that mistake and paid for it. We also need him alive, which means that we can't kill him... as much as some of us would like to."

At this, he gave an amused look over at Ooi who huffed and crossed her arms as she looked away, "What? I want that rat faced fucker to pay for what he did! He killed my Otouto's parents!"

Grimly smiling, the elderly wizard made a sound of agreement, "And you are not the only one, Miss Ooi. Looking back, he is likely responsible for many deaths of those who fought Voldemort." Sighing, he took off his glasses and wiped them clean, "We knew that there was a spy, but never would we have suspected Peter of being such. Much to my current regret."

One of the portraits then spoke up, "Nor could you have. I remember Peter quite well, and the idea of him betraying his friends is still hard to swallow." With a sniff, the former Headmistress shook her head sadly, "I am just glad that his mother died when she did. This would have broken her heart and put her in the grave as it was."

Simply sharing looks at that, they said nothing more. Instead, Dumbledore turned towards the monocled witch who was looking down at the map with a scowl on her face. If there was one thing that Amelia Bones despised, it was traitors. Catching his eye, the head of the DMLE shook her head, "What do you wish for the game plan, Albus? I only have five Aurors and a Hit Witch with me in order not to attract any undue attention from Cornelius." Grimacing, she shook her head, "Knowing him, he would barge in with either his personal guard or with, Lord forbid, Dementors."

Leaning forward, the aged Headmaster considered the Aurors and Hit Witch in question. He recognized Alastor, of course, the two being old friends. So too, Kingsley and Hestia, with the second having joined the Order mere months before the end of the last war with Voldemort. The slightly nervous pink haired young woman he also recognized as Nymphadora Tonks, who had graduated mere years ago. As well, he also knew who the other two were as well before he turned to the shipgirls there.

Ooi had a near permanent snarl on her face and wanted nothing more, in her own words, to twist off Peter's head whether he was in his animagus form or not. Part of Dumbledore was amused by the amount of protectiveness she had shown. Behind her was the other of the pair, Kitakami. And while the Light Cruiser's expression was it's normal placid, there was anger in her eyes, telling the old wizard that she was not one to anger. Besides her, Naka was also there as was Tenryuu, Tatsuta, and DesDiv6. Rounding up the Japanese shipgirls was Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki.

Finally, Dumbledore turned to the surprise member there, Pennsylvania.

Apparently, the American had been in Yokosuka and volunteered for the mission. From what little he knew, she disliked the Japanese on principal. But, it seemed, she despised traitors and those who betrayed their friends and family even more. Said shipgirl had been loaded down with fairies from not just her sister, but also Mutsu, Jintsuu, and Hiei. Much the same way that Nagato had fairies on her from Yamato, Enterprise, Kongou, Akagi, and Kaga. All of whom were out for blood.

Glancing at the map showed him the last two, Hoppou and her daughter Ritou. Both Abyssals had stated that they would handle making sure that Peter could not leave from the castle at all. And a brief glance out the window had shown him a veritable swarm of Abyssal aircraft flying a mere foot over the still, thankfully, snow bare grounds. There were smaller black things in the dead grass as well, likely Imps from the Fleet of Laughter as a whole.

There would be no escape for Peter from that angle.

On Dumbledore's face was a small frown before he nodded, "I do have a few ideas. The main one will be to get as many students out of possible lines of fire as we can. I shall have one pirate shipgirl stationed at the entrance to each Dorm, with the Prefects inside... Except for Gryffindor. We shall move each of those students, slowly, out of the dorm and into one of the nearby classrooms which shall be barricaded."

Amelia nodded at that with her own frown, "Sound strategy. The less potential hostages that Peter has, the better."

Nodding, the Headmaster then gestured and looked up at the shipgirls there, "Due to your fairies, I ask that each of you take certain passages. Some of which lead out of the Castle. Even the bathrooms and washrooms need to be covered as he could slip down the drains. The Gryffindor ones especially."

Despite the grimace, Nagato nodded herself, "We can do that, and some of our fairies can fortify the washrooms."

Fingers tapping on the wood of his desk, Dumbledore continued to think, "I believe that we should have a group of teachers outside Gryffindor Tower, just in case. Others will be roaming around assigned parts of the school along with those you have brought, Amelia."

It was then that another voice spoke up, "Professor?" They looked to find Harry at a table covered in the Smols, both his and Jane's which she had sent via Owl Box. He then gestured at the small beings, "We can have the Smols and extra fairies also roaming around. They can help."

Upon the desk, Minagato nodded, "Gato, gato gato gato."

Beside her, ShiNano gave her own acknowledgement, "Shina!"

Various other Smols chimed in as well with Dumbledore giving them nods with a slight amount of amusement, "I will admit that they could well be of a great amount of help. Though... I wonder how they will be able to move around."

Amused himself, the black haired teen opened a box and lifted what looked like a toy jeep out and then what looked like a toy motorcycle, "There's actually a lot of fairy equipment. Using them, they can get around Hogwarts pretty easily."

On Nagato's shoulders, Yamamoto had a vicious grin on his face, "Desu."

His fingers steepled, Dumbledore considered that before smiling. It was not a nice smile for it was directed at the thought of what may yet happen to Peter. Rather, it was a rather nasty smile and Dumbledore's normally twinkling blue eyes were like chips of ice, "Well then, that helps out quite a bit, Mister Potter..."
_____________________________________________________________
Crookshanks... was confused. Over the past half hour various adults had taken the younger humans out of the Common Room. Never in large groups, but in smaller ones. From his perch not far from the Gryffindor Third Year's Boy's Dorm, the cat had watched them do so. Part of him was curious about it, of course. Why where they doing it?

The rest though, was focused on a much more important task.

Mainly, he was watching the door to the boy's dorm closely. The Man-Rat was inside there, and he meant to get it. Unfortunately, the boys had kept the door closed after his first few attempts. Hence him needing to keep watch for an opportunity. After all, the Man-Dog had spoken to him and he would bring the Man-Rat to him. Yes, Crookshanks supposed, his Mistress might not have known about it. But then, he was a cat and she didn't need to. Didn't concern her much besides the fact that she was friends with the red haired one who "Owned" the Man-Rat.

It was then that something changed about twenty minutes after the last student had left. A glowing bird had appeared and spoken to the Woman-Cat. Whatever had been said, said woman simply nodded with her face practically a mask of stone for all the expression there was on it. The Greasy Haired One was also with her and the two stalked forwards towards the door. Seeing them stop outside the door he was watching, Crookshanks tensed, every muscle ready...

Now was almost his chance...

Snape, meanwhile, glanced at Minerva who narrowed her eyes in reply before giving a small nod. Both of them had been stunned at what they were told about what had happened to Sirius and Peter. While the Potions Master would never shed a tear over what occurred to one of his tormentors, Lily was another matter. Right on the other side of the door was a man who had sentenced Lily Potter to death when he had given up her location. It took every bit of Snape's will power not to charge in like a Gryffindor and slay the rat.

No, he would keep his calm and be ready to take down the rat. A cruel smirk crossed his face though as he considered that Peter might fight back. He had a few spells that were decidedly non-lethal, but no less debilitating that he could use. And right now, Snape had a test subject in mind for such. Grasping the doorknob, he opened it with both their wands out. As the door opened, they could see both Barghast and Scruffles watching something and followed the line of their gazes.

There, on the bed, was a rat staring back at the two Abyssal constructs until it heard the door open and whipped its head around. Snape could swear that the rat's eyes widened at the sight of both him and Minerva. Chuckling darkly, he grinned, "Hello, Peter-"

Which, of course, was when everything went straight to hell as an orange blur shot forward between his legs, knocking him down. Snarling, Crookshanks leapt for the bed, only to be bodychecked by Barghast before the cat running in another direction. But it was too late as, in the chaos, Peter was already fleeing. Another dodge meant that that Crookshanks instead hit McGonagall who was trying to hit Peter with a spell, and slammed into Snape who was trying to get back up.

Before any of them could reach, Scruffles was leaping over their heads and after Peter who rushed out down into the Common Room. To the Animagus' surprise, there were no students there at all. All of them gone... so he would be unable to grab one as a hostage. Instead, he rushed for a wall, a small crack barely enough for him to go down and made it just in time as Scruffles slammed into, and through, the wall.

Squealing in pure terror as dust and shards of rock flew through the air around him, claws barely missing him, Peter did not take note of the shouts. Instead, as soon as he hit the ground, he began running as fast as his legs could carry him. Several times, he transformed back into a human to try and speed up, but had to go back to a rat to dodge various pursuers. He even managed to grab a broom that he had hidden in one alcove and try to fly outside...

Only to rush back in when several Abyssal Aircraft turned and rushed him.

He had just made it past one hidden passageway when a hand shot out and grabbed the broom. Normally, said person would have had their shoulder wrenched from their socket for such a stunt, and the broom rider would have still gotten away. Instead, Peter found himself hitting the ground hard due to inertia and turned back to find a sadistically grinning Ooi there, "Hey there, Rat, I have been hoping to see you~"

Needless to say, he barely got away from the enraged shipgirl.

In one hallway, Peter had rushed out from a crack, and promptly had to dodge a jeep with several fairies on it. On the passenger side, there was one, an older fairy, waving around a sword as he shouted and pointed at Peter, "Desu desu desu! Desu desu desu desu desu desu desu!"

All Peter could understand was something about hitting him and sword. And that was more than enough for him to continue to run. Transforming, he tried to hit the jeep several times with spellfire, but it dodged him each time. None of the fairies cared about the stone shrapnel that whipped through the air. When one of them was hit in the head and "Killed", it just disappeared and a fellow fairy took over. Suddenly, a rope lifted from the ground at one of the intersections and tripped the fleeing wizard. It sent him face first down a single flight of stairs, with him swearing that he saw some of those tiny shipgirls holding the rope, but Peter shrugged off the spots in his vision and transformed back into a rat. With that done, he drove into another crack, this time one that went between floors and fell into the next corridor...

Just barely avoiding being hit by flying 'Aeroplanes' piloted by fairies.

Up in Dumbledore's Office, both Harry and the Headmaster watched the pursuit. Every once in a while, Dumbledore sent off his Patronus with messages for various people as to where Peter was. After the first time, Harry just shook his head and chuckled, "I really need to learn how to make one."

Rather amused, the older wizard had nodded, "It is quite useful, especially if one is leading people." Musing, he shook his head, "Not quite as good as muggle radio, but it also cannot be intercepted either."

Both of them had continued to watch the chase throughout the school. Several times, Peter tried to get outside, but Hoppou's and Ritou's forces chased him back into the school. It was obvious that he was tiring and getting more and more desperate. Frowning, Harry furrowed his eyebrows, "He's heading into the basement"

Stroking his beard, Dumbledore gave a small nod, "It does make a rather large amount of sense, I suppose. A rat could hide out down there and he would assume we would lose track of him. Perhaps hide there for a time before making his escape..."

Harry's eyes then noticed something and he paled, "Uh, Professor? Moony is down there... and Peter is heading right in his direction."

That bit of information brought Dumbledore's attention to it. He had placed Remus down there as the Headmaster considered him too close to the matter for him to be near Gryffindor. Not, as some unkind souls might say, due to believing him to help Peter escape. No, his fear was that Remus would kill Peter. Quickly, he held out his arm as an idea grew in his head, "Stay close, Harry!'

Moments later, a fireball erupted in the office and dissipated, no one being left behind.

Down in the deeper parts of the school, Peter's heart was pounding in his chest as he ran. If he was in human form, there would have been tears in his eyes from both fear and exhaustion. Where had it all gone wrong... how had they found out about him? His plan had been perfect! Hide with the Weasleys with one of whom worked for the Ministry. And Arthur's wife would know gossip from various witches and the like she talked to. Perfect for picking up information and knowing what was happening.

And now... it had fallen apart. His disguise blown and being hunted like... like a rat. The only thing that Peter could think of was to hit the lower levels and hide out there. Whatever they were using to track him would fail down there due to the magic in the lower levels of the school. And there was enough hideaways, nooks, and crannies that it would take days to search it. By which time he would be long gone.

However, before his thoughts could go much further, a spell hit him and forcibly transformed him back into a human, and which would keep him that way for some time. Crashing, Peter shook his head, but before he could recover a strong hand grabbed him by the neck. Next thing he knew, he was slammed into the unforgiving stone wall and looking into a pair of enraged, hatred filled eyes, "Hello, Wormtail. It has been a while."

Trying to pull the hand from around his neck, Peter choked a bit as he remembered one thing from his books. Werewolves were extremely protective of their pack. In fact, he could remember one guy that Remus literally tore the arm from because he had James under Crucio.

Said same arm was attached to a hand now around his neck.

Choking, Peter stared his former friend in the eyes as he clawed at the arm, "M-Moony, my friend-urk!"

As it turned out, that was the wrong thing to say as Remus growled, "You do not have that right you bloody bastard!" Slowly, the sounds of bones creaking replaced that of choking from Peter. Mainly because he was unable to get enough breath to do even that, "You fucking dare?!"

Blackness began to creep in from the edges of Peter's vision as he could feel his neck strain. There was also pinpricks on the back of his neck that he knew were from his former friend's claws. Not nails, claws, as it was likely that his hand partially transformed with the amount of hair visible said anything.

It was then that a voice that might as well have been angelic spoke up, "Uncle Moony! Stop! Let him go!"

Turning, Remus could see Harry there, "Harry, what... never mind!" The werewolf snarled some, "Why should I!? You know what this bastard has done! He betrayed you... betrayed us!"

With a nod, Harry walked forward, "I know, Uncle Moony, I know."

A growl coming from his throat, the were slammed Peter into the wall again, "Then let me do this!'

Gently, Harry placed a hand on Remus' arm with his own eyes hard as emerald, "Uncle Moony, let him go. This is not the place for this and he will get his, I promise you. But we need him alive for Sirius, to get him freed. Please... just let him go."

Just snarling, Remus dropped the gasping wizard, "You are damn lucky, Peter.'

Hands massaging his neck, the rat animagus looked up at the son of his best friends and winced. Shakingly smiling, he chuckled weakly, "H-Harry... you really are your parents' son. So kind and merciful." There was a flash behind the teenaged wizard's eyes at that, something that made Peter shudder, "Y-you'll let me live... right?"

Still looking down at him, Harry narrowed his eyes, "I will, because this is not the end for you, Peter. But why... why did you betray my parents? They would have died for you! And you got them killed for that." With a deep, shuddering breath, two green eyes glared down at the snivelling man, "So why...?"

Whimpering, Peter looked up at him, unable to break eye contact, "I... I couldn't. You don't understand, the Dark Lord... he's powerful. He was going to win! And... and he was going to kill me. A-and he was going to do it in a way that would take a long time. You understand, right? I had no choice..."

Those green eyes still stared down at him, judging him...

Eyes that found him wanting as Harry sneered, "No, I don't. Three times, Peter. Three times I have faced the Dark Lord. And each time I have walked away." With a deep breath, he let it out, "But no, Peter, I won't have you killed. However..." Those eyes glared down at him, glowing a poisonous green. That look, those eyes, Peter somehow knew he would remember until the day he died. That they would be there, in his nightmares staring down at him...

Judging him...

Sentencing him...

Harry leaned down some, out of reach, but still staring at the two terrified, teary orbs that were looking into his emerald ones, "Let me tell you what awaits you... One day, you shall die, Peter. You shall die and once you are over on the other side, my parents will await you. My parents, and my family... Hoppou's family. And they will have such things to show you. So this may be a kindness, but it is only a delay of the true sentencing."

Moments later, Peter slumped as a red light hit him, knocking him out. Coming up beside the still shaking Harry, Dumbledore looked down at the rat animagus in undisguised disgust. While Pettigrew was talking, the Headmaster had been using Legilimancy to scan his upper thoughts. All of it, was true. Power, he would have understood. Jealousy and a way to get back at James was another, after all he had to be jealous of the Potter.

Cowardice and fear for what might have been done? Especially well before becoming a Secret Keeper?

That filled Albus with loathing.

With his own deep breath, Dumbledore whipped out his wand and sent off another message. Then, he conjured a clear box around the unconscious animagus, holes too small for a rat letting air in. Placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, he magically levitated said box and the three conscious wizards began their trip back to the upper levels...

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Well. The past few days have been... chaotic. Now I've got to start looking for work, so I can save up money for wi-fi/personal projects. In other news...

Edit: The Non-Franky segments of this snippet are no longer effective. See HERE for details.
Tale of Two

As the strange little party of would-be adventurers trailed after their host, one of the Japanese girls reached out and tapped Gil on the shoulder. "Excuse me," she said quietly, "could you hang back a bit? There's something I wanted to ask you."

The girl wasn't human—none of the Japanese girls were entirely—but so far they had more or less deferred to the boy who had come with them. A threat? Probably not so much to her. Not the kind that would let her see Ma.

"Ask awey," she said cordially (as possible. She wasn't sure she entirely remembered how to do that). "Jes doon't be surprised if ah've got nae answer."

