Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[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]

Tackweld

Part 6:


-----------------------------------
Eustace Ball arrived home just as Francis logged out of skype. Francis had concluded his game of chess with Ron about a half hour before, and stayed loged in to see if any of his freinds were online. As Eustace closed the front door, Francis was working on a event flyer for the local chapter of the Sea Scouts, some of the Navy's more senior Shipgirls were going to visit a nearby school on the mainland and the Sea Scouts wished to attend.

The light thump of the door latch drew him from his work. His Grandpa must be home. Francis saved his work and set the computer to sleep mode, and went downstairs to see what was going on.

Decending the stairs, Francis asked loudly, " Grandpa? What is going on?" Francis was very worried. Whatever had happened, it was important. The last time Eustace came home so rapidly was when he found out that Francis's parents had been kiled during an Abyssal raid.

Eustace saw the worried look that crept, like a shadow, across Francis's face. He then smiled broadly. A smile that Eustace seldom gave. And he laughed! " Franky m' boy, Cpt. Ewart has a job he wants you to do. How do you feel about a commision from Her Magesty's Civil Defense Volunteers?"

Francis looked at his Grandfather as if he had gone balmy. "You know full well that I am not..."

He was intrupped by his Grandfather. "An artwork commision, m' boy, not a military one!"

Grandfather and grandson shared a good laugh. Eustace shed his webbing gear on the chair in the front hall, and Grandfather and Grandson, still chuckling, carried on into the kitchen. As Eustace set to making some corned beef sandwiches, Francis filled two tall mugs with milk and asked "What is it that Cpt Ewart wants me to do?"

Eustace produced a printout of a photograph.

And he said, "Ewart would like you to overlay the words above the ships:
We Need YOU
and these below them:
To Donate to the Cowes Summoning Fund."
Francis looked at his Grandfather, " Like the famous Gen. Kitchner recruiting poster?"

 

[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.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Softly growling, Crookshanks stalked in after a very long talking to by Convoy. Something that he was still not very pleased over. At seeing Hedwig perched on a chair, his soft growl became a snarl, "{Hedwig.}"

Opening one eye, the Owl just gave him a look before closing it, "{Crookshanks.}"

A wince escaped him from some of the soreness before he growled, "{Did you have to knock me around? Sirius is innocent after all.}"

Unrepentant, Hedwig's next words caused him to freeze, "{I know.}"

Everything was silent in the empty Common Room before Crookshanks whipped his head around, "{You mean to tell me... you knew that he was innocent?! This whole time?!}"

Cracking one eye open, Hedwig clacked her beak, "{Yes, I knew that he was innocent.}" Jaw dropping, the cat looked at her in utter disbelief. Then he narrowed his eyes to a venomous glare and with a yowl, launched himself at the owl, who dodged, "{Hmm, it seems you are angry about something?}"

There was a glare on the feline's face as he glared at where Hedwig landed on top of one of the armchairs, "{You bitch in heat!}"

Merely tilting her head to the side, Hedwig gave him an unimpressed look, "{You are the pet of a shipgirl and that is the best insult that you have been able to come up with? Disappoint, am I.}" Closing her eyes, she scoffed, "{I have known that the Dog-Wizard is innocent for over a year now. My Master and his Nest-Mother spoke of it.}"

Not even seconds later, she leapt back into the air as a snarling Crookshanks launched himself at her. Landing, she looked down where the dazed cat was now laying on the knocked over chair. With a quick shake of his head, the cat went back to glaring at Hedwig, "{Then why did you attack me!? If you knew that he was innocent, then you should have no problem with helping him!}"

Hedwig turned to him and glared coldly enough that the anger in Crookshanks sputtered and died, "{Because you foolish cat, whether he was innocent or not is not the issue here! It was that you were placing our Masters and Mistresses into danger by what you were doing!}"

Shaking off the fear, Crookshanks met her gaze coolly, "{He was of no danger to our Masters and Mistresses! All he would do is grab the Rat and kill it. And the Rat was a bigger danger then the Dog!}"

If she could have, Hedwig would have rolled her eyes and gave off such a feeling, "{Then you are a fool. Yes, he was innocent, Crookshanks, that I will not deny. But the question is if he is stable! And that one is what decides if he is a danger or not!}"

That made the cat blink in utter confusion, "{What?}"

Yet again, Hedwig gave off the feeling as if she was rolling her eyes, but looked upwards, "{Moon give me strength.}" Turning her attention back to Crookshanks, she sighed as an owl could, "{My Master and his Nest-Mother were both concerned with his mental state. He had been in a place where they tortured him mentally for years. I have seen abused animals who lash out, and did not want such happening to my Master or anyone else! Yet here you are, trying to help it happen!}"

Crookshanks did roll his eyes at this and waved a paw at her, "{Nothing such as that would happen. I have been around him for some time now and he does not seem that way.}"

For several moments, Hedwig was silent. But then she spoke up and caused the feline to sputter in disbelief, "{Then you show that you are a fool.}"

Sputtering, he stared at her before stalking forward and growling, "{WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?}"

However, Hedwig met his glare evenly with one of her own, "{A fool, which you were being. Do you honestly think that just because he seemed fine away from where Peter Pettigrew was that he was truly fine? Hmm? No... it seems that you do think that. Foolish.}"

Lost, Crookshanks blinked in utter confusion, "{What do you mean?}"

The owl shifted her wings some and narrowed her eyes, "{He seemed to be fine as he was away from the Rat and that was all. But how would he have reacted if he got close, hmm? We are speaking of an wizard who could be unstable and obsessed with killing someone who betrayed him and his!}" With a screech, she spread her wings widely, "{THINK! What would have happened if he got in and was ready to kill the Rat, only for a student to get in the way?! Or what if he was chasing Peter and in the panic saw the Rat in the middle of a crowd of First Years trying to run away? Can you honestly tell me that his tunnel vision would not have him fire off a curse just for the chance of getting the Betrayer? CAN YOU TELL ME THAT, CROOKSHANKS!?}"

Opening his mouth to shoot back a reply, Crookshanks paused. Despite everything, and what Hedwig called him, he was not a fool. In his head, he went over the scenarios that Hedwig proposed and internally winced. Yes, even he could admit that Sirius Black was obsessed with catching, or killing, his former friend. And in such a case as the owl had outlined, "{... No, I can not. Though I am certain that he wouldn't.}"

Hedwig clacked her beak at that, "{Oh yes, you are certain that he would not. But I am not and so are many others! If you had gotten him in, who knows what he would have done to get at the Rat! And that is not counting the people who could have been injured by Peter attempting to get away! But you did not care about that at all, or even think about it!}" Giving the owl version of a huff, she turned away, "{And you wonder why I was so angry.}"

Claws appearing and retracting, Crookshanks snarled, "{Yes, angry. But you went too far!}"

Looking back at him, the owl stared before bobbing her head, "{Perhaps you are right and I should not have been so... harsh. But, just the same, I do have my reasons for having a very low opinion of betrayal and going behind one's back. And that is something that I will not speak of to you or anyone as it is private. However, I will apologize just the same and will bring you a nice, juicy fish from Japan.}"