The girl nodded. "Some of us were talking back down the way," she explained, "and we noticed something that the Himura and DuBois families have in common. Back when the crazy things first started happening, they received a visit from this… red eyed woman, who gave them some kind of blessing or curse? Anyway, we were wondering if the McKays—"

"Stop right there," Gil cut her, body tensing. That… that did sound familiar. But it was the kind of familiar she didn't like. "Ah've heard such, true, but… only from me Gran. Ma said tha' t'was a story oor ancestors made oop t'feel more important."

The girl—Tanto, she thought she might be—nodded, hopefully catching the undertones with which Gil referred to the two authority figures. Then she spoke again. "What did your grandmother say?"

So much for that.

"Gran," Gil said, feeling her stomach beginning to curdle slightly, "B'lieved tha' the red eyed woman was sum kind o' goddess, an' our family… we had some kind o' sacred mission ta carry oot by fightin' anything not human." She forced herself to laugh at the words. "Daft, innit? Gran's pretty loony."

Tanto nodded again. "I see," she said. "I'll, uh, I'll try to get back to you on that." Then she hurried ahead.

Gil frowned. Any good mood she had had just been spoiled completely. She hoped things picked up soon.

She was dying to see Ma again.
-----

Franky slumped to rest her back against the train seat, looking down at the floor. Another day, another session, more training, more blah blah blah blah blah. It was all starting to run together, a tangle of a daily routine that was running farther and farther away from any kind of sense that it could make, and all that she could get out of her experiences was that she wanted to go back.

Not back to America. Back to before Dad's endless stream of failed relationships. Back to before Mom walked out into traffic. Back to when her grandparents were actually nice. Back… She didn't know back to when. Back when things were better, probably.

However long ago that was.

The train groaned, creaked, and stopped.

Around Franky, passengers were beginning to look around, ask questions, look up at the massive dent that had formed in the roof wait a minute.

The next moment, claws were shredding through the metal and passengers were screaming, fleeing through the doors, the emergency exits, and as she stood to join them someone's briefcase hit her in the head, knocking her down to the floor. Someone stepped on her stomach, another kicked her in the side, and by the time she had pulled herself up on the seat there were at least five bruises forming in a variety of other places. But that didn't seem to measure up to the chimeric monstrosity that was tearing around the train car, batting fleeing passengers around the small space and roaring. Franky released her grip on the seat and dropped back to the floor as a rear leg kicked at where her head had just been a moment ago.

Then the creature spoke.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" it roared, still lashing out. "GIVE HIM BAAAAACK!"

And suddenly, something deep in the back of Franky's heart clicked into place, and the will to flee was gone. Something else, not quite so readily identifiable, had taken it's place. Suddenly, Franky knew what it was she had to do.

Climb shakily to her feet, vision blurring slightly from the knock her head had taken against the floor.

Stand and face the monster that everyone else was fleeing, feeling each breath in and out, her pulse thundering in her ears.

Open her mouth, taking in a deeper breath, in preparation.

And speak.
-----

No Tsubaki for today. I'm sure we'll get a little more on her next time I post.

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

Well now, I have finally worked out a couple of examples of how Porta has been working to develop the culture of her realm - by identifying and encouraging individuals that have talent for certain areas. I managed to expand of Architecture and literature (which started this bit), however I couldn't think of anything for the Artist!Abyssal was a name and class (Chitter the Chi), so I just decided to post what I have.




Imperial Culture

Architecture

Ponta Delgada of Sao Miguel Island, Occupied Azores, three weeks after Blood Week

Rigar was a Ri-Class cruiser. Her role in Her Highness' fleet was to patrol potentially large areas of territory to hunt down enemy raiders or screen the fleet. After The Order was given, she and her fleet sisters were among the first to attack of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess' fleet. Her orders were to either coerce the human ships back to port or to turn them away. Civilian ships were not to be damaged beyond what was necessary to carry out that task, while military ships were fair game. But only if they shot first – which they always did. After the archipelago was encircled it was only a matter of hours – despite the small size of their fleet compared to Her Highness' sisters – after they made landfall that the military garrison and the local constabulary were suppressed and their rule over the islands secured. After that things got… Well, boring. Her Highness immediately put her fleet to work as the new Law enforcement of her realm, while also encouraging the human population to return to their everyday routine as best as the circumstances permitted.

As part of that, Her Highness put into place a code of conduct for her fleet, one that clearly favored the humans over the occupiers – to the seething indignation of a small but obnoxiously vocal minority. They were easy to spot if you talked with them long enough: They referred to Humans as 'Meatbags' in the plural, and as an 'it' in the singular.

Looting was forbidden, all goods taken from Human merchants (and only from merchants) were to be compensated fairly with either the local currency or in treasure. Failure to adhere to this resulted in a public flogging on the first offense. Death for the second. For human offenders the punishment defaulted to the Pre-Invasion standards. For the fleet, theft from a non-merchant was having the non-dominant hand removed on the first offense, the remainder on the second, death by decapitation on the third.

Murder of a Human was an indefinite sentence to the Penal Division, where they were subjected to the most menial physical labors working alongside the humans repairing the damage to the local infrastructure, or the most suicidal missions, whichever Her Highness required.

The rest more or less followed that trend. As far as Rigar was concerned it really didn't matter. Her Highness made a command, and thus it was so. What any of her subjects' thought didn't matter unless they had an actual reason to dispute it – which no one did, no matter what the Meatbag-Shouting imbecilic twats thought (after Ocean Liner Demon ripped the head off of a Ru-Class with her bare hands, the smarter ones got the hint). Besides, there were rumors that Her Highness was going to be making adjustments in the next few weeks. Rigar's money was on equalizing punishments and laws between the Occupiers and Occupied, but only after most of the dumbass jackasses without self-awareness got themselves killed out of their dumb racism.

But none of that was really relevant to Rigar's interests. No, what occupied the cruiser's free time was studying the Human's buildings. A weird hobby to be sure, but one that she enjoyed regardless. After the occupation was complete, Her Highness asked for volunteers in helping repair the cities. Not wanting to stand around on a street corner all day enforcing The Princess' Peace like so many of her fellows, Rigar stepped forward to help. Sometime between looking at Pre-Invasion photographs, and digging up design plans from the local records offices, and actually doing the work, Rigar found that studying the anatomy of these structures, and the stories they told of the cities' pasts through the different and changing designs of their buildings fascinated her to no end.

And so Rigar took her share of treasure, exchanged it for the local currency, and went to the nearest art supply shop and bought up boxes of sketch books and pencils, and then spent every spare second sitting down and drawing everything. Churches, homes, offices, parks, cars, ev-er-y-thing!

At present, she was studying an old cathedral. One the locals called Ingreja Martiz de Sao Sebastiao. It was an old structure, but it resonated with Rigar in a manner that reminded her of Her Highness. And with it's white walls, black trim and dark brown columns, and its massively decorated entryway, it stood out so outstandingly that she had to draw it. And draw it. And again and again. In the morning, in the evening, at mid-day, and midnight. And just that day the clergymen inside invited her in to draw the interiors. Without hesitation she took them on their offer; and despite the agonizing pain of being on Holy Ground, she stayed for hours rendering as many details as she could with her pencil and paper, measuring each feature with her navigating equipment as impromptu calipers and rulers. And then a clock chimed the hour. And then Rigar swore.

She ran out of the building as fast as she could, apologizing for taking up so much of the nice clergymen's time as she barreled through the door… And into a very sturdy battleship.

Rigar stared up from where she fell on her aft, at the Gravely Unimpressed visage of the Ru-Class battleship Ruritania, her division leader. As quick as she could the Ri-class heavy cruiser shot to her feet and gave a salute.

"Commodore!"

"Can it lieutenant. You have managed to make it to check in for some time now – barely – but now you've missed an entire shift with neither leave nor prior notification. The Princess wants words with you Rigar."

The cruiser gulped audibly.

"Y-yes ma'am, right away ma'am."
------

The Elder Princess that would someday be known as Porta Abysseum Atlantia established the seat of her new government in the harbor area of Ponta Delgada, with court being held in the large square, and her residence in a historic fort that before the invasion had been turned into a museum. But upon claiming the isle and establishing her rule, the Princely family – which included the Princess herself, and her twin daughters – took it up as their residence. With the knowledge that she had gleaned, Rigar suspected the fort and the Ingreja Martiz were built around the same time period by near enough the same people, going off of the similar architectural features and color choices of the exteriors. The cruiser shook off the thoughts when she was more tossed than lead into the private chambers the Princess was staying in, where at that moment she was nursing her young ones.

BANG!

Rigar started like a rabbit at the noise and turned to find Ocean Liner Demon behind her by the door, which she had slammed shut with great force.

"Rigar," the Princess said, motioning for Demon to come to her, "We understand that you have been dangerously close to being negligent in your assigned duties."

"T-today, your Highness," the cruiser said with a swallow, "today was the first error, yes. But I have always been present at roll every other time!"

The princess gave a hum at that as the Demon took the cooing twins, and while she adjusted herself back into her top, the Demon – with uncharacteristic tenderness – placed the toddlers in their play pen.

"Indeed. Although it is wiser to be early than to merely be on time Rigar. To be in haste is to suggest poor planning of one's time. And to neglect coming at all? This cannot be permitted to go unaddressed. And what, pray tell, were you doing out and about Rigar, that you would be in a position to be unable to be at your assigned post?"

"She was drawing buildings Your Highness," Ruritania said, taking the folder of drawings Rigar had made of the church and its surrounding neighbors just that day. Rigar wanted to defend her hobby… But couldn't think of anything that would be unlikely to make her situation worse.

"Thank you, Commodore…" The Princess took the folder and began to look through them. At first she appeared to be simply glancing at them, but after a few moments she noticeably slowed down, her brow furrowed in puzzlement at first, then in genuine interest as she looked at them in greater detail.

"Ruthenia, We would speak to Rigar in private. You may return to your duties."

Without a word the Ru-Class battleship bowed and left the room, not sparing so much as a glance at Rigar. Her Highness was quiet for a very long time, looking at the cruiser's drawings one after the next, gently stroking her chin in thought. As time ticked by, Rigar grew more and more nervous and turned her attention to anything but her Sovereign, finally focusing on the twins – the carrier of unknown class named Angband, and her older sister, a Princess resonating with Power not unlike her mother that the fleet had secretly dubbed 'Duchess…' Who was being oddly violent to the dolls, and laughed cruelly at seeing her younger sister cry at her toys being broken.

"Rigar."

"YES YOUR HIGHNESS!" The cruiser winced at how squeaky her voice was, and took deliberate effort in controlling her breathing. When she finally looked the Princess in the face, Her Highness seemed much less agitated than earlier, more… Intrigued.

"Rigar, this is excellent work."

The cruiser only blinked at the praise. If anything, she was expecting any reaction other than that.

"Rigar… Would you be interested in learning more about this sort of field? If so, then I think I have a place for you in my realm that has nothing to do with destruction, and everything to do with construction…"
------

Antillia, A Hill Northwest of the City of Saint Michael, Present Day…

Rigar took a break from her work, taking the time to enjoy the breeze as she leaned back to rest on the hill she sat on, idly chewing on a sprig of grass. She had come a long way in her studies. For one thing her lines were cleaner. And she also knew enough now to know that her design for Her Highness' palace on the seamount was utterly amateurish shit of the lowest caliber. It was a rush job by a novice and it showed, now that she had some examples of professional structures to learn from. Once the war was over and the seamount was rising in earnest? She was going to petition that the Princess demolish the abomination. Hard.

Her mind drifted back to that private audience with the Princess. After hearing her out, Rigar jumped at the chance with all her energy. Immediately, the Princess paid for copies of every book on architecture in every library, school and university in the Azores, and sent them with Rigar to an empty set of coordinates that hid an island with ancient abandoned cities. All with only a single command: Learn.

And learn she did. All of those books she inhaled, and reams of paper were soon enough covered front and back with sketches of buildings she both saw in those books, all around her. And now Rigar had a whole portfolio of designs that were all superior in every conceivable way for the replacement structure of the palace presently under the sea, and that was nothing compared to her proposed designs for just the existent cities of Antillia alone…





Literature

The Great Meteor Seamount Palace, June, 2013

Tantala was a Ta-Class battleship. Her role in the fleet was to direct her fleet in battle and blow away enemies. At least, that was what she was trained in. Tantala was one of the hundreds of Abyssals Her Highness had built over the course of her exile to the Meteor Seamount, who spent their lives either training or cycling through Mothballs. It helped pass the time, but after a while, things got monotonous. So to pass the hours, the battleship told herself stories. It started with imagining that the targets she was firing on were real, that she was actually fighting a grand and noble fight against the enemies of the Princess, and not flat cutouts of enemy warships that looked an awful lot like Abyssals rather than the shipgirls she had heard about. In time that evolved into fictitious campaigns of conquest in the name of the Glorious Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess. And in-between training sorties, she would watch her fellow subjects and imagine the stories of their lives, which soon turned into soap operas in her head that Tantala found herself eager to continue when she next saw this cruiser or that battleship.

And then the unthinkable happened – They were attacked. And not be the Humans, but by their own kind. A notion that seemed so unthinkable that even as she and her sisterhood pumped volley after volley into the enemy, Tantala found it hard to believe that it was reality. Weren't they supposed to be on the same side? Why would Abyssal attack Abyssal? Especially when the Princess had never done anything to garner the ire of anyone? It was confusing and disturbing to the battleship: There were those of the Abyss that would want Her Highness harmed. Such a notion seemed unthinkable. After the last of the enemy was sunk, Tantala wanted nothing more that to retreat into her stories. But she was voluntold to assist in the cleanup in the throne room. There she and others collected the corpse of the Princess Goda and dragged it down to the docks to be dismantled and recycled. When they returned, all that was left was minor minutia of displaced artifacts. And at the base of the throne, she found a gleaming black and bronze sword. Having never seen it before, Tantala reached to pick it up in curiosity.

The moment her fingers brushed the hilt of the blade, a sensation of information overwhelmed her mind. And a voice echoed in her mind. A voice that spoke of ancient things, long, long ago.

The events after that were vague to Tantala, all that she was truly aware of were images of pyramids and ziggurats, of bronze and the hot sea, and hills covered with olive trees. And of sisters turning on each other, with one rising above all others…

The next thing she knew, her Commodore was dragging her along by her hair before throwing her down before the Princess.

"Here she is your Highness! The lazy little skank derelict in her duties! I found her huddled up in her quarters over these.

Tantala looked on dumbly as Ruthless handed a sizable stack of parchment over to the Princess. It was only then that the battleship noticed her internal Chronometer and the calendar – three days had passed! The Ta-Class looked around, dumbfounded on what had happened, praying to find a sympathetic face. Meanwhile, the Princess read what was written on the sheets…

O muses of Land and Sea
Speak unto me of the Ancient Mighties

Of the Nine Mothers so Grand and Strong
And of their War on Men in times long Gone

Mesopotamia, land of Rivers
Egypt with their Gold and Silver

Crete the Isle of Bulls
And Hittite Land, mountains and Mines

The Nine Elders, lovely and terrible,
Have broken all comers in the Lands of Man
Egypt surrenders her Holy Delta
Hittites humbled like dogs, damned curs
From the Great Sea in the West to the Sea to the East
Mesototamia is theirs, one and all.
And Crete the first was crushed by Fire and Storm
The Forges of Hell Swallowed Whole

The Nine Elders, lovely and Terrible,
Have broken all comers in the Lands of Man.

The Princess that in a few weeks' time would rename herself Porta leafed through the sheets, to find more of the same. A story of a time long passed, where Abyssals conquered Men just as her own sisters had dreamed… And just like she had foreseen, their empire lasted only a decade or two before it collapsed into civil war and, going by the last passages, perhaps even uprisings from the humans.

"Tantala… What is… This?"

The Ta-Class, who all this time had been the very image of dazed and confused, simply tilted her head.

"'T-this?' Your Highness?"

"Don't play dumb you bitch!" called Ruthless, who once more grabbed the battleship by her hair and screamed, "Your Princess asked you a question dammit! Now answer or I'll have you scrapped!"

The tirade was halted by the sound of fingers snapping, and all attention returned to Porta, who looked as calm as ever, one thick thigh crossed over the knee of the other leg.

"Thank you. Commodore. You are dismissed. We believe that your division is late enough as it is for their patrol. We will handle things from here."

Ruthless looked confused, but bowed and departed nonetheless. Once the doors to the throne room closed, the Princess rose and gracefully descended the steps of her throne and knelt next to Tantala. She then handed the battleship the stack of parchment.

"Ruthless said that she found you writing this. What is it?"

Tantala took the offered sheets with shaking hands, and looked on the writings with confusion. She had no memory of ever writing anything before. And she was about to admit as such, she suddenly knew things and her mouth moved on its own.

"I-It's an Epic Poem, your Highness. A story of Our Race, the first time we fought against the Humans."

Porta and the Battleship looked at each other with surprise.

"And… How do… You know all of that?" Porta asked, more than slightly put off at hearing talk of Ancient Abyssals all those years after killing Middle World Ocean, to say nothing of the fact that the Abyssal knew what an epic was at all. Tantala, for her part, looked just as confused.

"I… I don't really know. The last thing I remember I was helping clean up the throne room when I picked up this sword and- The sword!"

Tantala reached into her hold, and there, among her collection of writing utensils she didn't have before and some snacks was a cold metal object. And when she pulled it out, there in her hands was the sword she found all that time ago.

Porta blinked in shock, and gingerly took it from Tantala's hands.

"Is this where it was? I was wondering who had it…"

And when the blade returned to the Princess… It was nothing more than a shaped hunk of Abyssalized bronze.

Porta looked between the blade, the stack of parchment, and the battleship, gears clearly spinning in her mind before she placed the ancient sword down and looked to the sheets in Tantala's hands, having come to a decision.

"Tantala… Could you, by chance, continue this? We would be very interested in seeing how it ends."

The Ta-Class took the parchments, confusion clear on her face.

"I… Maybe… But, aren't I in trouble?"

"Maybe. But come back to Us when you write everything down that you have in your head about that story, beginning to end. Depending on the result… We shall see."

Liner Demon watched as Porta returned the stock of parchment to the battleship and sent her on her way. When they were alone, the Demon turned back to her liege.

"So. What are you hatching now Princess?"

"Merely observing at the moment Demon," she answered, rubbing her chin in thought as she leaned back on her throne, "but I feel that, whatever entered that girl's mind, can be of use to me in nation building, and in providing a moderate amount of legitimacy to the Humans."

"How so?"

"Every ethnicity in the world has a grand poem telling the world about their ancient culture. Homer and his Iliad and Odyssey of the Hellenistic World, The Aeneid secured Rome's legitimacy as a great power by connecting their people to Troy. The First Story, Gilgamesh, tells of a King securing his legacy. The Journey to the West highlights all that was found worthy in Ancient China. Beowulf tells of the Ancestors of those that would build England and through them the British Empire.

"Meanwhile, cultures whose epics were not recorded in some way often found themselves consumed by cultures that had, or had their cultures damaged beyond repaire before they could be preserved somehow. At present, our Race, those of The Abyss, essentially have nothing to look back to. No great unifying past to aspire to or to work against. Nothing but a black void. If Tantala can give us something, then we can claim to have culture, making us a society deserving of being seen as equal to the Humans, lest they become what they fear returning to."

"Starting to sound like Middle World there You Highness."

Porta glared at the Demon aside.

"That Fucking Idiot was obsessed with the past to the point of ignoring the Here and Now. I'm interested in the Present and the sort of Future it can give us. But having something behind us other than oblivion will help with that. At least… I hope so.

The pair fell into silence, The Demon as inscrutable as ever, and the Princess considering dozens of different factors. And as she eyed the ancient sword in her hand, she found yet another mystery she had to account for. What was this thing? Who owned it? And why did it choose a battleship of little significance to pass its knowledge over her?
------

December, 2013

Things had moved on. Canut had been sent on her quest and returned, the fleet's training in melee was nearly complete – as far as said Mistress-at-Arms claimed (for whatever that was worth) – and while the fleet at large was counting down the New Year, Porta Abysseum Atlantia and Ocean Liner Demon were instead quietly counting down the hours to give the order to the surviving Chosen Ten to carry out their assassination plots – whatever they may be. And during one of those days of anxious waiting, a certain Ta-Class requested an audience with Her Highness.

From where she stood along the wall, Angband looked at the other Abyssal with some surprise. Tantala was much different from that first meeting. Her baring was more confident, her choice of attire was more befitting a court page than a battleship of the Abyss.

Porta looked at Tantala evenly as the battleship genuflected to her monarch, a stack of parchment paper – much much thicker than it was six months prior – in hand and offered to the Princess.

"Your Highness, as commanded, I have finished the Epic in its entirety. From the in medias res of the Nine having vanquished all of the Ancient World, to the backstory of their origins in the Abyss and their war, to the falling out between the sisters of who would rule what and in what manner, to the Seven Civil Wars where Leviathan, our comparatively noble Protagonist, was forced to kill her own flesh and blood, to the Treachery of Behemoth the Youngest Sister and the Decade of Anarchy – where the humans rose up in rebellion after rebellion – and finally to her wars with the Israelites – or Egypt-slaves by what they called them – where her daughter Golganiith was slain by a shepherd boy with a sling, and the last tragedy, where her people stole the altar of the Israelites' God as a war prize, and how their Deity cursed her to a wasting death, and in the end, how her pride, her Tragic Flaw, forced her to ignore salvation from that same Deity in favor of dying and letting her people collapse to ruin."

Ocean Liner Demon took the offered papers from the battleship and handed them to the Princess, who leafed through the Epic with naked glee.

"Tell Us Tantala, what do you think of this accomplishment?"

"It's amateur and coarse. While it's passable right now, it is only a draft Your Highness. Poor word choices litter the prose, and the meter is disgustingly inconsistent, not even artistically so. It doesn't even have a name yet. In short, it is hardly a Homer. I need to go over it again and rewrite it. This simply serves as a means of getting the story beats down, and the signature lines put in place."

Porta leaned back, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"And if asked, would you be willing to do so?"

"If commanded by you to discard it and move on with my life, I would rebel and still do it until it is perfected."

"Excellent!" Porta said, "And We fully expect you to polish this work until it can stand alongside the likes of The Iliad and the Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, the Tain bo Cullaucht, and all the Epics of the Human World."

"A duty that I shall do to the best of my capacity, Your Highness."

"Precisely what We long to hear Tantala. Now, much as it pains Us, We fear that this Epic of our People must be a side project."

"Your Highness?"

"You see Tantala, We can sense that our world is about to change, and change in a way that we must either rise to face, or be devoured by it. And… And We need a record of the names and deeds of this era, as Our Realm faces and adapts to the future.

"So then Tantala… Would you consider being Our Chronicler?"

Tantala was quiet, a long pause that saw her expression change from one of being struck dumb to girlish excitement. Soon the silence was broken be a high pitch squee as the battleship pulled out a stack of blank paper and a pencil.

"Would I ever! Please Your Highness, can we start now? You simply must tell us of your early days, we know so precious little about you!"

Porta blinked in surprise, not at the excitement… But the request. In time she smiled warmly, the adjusted herself so that she could be more comfortable, then waved Angband over so that she could hear the tale as well.

"Well now… That is a part of my life I haven't thought about for some time… But I suppose that there is time enough. Everyone? Other than Tantala the Court Chronicler, Ocean Liner Demon, and Angband, the Throne Room is to be cleared."

And without another word or a complaint, all not requested to remain departed. Angband took a place next to the throne, only to squeak with surprise when Porta gently pulled her down to sit next to her, on her right.

"Now then… My origins, eh? I suppose I should start at the beginning then. My first memory was, naturally enough, the Abyss, cold and dark. And yet I knew precisely what I was, and what my role would be – I knew myself to be an Elder Princess of the Abyss, and my role was to Rule, and I knew myself to be the Desire for what lay Beyond the Horizon, be it land, or sea, or riches. I am Trade and Empire.

"As I rose to the surface, my radio began to pick up so many signals, so many voices, talking to each other. I found it all to be… Wonderous. In my naïve youth, I dreamt of finding those voices, and shaking their hands in friendship… And making my fortune by trading goods and services to them all. Then my sisters stumbled upon me, and I found myself drawn into their plot… But, that's another tale for another day."

"Yes, yes, of course Your Highness, please go on!" encouraged Tantala, who wasn't even looking at the Princess, and was instead content with writing down each word at blazing speed. Rather than be angered at being interrupted, Porta smiled at the naked interest and continued as requested.

"But after I breached the surface that first time, I could finally make out what the voices were saying, how they were all, all of them, every single human on the planet, was anticipating something of some universal importance, something happening far above in the aether… And then, they all grew quiet, and I looked up at the full moon in the sky. And then, like lightning from a night sky, there came a single voice. A transmission coming from almost directly above me. One man, his voice crackling with static, but intelligible nonetheless. And what he said marveled me like nothing else has ever since, and to me it is proof that the Humans are not things to be destroyed or conquered, but… But are wonderous beings, deserving of befriending…"

"What did he say Mother?"

"He said, 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind…'"

Ponta Delgada of Sao Miguel Island, Occupied Azores, three weeks after Blood Week

Rigar was a Ri-Class cruiser. Her role in Her Highness' fleet was to patrol potentially large areas of territory to hunt down enemy raiders or screen the fleet. After The Order was given, she and her fleet sisters were among the first to attack of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess' fleet. Her orders were to either coerce the human ships back to port or to turn them away. Civilian ships were not to be damaged beyond what was necessary to carry out that task, while military ships were fair game. But only if they shot first – which they always did. After the archipelago was encircled it was only a matter of hours – despite the small size of their fleet compared to Her Highness' sisters – after they made landfall that the military garrison and the local constabulary were suppressed and their rule over the islands secured. After that things got… Well, boring. Her Highness immediately put her fleet to work as the new Law enforcement of her realm, while also encouraging the human population to return to their everyday routine as best as the circumstances permitted.

As part of that, Her Highness put into place a code of conduct for her fleet, one that clearly favored the humans over the occupiers – to the seething indignation of a small but obnoxiously vocal minority. They were easy to spot if you talked with them long enough: They referred to Humans as 'Meatbags' in the plural, and as an 'it' in the singular.

Looting was forbidden, all goods taken from Human merchants (and only from merchants) were to be compensated fairly with either the local currency or in treasure. Failure to adhere to this resulted in a public flogging on the first offense. Death for the second. For human offenders the punishment defaulted to the Pre-Invasion standards. For the fleet, theft from a non-merchant was having the non-dominant hand removed on the first offense, the remainder on the second, death by decapitation on the third.

Murder of a Human was an indefinite sentence to the Penal Division, where they were subjected to the most menial physical labors working alongside the humans repairing the damage to the local infrastructure, or the most suicidal missions, whichever Her Highness required.

The rest more or less followed that trend. As far as Rigar was concerned it really didn't matter. Her Highness made a command, and thus it was so. What any of her subjects' thought didn't matter unless they had an actual reason to dispute it – which no one did, no matter what the Meatbag-Shouting imbecilic twats thought (after Ocean Liner Demon ripped the head off of a Ru-Class with her bare hands, the smarter ones got the hint). Besides, there were rumors that Her Highness was going to be making adjustments in the next few weeks. Rigar's money was on equalizing punishments and laws between the Occupiers and Occupied, but only after most of the dumbass jackasses without self-awareness got themselves killed out of their dumb racism.

But none of that was really relevant to Rigar's interests. No, what occupied the cruiser's free time was studying the Human's buildings. A weird hobby to be sure, but one that she enjoyed regardless. After the occupation was complete, Her Highness asked for volunteers in helping repair the cities. Not wanting to stand around on a street corner all day enforcing The Princess' Peace like so many of her fellows, Rigar stepped forward to help. Sometime between looking at Pre-Invasion photographs, and digging up design plans from the local records offices, and actually doing the work, Rigar found that studying the anatomy of these structures, and the stories they told of the cities' pasts through the different and changing designs of their buildings fascinated her to no end.

And so Rigar took her share of treasure, exchanged it for the local currency, and went to the nearest art supply shop and bought up boxes of sketch books and pencils, and then spent every spare second sitting down and drawing everything. Churches, homes, offices, parks, cars, ev-er-y-thing!

At present, she was studying an old cathedral. One the locals called Ingreja Martiz de Sao Sebastiao. It was an old structure, but it resonated with Rigar in a manner that reminded her of Her Highness. And with it's white walls, black trim and dark brown columns, and its massively decorated entryway, it stood out so outstandingly that she had to draw it. And draw it. And again and again. In the morning, in the evening, at mid-day, and midnight. And just that day the clergymen inside invited her in to draw the interiors. Without hesitation she took them on their offer; and despite the agonizing pain of being on Holy Ground, she stayed for hours rendering as many details as she could with her pencil and paper, measuring each feature with her navigating equipment as impromptu calipers and rulers. And then a clock chimed the hour. And then Rigar swore.

She ran out of the building as fast as she could, apologizing for taking up so much of the nice clergymen's time as she barreled through the door… And into a very sturdy battleship.

Rigar stared up from where she fell on her aft, at the Gravely Unimpressed visage of the Ru-Class battleship Ruritania, her division leader. As quick as she could the Ri-class heavy cruiser shot to her feet and gave a salute.

"Commodore!"

"Can it lieutenant. You have managed to make it to check in for some time now – barely – but now you've missed an entire shift with neither leave nor prior notification. The Princess wants words with you Rigar."

The cruiser gulped audibly.

"Y-yes ma'am, right away ma'am."
------

The Elder Princess that would someday be known as Porta Abysseum Atlantia established the seat of her new government in the harbor area of Ponta Delgada, with court being held in the large square, and her residence in a historic fort that before the invasion had been turned into a museum. But upon claiming the isle and establishing her rule, the Princely family – which included the Princess herself, and her twin daughters – took it up as their residence. With the knowledge that she had gleaned, Rigar suspected the fort and the Ingreja Martiz were built around the same time period by near enough the same people, going off of the similar architectural features and color choices of the exteriors. The cruiser shook off the thoughts when she was more tossed than lead into the private chambers the Princess was staying in, where at that moment she was nursing her young ones.

BANG!

Rigar started like a rabbit at the noise and turned to find Ocean Liner Demon behind her by the door, which she had slammed shut with great force.

"Rigar," the Princess said, motioning for Demon to come to her, "We understand that you have been dangerously close to being negligent in your assigned duties."

"T-today, your Highness," the cruiser said with a swallow, "today was the first error, yes. But I have always been present at roll every other time!"

The princess gave a hum at that as the Demon took the cooing twins, and while she adjusted herself back into her top, the Demon – with uncharacteristic tenderness – placed the toddlers in their play pen.

"Indeed. Although it is wiser to be early than to merely be on time Rigar. To be in haste is to suggest poor planning of one's time. And to neglect coming at all? This cannot be permitted to go unaddressed. And what, pray tell, were you doing out and about Rigar, that you would be in a position to be unable to be at your assigned post?"

"She was drawing buildings Your Highness," Ruritania said, taking the folder of drawings Rigar had made of the church and its surrounding neighbors just that day. Rigar wanted to defend her hobby… But couldn't think of anything that would be unlikely to make her situation worse.

"Thank you, Commodore…" The Princess took the folder and began to look through them. At first she appeared to be simply glancing at them, but after a few moments she noticeably slowed down, her brow furrowed in puzzlement at first, then in genuine interest as she looked at them in greater detail.

"Ruthenia, We would speak to Rigar in private. You may return to your duties."

Without a word the Ru-Class battleship bowed and left the room, not sparing so much as a glance at Rigar. Her Highness was quiet for a very long time, looking at the cruiser's drawings one after the next, gently stroking her chin in thought. As time ticked by, Rigar grew more and more nervous and turned her attention to anything but her Sovereign, finally focusing on the twins – the carrier of unknown class named Angband, and her older sister, a Princess resonating with Power not unlike her mother that the fleet had secretly dubbed 'Duchess…' Who was being oddly violent to the dolls, and laughed cruelly at seeing her younger sister cry at her toys being broken.

"Rigar."

"YES YOUR HIGHNESS!" The cruiser winced at how squeaky her voice was, and took deliberate effort in controlling her breathing. When she finally looked the Princess in the face, Her Highness seemed much less agitated than earlier, more… Intrigued.

"Rigar, this is excellent work."

The cruiser only blinked at the praise. If anything, she was expecting any reaction other than that.

"Rigar… Would you be interested in learning more about this sort of field? If so, then I think I have a place for you in my realm that has nothing to do with destruction, and everything to do with construction…"
------

Antillia, A Hill Northwest of the City of Saint Michael, Present Day…

Rigar took a break from her work, taking the time to enjoy the breeze as she leaned back to rest on the hill she sat on, idly chewing on a sprig of grass. She had come a long way in her studies. For one thing her lines were cleaner. And she also knew enough now to know that her design for Her Highness' palace on the seamount was utterly amateurish shit of the lowest caliber. It was a rush job by a novice and it showed, now that she had some examples of professional structures to learn from. Once the war was over and the seamount was rising in earnest? She was going to petition that the Princess demolish the abomination. Hard.

Her mind drifted back to that private audience with the Princess. After hearing her out, Rigar jumped at the chance with all her energy. Immediately, the Princess paid for copies of every book on architecture in every library, school and university in the Azores, and sent them with Rigar to an empty set of coordinates that hid an island with ancient abandoned cities. All with only a single command: Learn.

And learn she did. All of those books she inhaled, and reams of paper were soon enough covered front and back with sketches of buildings she both saw in those books, all around her. And now Rigar had a whole portfolio of designs that were all superior in every conceivable way for the replacement structure of the palace presently under the sea, and that was nothing compared to her proposed designs for just the existent cities of Antillia alone…





Literature

The Great Meteor Seamount Palace, June, 2013

Tantala was a Ta-Class battleship. Her role in the fleet was to direct her fleet in battle and blow away enemies. At least, that was what she was trained in. Tantala was one of the hundreds of Abyssals Her Highness had built over the course of her exile to the Meteor Seamount, who spent their lives either training or cycling through Mothballs. It helped pass the time, but after a while, things got monotonous. So to pass the hours, the battleship told herself stories. It started with imagining that the targets she was firing on were real, that she was actually fighting a grand and noble fight against the enemies of the Princess, and not flat cutouts of enemy warships that looked an awful lot like Abyssals rather than the shipgirls she had heard about. In time that evolved into fictitious campaigns of conquest in the name of the Glorious Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess. And in-between training sorties, she would watch her fellow subjects and imagine the stories of their lives, which soon turned into soap operas in her head that Tantala found herself eager to continue when she next saw this cruiser or that battleship.