Wind having been taken out of his sails, Crookshanks scoffed, "{Better be a good fish then.}" Then he gave a cat's version of a shrug, "{I still say that no one besides the Rat was in danger. Though it does not matter anymore as the matter is settled and we won't have any further issue from him and there won't be further problems.}" An odd sound made him turn and blink as Hedwig had one wing over her face, "{... What?}"

Moments later, she pulled her wing away and gave him a disbelieving look, "{... Are you, or are you not the pet of a shipgirl?}"

That made Crookshanks give her a look, "{Yeeessssss? What of it?}"

Shaking her head from side to side, Hedwig clacked her beak, "{Then you understand of the one that the humans call 'Murphy', yes? And that you are just asking for problems?}"

Crookshanks scoffed at that, "{That human hogwash? I am not scared of some imaginary human thing. The Rat is in the human's cages and out of sight. What could possibly happen?}"

Once more, Hedwig covered her face with one wing, "{... I do not believe this...}"
______________________________________________________________

Grumbling, Tonks made her way down the corridors of the Ministry of Magic with her hands full of a tray of coffee and a box of donuts. While still in training, she had been given some duties that normally would be given to an Auror that did not need the full training. Usually guard work, or walking down Diagon Alley for instance. Boring things for the most part, but apparently needed to give her experience.
And she was not the only one getting such duties as trainees such as herself all got them in revolving shifts. When she had been growing up, she had dreamt of being an Auror. That was especially true after Blood Week, when she could remember being at the wireless at one of the magical shelters deep inland, listening as Aurors battled Abyssals at the Battle of the Thames and other places. The tales of heroism and the like inspired her, just like the bits and pieces from the fighting against the Death Eaters a few years before this. But Blood Week happened just before she entered her Second Year at Hogwarts.

While she already had her career set as an Auror, that only solidified it.

Tonks had dreamed, when she was a little girl, of fighting bad guys and stopping them. Sometimes those bad guys were evil witches and wizards, others they were magical beasts. Even fighting Abyssals, as foolish as she knew it was, figured in her daydreams about the job. Solving crimes and saving lives aplenty, a true hero. And she would be able to push aside the shadow over her family due to the actions of the Black family, including her cousin Sirius and prove that not all those of Black family blood were evil.

However, not once did she consider that most of the jobs she would have at first would be so damn boring. Standing in Diagon or Hogsmeade to provide a 'Visible presence' for both peace at mind and to deter crime. Or her recent stint at guarding the Hogsmeade Station for Hogwarts... though she had to admit that those Abyssals that followed Harry around had been rather exciting. And that DADA teacher was rather handsome, just like she remembered... Shaking her head free of such thoughts though, she looked down at the food and drinks she was carrying and sighed.

Being an errand witch was definitely not in the job description.

Wand lit, Tonks passed by various empty desks in the DMLE as she headed towards where the cells were. In particular, the ones used to hold Animagi that were awaiting processing. And that thought brought a grimace to her face as she remembered why they were guarding it...

Peter Pettigrew.

For someone who had spent most of her life despising her older cousin for what he was accused of doing, and feeling betrayed as before it he had often visited and kept her laughing even in those dark days, it was a bitter pill to swallow that he was innocent. That in reality, it was someone else who betrayed the Potters, who had killed all those muggles. The fact that her cousin who she had hated was innocent... Bitter did not begin to cover it. Part of her was still amazed that they had even used her for guarding Peter what with her connection. But apparently the issue was that they were still short staffed. And Amelia gave another reason when she had pulled her aside after giving the assignment.

The head of the DMLE had wanted to keep the identity of the prisoner a secret. At least until the trial was set up as she suspected that far too many people who lost someone possibly due to him would want to have a piece of the wizard. Some Death Eaters, too, would be far too likely to want to kill him. After all, he was the one who pointed their so-called Lord at the Potters and ended up with him being killed. Far too many might blame him for such, or want to silence him.

Just as she was about to reach the door to the area of the cells, Tonks paused and frowned. Something... did not seem right. It tickled her instincts at the edges and caused her to narrow her eyes as she looked around in case. Only when she turned to the door to the cells did she realize what it was...

And that was that the door to the cell block was ajar.

It took her only seconds to go over when she had left to get the food and drink. When she had left, Tonks had closed and secured the door behind her as per regulations. Backing away from the door, the trainee placed the food and drink on a desk and then waved her wand in a pattern not normally taught. It was an old spell that her mother had taught her, Andromeda telling her that the Black family often used it due to paranoia. Once she was finished, Tonks gulped as the area of the door lit up in two lines showing that if she crossed them, they would alarm the caster to the fact that someone was there.

Swallowing her suddenly dry throat, Tonks considered sounding the alarm. In particular the one that would be sent to the other Aurors when she remembered that the only ones who knew about Peter were fellow members of the DMLE for the most part. Which meant that very likely the alarm would also let whoever was in place know that someone was onto them. A Catch-22.

Then she pursed her lips and began to wave her wand around in various patterns. Spells that her mother had taught her as part of her heritage as a Black, and ones that Sirius had also taught her as a child in an attempt to turn her into a trouble maker. When in Hogwarts, she had researched those and gotten much better. Soon enough, she managed to breach the spells in such a way that no one would know that she crossed them. With a spell to silence the door, and one cast on her self, Tonks slowly opened it and crept inside. Moments later, she tapped the wand to her head and felt like a cold egg had been cracked on her head.

Quietly, she crept down between the rows of cells. Unlike in a muggle jail for the most part, or pictures that she had seen anyways, none of these had bars. Rather, they were all doors in walls that would seal shut and could only be opened from the outside. Part of her used the lessons that Moody had taught in class about the Disillusionment Charm. Far too many people forgot, he had told them, that if one made their way slowly, it was as good as being purely invisible. Especially if one added silencing charms. Hence, no one would have noticed as she made her way deeper into the cell area.

Finally, she poked her disillusioned head around a corner and blinked. She almost gasped at the sight of the two Aurors assigned as guards slumped against the wall outside Peter's cell. But it was the one wizard who she could see that made her boggle...

Corban Yaxley.

Mouth dropped open, Tonks could not believe that he was there until she heard him hiss into the open cell, "Come on, MacNair! Hurry it up! We do not have all night."

Seconds later, the "Creature Executioner's", as some called him behind his back, voice called out, "Come off it, Yaxley. I want to enjoy the snivelling rat's pain. This bastard is why our Lord was defeated! Admit it, you like seeing him in pain as well."

After a few moments, Yaxley nodded, "I suppose so, always thought him to be a coward. Still... we should be going soon."

MacNair laughed at that and Tonks could imagine the sneer on his face, "We can take our time, Yaxley. Besides, what are you worried about? From what you told me those two are out for the count, though I don't know why you didn't just kill them."

There was a scowl on the visible Death Eater's face, "Because then we would be sensed, MacNair. The spells on this place won't sense anything but someone dying. And once they do, the alarms go off and we have minutes before the place is filling with Aurors. No, best to knock them out and maybe modify their memories. Make it look like one of them was at fault."

Laughter came from inside the cell, "Ha! That will be amusing to see. Almost as much as their reactions when you greeted them... Didn't expect a thing."

With a shrug, Yaxley looked at a pocket watch and frowned, "Of course not, who would ever expect a senior clerk of the DMLE of being with the Dark Lord? That is why our fellows were caught and I never was." A sneer then crossed his face, "And why I am a far better spy then you ever were, Pettigrew."

A lot of things suddenly made sense to Tonks such as the tales Moody told of how Aurors and the like got ambushed. As one of the higher ranked clerks, Yaxley would have known Auror plans and the like, able to warn the Death Eaters of raids and such. He would also be able to gauge response times and the like. Gritting her teeth, Tonks pulled back and looked at a nearby wall. On it, there was a switch that would send a silent alarm directly to the Senior Aurors homes as well as Amelia's via their badges. It was not likely that Yaxley would realize that it was tripped due to it being a different alarm from the others as those would set alarms off in the main area of the DMLE.

Not to mention that he was extremely unlikely to be wearing his badge as the spells around the cell area would tell that it was there. And if he did not want it to be known that he was there, then chances are that he would not have it. Quietly making her way over, concentrating on not tripping or making any other sound, Tonks pulled the switch slowly. Then, she made her way back to the corner and counted off five minutes in her head before stalking closer to Yaxley.

Much to his relief, he did not show a change in his posture that showed that he even knew anything was going on. Something that the trainee was extremely thankful for. It was only when she was within ten feet that he suddenly frowned and glanced around in confusion. Unknown to her, there was something at the edge of his senses that was warning him. Eyes narrowed, he shouted into the cell, "MacNair! Finish up now! We are leaving and I will do so with or without you-"

Before he got further, the sounds of the distant door being slammed open echoed down the hallway making him curse. Then, he hit the ground with the last thing he saw being a red light that struck him. A quick banishment charm sent his body down the hall as MacNair shouted, "FUCK! AVADA-"

Running, Tonks shot a stunning spell into the cell, only to have to dodge a green light that nearly hit her. With a grunt, she hit the ground and rolled as she cast another spell, "LUMOS MAXIMA!"

Inside the cell, MacNair cursed as his vision went white and all he could see was spots, "YOU BITCH!"

Tonks just barely threw up a shield charm as the wall across from her detonated, sending shards of rock flying and hitting the spell. Thankfully for the unconscious Aurors, she was in front of them and kept them from being shredded. Another Killing Curse rang out and struck the wall again as Tonks threw hexes and jinxes into the cell. Even if she had wanted to, they had to keep Peter alive. As Mad-Eye came around the corner, she shouted, "YAXLEY DEATH EATER DOWN! MACNAIR IN CELL!"

With a nod, the veteran Auror scowled and did something that Tonks thought was impossible, he blurred and crossed the distance between where he was and the other side of the door from her. Seeing her look, he grinned, "Old Apparation trick, very short jumps." Then he growled and shot his own spells into the cell, "HEY! READY FOR A REMATCH? I OWE YOU FOR MY LEG!"

A yell of agony could be heard, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD PETER! MY LEG!"

Suddenly, a white blur shot out and they soon realized it was a rat that shot between the legs of the incoming Aurors. Eyes wide, Tonks screamed at them, "STOP HIM! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!" A number of the Aurors twisted in place and shot off spells as they headed after the rat, while both Tonks and Mad-Eye attempted to take down the now enraged MacNair.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Hedwigs rightness-wrongness aside... I come bearing stuff!

Edit: The Non-Franky segments of this snippet are no longer effective. See HERE for details.
Locking

"Still, I'm pretty impressed," and Richardson nodded along with Goto's assessment, scrolling past pictures of a young Caucasian girl and an older, slightly ill-looking woman sitting next to each other on a bench at a train station. "Walking up to a rampaging Nue and talking her down? I'd say brass balls, but she's pretty much a baseline human from what you've told me. Maybe cast iron?"

"It was pretty surprising to get the phone call," Richardson agreed. "It may have had something to do with that woman's curse though." He frowned, thinking back. How had it gone again? "Monsters shall seek you out… something like that?"

"What are you talking about now?" Goto asked. Richardson sighed, lifting the receiver away from his head to think for a moment.

"Do you remember a while back when you were looking into ridiculously badass monster hunters?" he replied. "Stopped with that German warrant officer and that one Higgs guy?"

Goto snorted at some memory that the question dredged up. When he next spoke, he was deadly serious. "You think she's connected somehow."

"Well, we don't know how the whole thing works, but the woman apparently cursed her entire family line," Richardson said. "When you think about that, it looks like it might be connected, doesn't it?"

"Mmm," Goto agreed. "It would be nice if we could get Haneda-kun to tell us more. He's still closing Miyuki out on a few details."
-----

As Tatsuya walked back into the impromptu meeting room, he nearly bumped into DuBois. The two shifted slightly, allowing the other to squeeze past. As he passed under the door frame, Tatsuya glanced back at his older, American counterpart. What was going on there? Was it something that would lead to fighting all over again?

Well hopefully… Pink elephants. Don't think about pink elephants.

"… Of course you were dropped," Mrs. Bones was saying irately, "you sewed another candidate to his own bed!"

"He was harassing me and the instructors weren't doing anything to stop it," Diehl said evenly, fiddling with the pieces of metal in her hands.

"That coffee blend you created was outlawed the moment we were finally able to analyze it!" Mrs. Bones pressed on.

Diehl rolled her eyes. "That blend was created for someone of my BMI, physical condition at the time, and genetic structure. Dawlish had no business pinching it for funsies."

Glaring Mrs. Bones prepared her final push. "You created a portal to an alternate dimension of evil," she beat out, "in the sink of the girls' lavatory."

Diehl frowned, biting her lip. "Okay," she said. "That one, I'll admit, was poorly thought out. But on the bright side, we found out that the Great Old Ones were all killed centuries ago."

Tatsuya leaned over Benio's shoulder. "What happened while I was gone?" he asked quietly.

"You know how old people hate each other's guts sometimes?" she whispered in reply. "Basically something like that."

Tatsuya sighed. He knew what she was fishing for, he really did— "Benio, what are you holding?"

"What, this?" she asked, holding up an old sword that had been leaning against the wall last he'd seen it, "It looked lonely, so I'm thinking of finding a home for it. What's the situation back home?"

"Honjo says she's calling 'everyone.' I'm worried," Tatsuya quipped.

"Swordgirls still looking to give the old man the Julius Caesar treatment, minus the togas and the senate," Benio shrugged. Sitting next to her, Reiko sat up a little straighter in the universal shorthand for "hey, I got that reference!"

"She explicitly said 'everyone,'" Tatsuya corrected. "As in, people other than the Muramasas."

"Well, after what he did to her sister…" Benio shrugged. "She doesn't want him doing it ever again, right?"

"Personal project?" McKay demanded, and the three immediately swiveled to face her.

"We're after the guy because he basically took pieces off of a sword we knew, crippled her and the like," Tatsuya explained quickly, avoiding giving out any more information than he felt he needed to. With the exception of his own party, sharing anything with anyone here could have—

"Oh, I think I might be able to fix that," Diehl said cheerfully.

Wait, what?