And then the unthinkable happened – They were attacked. And not be the Humans, but by their own kind. A notion that seemed so unthinkable that even as she and her sisterhood pumped volley after volley into the enemy, Tantala found it hard to believe that it was reality. Weren't they supposed to be on the same side? Why would Abyssal attack Abyssal? Especially when the Princess had never done anything to garner the ire of anyone? It was confusing and disturbing to the battleship: There were those of the Abyss that would want Her Highness harmed. Such a notion seemed unthinkable. After the last of the enemy was sunk, Tantala wanted nothing more that to retreat into her stories. But she was voluntold to assist in the cleanup in the throne room. There she and others collected the corpse of the Princess Goda and dragged it down to the docks to be dismantled and recycled. When they returned, all that was left was minor minutia of displaced artifacts. And at the base of the throne, she found a gleaming black and bronze sword. Having never seen it before, Tantala reached to pick it up in curiosity.

The moment her fingers brushed the hilt of the blade, a sensation of information overwhelmed her mind. And a voice echoed in her mind. A voice that spoke of ancient things, long, long ago.

The events after that were vague to Tantala, all that she was truly aware of were images of pyramids and ziggurats, of bronze and the hot sea, and hills covered with olive trees. And of sisters turning on each other, with one rising above all others…

The next thing she knew, her Commodore was dragging her along by her hair before throwing her down before the Princess.

"Here she is your Highness! The lazy little skank derelict in her duties! I found her huddled up in her quarters over these.

Tantala looked on dumbly as Ruthless handed a sizable stack of parchment over to the Princess. It was only then that the battleship noticed her internal Chronometer and the calendar – three days had passed! The Ta-Class looked around, dumbfounded on what had happened, praying to find a sympathetic face. Meanwhile, the Princess read what was written on the sheets…

O muses of Land and Sea
Speak unto me of the Ancient Mighties

Of the Nine Mothers so Grand and Strong
And of their War on Men in times long Gone

Mesopotamia, land of Rivers
Egypt with their Gold and Silver

Crete the Isle of Bulls
And Hittite Land, mountains and Mines

The Nine Elders, lovely and terrible,
Have broken all comers in the Lands of Man
Egypt surrenders her Holy Delta
Hittites humbled like dogs, damned curs
From the Great Sea in the West to the Sea to the East
Mesototamia is theirs, one and all.
And Crete the first was crushed by Fire and Storm
The Forges of Hell Swallowed Whole

The Nine Elders, lovely and Terrible,
Have broken all comers in the Lands of Man.

The Princess that in a few weeks' time would rename herself Porta leafed through the sheets, to find more of the same. A story of a time long passed, where Abyssals conquered Men just as her own sisters had dreamed… And just like she had foreseen, their empire lasted only a decade or two before it collapsed into civil war and, going by the last passages, perhaps even uprisings from the humans.

"Tantala… What is… This?"

The Ta-Class, who all this time had been the very image of dazed and confused, simply tilted her head.

"'T-this?' Your Highness?"

"Don't play dumb you bitch!" called Ruthless, who once more grabbed the battleship by her hair and screamed, "Your Princess asked you a question dammit! Now answer or I'll have you scrapped!"

The tirade was halted by the sound of fingers snapping, and all attention returned to Porta, who looked as calm as ever, one thick thigh crossed over the knee of the other leg.

"Thank you. Commodore. You are dismissed. We believe that your division is late enough as it is for their patrol. We will handle things from here."

Ruthless looked confused, but bowed and departed nonetheless. Once the doors to the throne room closed, the Princess rose and gracefully descended the steps of her throne and knelt next to Tantala. She then handed the battleship the stack of parchment.

"Ruthless said that she found you writing this. What is it?"

Tantala took the offered sheets with shaking hands, and looked on the writings with confusion. She had no memory of ever writing anything before. And she was about to admit as such, she suddenly knew things and her mouth moved on its own.

"I-It's an Epic Poem, your Highness. A story of Our Race, the first time we fought against the Humans."

Porta and the Battleship looked at each other with surprise.

"And… How do… You know all of that?" Porta asked, more than slightly put off at hearing talk of Ancient Abyssals all those years after killing Middle World Ocean, to say nothing of the fact that the Abyssal knew what an epic was at all. Tantala, for her part, looked just as confused.

"I… I don't really know. The last thing I remember I was helping clean up the throne room when I picked up this sword and- The sword!"

Tantala reached into her hold, and there, among her collection of writing utensils she didn't have before and some snacks was a cold metal object. And when she pulled it out, there in her hands was the sword she found all that time ago.

Porta blinked in shock, and gingerly took it from Tantala's hands.

"Is this where it was? I was wondering who had it…"

And when the blade returned to the Princess… It was nothing more than a shaped hunk of Abyssalized bronze.

Porta looked between the blade, the stack of parchment, and the battleship, gears clearly spinning in her mind before she placed the ancient sword down and looked to the sheets in Tantala's hands, having come to a decision.

"Tantala… Could you, by chance, continue this? We would be very interested in seeing how it ends."

The Ta-Class took the parchments, confusion clear on her face.

"I… Maybe… But, aren't I in trouble?"

"Maybe. But come back to Us when you write everything down that you have in your head about that story, beginning to end. Depending on the result… We shall see."

Liner Demon watched as Porta returned the stock of parchment to the battleship and sent her on her way. When they were alone, the Demon turned back to her liege.

"So. What are you hatching now Princess?"

"Merely observing at the moment Demon," she answered, rubbing her chin in thought as she leaned back on her throne, "but I feel that, whatever entered that girl's mind, can be of use to me in nation building, and in providing a moderate amount of legitimacy to the Humans."

"How so?"

"Every ethnicity in the world has a grand poem telling the world about their ancient culture. Homer and his Iliad and Odyssey of the Hellenistic World, The Aeneid secured Rome's legitimacy as a great power by connecting their people to Troy. The First Story, Gilgamesh, tells of a King securing his legacy. The Journey to the West highlights all that was found worthy in Ancient China. Beowulf tells of the Ancestors of those that would build England and through them the British Empire.

"Meanwhile, cultures whose epics were not recorded in some way often found themselves consumed by cultures that had, or had their cultures damaged beyond repaire before they could be preserved somehow. At present, our Race, those of The Abyss, essentially have nothing to look back to. No great unifying past to aspire to or to work against. Nothing but a black void. If Tantala can give us something, then we can claim to have culture, making us a society deserving of being seen as equal to the Humans, lest they become what they fear returning to."

"Starting to sound like Middle World there You Highness."

Porta glared at the Demon aside.

"That Fucking Idiot was obsessed with the past to the point of ignoring the Here and Now. I'm interested in the Present and the sort of Future it can give us. But having something behind us other than oblivion will help with that. At least… I hope so.

The pair fell into silence, The Demon as inscrutable as ever, and the Princess considering dozens of different factors. And as she eyed the ancient sword in her hand, she found yet another mystery she had to account for. What was this thing? Who owned it? And why did it choose a battleship of little significance to pass its knowledge over her?
------

December, 2013

Things had moved on. Canut had been sent on her quest and returned, the fleet's training in melee was nearly complete – as far as said Mistress-at-Arms claimed (for whatever that was worth) – and while the fleet at large was counting down the New Year, Porta Abysseum Atlantia and Ocean Liner Demon were instead quietly counting down the hours to give the order to the surviving Chosen Ten to carry out their assassination plots – whatever they may be. And during one of those days of anxious waiting, a certain Ta-Class requested an audience with Her Highness.

From where she stood along the wall, Angband looked at the other Abyssal with some surprise. Tantala was much different from that first meeting. Her baring was more confident, her choice of attire was more befitting a court page than a battleship of the Abyss.

Porta looked at Tantala evenly as the battleship genuflected to her monarch, a stack of parchment paper – much much thicker than it was six months prior – in hand and offered to the Princess.

"Your Highness, as commanded, I have finished the Epic in its entirety. From the in medias res of the Nine having vanquished all of the Ancient World, to the backstory of their origins in the Abyss and their war, to the falling out between the sisters of who would rule what and in what manner, to the Seven Civil Wars where Leviathan, our comparatively noble Protagonist, was forced to kill her own flesh and blood, to the Treachery of Behemoth the Youngest Sister and the Decade of Anarchy – where the humans rose up in rebellion after rebellion – and finally to her wars with the Israelites – or Egypt-slaves by what they called them – where her daughter Golganiith was slain by a shepherd boy with a sling, and the last tragedy, where her people stole the altar of the Israelites' God as a war prize, and how their Deity cursed her to a wasting death, and in the end, how her pride, her Tragic Flaw, forced her to ignore salvation from that same Deity in favor of dying and letting her people collapse to ruin."

Ocean Liner Demon took the offered papers from the battleship and handed them to the Princess, who leafed through the Epic with naked glee.

"Tell Us Tantala, what do you think of this accomplishment?"

"It's amateur and coarse. While it's passable right now, it is only a draft Your Highness. Poor word choices litter the prose, and the meter is disgustingly inconsistent, not even artistically so. It doesn't even have a name yet. In short, it is hardly a Homer. I need to go over it again and rewrite it. This simply serves as a means of getting the story beats down, and the signature lines put in place."

Porta leaned back, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"And if asked, would you be willing to do so?"

"If commanded by you to discard it and move on with my life, I would rebel and still do it until it is perfected."

"Excellent!" Porta said, "And We fully expect you to polish this work until it can stand alongside the likes of The Iliad and the Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, the Tain bo Cullaucht, and all the Epics of the Human World."

"A duty that I shall do to the best of my capacity, Your Highness."

"Precisely what We long to hear Tantala. Now, much as it pains Us, We fear that this Epic of our People must be a side project."

"Your Highness?"

"You see Tantala, We can sense that our world is about to change, and change in a way that we must either rise to face, or be devoured by it. And… And We need a record of the names and deeds of this era, as Our Realm faces and adapts to the future.

"So then Tantala… Would you consider being Our Chronicler?"

Tantala was quiet, a long pause that saw her expression change from one of being struck dumb to girlish excitement. Soon the silence was broken be a high pitch squee as the battleship pulled out a stack of blank paper and a pencil.

"Would I ever! Please Your Highness, can we start now? You simply must tell us of your early days, we know so precious little about you!"

Porta blinked in surprise, not at the excitement… But the request. In time she smiled warmly, the adjusted herself so that she could be more comfortable, then waved Angband over so that she could hear the tale as well.

"Well now… That is a part of my life I haven't thought about for some time… But I suppose that there is time enough. Everyone? Other than Tantala the Court Chronicler, Ocean Liner Demon, and Angband, the Throne Room is to be cleared."

And without another word or a complaint, all not requested to remain departed. Angband took a place next to the throne, only to squeak with surprise when Porta gently pulled her down to sit next to her, on her right.

"Now then… My origins, eh? I suppose I should start at the beginning then. My first memory was, naturally enough, the Abyss, cold and dark. And yet I knew precisely what I was, and what my role would be – I knew myself to be an Elder Princess of the Abyss, and my role was to Rule, and I knew myself to be the Desire for what lay Beyond the Horizon, be it land, or sea, or riches. I am Trade and Empire.

"As I rose to the surface, my radio began to pick up so many signals, so many voices, talking to each other. I found it all to be… Wonderous. In my naïve youth, I dreamt of finding those voices, and shaking their hands in friendship… And making my fortune by trading goods and services to them all. Then my sisters stumbled upon me, and I found myself drawn into their plot… But, that's another tale for another day."

"Yes, yes, of course Your Highness, please go on!" encouraged Tantala, who wasn't even looking at the Princess, and was instead content with writing down each word at blazing speed. Rather than be angered at being interrupted, Porta smiled at the naked interest and continued as requested.

"But after I breached the surface that first time, I could finally make out what the voices were saying, how they were all, all of them, every single human on the planet, was anticipating something of some universal importance, something happening far above in the aether… And then, they all grew quiet, and I looked up at the full moon in the sky. And then, like lightning from a night sky, there came a single voice. A transmission coming from almost directly above me. One man, his voice crackling with static, but intelligible nonetheless. And what he said marveled me like nothing else has ever since, and to me it is proof that the Humans are not things to be destroyed or conquered, but… But are wonderous beings, deserving of befriending…"

"What did he say Mother?"

"He said, 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind…'"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Expression soft, Tenryuu stopped her walking and sat down next to a silent teenager, "Hey there, Kiddo. Feeling okay?"

With a shrug, Harry sighed and hung his head some, "I don't know..."

Sitting next to him, Ikazuchi had a frown on her own face, "Hey! You can tell us, Harry-Chan! After all, you can rely on us!"

Giving her a wan smile, the teen wizard looked at the wall across from him, "It is just... I'm confused at what I should be feeling right now. We caught the man who betrayed my parents after all, so my Godfather will be a free man. But..."

Tenryuu had an understanding look on her face, "But Peter gives you so many conflicted feelings."

A grimace on his face, Harry made a motion that was part way through a nod and a shake of his head, "Kind of? I mean, I hate him." Frowning, he stared ahead, "I hate him so damn much. My parents trusted them, and he betrayed them to their deaths. There is also anger there as well, you know? Part of me wanted to let Remus wring his neck down there."

Motioning for Ikazuchi to move, Verniy sat down once she had done so next to Harry. Placing an arm around his shoulders, she gently hugged him, "Da, and that is understandable."

Rather than reply right away, Harry ran a hand through his hair, "But... it was why."

Head tilted to the side, Tatsuta frowned some, "Why? Why what?"

Spreading his hands, the thirteen year old shook his head, "Why he betrayed my parents. I wanted to know why he did that, and how he could. They saw him as family after all! And he knew what was going to happen, that the man who had been his best friend through Hogwarts was going to get killed. So too, my Mum who had shown him kindness. And he also planned out getting Sirius caught, possibly killed. I wanted to know, I needed to know why..."

Eyes narrowing some, Inazuma had a flash of insight, "And now you do."

It was not a question, just a statement. But Harry nodded to it in answer nonetheless, "He betrayed them not because of power. Nor did he do so because of jealousy or anything like that. He did it because he was afraid. Peter thought that he knew that Voldemort was going to win the war and switched sides not because he could get power, or believed that he was on the winning side. He did so simply because... he was afraid what could happen to him if Voldemort won the war."

The expression on Tatsuta's face became one of distaste, "That was why? Not because he was threatened? But simply because of what could happen?"

Leaning back against the stone wall, Harry nodded, "Hai. Voldemort didn't catch him and break him. Peter went willingly to him, because he thought that he would be safer. That by doing so, he would live when Voldemort won. He didn't care about 'Glory' or riches. All he cared about was the idea that he would be alive when Voldemort won, and screw everyone else."

A scowl on her face, the lead of the Akatsuki class shook her head, "That's disgusting. You mean he traded the lives of friends and such for his own? To make sure that he would survive, Harry-Chan? Really?"

Slowly, Harry nodded, "Yeah, Amelia dosed him with some truth serum while I was there. She wanted some answers right away, but yes, he basically helped with getting people killed because he felt that it would improve his chances of surviving the coming purges and that was it. But that was not the worst part..."

Frowning, Tenryuu rubbed circles into his back, "Not the worst part, huh? What was the worst part of the whole thing then?"

With a sigh, Harry held his head in his hands, "It is what he regrets about it. Peter does not regret the deaths he caused. He does not regret that my parents died and that I could have died. In fact, he does not regret any of the choices as he believes that they allowed for him to survive as long as he has. What does he regret?" A snarl crossed Harry's face, "He only regrets that it forced him to hide. The only regrets he has is that it affected him, and that is it. He regrets that it has had him live as a rat for nearly the past thirteen years. I asked him, straight out, if he would have done the same thing. And want to know what he said?"

Her eyes narrowing, Verniy frowned, "Nyet, what did he say?"

Turning to her, she could see his emotions in his green eyes. The anger, the disbelief, the disgust, and many others, "No, he would not have changed anything except, maybe, not sticking in Britain as it got him caught. He is completely unrepentant except in where it affects him personally. That is all he cares about! Not that he killed my parents, my father who was practically a brother to him! No, he only cares that Voldemort lost that night in that it meant that he had to run and hide, that is all."

It was not just him that looked disgusted at that as the shipgirls were looking much the same way. That sort of reasoning was one that gave them an expression as if they had stepped in dog shit with bare feet from just hearing about it. Sighing, Tenryuu rubbed her face with one hand, "No wonder you're all messed up emotionally."

Just looking down at the floor, Harry shook his head, "Like I said, Tenryuu-Oba... I hate him and am so angry. At the same time..." All the energy seemed to leave him and his shoulders slumped some, "At the same, I pity him."

That got him a blink of confusion from Inazuma. One that was on her sisters' faces as well, "Pity him? Why?"

Grimacing, Harry shook his head, "Because all he can care about is that it affected him, that he literally cannot care about anything else. Not even his mother dying due to a 'Broken heart'. It just does not register to him. He is so pathetic with how he is scared for himself, that... that I pity him for being so wretched. And that just makes me angry at myself for it."

With a hum, Tenryuu scratched below her eyepatch, "Ya know, when you look at it from that direction, I don't blame you. Seriously, he is so damn pathetic that pity is one of those things that people feel. So I don't blame you for it."

Harry blinked at that, "So... I'm not wrong to do so?"

Much to his surprise, Tatsuta shook her head, "No, you are not wrong."

Shifting a bit, he gave her an unsure look, "There is a bit more to it as well." The shipgirl in question motioned him on, "Um, what about if he escapes? If he does so and hurts others... am I as at fault because I stopped Remus from killing him? I mean..."

All Tenryuu did was scoff at that, "No, you are not at fault. You made the right call there, Kiddo, stopping Remus from killing him. If he had, I would assume that Remus would have been in a lot of trouble." Then she frowned, "And even if, somehow, he manages to get free? You are not at fault for any deaths that he might cause. Those deaths would be on him and him alone."

Blinking, Harry looked at her, "You sure about that, Tenryuu-Oba?"

In reply, she gave a laugh and ruffled his hair before jerking her thumb at herself, "Sure as hell! Listen to your Tenryuu-Oba, okay? I know this sort of shit, inside and out." Standing, Tenryuu held out a hand, "Now come on, the others are waiting."

Harry took the hand which helped him to his feet and, soon, was walking along, "Thanks."

Lips curled into a smile, Tenryuu gave him another hair ruffle, "Don't mention it, Kiddo. We're family after all." When he finally smiled as well and nodded, the Light Cruiser stretched some, "Anyways, you're probably wondering what is going on, huh?"

That made Harry frown, but he gave a shrug, "Kind of?"

Humming, Tatsuta shook her head, "Well, not much is happening at the moment. Bones-San is moving Peter to a specific cell designed to hold animagi. She did not go into much detail as to how it holds them, but it is apparently quite effective. But..." Raising a finger, she continued, "The big thing that happened was that Molly Weasley came through. She... is not pleased."

With a shudder, Akatsuki rubbed her arms, "That's putting it mildly, Tatsuta-Oba-San. I mean, she was about ready to kill Peter there as he was the one that caused the deaths of her Onii-Sans." At Harry's look, she grimaced, "Apparently she had twin older brothers. And they were ambushed by Death Eaters and killed... With Peter having given information about them."

Once more, Harry snarled a bit before calming as they discussed some other things. And the conversation drifted away from Peter Pettigrew and what was going to happen to him in time...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking into the sitting room of the empty Nagato-Potter apartment, Carnwennan raised an eyebrow as he watched Tsukiakari looking at a piece of paper in front of her in deep thought. The sound of wood moving made him turn to Harry's room, and moments later Juuchi and Kagotsuruhe walked out. At seeing him, the older Muramasa raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more.

Rather than comment, Carnwennan took a sip of his coffee and tilted his head at his fellow Potter Blade, "How did it go?"

A scowl on her face, the Muramasa sneered, "The true Betrayer has been... caught. And hopefully will meet his punishment soon enough." Then she brightened, "Though our Young Master certainly made the fact that he is a Potter clear."

Part of Carnwennan noted that Tsukiakari was listening, but cleared his throat nonetheless, "I see. And how so?"

Lips curling into a dark, though smug smile, Juuchi chuckled, "Well, our Master apparently arrived where Remus had caught the Betrayer. Being as Remus is a werewolf and was extremely close to James as well as Lily..." She made a motion with her hand, "You can guess what would have happened."

Tsukiakari spoke up then, "Close is putting it mildly. Remus saw Master James and Mistress Lily as being family, his brother and sister respectively. And they saw him as their brother as well." Head tilted to the side, she gave them a look, "For example, they allowed for him to babysit Master when he was a young child."

Needless to say, knowing of the discrimination that werewolves were under in the West, Kagotsuruhe raised an eyebrow at that. If she could have, she knew that would have perked her curiosity and interest beyond the Academic, "They allowed for a werewolf to babysit their child?"

With a nod, Tsukiakari smiled in fond remembrance, "Hai, because to them he was their brother. And that was enough to trust him."

Glancing at the various blades nodding, the older Muramasa hummed some before placing a smile on her face and giving a thumbs up, "They sound like good people."

Head tilted to the side, Carnwennan hummed before turning back to Juuchi, "So what did our young Master do?"

After a moment, Juuchi placed her hands into her pockets, "Ah! Well, he actually stopped Remus from killing the Betrayer via popping his head off like a young child might to a dandelion. Was rather close to it as a matter of fact, I do believe."

Frowning, Tsukiakari gave her Senpai a look, "He allowed him to live?"

Much to her confusion, Juuchi nodded with a happy look, "Oh, yes! But from what I have gathered, he made sure to do so in a way that would stay with the Betrayer for the rest of his natural life. After getting the sickening reason out of him, that he was scared of Voldemort and so hoped that by betraying those close to him, the Betrayer would be safe. Well, our Master was not pleased."

A scowl on his face, the Arthurian blade shook his head, "No, I imagine not. That... even Mordred, for all that I despise him, had more reason. Reasons that were at least sympathetic in some way, despite what he used them for."

Humming, Juuchi nodded with a smile on her face, "Oh yes. But then Master stared into the teary eyes of the Betrayer and told him that he was giving him the mercy of living. Not because he was kind, but so that for the rest of his life, the Betrayer will be thinking about what awaits him. Because then Master described what will happen to him once he crosses over at the end of his life. How Master James, Mistress Lily, and Hoppou's dead daughters will be there... waiting for him to show what they think of what he did. Master told him this while staring into his eyes, his own glowing like the Killing Curse as he pronounced what the Betrayer's fate was to be."

Each of the other Potter blades there were quiet for a few moments and then gave nods with Carnwennan smiling, "I approve of this and that is truly a Potter style punishment."

Brightly smiling, Tsukiakari hummed some, "It is. Master picked the perfect way of getting at the Betrayer."

Smiling herself like a cat having caught a mouse, the Potter Muramasa chuckled, "Yes, I was quite proud of our Master for that." It was then that she spotted the sheet of paper and walked over before flopping herself onto the couch in much the same way that a cat might. A fact that made Carnwennan internally snort, "Well now, and what are we working on here?"

With a blink, Tsukiakari looked at her blankly for a few moments before sitting up, "Oh! Um..." Looking down at the paper, she blushed some, "I am making a list."

Intrigued, Carnwennan walked over while ignoring how Kagotsuruhe was making herself a cup of coffee, "Oh? And what sort of list is my Granddaughter making?"

Unknown to them, that caused Kagotsuruhe to actually pause for several moments, 'Granddaughter?'

Meanwhile, the Kyu Guntō continued to look over the paper in thought, "Considering what has happened to Master over the past few years, I thought that, um... maybe I should make a list of others who we could go and fetch to help out. To help protect Master as needed."

Eyebrow raised, Juuchi gave her a look before grimacing a bit, "Ah..."

Waving her arms around, Tsukiakari shook her head, "It is just a thought, and, um..." Lightly blushing, she scratched her cheek, "You know..."

Gently, Carnwennan patted her on the head with a soft smile, "And it is a very good idea." Taking a sip as the younger blade leaned into the headpats, he hummed, "Who have you listed so far?"

Relaxing a bit, Tsukiakari turned to the list and bit her lip, "Well... the obvious one at the top would be Goldie..."

That brought an even bigger grimace to Juuchi's face. One that Kagotsuruhe immediately noted, "Do we really need to do that?"

Now intrigued, her older sister walked over with her own cup of coffee. Part of her noting that it was rather good coffee at that, "And who is this Goldie?"

His arms crossed, Carnwennan frowned in thought, "Goldie is the name most of us have given to Crocea Mors. She is... the oldest of us all, to be quite honest. A bit eccentric-"

Scoffing, Juuchi scowled and crossed her own arms. Something that looked rather odd due to her laying on the couch, "More like insane..."

Carnwennan continued though as if there had not been any interruption, "However, one cannot deny that she is loyal. And extremely so to the Potters as she's been in their possession for nearly a thousand years." That bit of information caused Kagotsuruhe's eyebrows to raise, "And one cannot doubt her power as she is quite powerful. Any wound from her will not heal, even with magical help and will eventually kill whoever is struck with her. Unless, of course, either she or her wielder decides otherwise. Even a small cut like a papercut will not stop bleeding, eventually becoming infected at the least."

A frown on her face, the Muramasa considered that before nodding, "A terrifying ability indeed. Even a glancing hit will be enough to kill after a time..." Taking a sip, Kago hummed, "Chisuheri would have been interested in such an ability."

That made Juuchi grumble a bit, "Because of course she would have... if she did not gut Goldie on principal."

Lips twitching into a smile, Carnwennan shot Juuchi's sister a smile, "She's... an acquired taste, to say the least."

Soft giggles came from Tsukiakari at that, with Kago merely raising an eyebrow, "I see. Then I shall take such under advisement."

Rather amused at the grumbles from Juuchi, the Arthurian dagger turned to the youngest of the group, "Who else do you think might help?"

Now frowning in thought, Tsukiakari looked over her list, "Um, I have a few more in mind. One is Dracul."

It took a few moments for them to place that before Juuchi blinked, "Wait, the vampiric spear?" At the look from Kago, she shrugged, "Centuries ago, a very old vampire was killed with a stake carved from a tree. Said wood was still green, and so a tree grew from the stake, feeding on the corpse of the vampire. One of the Potters took some wood from said tree and carved a spear, with the head being carved from the fang of a vampyric dragon of some sort. Let's just say that said Potter was rather infamous during the Thirty Years War for hunting down Potters from the Catholic branch and draining them of blood."

Frowning, Kagotsuruhe raised an eyebrow, "Are they like Chisuheri then?"

Much to her surprise, Juuchi shook her head, "No, she doesn't heal one with the blood or anything. Just that if she stabs you, she'll draw the blood out of your body and leave it as a desiccated corpse. And she'd rather sing then anything else for whatever reason." Rolling her eyes, the Muramasa then became thoughtful, "Still... she is loyal to the family and would protect our Master. And she is also highly effective against beings such as vampires, ironically enough."

Now looking over the list, Carnwennan frowned some, "Bill? Who's that now?"

Blinking, Juuchi frowned in thought, "Isn't he that gun that Ian brought back?"

With a nod, the Kyu Guntō nodded, "Hai, he's the revolver that Master Ian brought back from the First World War. He bought him off an older American No-Maj Officer and apparently he was used in the Wild West. From what Bill told me, he was used by law makers. But..." She then shrugged, "He's loyal to us and would have little bunk with law breakers. Master Ian used him against things that magic was less effective with and gave him self-cleaning charms and such to keep him in tip top condition."

There was a considering look before Juuchi gave a nod, "Perhaps Amalie? While a Blunderbuss, she is still effective against groups and larger creatures resistant to magic." At the look from her sister, she gave a shrug, "Potters are pragmatic. If you're facing something resistant to magic, use something that isn't magic. Sort of like how Big Iron is a small cannon that they modified to be hand held with lightening and charms to lighten the recoil of firing. She definitely deserves that name."

Considering that, Tsukiakari gave a nod and made a note. She then leaned forward and gave a small nod, "I've been thinking of others... but Nightbane is definitely one of those who we should get."

Once more, Carnwennan and Juuchi had confused looks on their faces and spoke at the same time, "Nightbane?"

Lightly blushing, Tsukiakari nodded some, "Nightbane was originally a bayonet blade that was used by Mistress' Lily's great-great-grandfather during WWI in the trenches. It saved his life several times and he passed it to his son, who used it during both WWII and the Korean War. Then, Mistress Lily's father used it during the Falkland's War, with her using it during the war with Voldemort where she gave the blade the name 'Nightbane'. Both her and Master James enchanted it, such as with a version of a piercing charm to punch through tough hide or armour, but also with the same bleeding spell as Goldie. Master James also transfigured silver and cold iron into the blade to make it more able to affect dark creatures."

Each of the other two Potter blades considered that for some moments before nodding. Carnwennan then raised his mug in a salute, "Definitely one who would work out well then."

Sipping her own coffee, Kagotsuruhe hummed, "Perhaps that other blade you mention? Cathy, or some such?"

That made Tsukiakari choke before she placed a hand over her eyes, "Senpai... you know that she hates that."

All the Muramasa did though was shrug, "Yes, and? That makes it fun." Sitting up, she leaned back against the couch in thought, "Hmm, though... she could make for a good choice. After all, her greatest owner never drew her and she never got the chance to protect the French Potters..."

Listening, Kagotsuruhe simply sat there as the three discussed other possible guards if needed. Though she did raise an eyebrow as Juuchi pushed for a Tekko to be included, said weapon having been brought to England at the same time as her. Not to mention the tale of a group of Arabic blades brought back from the Crusades who were also very loyal to the family...

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Well. I'd say something about Potters gonna Potter, but that is... quite impressive.

Edit: The Non-Franky Select segments of this snippet are no longer effective. See HERE for details.
Setup, Rising Action

"A spell to mind control Shipgirls?" Jeff gaped. The woman, Diehl, shrugged casually.

"Mind control, brainwash, erase their memories, whatever you want," she said. "My guess is, he figured it out with swords so now he wants to move on to the next big crazy thing." She glanced over at the refrigerator, and Sam rooting around it. "Don't eat anything labeled with a frowny face!" she called.

"Because it would eat her back?" Tonbo quipped. Tatsuya gave her a look and she smirked back in return.

Diehl laughed. "No, of course not—I keep all that in a different refrigerator. The frowny faces will just make her sick." The group paused, considering this information. Slowly, gingerly, Sam closed the refrigerator door, choosing hunger pangs over whatever the hell was in there.

"Back on topic," Benio cut in, "This guy, the old man. He's Japanese? Really seriously old?" Diehl rolled her eyes, the way someone did when they had to answer the same question another dozen times, and nodded. Before she could open her mouth, Benio continued. "First time you met him, did he have a shoulder injury?"

Diehl's mouth closed. She paused thoughtfully. "You make it sound like you know him," she said.

"We do," Tatsuya replied grimly. "This guy, he sets up memory-based booby traps. You start forgetting everything you're doing, or performing the same action over and over again. You'll want to look out for those sorts of things."

McKay cocked an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. "An' how d'we tell when we're trapped?" she asked snidely. "Y'knoo, when we're th' one's it's playin' games wit."

"You'll figure it out," Tatsuya replied absently. "And excuse me, but is there anywhere around here that I can make a phone call?"

"Reinforcements?"

"More like a prior claim."
-----

It was about three days into their journey that Tsubaki was roughly shaken awake from her fitful sleep on some abandoned beach in what she thought might be Brazil by something small and warm slamming into her stomach.

"Here, we brought food," Talon said, leaning over her like an expectant mother bird. "Eat, you should eat! Fishes aren't filling, they aren't aren't aren't!"

Groaning, Tsubaki looked down and gaped. A small, human child—male, wearing soiled clothing—was resting on her lap, rigid from whatever terror her companion had seen fit to loose upon him. "Talon?" she asked nervously, "what is this?"

"Food!" Talon chirped. "Go on and eat! We already ate ours!"

Tsubaki choked on a mouthful of air. This was… She looked down at the boy, who was staring at her with wide, frightened eyes. Her eyes.

No.

"Are you crazy?" she shrieked. Talon gave her an impassive look.

"What's your point?" she asked.

"We can't just eat a human!" Tsubaki cried. "When they find out about it, they'll come after us! Really come after us! They'll eat us alive!"

"They won't find out."

"YES THEY WILL! They have humans who can find out all sorts of things just by looking around rooms, like how many people were in them, and what they were wearing, and how long their intestines are! They'll definitely, definitely find out!"

Talon glared at her, then looked away. "Fine. Keep it, keep eating disgusting fish. Never grow up right, never will." She stalked away.

Tsubaki brought her arms—still shaking slightly—up, and hesitantly embraced the child. It didn't take him a moment to shift around to embrace a beacon of safety himself.
-----

"Give who back?"

One moment, the creature was facing away from her. The next, it's face was directly against hers, eyes wide and almost literally glowing with rage. One massive paw came up, resting against her chest, and Franky realized that it had claws that might even be longer than her head was large.

"My son!" it snarled. "Those wizard bastards, they took him away! Shoved him in the back of a truck, and he was gone off to one of their preserves! I-I-I want him back!"

Franky continued looking at it, staring it right in the eye. So she had been right. It hadn't been anger, or just a love of chaos, that had triggered this rampage. It was something that she knew and understood very, very well.

"I can't say I know exactly what you're going through," she said, truthfully, lifting a hand and resting it against the paw that had her pinned against the window. "But I've been hurt enough to know how much it's hurting you. And I am sorry. For everything you're going through."