"Excuse me?" Tonbo said, not quite shifting forward in her seat (thankfully, since that meant she wasn't leaping forward and grabbing Diehl by the front of the shirt, shaking her like a dog and demanding answers). "What do you mean by that?"

Diehl smirked deviously, bringing her hands up and steepling her fingers. "He let me see his notes," she said in a similarly smug tone. "And as smart and experienced as he is, he is a mortal man. And whatever mortal man creates, mortal woman can recreate."

Benio leaned over to Tatsuya. "Can't mortal man do that—" Tatsuya raised his hand, stalling her.

"Don't step on her moment," he replied and she pouted, but subsided. "Still, though," he said, turning to look at Diehl again, "You seem pretty convenient to have around."

"And yet, they still dropped me from the Auror program," Diehl snarked.

"The Admiral's! Prized! Beagle!"

Diehl actually grimaced at this one. "That wasn't me!"

"We're gonna have a lot of backup," Tatsuya called out before things could devolve into senseless bickering. "We'll want to wait until they get here—"

"Package came in safe," DuBois said, stepping back into the room. "Gonna have to pick it up."

"Good for you," Diehl replied quickly. "And you—please be careful with the Holy War Sword of the Scythians. It still wants to conquer the world."
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

****WARNING: Some dark themes ahead. **************
__________________________________________________________________

Rubbing her eyes from a very long day, Amelia sighed some before reaching for her mug of coffee and taking a sip. She closed her eyes as the thick, sweet, syrupy sludge went down her throat. Putting it aside, she was about to continue her paperwork when a knock made her look up in time for Mad-Eye to walk in, "Alastor."

With a grunt, the scarred Auror sat down in a chair after scanning it, "Amelia."

From the expression, and the firewhiskey she could smell, Amelia knew it was bad. The only question on her mind was, "How bad?"

Screwing up the top of his flask, Alastor grimaced some, "Bad. We searched MacNair's property with the warrant. His missus didn't like it, but she didn't have much of a choice. Didn't find anything... until one of the Rookies spotted an old cabin at the end of the property and pointed it out."

A frown on her face, Amelia considered what she was told, "Cabin... you mean that old thing that looks run down."

His eye coming to a stop on her, the grizzled veteran across from her scowled, "Yeah, I'm getting old to not have thought of it. Looks too run down for someone like MacNair to keep on his property, turns out that it wasn't on the inside. Checked it out... we knew that MacNair considered himself a hunter, but bloody fuck me, that place was a horror. Looked like a twisted version of those old muggle photographs of where big game hunters kept their trophies, you know? There were some magical creatures there that we could nail him with alone... but there were more grisly ones."

Just blinking, Amelia held up a hand to wait for a moment. Opening a drawer, she pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured it into a cup. Part of Alastor noted that the drink was one of the strong, but cheap shit. The stuff where you did not want to spend the money on getting wasted and did not care about the taste. Slugging it back, she poured herself another, "How bad?"

Alastor was quiet for a few moments before he spoke, "Some of the trophies there, Amelia... there were centaurs, mermaids, sphinxes... Even saw a goblin head mounted on the wall." There was a wince from Madam Bones at that, "But there was worse. You know Matherson?"

Eyebrows furrowing, she frowned, "He went missing in the First War..." Her eyes widened with horror, "Don't tell me..."

Disgust was on Moody's face as he nodded, "That bastard mounted Matherson's head above a mantle, his broken wand beneath it. Wasn't the only one either as there were others." Rubbing his face, he shook his head, "Some of the fellows got sick right then and there, not that I blame them. That one Rookie, Tonks? Said it reminded her of some story about a muggle hunter wanting the most dangerous game."

Utter silence met him at that. Finally, Amelia took the glass she was using and picked it up before throwing it hard against the wall. It shattered upon impact, though the other magical didn't react, "I don't fucking care what the Wizangamot says, that asshole is dead!"

Meeting her eyes, Alastor shook his head, "Wasn't the only one. There were four others of ours there as well that I recognized and a few that I didn't. Reason I took so long was that one of the others used the name of one of the unknowns and identified him. Guy was ex-SAS, Amelia. There were notes and from those, MacNair abducted him and hunted him as sport. Nearly killed the fucker before MacNair got a lucky shot in... We found an island that he owned. Even a short scan showed human remains there. He took them there and released them before hunting each one down. All for sport like they were some sort of wild beast, with the only way on or off being a boat as the whole island was under anti-apparation and anti-portkey spells. MacNair is one sick puppy."

Rather then pour out another drink, Amelia just gulped it from the bottle before setting it down. With a look around, she shook her head, "Lovely... the muggles are going to react real well."

Eyebrow raised, the older magical frowned, "Are you going to let them know, Amelia?"

She just met his gaze evenly, "Yes. Because they deserve this, Alastor. Those who have missing that MacNair had used for... his sick games, need to know. God, I do not need this dropped in my lap, but those people deserve that much."

Humming, Alastor rubbed his jaw in thought. Just like Amelia, he understood that the Statute was coming down. Part of him even accepted such, which is why he kept silent. Instead, the Auror nodded, "Aye, they do at that. What they deserve more is to see MacNair executed like the piece of shit he is."

A snarl appeared on Amelia's face at that, "And they should get it. With the Kiss rescinded as a punishment, good old execution for crimes has been put back in. And I doubt very much that anyone will argue it in this case. Just a toss up between throwing them through the Veil or restarting the Death Potion room. Though there was that one muggleborn who made a suggestion of a sealed room that transfigures all the air to nitrogen. Apparently is near instantaneous."

That only got a shrug from Mad-Eye as he took another swing of his flask, "Don't rightly care as long as they're dead. Though you might want to inform the military as well." At the look from Amelia, he grimaced, "Some of the empty plaques? Had shipgirl names on them, and at least one had what I assume to be an Allied Abyssal name on it. Doesn't take a genius to realize what he was planning to do."

For almost a minute, the head of the DMLE stared at him before she banged her head on her desk, "That fucking moron..."

Giving her some time, Alastor frowned before clearing his throat, "Moving away from that... how are things with the traitor?"

With a sigh, Amelia rubbed the side of her head, "We're still going through everything, but it is not looking good. Yaxley has been working as a clerk here since the 1960s. "

That brought a grimace to Mad-Eye's face which was frightening, "Dammit... in other words from right around the same time that the first disappearances started. But far enough back that no one would have suspected him as most of the suspicion would fall on those who came in later, once the war was fully going on. We were compromised from the very start."

Only nodding, there was a look on his boss' face as if she had bit into something rotten, "It would appear so. They must have been planning it for some time before they made their moves..." Looking into the distance, she scowled, "One of the disappearances was in fact his predecessor. They must of gotten rid of him to give Yaxley room to move up the ladder. That... speaks volumes of what they were preparing."

A frown on his face, the grizzled wizard across from him shook his head, "It is a good thing that we caught them when we did. If something happened in the next few years... we would have been caught with our pants down around our ankles. As it is, we're going to have to search various Ministry workers backgrounds to even try and track down any other issues there." Eye narrowing, he gave Amelia a look, "And that is not questioning how our illustrious Minister is reacting to this."

Sipping her drink, Amelia frowned, "Oddly enough, besides his usual moaning about how this will work? He has a bit of... relief, about this." At the disbelieving look, she shook her head, "Yaxley has been in the Ministry for decades before Fudge even worked here. MacNair? He was hired on by the previous Administration. So neither really reflect on him in this case. Meanwhile, we will be so busy with our investigations that the ones into the issue regarding the Dementors at Hogwarts will need to be placed on the back burner, perhaps for months."

Quiet for several moments, Mad-Eye frowned, "I have to wonder why they even did this. After all these years..."

Just sighing, she set down her drink, "Actually, that part is rather simple." Seeing as she had his attention, Amelia continued, "Both of them blame Pettigrew for what happened with You-Know-Who and wanted revenge. They didn't remove him because they would not have been able to drag him through the Ministry without someone seeing them. Far too great a chance for discovery... Meanwhile, Yaxley knew exactly where he was and how to access him. Yaxley wanted it to have been over, but MacNair enjoyed his work a bit too much, it would seem. Something that I am thankful for in this case as it means that we caught them."

Only shaking his head, Moody scowled, "Shame about Pettigrew though. But at least enough of us were there when we got a confession that Black can go free now. Still... that is not the last of the rat that we will see, believe me when I say that."

All Amelia could do was nod in agreement at that as they soon went over various reports. They had a case to build up after all...

 

[darthcourt10]

Shaithan

Hunt

Out in the South Atlantic, a lone supercarrier was running for her life. USS Enterprise CVN-65, the first Nuclear Carrier was hunted. She had been near India when the hunt began, her pursuer hounding her away from Iran, away from the security the Iranian coast promised. American ships, the few that had survived the slaughter, had been welcomed into Iran. Even with all the bitterness, with all the ways the American government had thrown away chances to normalize relations with Iran, the Republic had still opened its ports to the battered remnants of the US fleets in the area, had protected them as well as possible, even as their coastline itself was under attack.

For Enterprise, though, this offer may well be as far away as the moon. Most of her escorts were dead, the few that weren't hopefully had managed to reach Iran or India. Enterprise herself was running. Planes kept buzzing the carrier, hounding her ever onwards. And sometimes, they could make out the sea monsters hunting them at the horizon. Never too far away, often enough even shelling them. And so, the Carrier kept running.

Captain Carter looked at the globe in his office. The old girl had other maps as well, but he liked his globe. He had carefully fixed a bit of yarn to show their route, from their defeat in the Arabian Sea, down to Madagascar and further south almost to the South Pole. Their hunters had pursued them further, had followed them into the South Atlantic.

It had been the Chief Engineer who had summed it up best when looking at how the enemies were sailing. A three quarter circle with Enterprise as the lone dot in the missing quarter. "Well, Sir, looks like Evil Pacman is chasing us. And it might be hungry." As much as Carter had wanted to throw his Chief over board for that, he had to appreciate the picture. They were the dot and they were running from Pacman. Almost funny, if it weren't for their lives depending on getting away.

Looking over the navigational data, he pondered. Suddenly, he had an idea. Grabbing his globe, he went up to the bridge.

The stations were fully manned, but he could see how utterly exhausted his men were. Over a week of constant red alert, the old girl running at a flat sprint the whole time. It was a question of what would give first, would the old girl's reactors break or would the humans reach a point where breakdowns could no longer be dealt with by doctors who had gotten increasingly good at both spotting the early symptoms as well as finding ways to distract people.

"Janson, do we have a table detailing when the sea monsters changed their course?" Carter wanted to know.

Carter Janson looked up from his station, frowning. "Yes. I can pull that up," he confirmed.

A long table appeared on a monitor, showing the course changes of their pursuers.

Carter studied the table, checking it against the table of Enterprise's course changes.

"Janson, please tell me you're seeing the same thing as I am," Carter finally asked, his fingers gripping the globe's stand tightly.

Janson looked over the tables, compared things and began to swallow. "If it looks like every course change we made was mirrored by our pursuers, we're seeing the same thing," he confirmed tonelessly.

Carter shuddered. "They're playing with us!" he suddenly shouted. "We try to escape and they keep us boxed in!" he continued.

Janson jumped up and hugged the captain. "Sir, calm down!" he urged.

Carter sagged down, spent. "Thank you, Janson," he finally said, straightening up again. "Being right sucks at times," he joked.

Janson nodded. "So you've told us several times, Sir," he replied.

Carter set down the globe. The last bit of yarn dangling between South Africa and Argentina.

"We need to keep running north," he finally decided. "We might not make it anywhere near friendly waters, but by god, we'll try. And I refuse to believe that these Sea Monsters can keep pace with our old girl forever," he continued.

Janson nodded. "Of course, Sir," he confirmed.

Carter picked up his globe again, studying it. "If we can make it, Brazil. Otherwise, Europe. All else fails, we try to reach home," he mused.

Leaving the bridge again, his eyes fell on the staircase. "Number One, commend the guys who cleaned the staircase last shift, it hasn't looked that good since before I first set foot aboard," Carter called out.

Commander Yates looked up. "Sure," he confirmed, making a note of it. Looking at the retreating back of his captain, he wondered what that had been about and stepped outside. Looking at the stairs, he blinked. The stairs were pristine. All those little signs of aging, of countless layers of paint, of chipping damage and rust, things the simply accumulated out at sea, they were gone. Yates would have bet his head on the fact that the stairs had never been this pristine. "Janson," he finally called out. "Could you take a look to confirm that I am not seeing things?" he said.

Janson groaned internally. He had not signed up to be the sane one aboard. Thank you very much. Yates and Carter had been the well-behaved scouts, he had been responsible for doing the outrageous stunts. Which made him wonder if he was still Persona Non Grata in Nevada.

Getting up from his post and stepping outside, he looked at the stairs. Pristine stairs, like fresh from the dockyard. "Well, I'll be buggered. Whoever or whatever did this, I don't know. But those stairs look brand new," he concluded.

Yates nodded. "Thought so," he grumbled. "I'll call up Petersen to take over your post. You go and take some people and check for other areas where wear and tear has receded. The deck crews should be mostly free," he ordered.

Janson saluted. "Yes, Sir," he confirmed and grinned. This might well be something to allow the men to take their mind off things.

Captain Carter made his way down to engineering. Their crews were arguably the ones under the most stress. Enterprise could run at full load for an extended period of time, but one week at a flat sprint was not something anyone would have ever considered sane. And especially not with her somtimes taking fire. Carter had reevaluated the fire Enterprise had taken over the days. It hadn't been meant to disable or seriously damage them. The splashes tended to be behind them. Reinforcing their decision to run away.

Engineering was a hotbed of activity. Chief Engineer Perks sat serenely at his desk, completely at ease with the world.

"Well, someone seems to have a good time," Carter snarked.

Perks nodded happily, indicating the endless reports on his desk. "See, Cap'n," he began. "I was thinking I was dealing with AM here, but it turns out, we're dealing with FM here," he said serenely. "There is no other explanation for what has been occuring for the last three days," he added.

"What has been occuring?" Carter asked, incensed at not having been informed.