The beast stiffened at that. "What would you know?" it growled, leaning in closer. "You've never lost someone like this!"

"I've lost two people, actually," Franky replied, gritting her teeth to keep her jaw from trembling. "My mom? She ran out into the street after the neighbor's kids, pushed them out of the way of a passing car. The guy in the driver's seat, he was trying to text his teacher. Didn't even notice her until she hit the windshield. And my dad? He kind of died that day too, somewhere deep down important." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the claws beginning to retract, the heaviness against her chest beginning to shift slightly. "He just spends his days trying to make a relationship work, but they're just getting shorter and shorter. Brought two different women home two different days once. Barely pays attention to anything else. And somehow he hasn't lost his job yet." The paw was no longer pushing against her chest to hold her there, it was slowly sliding down her chest. "Because of me, I suppose. Got to provide for the daughter he doesn't know how to care for anymore. It's been years, and he still hasn't gotten any better. So yeah. I do know what it's like losing people."

She looked up, biting her lip to bring focus back. "And that's why I'm telling you, you can't do this."

The paw, briefly resting on the floor, came up again with claws beginning to extend.

"These people, they don't know a thing about wizards, or preserves, or whatever," Franky continued. "You can hurt them as much as you want, and it wouldn't change anything. It won't help. Lashing out never does."

"But…" the monster's voice was a whisper now. "But my son."

At that moment, it was over. It could have kept arguing, searching for a reason to keep fighting, but the desire was no longer there. The monster simply slumped over against Franky's chest, howling with grief and pain. Franky brought a hand up, resting it gently against its forehead.

Just a moment of commiseration and shared sorrows in a world full of madness and violence.
-----

Out on the lawn, Tatsuya flipped through his contacts list, selected a number, and raised the phone to his ear. The person on the other end picked up after two rings.

"Hello, Haneda-kun?" Honjo Masamune asked cordially. "Is something the matter?"

"I suppose you could say that," he replied absently. How, exactly, was he planning to phrase this again? Oh, right.

"What do you mean?" The sword-girl's voice was parts apprehensive and hopeful, and Tatsuya nodded along.

"Well, let's put it this way," he said. "Do you still want a piece?"

There was a crunching noise and the signal died. Tatsuya glanced at his phone, puzzled. It didn't look like anything was wrong on his end. Had something happened with Honjo?

A moment later, his phone began to ring again, and he pressed the accept call button, raising it to his ear again. "Haneda," he said.

"Sorry about that, my phone broke," Honjo said, breathing heavily. "It's just… you found him?"

"If our information's good," he confirmed. "And that Bones woman believes it is."

"Bones? I know that name… Besides the point. I'll call the girls—wait. No."

"You want this guy to yourself?"

"If only, but no. This guy got away from me once. That's never happening ever again." Honjo's voice was blizzard-cold—Tatsuya would have said something about steel, if not for how stupid the line was. "Get ready for a storm, kid. I'm calling everyone."
-----

So, just to check--who in this merry cast of characters would like a go at the old man?

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

With Hoppou's time growing up there, the Fleet of Laughter's reemergence in the civilized world, and that odd cult cropping up, Abyssals had become something of a common sight in Japan. They didn't particularly seem to have an eye for fashion, though—which could be excused given their respective circumstances. The Fleet of Laughter had been marooned for the past few years with nothing but the clothes on their back, as skimpy or ragged as those were; and the Mizuchi-worshipping drifters, well, beggars can't be choosers. Really, people had gotten kinda used to it at this point.

This made it such that when passerby spotted a Re-class strolling about in nice-looking clothes that actually fit her, there was some slight confusion.

Regalia wasn't quite sure yet whether she should be happy or concerned with the amount of attention she was getting. This was her first time visiting Japan by herself, to meet with her grandmother for her teachings. She didn't need to worry too much about getting lost—she had a lock on Hoppou's IFF—but there remained the fact that she, a Re-class Battleship, was going to start roaming the streets on a regular basis. Regalia wanted to show the humans that she didn't mean them any harm, so she put on some nice clothes—a simple blouse and jeans—ditched her backpack for an old duffel bag Aunt Ritou had lent her, and unloaded all her guns before heading out. Of course, there was no hiding the tail and hooves that marked her as a Re-class, but beyond that, she was trying her best to present the aura of someone just minding their own business.

Pausing in front of what looked like a convenience store, Regalia debated whether she could stop and grab a drink on her way to Hoppou. She wanted to make sure she was there by the time her grandmother's own classes were over, so she planned to make it a habit of arriving early. Although… if she continued to the school at her current rate, she'd have almost an hour's wait ahead of her. Eventually, she shrugged to herself and stepped through the sliding doors.

A number of gazes met her coming into the store, most of them a mix of shock, confusion, and some other thing she couldn't place. But a few others—children—looked at her almost with wonder. "Um… hi…" Regalia said, holding her hands up innocently. "I was… just hoping to buy a drink. Could someone point me towards wherever those are?" One of the customers wordlessly pointed off to the left, where Regalia could see the refrigerated aisle. "Thank you."

She made her way over to the beverages, spending a minute looking over her options. There were a lot of different drinks to choose from, like juice and punch, different types of soda, and even flavored water… but pretty much all of the labels were Japanese. She could just pick something at random, she supposed, but she might end up with a drink she didn't like.

And then something caught her eye. Oh, hey! They stock Fubuki Milk here!

Regalia quickly bent down and snatched up a bottle of the vanilla flavor. After a moment's thought she grabbed a few more bottles, in hopes of introducing them to Aunt Renita and Fluffy… as well as her new little sister, Marble.

After she'd been properly cleaned off, the newborn Oku-class was actually found to have quite the beautiful shell. A smooth and shimmering black surface, covered in streaks and swirls of whites and greys, it almost looked like it was carved from marble—hence, her name. Marble was already doing well in her sea trials, meaning it wouldn't be long before she was ready to set out on her first salvage mission. Regalia had a feeling she would enjoy something sweet as a reward.

Four bottles of milk in hand, Regalia walked over to the register… where she paused, surprised, as her IFF system told her that the cashier was a light cruiser.

Said shipgirl was similarly stunned, silently blinking at her. "W-well…" she finally said, "This is unexpected. You must be Hoppou-chan's granddaughter."

"Y-yeah… that's me," Regalia replied. "Hey, if you're a shipgirl, then… why are you working at a store?"

The shipgirl, whose IFF pinged her as Kashima, tilted her head. "You could call it a part-time job of sorts. I come here to help out civilians when I have no operations or training planned." She gestured to the bottles of milk in Regalia's hands. "Will this be all for you today?"

"Huh? O-oh, yeah." The Re-class laid out the bottles on the counter. As Kashima rang her items up, she twiddled her thumbs nervously. "I'm not, er, causing a commotion by being here, am I?"

The cashier shrugged. "Not particularly. You've been a model customer so far… even if you are an Abyssal." Her gaze drifted lower, past Regalia, and she smirked. "In fact, it looks like you have a fan."

Before Regalia could ask what she meant, she felt a tug on her jeans. Looking back, she saw a little boy staring up at her with curious eyes. "Are you one of those monster ladies?" He asked.

Regalia blinked. "I-I… well, I guess so, yeah. B-but I'm a nice person. I won't hurt anyone."

"Mu…" The boy tilted his head. "Why does your tail have a head?"

Regalia shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think anyone really knows the answer to that question." She turned a bit, presenting the side of Tippy's head to the boy. "Do you want to pet her? She won't bite."

The child hesitantly raised a hand, nervous that she might make a move of some sort. Eventually though, his hand met the cool steel of Tippy's side turret, slowly petting it. Tippy let out a rumbling purr at the touch, gently nuzzling against the boy's hand. "Wow…" he mumbled.

"See?" Regalia asked. "She's really nice… even if she can get a bit sassy sometimes…"

"SHIRO!" The boy was suddenly yanked away from Regalia by a terrified older woman. "What are you doing!? Don't you realize this woman could kill you?!?" Her gaze snapped up to Regalia's, her expression full of fear. "I'm so sorry, my boy wasn't thinking! Please don't hurt him!"

Regalia shrank back, stricken by the accusation. "But… but I wouldn't hurt him. I don't wanna hurt anybody. I don't mind if he touches Tippy; it's not like he can do anything to hurt us. A-and she enjoys the attention, see?" she gestured to her tail, who had shifted towards the boy almost sulkily—making a clear effort to not point any of her turrets near the people.

The mother paused, staring at her in confusion. "You… you're not upset? Not angry?"

The Re-class shook her head. "Of course not. I'm one of the friendly Abyssals… I was taught to be nice, growing up. I've never even been in a fight in my life!"

Shiro reached out for Tippy again. She responded with a playful chuff, licking his outstretched palm. "Ew, slimy!" he squeaked, giggling.

The mother slowly relaxed, relieved by the fact Regalia meant no harm. But behind her, Regalia could see other curious children drawing closer, eager to see the strange new person and her pet tail firsthand… their own concerned parents close behind.

It was starting to look like she might be late to meet her grandmother… hopefully, she would understand when Regalia explained it.

Not that she minded.

XXXXXXXXXX

Fluffy had come to like a lot of things about her new home. She didn't have to fear for hers or Renita's safety, anymore; she wasn't forced to forage for scraps to prevent starvation; everyone was friendly; and she got to go to sleep every night in a nice, soft bed. Life was nice, here.

One thing she'd decided she DIDN'T like, however, was silent letters. Those stupid things kept throwing her off.

To her credit, she'd been doing fine with her reading lessons otherwise. While her mind wasn't quite as malleable as when she was a hatchling, she was still a fairly quick learner. Plus, it helped that her speech skills were already fully developed, meaning she could easily link a word to its written form if she could sound it out to herself. But then she encountered the word 'knife', and was introduced to the horror of 'letters that are there for no discernible reason'. Renita had helped her identify some of the words that had silent letters in the previous day's lesson, in hopes that she could start to point them out today.

Stepping up to the door of her and Renita's room, she gave it a soft knock. "Renita? Are you in there?" She wasn't met with an obvious response… but Fluffy did hear a soft gasp on the other side of the door. She pushed her way into their room, and was briefly intrigued by what she saw—Renita sitting cross-legged on the bed and a bunch of mysterious stuff laid out atop the bedsheets in front of her. "Is something wrong, Renita? What is all that?"

Renita let out a soft sigh. "It's… art supplies."

Fluffy came over to Renita's side, looking over the items herself. There were pencils, paintbrushes, jars of ink and paint in all sorts of different colors, and a stack of parchment sheets to write on. "Wow… that's a lot of stuff. Where did it come from?"

"It was a gift…" the Re-class answered. "When my sisters went to check on Uncle Harry… they had the opportunity to take a shopping trip. On top of everything else they brought back for the fleet… they got all of this, just for me."

Fluffy hummed thoughtfully. "That was awfully nice of them." Looking over, she frowned at the sight of her flagship's torn expression. "But why do you seem upset? Is there… something wrong with any of it?"

Renita shook her head. "No… there's nothing wrong. Not with the gifts, at least."

The princess sat down on the bed beside Renita, taking a few seconds to interpret her flagship's response. "You're worried that you… can't paint, anymore?" she guessed.

A slow nod. "My being put back together doesn't erase the past… doesn't erase the fact that almost everything about the girl I used to be, was consumed by Hate. That there are parts of me that will never heal from that."

"Renita, you don't know that—"

"I can't get mad anymore, Fluffy."

Fluffy paused. "…what?"

"I literally cannot get mad, anymore." Renita brought a hand to her chest. "When the Hate died in me… it took my ability to feel anger with it. Now, when something should make me angry… make me want to lash out at the world… there's just this cold, numb emptiness in me. Like I tripped and fell, into a hole in my soul…"

"And… and when you tried to paint, the same thing happened?" Fluffy asked.

Renita shook her head. "…I haven't tried. And I don't think I want to." The hand on her chest clenched tighter. "My art meant so much to me. I could give something new to the world… I could inspire others to do the same… and I could make my family happy—make Mama proud of me. If I tried to paint again, and failed… if I felt that same emptiness, where I used to feel so much joy… I don't want to feel that heartbreak."

Fluffy sighed, shuffling up closer to her flagship. "Renita… I can't stand seeing you broken up like this. Not after three long years of it."

"…I'm sorry."

"No. Don't apologize. But you can't keep torturing yourself over what's happened. The thing that ruined your life… it's dead, dead and gone. It can't hurt you anymore. Can't stop you from putting your life back together." Fluffy huffed. "It's one thing, that your anger is gone. It was the part of you that your hate was connected to the deepest… what it was born from, what it fed on. But your gift, your creativity… it was part of you that made you happy, gave purpose to your life. Do you really think it could have broken you badly enough to take that away from you?"

Renita hung her head. "I… I don't know…" she answered weakly.

"Well, I know you can still be happy. I see it every time you hug your mother, or one of your sisters… that look of peace on your face, like all the awful stuff you've been through stopped mattering, even if it's only for a moment. Because you're finally with your family again, and you know they don't blame you for what happened." Renita flinched lightly when Fluffy reached out and rested a hand atop hers. "I don't want to watch you beat yourself up like this, anymore. I know you're stronger than this… do you really not think the same?"

For what felt like an eternity Renita simply looked down, to Fluffy's hand on her own… until finally, she took a long, deep breath.

Slowly, hesitantly, the pair reached for a brush.

 

[darthcourt10]

Shinr

In the Sea of Japan, not far from Japanese shores there was a Phantom Island, masked from the world by magic, where the elements of Imperial Magical Military who refused to surrender fled, led by an Admiral who believed in superiority of Japan over everyone else and plotted for seven decades to strike back.

And this old Admiral was currently waiting in terror in a barricaded command center along with a few others of his command, all pointing wands and firearms at the only door in the room, heavily enforced by both mundane and magical means.

Said door soon exploded into pieces and filled the area around with smoke, and everybody started shooting and flinging spells at the figure who slowly walked into the room.

Then then smoke cleared, revealing Shinano.

But an outside observer would note some very obvious changes: Her uniform, her rigging, her bow and plane-arrows all showed signs of modifications that were more reminiscent of late 50s technology.

But the most striking were her eyes: They were the eyes of a broken woman.

She slowly walked towards the Admiral, ignoring all the ordinance that was shot her way, while spraying everyone else in the room with AA fire.

The Admiral futilely kept firing and firing with pistol until she was within arms' reach, at which point he decided to kill himself, but the Carrier quickly plucked the handgun from his hand, breaking a few bones in the process.

Throwing away the gun, Shinano looked down upon the screaming Admiral, lying on the floor cradling his now broken hand. After a while, he calmed down and looked up at her with angry confusion.

"Why?" He asked.

"You sacrificed innocent lives to summon me. " She answered with a trace of tired anger as she looked down on her hands "There is enough already on my hands alone."

"We had no choice, and they were worthless traitors and gaijins anyway!" He retorted "Anything less and-"

"I know, my fairies already examined all the information here." She interrupted him "You wanted to summon Shipgirls from an alternate reality where Japan won, to exact revenge on this world where Japan lost, and to do that with your means and resources it was necessary to conduct human sacrifices."

"If you already know, cease this madness!" The Admiral demanded "You should be working towards the future where Japan reigns supreme, not killing us!"

For a while the Carrier stared at the Admiral, or rather through him, before sighing and picking up a fallen chair and sitting on it.

"We won the War just as I was completed." She started "The Germans gifted us an Atomic Bomb, and we used it on Pearl Harbor.

After that, the Americans lost their will to fight. Even as their own Manhattan Project born fruit on the very same day, their government was forced to the peace tab-"

"That's how it should have been here! So wh-" The Admiral interrupted her, and was in turn interrupted by AA fire deliberately missing him.

"You will not speak until I'm done." She stated, and waited for him to say anything.

Seems he got a hint.

"The Americans ceded the Hawaii Islands" She resumed "Along with the ports in Los Angeles and San Francisco and many other territories, on top of 'accepting' unfavorable treaties. And with them out of the way, the European overlords beaten by Germans and the Soviets violently dissolving into Warlord states, we took all of China and South-East Asia.

And thus we won, and with the degeneration of our former allies we unquestionably became the most powerful nation in the world."

Shinano paused there, losing herself in bitter nostalgia for a moment.

"But this false sense of superiority blinded us to the fact that we were overly reliant on our conquests, on our puppets, to stay powerful, and they weren't content to just sit there and take orders from us like obedient subjects, planning to one day grasp their freedom. But we thought that no matter what they did, we were more than mighty enough to defeat any kind of rebellion.

But then the Third Reich collapsed into a Civil War, and one way or another it affected everyone in the world. With the Germans pre-occupied with killing each other, the Americans became bold and vastly increased support for their subversive anti-japanese plots, and soon one insurgency became brave enough to rise up, followed by several others trying to take advantage of the timing and their Overlord's split attention."

Shinano paused again.

"Do you know what was I doing?" The Carrier asked, and without waiting for the answer continued "You would think that I along with many others would be sent to put our foot down on these rebels, to restore order in the name of the Emperor.