"The better question is, what has not been occuring?" Perks gave back. "Quite bluntly, a lot of technical issues that invariably crop up on a ship of this size and age have not occured or somehow fixed themselves. This stack of reports contains faulty wiring, broken lights and other small scale damages as well as routine maintenance work. This stack of reports shows that every single lightbulb we have checked works. There's not a single outlet aboard the ship that doesn't get electricity. Every shower head works perfectly. The desalination plant is in pristine condition. And so on," he laid out. "So we started looking at the bigger and smaller things. Do you know what we found? Rust is actively receding. Places that show their age like stairs? They look brand new," he explained.

Carter was speechless, standing there, looking down at the reports, back at his chief engineer, back to the reports before finally asking the first question that came to mind. "FM?" he wanted to know.

Perks smiled beatifically. "It's a term engineers tend to use," he explained. "Usually when people get brainbugs like skyways, skycars, monorails and similar projects. You know, things that need expensive infrastructure and are meant to replace trains with "definitely not trains, we promise!" to save money. We called them FM solutions to AM problems. Actual Machines work perfectly well, but some people want Fucking Magic. And FM is needed for such projects to work. Lots of FM," he explained. "When we catalogued the things that work to specs that even the most anal-retentive board of inspectors would consider crushingly brutal, there is only one explanation. FM. Which means, after all these years, Yates was proven wrong," Perks continued serenely.

Carter began to wander through his memories. Something tugged at his memories, there was something.

Looking at the still smiling Perks, he remembered. They had been fresh cadets, Perks and Yates had ended up in one of their many arguments. Yates had categorically insisted that magic and supernatural things were impossible. And here they were, with proof that the supernatural was in fact real.

"You know that Admiral Bennett is going to die of a stroke if you do this," Carter said with a malicious chuckle.

"Far be it from me to wish harm upon a superior officer," Perks gave back with about as much sincerity as any Grand Vizeer who wanted to be Caliph instead of the Caliph.

Up on the bridge, Yates felt a shiver run down his spine. It was as if his sister was laughing at him. May her Army soul return to hell post haste.

Janson had meanwhile assembled a few men of the deck crews and they were slowly going through the ship, looking for signs of wear and tear. Spots of rust, flaked paint, stuff like that. And slowly, things took on a strange turn. All those little spots, they couldn't be found. The showerheads looked factory new for one thing. Even the various tools in the hangar looked brand spanking new.

Looking over the findings the men reported to him, he began to chuckle. "Oh man. I can't wait to tell Yates," he said while rubbing his hands. "The big lug is going to have kittens," he added, laughing at the impending misfortune of his old friend.

Carter meanwhile sat down next to Perks. "Guess that makes you and Yates even again," he observed.

Perks nodded. "And I think we really need to stop this. We've had a good run with those antics, but honestly, last time I was on shore leave, my wife told my daughters to ask me for make-up tips, seeing that I am better than her at it," he confessed.

Carter snorted. "Better is good," he chuckled. "You've made Janson into a convincing woman for stage plays. I'd never have thought I could buy a Juliet that looks like she could beat Romeo at arm wrestling without even trying," he confessed.

"The magic of the stage," Perks chuckled. "Good old days," he added, somewhat wistfully.

Carter nodded. "I'd never thought we'd make it this far. Nor that we would end up in such a situation," he agreed. "Will the old girl make it?" he wanted to know.

Around them it felt like haughty disapproval.

Perks laughed. "Two cardinal sins at once. Implying she is old and implying she could fail. You'll have to make that one up to her, Cap'n," he explained.

Sobering up, he shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. It's FM, we're flying deaf and blind by the seat of our pants and we're still trying to outrun Evil Pacman. We've heard some stuff, girls on the seas fighting these things off. I'd be inclined to disbelieve them, but we're hunted by sea monsters and we have before our eyes proof that magic is happening. So, who knows. About the only thing I am certain of? Just like her mother, she will not give up," he said.

Over the next days, the northward journey continued, the carrier still hunted by enemies, enemies that never seemed to stop.

Janson looked over the photographs taken from the enemies, comparing them before coming to a conclusion that really didn't sit well with him.

"Captain," he said urgently. "I don't think we've been hunted by the same group all this time," he slowly laid out. "Rather, enemies join at the mouth of Pacman and leave astern of us. Also, over the last hours, the amount of hunters has nearly doubled. I've checked, those that have joined since six hours ago haven't left. I think we may be reaching the end of the hunt, Sir," he explained. "We've registered very few shots in our general direction as well," he added.

Carter turned pale. "So this is it. Evil Pacman will finally devour the dot. Well, we're not going quietly. I want all planes in the air. We're going to take as many of these things as we can with us!" he declared.

All aboard the ship, the alarm was raised. Flight time was over, it was time to fight.

"This is the captain speaking. Our hunter seems to be satisfied. They herded us where they want to have us. Well, we are not a prey animal. We have claws of our own and we are going to use them. Today, we will do the name USS Enterprise proud!" Carter announced.

The preparations for take-offs sprang into action. There would be no sleep this night.

Out on the sea, the Abyssals of the North Atlantic Merchant Raider Princess giggled in delight. They had promised a lot of things to a lot of people for them to drive that Carrier into their arms. Not that they intended to honor their promises, Princesses like South Atlantic Raider or Indian Ocean Raider or Plague Island Princess were not worth it. Too psychotic, too fixated on the next kill. North Atlantic Raider considered herself above these barbarians. "We strike at dawn. Break that ship open and let its poisonous heart bleed," she ordered.

Looking at the ship in question, how it prepared for its final fight, sent a thrill through her. It would lash out, but there was no greater joy than that. Let them fight, let them realize the futility and savor the moment when they realize that they are prey. Helpless prey, to be dealt with as the Abyss saw fit. "You live because we allow it, and you'll die because we demand it!" she sent over the airwaves. Maybe the prey understood her, she doubted it, though.

Morning came and with it the roar of jets taking off in rapid succession. Enterprise herself had oriented herself to the nearest land, which by now was Portugal and even it was 6 hours at a flat sprint. Portuguese authorities had promised to try to send planes, but they couldn't promise anything. The damage of the week-long assault was still raw. Enterprise would have to fight for her life alone, it seemed.

Yet, for all that she was likely to go down, few were disheartened. They might go down, but they would go down swinging as hard as they possibly could.

The planes streaked out, doing their best to attack nimble targets in the waves.

Enterprise herself moved forwards, towards the now closed ring, intending to break through or die trying.

The Abyssals on the other hand started to shoot the carrier and the planes, trying to slow the charging ship down.

The first thing the Abyssals noticed after several confirmed hits was that the ship had been able to basically shatter everything. Atop the conning tower, a tall, redheaded woman gestured "Up yours!" in defiance.

The planes that had been sent in to deal damage with bombs and rockets had been shot out of the sky.

North Atlantic Merchant Raider frowned. Things were not going according to plan at all. The high explosive shells of her daughters should have ripped that ship open like a clam. The bombers should have pierced the poisonous heart to make it bleed its poison and make vast areas of the ocean inhospitable.

Instead the ship was virtually unscratched. Yes, a few of the planes had been shot down, but that was no consolation. At all.

It was at that point that one of her scouts reported the dreaded message. "Battlecruisers inbound!" came urgently.

And if that wasn't enough, new flights of planes entered the fray. Strafing her daughters and killing a few of them.

Even the carrier brought her guns to bear and while there weren't many that could actually hurt them, the few that could tried their best.

Her scout plane, sent up to warn of potential enemies, was torn to shreds by what looked like a flight of Fairey planes. An enemy CV had entered the fray, her daughters shot appalingly and couldn't decide what to focus on and overall, things were not going according to plan.

Merchant Raider looked around. The battlecruisers closing in from the North would soon be in gun range and her daughters had lost any semblance of control, abandoning the virtually unharmed CV to focus on the battlegroup to the North.

"SHOOT THE DAMN CARRIER!" North Atlantic Merchant Raider Princess roared in anger.

To her immense displeasure, only half her daughters listened, the others speeding up towards the battlecruisers. Mentally she wrote them off already, light cruiser types tended to fare poorly against capital ships. Her obedient daughters resumed shelling the carrier, finally starting to deal noticeable damage. Gun mounts were destroyed and holes were ripped into the ship, but it was too little, too late.

Her disobedient daughters had been crushed. A few seemed to have run off, abandoning everything alltogether. The others were dead, their IFFs no longer broadcasting.

Shell splashes around her convinced her that the fight was lost. The carrier had taken damage, with fires burning on the deck, but it wasn't nearly enough. The poisonous heart was still closed, its poison contained.

"Retreat!" North Atlantic Merchant Raider Princess finally ordered, before speeding off towards the south. She didn't look back to see who would follow. Either they'd follow, or they died and thus delayed the pursuit of her, either was fine for her.

Aboard Enterprise, the retreat of the sea monsters was watched with awe. Camera footage would later confirm 13 kills of various types of abyssal for Enterprise and her crew. The Spanish and Portuguese reinforcements would claim another 6 between them and the women standing on the water another 45 in total. Lieutenant Commander Janson would later tally it with the Abyssals he had counted to show that a mere 11 had gotten away.

Damage Control crews worked hard, repairing whatever they could, fighting fires, helping gather the wounded and dead and keeping the ship running. The pilots were directed to Portugal, to land at the nearest available airport.

On the bridge, Carter looked out the window and shook his head. By now, the girls standing on water had closed the distance to the carrier and radio contact had been established. A few girls that apparently were destroyers had fanned out and collected the pilots that had been shot down. Not all of them were still alive, but nevertheless, Carter ordered the Mess to prepare 20 gallons of ice cream for each pilot a girl brought. According to one girl that apparently was a carrier, the remnants of their hunters were running south at full speed. Something for later. For now, he had other things to consider.

"Perks, how bad is it?" he wanted to know.

Perks audibly inhaled. "Bit of a good news, bad news situation. Good news, even the penetrating hits on the ship were comparatively minor. Sure, showering and sleeping will be cramped, but it could have been considerably worse. The superstructure on the other hand? We're going to need yard work. We're lucky we're not reduced to either flag signals or shouting. Most of our guns are destroyed and until we've been through a rebuild and thorough checks, we're not sending up another bird," the chief engineer laid out.

"Captain," the radio operator piped up. "One of the girls is asking for you," he reported.

Carter went to the man. "Put her through," he ordered while taking a headset. "Carter speaking," he greeted.

"Greetings, captain. I am HMS Hood and I would like to cordially invite you, your crew and your ship to Portsmouth. You have more than earned a period of rest among friends," Hood offered.

Carter pondered this for a moment. "I suppose a trip to the US is out of the question," he mused.

Hood sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. We will do our utmost to allow you and your ship to return home as quickly as possible, but right now, we can but offer hospitality. The fires set by the Deep Sea Fleet have barely started to simmer down. There is constant fighting to clear the northern route to reestablish contact with the United States. Your ship, as resilient as she has proven herself to be, would currently not survive a trip across the Atlantic. We have fought Deep Sea Fleet battleships before, fortunately none of them were present here. If they had been, I doubt we would be talking right now," Hood stated bluntly.

Carter suppressed a groan. He had suspected such, but to hear it spelled out like that was bitter. Still, he would defer to Hood on this. He was out of date when it came to the tactical situation. "It would be an honor to follow you to Portsmouth," Carter finally said. They would get home, eventually. Yates would get dressed in drag for the next officers' ball hosted by Admiral Bennett and spend the evening dancing Tango with Perks. And beyond that? Carter wasn't sure. He had offered the navy decades of his life. This hunt felt like it had taken decades off his life. Maybe it was time to find out what the rest of his life would be like.

*-*-*

Near the equator, the ragged remnants of North Atlantic Merchant Raider Princess' fleet formed up again. Three merchant cruisers, three destroyer escorts, four large torpedo boats and the Princess. The Princess was livid. Everything she planned had gone down the drain. Her daughters had been useless. They couldn't even sink a single ship.

"Imagine my surprise when my daughters contacted me and reported that none of the promised goods were where you'd said they were," a new voice spoke up in the darkness.

North Atlantic Merchant Raider Princess looked around in the darkness. This was exactly the last person she wanted to meet right now. Her psychotic twin sister.

"Oh, who am I kidding, I expected you to have lied. You always thought yourself better, not bound to your word," the voice continued as searchlights began to illuminate the group. "You promised food. Well, my daughters hunger," South Atlantic Raider Princess declared.

Turning to her daughters, she pointed at her sister's fleet. "Feed to your hearts' content," she ordered, leading to her daughters surging forward, tearing into the exhausted abyssals and feasting on them.

South Atlantic Raider Princess rushed forward and grabbed her sister, breaking her neck and ripping her open, letting her destroyers feast. Ripping off the head and looking into the dead eyes of her twin sister, she grinned. "I guess, dear sister, that you are naught but prey," she said before throwing the head to the runt of the litter of destroyers she had. The little one needed some extra food and she would provide.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part I
Spoiler: Norimune's Children Assemble

14th Floor Luxury Suite, Hotel Okura Tokyo:

Colombe D'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler smiled at the bellhop as he placed the hard-sided carry-on suitcase containing her true self on the large bed, and then handed over a fifty euro bill as a tip. "Merci, that will be all. I am expecting the rest of my party to arrive on other flights, so when Miss Jacklyn Fox and Miss Delilah de Breuil show up at the front desk, please send them up here."

As he bowed and departed, she skipped over to the window like a little girl and gazed over the Tokyo skyline as dusk started to fall and the lights came on. Somewhere out there, the objective of her centuries of searching was there.

Father... I'm coming for you...

Her face hardened and she opened the latches on the suitcase with a whispered incantation to disarm the security spells on it, and then drew the rapier within it from her sheath. A small servicing kit followed and she began to hone her steel as she stared at the skyline, using the familiar ritual of self-care to try to still her racing heart.

Meanwhile:

"Mou, Norimune, why are you sneezing, have you caught a cold? Oh! Colds are running around and we have to catch them! Nameless-chan, we have to catch these colds so Winter will come!"

A hand met face as the Unrepentant Blade grumbled about being stuck on Goldfish-sitting duty again between sneezes.