But no, I wasn't at China to put down the rebels, who tricked us into making them strong enough to oppose us.

I wasn't at Manchuria to defend against the opportunistic Russians, who stepped up from raiding to conduction an actual invasion.

I wasn't at Vietnam to help hunt down Ho Chi Minh, who led a successful communist uprising.

I wasn't at Indonesia to suppress the normally fractured resistance, who were now united in their hate against the cruelties of local Kenpeitai.

No, I was back on Home Islands, being part of a dick-waving contest between the Navy and the Army, as they blamed each other, the government, the perceived traitors, undesirables, anyone but themselves as they failed to resolve anything because they kept most of their forces back home in fear of other taking advantage.

And thus when in our distraction the Americans took the Treaty Ports and Hawaii almost without any resistance, both the Navy and the Army snapped and started openly fighting each other, dragging the rest of Japan into it.

The Shipgirl sighed.

"Instead of shooting down foreigners, my pilots were dogfighting our own countrymen.

Instead of bombing insurgents, my pilots devastated civilian neighborhoods that supported the enemy or even stayed neutral.

Instead of destroying enemy governments, my pilots bombed the Diet for trying to restore order.

Instead of deposing self-proclaimed kings, my pilots were assisting in kidnapping the Imperial Family.

Instead of defending Japan and her holdings against rebels and invaders, we were slaughtering our children!"

The shipgirl stopped to collect herself.

"Do you know what sank me?" She asked.

The Admiral kept his ordered silence.

"I was docked at Yokosuka, when the Army invaded." She said "I was resigned to be captured by them, when suddenly my whole world was filled with searing light and burning pain."

The Carrier shuddered at the memory.

"When I regained my senses, I sank in shallow waters, my superstructure burning, but that was nothing compared to what I saw" she said "Yokosuka was gone, nothing but burning, radioactive ash, surrounding the rising mushroom cloud. And everybody was screaming from pain, from grief, from anger, all coming from both the people and the ships.

And I knew that it was the Navy that did it, in order to deny the Army their ships. And soon after that, I saw countless Ballistic Rockets streaking through the sky, as both the Navy and the Army unleashed their own nuclear arsenals.

Another one struck Yokosuka, and that time I finally died."

As she finished, she looked at the admiral.

"Makes me wish that the San Francisco bomb actually sunk me, rather than witness my home destroying itself in nuclear fire." She stated "So why, pray tell, would I want to shape your Japan's future to match mine?"

The admiral was silent for a moment.

"You lie." He answered with cold contempt "You are trying to fo-."

Was all he managed to say before a punch removed most of his head.

Sighing, she retracted her bloody hand and examined it.

It was getting translucent.

It could have been that something was flawed with their method of summoning, or there was not enough sacrifices to sustain her, or this reality was treating her like an alien organism and thus rejecting her.

Whatever the reason was, she was literally fading. Which, frankly, she was looking forward to.

But first, she must do something first.

Walking over to one of many cabinets in the room, she opened one to find many documents stored there. With the help of her fairies she found the dossiers on the various shipgirls both Japanese and American, looking over everything until she found what she was looking for:

Herself

And so she learned how during the War she was sank by a torpedo before she was completed, she learned how in the modern day an American Carrier shipgirl of all people took the insecure Yamato-class under her wing, she learned how she grew thanks to another foreigner, this time a young boy.

And then she saw the photos, of her sporting a genuine, radiant smile as she was hugging with a foreign teenage boy.

For the first time since she was summoned here, Shinano smiled. It was a melancholy one, but still a smile nonetheless.

"I see you found happiness, despite your and your Japan's fate." She said to herself "I hope that nothing will take it away from you."

And with that, the alternate Shinano disappeared, leaving behind a silent island.

-

This was based on a not-yet-released Hearts of Iron 4 mod called The New Order: Last Days of Europe, a 60s Cold War setting where Germany won WW2 but with a much bigger dose of reality applied due to the mod's creator PinkPanzer's (Who occasionally posts here on SB as The Cosmonaut, along with Carvor who helps him with the mod) dislike of Wermaboo tendencies in The Man in the High Castle and other Germany-won-WW2 fiction, by making the Third Reich a decaying, spiral-falling shadow of its former self that is about to descent into a 4-way civil war as soon as Hitler dies, and the rest of the world is not much better.

What inspired this specifically was Shinano's appearance in the USA Dev Diary, where in the middle of Watergate scandal she got bombed and Nixon was forced to pay reparations in secret to avoid a war, which naturally the press finds out anyway. Also, Japan info, even if it doesn't have a proper DD yet.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Peering through her periscope in the darkening evening, Hachi grimaced at the sight which met her. Just a few miles off, she could spot an Abyssal Convoy moving through the area. But it was not the warships, two Ta-Class and a Nu with a number of Destroyers, which caused her reaction. No, it was the ships that were with them.

A massive, human Container ship.

Whatever the name was of the ship, Hachi didn't know as the years had worn it away along with much of the paint. Everywhere she looked, there was damage to ship, which told her it was likely a Blood Week relic. One of the ships that Abyssal forces had captured instead of sinking in order to use for logistics. While originally there were many, time, the elements, and the actions of the various navies had taken their tolls. Now, they were becoming progressively rarer to see outside those few fools who tried to smuggle and the like, only to get caught.

Hachi's mind went back to one day, shortly after being summoned, when she had sunk a ruined group of sailboats being used for Abyssal cargo. At the time, she had not even bothered to use more than two torpedoes, with the explosions enough to damage the others. Her guns took care of the rest. That was years ago, and now only ships like the one before her that was large enough were still left. Bringing up her arm, she looked at the small screen on it before typing into the keypad that was there and hitting send. It only took a few minutes as she continued to silently trail the Abyssal convoy.

Several minutes later, the answer came back and made her frown. Iku was rather close by and so would be joining her. However, RO and Imuya were stalking an Abyssal controlled Oil Tanker roughly a hundred miles distant. Shioi though was hunting some PT Imps with the hope of using her planes to sink them. Scratching her chin, Hachi considered her internal maps and frowned. There was not any island close by, but with magic that didn't mean anything at all. Yet, there was also other possibilities as well as she remembered the Floating Drydocks that were Abyssal in origin from a briefing some time ago.

Just nodding, she sent a message to Iku and waiting until she got one back with a estimated time of rendezvous. With that done, the Submarine submerged and continued to stalk the Abyssals. By the time that Iku had arrived, night had fallen and the Moon had risen upwards. Hachi had been on the look out and poked her head up out of the water and looked at Iku with a slight smile, "Iku-Chan."

On Iku's face was a similar smile, "Hachi-Chan." Looking at the ships somewhat distant, her grin became a smirk, "And what do we have here? A nice present for Iku~"

Lips twitching, Hachi chuckled and nodded, "Hai." Then her smile fell, "But beyond that..."

Also becoming serious, the other Submarine grimaced and had a sad look on her face, "It is time to end her torment after so long."

With a final nod, both Submarines submerged and began to head towards the unsuspecting convoy. Before they split up, they used diving hand signals to hash out a plan, which made Hachi nod before she made her way to where they would set their ambush. Something made easier as the Container Ship was slow and that allowed for her to get ahead of them. Once she was there, she got ready and had her crew run calculation after calculation. Meanwhile, other members got the torpedoes ready as the seconds ticked down.

Two salvoes, that was all she needed.

It was almost agonizing the wait as the Abyssals came closer and closer to where she waited, and where Iku did as well. Floating in the water column, part of Hachi not busy with what she was doing mused about what Iku and Imuya called themselves, "Snipers of the Sea". Not for the first time, she noted that there was similarities between what her and other Subgirls did, and what Snipers did on land. They would lay in hiding until that perfect shot came, at which time they would shoot to kill in as few hits as possible before disappearing.

Finally, it was time, and Hachi narrowed her eyes some as she got ready to launch her torpedoes. With a final few calculations, she launched them and could hear the motors of the Oxygen torpedoes activate and propel them forwards... And so did the Abyssals as several Destroyers called out in alarm at hearing the launch. Even as the first torpedo slammed into one of the Ta-Class and said Abyssal exploding as the torpedo hit right next to the magazine, with the Nu being taken out by Iku, Hachi launched again as did her friend.

When the torpedoes hit the old Container ship, not all of them detonated on impact. Rather, the hull was so weak that some of them punched through the steel and into the ship several feet before finally going up. It ate at least twelve torpedoes from both Subgirls from either side and it broke into pieces almost immediately. As it sank beneath the waves, both Hachi and Iku could swear that they could hear a sigh of relief with the final bubbles escaping the wreck.

Even as she prepared to dive, both Iku and Hachi let out two more torpedoes. The final Ta-Class had one foot blown off and that slowed it down greatly. But now came the most dangerous aspect...

Avoiding the depth charges that the Abyssal Destroyers would soon be tossing into the sea.

Something that happened all too soon as the sea around her resounded with detonation after detonation. Rather then run, Hachi tried to make her way out slowly, as to not make too much noise as she did so. Because otherwise, they would home in on that noise. Rocking from the shockwaves around her, the shipgirl had to bite back a scream as one close by depth charge caused something to give in her hull and she knew, without being able to see, that blood and oil was now leaking into the ocean.

For five hours, the Destroyers depth charged the two Submarines as they tried to escape. One of the last ones hitting close to Hachi's ankles and causing said foot to snap and twist nearly all the way around. But still, despite the pain that her bruised and battered body was in, Hachi still did not surface, and still did not cry out. Finally, the depth charges stopped as the Destroyers headed back to what remained of the convoy. Hachi did feel a bit of vindictive glee though at hearing the familiar sound of a hull of an Abyssal Warship sinking and imploding, 'Had to get one last one, huh, Iku-Chan?'

To her, it was obvious what had happened, Iku must have targeted the last Ta-Class as it was limping and took the chance to fire a torpedo at it. One of the benefits of their new form meant that they could twist and turn far faster then their old steel hulls could. Something that had paid them massive dividends since being summoned once they were used to being in the forms of humans.

It was close to dawn by the time that Iku found Hachi and pulled up alongside the pained girl. Even though not all the injuries were obvious, Iku could see more than enough to know that her friend was badly hurt. With a nod, she tossed a tow line to her fellow Subgirl who took it, "Hang on, there's an island not far off."

With a grunt, all the blonde haired shipgirl did was nod, "Ja... About two hours." Blinking away some blood that leaked from a head wound, Hachi gave a pained snort as she noticed Iku's own injuries, "You okay, Iku-Chan?"

Thinly smiling, Iku gave a slight shrug, "Iku is fine, just some more bruises. Just hang in there, Hachi-Chan, we'll be at that island soon.

As it turned out, the small island was reached within the hour, something that both Japanese shipgirls were thankful for. Slinging Hachi's arm over her shoulder, Iku carried her out of the surf and onto a small beach. Looking around, Hachi looked out her one good eye, the other swollen shut and nodded, "Farallon de Parajos."

Nodding, Iku brought her friend a distance from shore and glanced up at the smoking mountain, "Hai, which means that we should be able to get picked up out of Iwo Jima sometime tonight." At the look from Hachi, she gave a shake of her head, "Don't give me that, Hachi-Chan. You're badly hurt and need to get back to Yokosuka." Rolling her shoulder, the bluette gave a wince, "And I'm not in the best of shape either right now."

Just smiling slightly, Hachi chuckled before wincing, "Hai."

Only shaking her head, the other Subgirl walked up the beach further and reached into her swimsuit before pulling out a bundle. One that she set down and then tapped one pole. Within moments, a small pup tent that didn't look big enough for even Iku to lay in and be covered was set up. However, she just smiled before walking over and motioning for Hachi to get on her back, "Okay, up you go."

Grunting, Hachi did so and Iku crawled into the tent with her friend on her back. Both of them disappeared and moments later, some of Iku's fairies came out and threw camouflage netting over the tent, making it practically disappear from sight. Inside the tent, which had an area about the size of a large living room, Iku gently set Hachi down propped up on some pillows that her fairies had brought over. Sighing, the blonde blinked, "That feels better."

Slightly smiling, her friend nodded with a hum before frowning, "Now let's check you out." The first thing that Iku noticed was that Hachi's swimsuit was torn in various places to the point where her modesty was just barely preserved. Clicking her tongue, she shook her head before examining the various bruises and lesions from close calls. All the while, the Subgirl ignored her own wounds. "Hmm..." Taking Hachi's ankle, Iku heard the hiss from the other shipgirl, but grimaced herself at how twisted it was, "That's a badly mauled prop..."

Very gently, Iku used her fingers to probe each bruise and several times Hachi hissed or let out a soft groan. Finally, the bluette gave a nod and pulled back before motioning her fairies to bring her a box. As Iku opened it, Hachi gave a small smile as she glanced at the tins inside as well as the tent itself, "We really owe Harry-Chan, don't we?"

Noticing the path of her gaze, the other Subgirl smiled, "Hai, thanks to him, we all got one of these tents as well as salves and the like to help. All bought out of his own pocket." Her eyes softened some, "We're really lucky to have him as our friend and..."

Hachi, having heard Iku trail off, smiled a bit more, "And future Admiral?"

A smile on her face, all her friend did was nod as she began to clean each wound before administering bruise healing paste to the worst affected. For Hachi's ankle, she soaked cloth in repair fluid and then wrapped it around her foot. As she did so, Iku let out a breath, "Hachi-Chan?" Getting a hum, she continued, "Have you ever... thought of Harry-Chan as already being as close as an Admiral? I mean..."

Quiet for a few moments, Hachi gave her own slight nod, "Hai, I have." Shifting a bit, she looked down at Iku, "Harry-Chan may not command us, yet he is already as close to an Admiral for us as he can be right now. I mean... he cares so much for us that he got us gear out of his own pocket because it could help us, like this tent. Or makes us potions and the like to make sure that we're not badly hurt. Harry-Chan... may not yet be in the military, or have the insignia of an Admiral. But he already takes care of us like one would."

With a chuckle, Iku shook her head, "Harry-Chan takes far better care of us then our old Admirals did." Shifting a bit, she helped Hachi sit up and then peeled back some of her ruined swimsuit to reveal the large, angry bruise there. Gently, she began to rub in the Bruise Healing Paste, "Though Goto-Teitoku is also far better then what we had before..."

The two of them lapsed into quiet as Iku continued her work. Once she was done, Hachi then took care of Iku's own injuries the best that she could and the two laid down as they stared at the ceiling. Neither of them were all that surprised when the bluette shifted until she was pressed into Hachi's side, gently as to not to aggravate the blonde's injuries. Hachi, for her part, just moved her arm to hold Iku close.

Either of them spoke for some time as they laid there silently. Feeling Iku's warm breath tickled her neck, Hachi played some with her friend's hair until she paused at Iku speaking up, "Hachi-Chan?"

Humming, said Subgirl nodded and looked down at her friend, "Iku-Chan?"

Iku's expression was a gentle one before she nuzzled Hachi's neck, "Thank you, for letting Iku and the others join you. I... When you told me that you liked Harry-Chan and..."

Gently, Hachi kissed her friend on the forehead before leaning best that she could. Both their foreheads touched as she smiled at Iku, "You don't need to thank Hacchan, Iku-Chan. I'm... happy with this. We're going to be together with Harry-Chan if this works out. And I know that Harry-Chan will care and love us."

A happy hum came from Iku as she smiled up at Hachi before snuggling in a bit more. 'As long as Iku has Hachi-Chan and her friends with Harry-Chan... Iku will be happy...'

Both of them soon dozed off in the near tropical heat though the tent kept the worst of it out. Meanwhile, their crew kept an eye out for any approaching Abyssal until night fell and they packed up close to midnight as a US-2 picked them up for transport back to Yokosuka.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A snowy owl was flying through the haze of sleet. Hedwig would have wanted to be anywhere else, such as in the warmth of the Gryffindor Common Room with her master. But instead, she was flying through the light precipitation in the Scottish Highlands. Not because Harry sent her out or anything. Nor was it because she was hungry and looking for a nice, plump meal...

Yokosuka was fine for that with all the large rats that ran around the dockyards.

Rather, Hedwig was flying around because she was suspicious. Her eyes, keen and sharp, tracked a ginger spot far below... Crookshanks, her target. As she continued to fly, ignoring the crosswinds that buffeted her form, she continued to think. The whole thing situation with Peter nearly getting away stank greatly. Oh, it was not that Hedwig believed that Crookshanks was actually working for the animagus.

Because in such a case, his body would likely already be rotting in the Forbidden Forest if not eaten by something as betrayal was something far down on the list of things she would tolerate, let alone putting her master in danger.

No, Hedwig did not suspect him of working for Peter at all. While her having missed it stung, and did so greatly due to failing to protect her master from danger, the whole situation with how Crookshanks continually tried to get at Peter bothered her. Yes, if as she overheard, he was part kneezle, then it made sense that he would be distrustful towards the rat. But that did not explain why he continually had a go at trying to get to Peter. Even kneezles would not hunt something down with that much perseverance. As long as whatever, or whoever, it was stayed away then that was enough.

So why... did Crookshanks persist so much?

That, along with the fact that because of such Peter nearly got away, caused Hedwig to think over the past few days. Something helped as Crookshanks had practically disappeared, though Hermione believed it was because he knew he was in trouble. As much as she despised her mother, the owl had to admit that because of that she was much smarter than your usual owl. Such so, that she was able to consider various things she had before. One such example was that when not in Gryffindor either getting pampered or trying to get at Peter, Hedwig had often spotted Crookshanks heading out onto the grounds. Even when the weather was horrible, as now, he did so. And it was always, always, in the same general direction.

It went without saying that thinking back on that, along with everything else, aroused Hedwig's suspicions. Watching from above, she noticed that Crookshanks had reached the Whomping Willow, which made her narrow her eyes some. The cat seemed to glance around, not looking up thankfully. Though that did not mean that he would have spotted Hedwig against the clouds or in the sleet. Much to Hedwig's surprise, he rushed forward, dodging the various branches that tried to strike him, and smacked a knot on the tree which caused it to still. After that, he scurried down into what looked like a tunnel near the roots of the tree.

Several minutes went by and the tree unfroze itself. Eyes slightly narrowed, Hedwig looked at where the knot was and frowned. And then she pulled her wings in close...

And dove straight down.

Branches that would have shattered her bones, killing her instantly, whipped out. Each one she dodged with twists and turns as she plunged through the tree. Her master was in possible danger and she would not be denied. Finally, she struck the knot and not a moment too soon as a branch was inches from her head before it shuddered and stilled. Glancing at it, the owl glared before landing and walking into the tunnel.

Once inside the tunnel, Hedwig blinked and looked around with slightly narrowed eyes. For a human, the inside would not have been almost pitch black. Same with a lot of other animals as well. But not for Hedwig, being an owl. Here and there spots of glowing fungus or moss gave her just enough light to see by. And while, normally, the tunnel would have been clostrophobic for her, she shoved that aside easily enough as this dealt with something that could be a danger to her master, and that was enough.

Thus, with a flap of her wings, she lifted off the ground and began to slowly fly through the tunnel. Slow, and steady she went through it. More than once, she found herself flapping her wings in much the same way she would right before catching her prey. But here, it was more for Hedwig to make her way through some of the harder areas in the still, dead air. If she was human, she would have gritted her teeth throughout her journey. And by the time she reached the end, the muscles in her wings were burning from exertion.

Landing once more, she made her way out of the tunnel and glanced around curiously as she was in some sort of house. Everywhere she looked though, things were damaged. She could see claw marks and bite marks on furniture and on the walls themselves, with hunks torn out of them. Eyes looking from one end of the room to the other, she internally frowned. Something had lived here, once. It was the den of something very dangerous, that much she could feel at the edges of her perception from the magic in the air. But that said, whatever it was, it was long gone.

Instead, there was something else staying there.

Eyes narrowing at the sounds she heard elsewhere, Hedwig once more took to the air and flew through the house before spotting a hole in the ceiling. Flying up into it, she found herself in the attic of the house, completely empty but for dust and cobwebs. But that only helped her as she flew right above the sounds and landed on a rafter by another hole in the ceiling. Looking down though, she froze.

Mainly because there was Crookshanks smiling up at a man she knew to be Sirius Black. Said wizard was talking to Crookshanks, but Hedwig almost missed that due to the fact that the cat was going behind his owner's, his mistress' back, and apparently helping someone who could be a danger to her. More than that, the man was a possible danger to her master. It took every bit of the owl's will not to smash through the ceiling and put her claws through that backstabbing cat's skull.

Rather then that, Hedwig tightened the hold her talons had on the rafter she was perched upon. Said claws digging into the wood as they did so. The owl then listened closely as Sirius sighed, "So you missed getting the rat again, huh? Dammit!" Grimacing, the escaped prisoner sat back in a chair and frowned as Crookshanks meowed, "Lovely... Has any of the First Years written down the password to the Tower? There's usually one or two of them that do so, and if you could get me that..."

Crookshanks had, for him, a thoughtful look in his eyes before meowing that if he could, he would get one. Then he blinked and looked around in confusion as he could have sworn he heard wood splintering. Up above, in the attic, Hedwig had a look of pure fury in her eyes.

That cat... would betray his mistress, and possibly place her master in danger?! If anything, that made Hedwig even more torn about diving down and ending it. But still, she held herself back and listened as the two talked. Sirius seemed rather surprised that they might have caught Peter, but told Crookshanks to bring him proof first. Once the cat was gone, the former Prisoner of Azkaban sat in the ruined chair, thinking.

Unknown to him, a snowy owl was heading back to Hogwarts, fuming all the way even as a plan formed in her mind.

Roughly two hours later, Crookshanks was walking along the Hogwarts corridors, not noticing a white form above him. That was, until it leapt off the rafter and dove, smashing him into the stone floor. Crookshanks was about to attack back when he froze from pure fear... Which having talons capable of crushing his skull and killing him instantly on his head would do. Especially as one talon was right above his eye. Slowly, the cat turned his eye to look at the furious snowy owl that was glaring down at him, "{Well, hello there, Crookshanks. Fancy meeting you here...}"

Paws twitching at the pure venom in the voice of the other pet, the cat swallowed, "{Y-yes, didn't expect a greeting like this.}"

Leaning down some, Hedwig clacked her beak. A beak well capable of ripping flesh from bone easily, "{Oh? And after what you've done?}"

Simply believing that he knew what she meant, Crookshanks gave the cat version of a chuckle, "{Oh? Is this about the rat? Heh. I didn't trust him at all and wanted him gone-}"

He froze moments later as the talons on his head tightened their grip, Hedwig's voice coming out in a hiss, "{Oh, you are a fine one to talk about 'Trust', Crookshanks. Especially considering what I have heard and seen. Going behind your mistress' back? Plotting with someone to help them gain access when they could be a danger? Tsk, tsk.}"

Eyes wide, Crookshanks boggled at what she was saying and would have paled if he could have, before taking a deep breath, "{I don't know what you're talking abou-}"

Moments later, he hissed as Hedwig's other talon, over one of his legs, tightened enough that the claws pricked his skin. Voice an even more venom filled hiss, the Owl glared at him, "{I was there the whole time, Crookshanks. I heard the conversation you held with Sirius Black. How you were working with him this whole time. And how you two were planning on getting him into the Tower itself! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU?!}"

Wincing, Crookshanks gulped even as he wanted to shrivel up. If there was one thing that he knew about the owl, gathered from other pets in the castle, it was that she absolutely despised betrayers. Deciding that he better pick his words carefully, the cat took a deep breath, "{I know that it looks bad... but I was doing this for my mistress! That rat was untrustworthy and needed to be gone. Black could have gotten rid of it and he would have been happy to deal with the rat. I was only helping-}"

A talon tapped the top of his skull, silencing him, "{So all this time... for all these months... you knew what the Rat was? And yet never told any of us? Or someone who would have been able to do something? And, instead, decided to trust in someone who might well be mentally unstable?! Is that what you are telling me?}"

Very slowly, Crookshanks nodded and Hedwig gave him a look of disgust. His only warning was Hedwig lifting him off the ground before he was bodily flung with more power than a snowy owl should have. Hitting the ground, Crookshanks did not have the time to react before a wing cuffed the side of his head, dazing him. Crookshanks groaned, 'No wonder I kept being told not to get into a fight with her when she's pissed...' With a hiss, he opened one eye, "{Was that... necessary?}"

Still glaring at him, Hedwig bobbed her head, "{Oh, yes.}"

Getting to his feet shakingly, the cat blinked away the spots in his vision, "{Ugh... females.}" Then he gave her a glare of his own, "{I was trying to help, you know. And I could not tell anyone because you know how much gossips the others are...}" Seeing that she tightened her grip on the armoured helmet she was perched on, Crookshanks backed up, "{Not that you are, of course!}"

Even though she was still visibly seething, Hedwig suddenly was looking like she was giving him the owl's version of a grin. And it was not a nice grin, either, "{Be that as it may, you did not tell anyone and decided to put our master and mistress at risk! And their friends as well!}" She then turned and looked down the hall, "{Is that enough for you?}"

About to ask who she was talking to, the half-kneezle froze at the voice, "{Oh yes, that is quite enough for me. I shall take it from here, Miss Hedwig.}"

Turning, Crookshanks froze at the ghostly tabby cat that was there. His collar proudly declaring him to be named 'Convoy', and the sailor's hat he wore stating he belonged to HMS Hermione as well. Backing up a bit, the living cat of the two glanced to Hedwig who looked positively gleeful, "{Then I shall entrust the rest to you, good sir.}"

With that, she flew off and an unsure Crookshanks continued to back up, "{H-hey, Convoy... um, would saying I was sorry help?}"

Just raising an eyebrow, Convoy answered him back, "{No.}"

Crookshanks winced at that, 'Oh, this is going to suck...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Laying back in bed, Harry opened his eyes as he heard the door to his Owl Box open up. With a blink, he sat up a bit in time for a fox to leap onto his bed which made him smile, "Hey there, Natsumi-Chan."

Moments later, the fox transformed into the form of said girl, a smile on her face, "Hey yourself, Harry-Chan." Eyes softening, she frowned slightly, "I heard about what happened."

A grimace crossed Harry's face as he looked over at Ron's bed, a small shudder running through him, "Yeah... of all the places for him to show up, that was the last of them." Looking at the door, he sighed a bit, "Ron's... been taking it hard."

Natsumi also looked at the door with a look of sadness, "Not surprising at all... Has he talked to Warspite or Duke? Either of them would help."

With a shrug, Harry shook his head, "I don't know, Natsumi-Chan. But that is up to him after all." He then turned back to Ron's bed, "Still, I don't blame him for being shook up. I know that I'm still a little bit freaked that he has been there all these years. Who knows what he might have done."

That only got a nod from Natsumi as she considered it, "Yeah..." Then, she gave him a hug, "I'm just glad though that you're safe and nothing happened."

Only smiling, the teenaged boy returned the hug. However, he then blinked as the door to the Owl Box opened again and another fox stepped out, "Natsumi-Chan?"

Looking over her shoulder, Natsumi shook her head, "It is just Hoshi-San, Harry-Chan."

Just a few seconds later, the fox transformed into said Kitsune who smiled at the two teens. Hands on her hips, Hoshi could only shake her head though there was a slight tint of melancholy to said smile, "Well, don't the two of you look comfy?"

Harry blushed lightly, but shrugged as he kept his arms around Natsumi, "Well, Natsumi-Chan is very comfy."

Softly giggling, Natsumi gave him a kiss on the nose, "And so are you, Harry-Chan." At seeing him flush, more giggles escaped her as Hoshi looked on fondly. Then, Natsumi gestured at the older Kitsune, "Anyways, Hoshi-San here has some business that she needs to attend to for a while."

Confused, Harry looked between them, "Business? Here?"

Lightly chuckling, Hoshi gave the barest of nods, "Yes, something has come up and Natsumi-Chan has asked that I deal with it. Not a big thing, if you are concerned, Harry-San." Then she tilted her head some, "Meanwhile, you two should enjoy yourselves."

Waving to the older Kitsune, Natsumi smiled, "We will."

Shaking her head, Hoshi walked over to the window, opened it, and then leapt out. Harry ignored the snickers from Natsumi and rushed for the window, only to blink as all he could see was a fox running along the ground, "How...?"

Natsumi came up from behind him and placed her arms around his waist, "Hoshi-San is very experienced with things like this. So I kind of expect her to do stuff like that for a quick escape."

After giving it some thought, Harry shook his head, "I guess so..." Twisting around some, he hugged Natsumi back tighter, "You would know better then I do."

Before she could do anything though, the teenaged wizard swept her up into his arms making her squeak. That was followed by her pouting at him, "Harry-Chan!" Unable to help himself, Harry merely chuckled and carried her back to the bed before setting her down. With that done, he laid back down himself next to her and sighed. A few moments later, Natsumi shifted so that she was on top of him, "You want to talk about it?"

Placing his hand on her lower back, right above her tails, Harry didn't say anything about it for a number of moments, "I take it that you heard about... you know..."

Eyebrow raised, Natsumi frowned some, "You mean his reasoning for why he betrayed your parents?" At his nod, she shook her head and sighed, "Hai, I've heard about it. So has Haha-ue, Chichi-ue, Oba-Chan, and Hoshi-San. None of them were very impressed at all to be honest. And, well..." Shifting some, the Kitsune looked him in the eyes with a slight smile, "They agreed with what you stated will be his punishment. That he will rot for the rest of his life and die, only for his real punishment to be waiting for him on the other side."

With a sigh, Harry shook his head, "I know, but... there's a part of me that still wishes that I ended it there. That I killed him or allowed for him to die right there and then."

Head tilted to the side, the Kitsune considered what he had just been told, and then tapped him on the forehead, "You're being a Baka there, Harry-Chan." At his confused look, she continued, "I've known you for years now, and one thing that I do know? You wouldn't be able to kill someone in cold blood like that. He was captured, at your mercy, and even then the morals you have are so strong that you would not lash out at him. Because you're better then he is, then any of the Death Eaters." Gently, Natsumi took one of his hands in her own, "And I hope that you never lose that, Harry-Chan. Some people out there might state that you should have killed him, because he was guilty. Or that if you capture a Death Eater, you should end their lives because they did so. But they're wrong, that makes them no better then the ones they killed. And you're better then that."

Tightening his hold on her, Harry buried his face in the crook of her neck. With a deep breath, he calmed down some as her scent tickled his nose along with that of her favorite shampoo, "Thank you, Natsumi-Chan."

Simply holding him back, Natsumi gave a small nod, "You are very welcome, Harry-Chan."

Just taking another deep breath, Harry sighed some, "What if he does something else though? What if by letting him live, he goes on to kill others?"

Leaning her head against his, the thirteen year old girl closed her eyes, "Then... what will happen, will happen. None of it will be your fault, Harry-Chan. It shall, instead, be Peter's own karma, not yours. On his shoulders it will lay, no others. Besides which, he's been handed over to the proper authorities now, they will deal with him."

After a few moments, Harry nodded, "Yeah, you're right..." Moving his head slightly, he gave her a light kiss and pulled back, both of them smiling, "Thanks."

Only giggling, Natsumi shook her head, "You don't need to do that, Baka. I'm more than willing to help you with stuff like this." It was then her turn to give him a light kiss, "And don't you forget it."

With that, she laid back down and simply hugged him.

Unknown to them, Harry was not the only one who was troubled by what happened. Up in the Headboy's Quarters, Percy was in one of the armchairs there with his hands clasped in front of his face in deep thought. To anyone watching, it looked like he was just staring into the flames, silently.

But in reality, Percy was thinking over everything that had happened over the past few days. Once he was done, he reviewed everything over the years, right back to when he had first found "Scabbers". Narrowing his eyes, he grimaced some, 'How did I miss this...?'

A slight frown on her face, Amisi walked up and then placed a hand on his shoulder. She then knelt down some, "My Pharaoh?"

Glancing at her, the red head patted her hand some, "Sorry, about that, Amisi. It's nothing really."

Now frowning more, Amisi scrunched her forehead as she tried to make the words come to her, "No, something... troubles you greatly, But... what, my Pharaoh?"

While impressed with how she had gotten better with the English language and speaking it, Percy still sighed at how she did not let go of the issue, "The problem is..." Pausing, he continued, "You know of Peter Pettigrew?"

Eyebrows furrowing, the Ancient Egyptian shipgirl nodded. When she spoke, it was slowly, "I know of... the one of Set." She then looked up at Percy, "But... what does... that...?'

Lips twitching, Percy chuckled, "What does that have to do with anything?" At the nod, he continued, "It was shortly after the war with You-Know-Who was finished. I was out in the garden at the time and I found this rat sniffing around. One that I caught and kept as a pet... who I named Scabbers due to the fact he had a scab on one of his front feet. When... when I went to Hogwarts, he was my pet. And three years ago, I gave him to Ron as a pet."

Her eyes widening, the pieces fell into place, 'The Betrayer... pretended to be my Pharaoh's pet.'

Percy held his hand in front of his face and took deep breaths, "That bastard... was in my home because I brought him there. I gave him to Ron thinking that he was just a magical rat at most! Not... not once did I actually think that anything was wrong. Even when he lived far beyond even what magical rats could. A non-magical rat usually lives less then five years. And even magical varieties are lucky to break eight... Scabbers when I gave him to Ron was over ten as far as I knew and healthy." Hand shaking, he brought it down on the armrest, "I should have realized that something was wrong, dammit! But I didn't! What if... what if that bastard had..."

Blinking slowly, Amisi rose some and gently embraced him, "My Pharaoh..." Part of her ached to see him so troubled as he was. While she could understand why he was, at the same time she considered that he was not at fault. Even in the days when she sailed the Nile, a child picking up a creature for a pet would not have raised eyebrows. Nor, if it had survived far past when it should have died of old age.

No, she did not blame Percy for what had happened. All the blame she had was for Peter, for him she would curse for what he had done. Both to those who had called him brother, and for her Pharaoh and his family. Instead, she simply soothed Percy best that she could as he angrily snarled at what happened and could have happened.