One Month Ago in the De Breuil household:

"Right, the conditions to head to Japan have been met. Now we can track down Norimune so Jacklyn can meet her idol, Colombe can beat up Father for abandoning her, and I can reconcile Norimune and Mère."

"Oui!" "Sure thing, Del, looking forward to this trip!"

"Step one is to travel to Japan, of course. I can just Floo there using the MACUSA network, or smuggle myself through the increased security after 9/11 as a law enforcement agent who can carry firearms on an airplane. The problem is that Colombe has the multiple ICW warrants out and if she uses the Floo will get flagged as a fugitive for any arrival point that I have not modified the security wards like here. And Jacklyn...well..."

"Dinnae mind me, Del. No nation on earth that Cap'n Fox, Scourge of the Sargasso Sea cannot sneak into for gold and glory!"

"..... Right. That leaves Colombe. You don't have any pending nomaj arrest warrants, do you?" Left unspoken was the qualifier "this year, you trouble-seeking maniac".

"..... I don't think so? That mess in the Balkans when Yugoslavia disintegrated should have blown over by now, right? My 1994 trip to Rwanda so Kasuyu could attend that tribal chief's crowning ceremony right before the country went mad was not pinned on me by the muggles, after all. Besides the EU doesn't pay attention to arrest warrants for African countries... Del? Why are you beating your head against the table?"

The revolver looked up to glare at the rapier before beating her head against the polished oak table once more. "I swear, Sis, these escapades of yours will be the death of me..."

"Whatever. I'll just fly out of Brussels to Tokyo on KLM. I can make the hotel reservations too, since I'm the wealthiest of us all. I even made sure to renew my Belgian passport!"

A weary sigh punctuated the thudding of a forehead on polished oak as Jacklyn began to laugh. "Oi, Del! Buck up, this will be an epic tale of adventure and danger!"

"That's what I'm afraid of. Would it kill you both for something we all do to not turn into a disaster!?"

"Oui!" "Yeppers, Del!"

MACUSA Embassy, Magical Chiyoda, Tokyo two hours after Colombe's arrival:

The Floo portal flamed green and Delilah stepped out, brushing soot from her traveling dress and shoulder harness. She approached the security station and presented an ornate scroll marked with the seal of the Magical Congress to the security Aurors.

"Auror Colonel De Breuil on business to look into matters of interest in Japan." She stated flatly as a gem inset in the archway ahead flared green.

The Auror saluted. "Pass Colonel. We will have the house-elves carry your luggage for you." he then paused, glanced around, and lowered his voice. "Its a political powder keg out there, especially with elections coming up. I'm just glad that the President is sending someone to keep an eye on our interests here."

Delilah smiled smugly. "Thank you for the heads-up. I don't want to be seen as favoring one side or the other since the politics are so unsettled, so I have made arrangements to stay incognito with a friend while I observe. Have the Embassy deliver my trunks to Hotel Okura under my name. I will heading there to once I check in with the Ambassador and the head of the Aurors here."

"Yes, ma'am!"

As Delilah left the embassy to board a cab, a shopkeeper across the street took her photograph and started to write a note for delivery to the Magical Diet's offices.

His master would pay well for information that MACUSA had sent one of their top troubleshooters to Japan ahead of the pending elections. Especially if she made covert contact with the shadow government in Kyoto...

Tokyo Bay, Midnight. Three Hours after Delilah arrives:

"Oi, here's the cargo you ordered! Five tons of ditany for potions! Pleasure doin' business with ye!"

"Likewise, Jacklyn-sama. This will help with flu season approaching." Galleons clinked in the dim light of the city ahead as they exchanged hands.

"I'll be in port for a spell, anytin' I should know about?"

"The whores on Kuraba Street are the best."

"Aye, I'll have to check them out!"

Kuraba Street, two hours later:

Jacklyn Fox strutted out of the recommended brothel with a spring in her step and a tune on her lips. As she hefted her worn seabag on her back and headed for the tram station, a scarred and tattooed man heading the other way had a double take and glared at her with hatred.

The Oyabun needed to be informed. The Captain of USS Foxfish had finally surfaced and revenge for the sinking of their smuggling ships during the Pacific War was now at hand...

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part II

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura:
Spoiler: Tokunotakai's theme

The city's lights illuminated a solitary female figure in the white haori and red hakama of a miko sweeping the temple steps with a traditional bamboo broom. Any onlooker in the early hours of the morning could be excused in thinking that time had stood still as the young woman moved through the early-morning sea mist in the traditional task.

This would be especially true if the onlooker realized that this young-seeming woman had swept these steps beginning three hours before dawn every morning for over four centuries without fail.
Spoiler: Honjo's Shrine Maiden Sister


Masamune-no-Tokunotakai finished the step that she was on and moved up, her wooden sandals clattering. A serene smile graced her elegant features and her blue-green eyes sparkled as she continued her daily chore. To the Masamune of the Warrior's Virtues, she would not have a morning begin any other way. Sleeping just three hours on her plain mat before rising before dawn to clean the shrine as an act of Integrity, Duty, and Respect was as much a part of her as her classes in kendo and kyudo that she taught for those who wished to learn the virtues she embodied, her assistance in festivals as just one of many mikos who honored Hachiman, or the enchanted masterwork steel that embodied her.

She finished her sweeping and bowed to the shrine, speaking aloud to start the change to her daily routine that she had made a century and a half ago. "As Musashi Miyamoto-sensei said, 'The purpose of today's training is to defeat yesterday's understanding.'"

Concluding her statement of daily purpose, she walked to the dojo where she taught her classes. Inside, she removed her sandals and opened the shoji screen to reveal a small private rock garden with mist making the rocks looks like islands in a magical sea. She then knelt in seiza facing the open screens, her breathing regularizing.

Her face fell into a meditative posture as the years blurred back in her memory until the day that had changed her life emerged from her memory.

Once, a century and a half ago, she was blinded by her arrogance.

She had assumed that she was the ultimate exemplar of bushido, and why would she not?

She had been born by the hand of the master Masamune in his forge, enchanted and gifted to the temple of Hachiman to serve the God of Eight Banners. She had even been consecrated as the more worthy offering above a Muramasa mastercrafted blade. In her decades of faithful service, she saw these things reinforce her worth and step by step began to depart the Way of the Warrior. She never realized that she was straying from the true path, puffing herself up, until someone from outside gave her a lesson in humility.

She shook her head and her lips curved in a wry chuckle at the blindness and foolishness of her younger self.

That day a foreign tsukumogami had come to the shrine from Europe, defiling its sanctity and peace with her rude demands. Despite the foreign spirit's claim to be on a quest to find her father, Tokunotakai had barred the way, demanding firmly for the unworthy gaijin to go rather than showing compassion and respect for her and assisting her in her honorable quest as her duty as a miko demanded..

Hot words had been exchanged, and insult had been responded to with insult. The Masamune flushed in remembered shame at the memory that she had drawn first, challenging the intruder to a duel with live steel and spellcraft. Not out of honorable defense of the shrine so much as anger at the affront that she perceived being given to her home, her Master, and to herself. Anger and misplaced pride that caused her to act not as a samurai, but as little more than a common street thug.

A whispered spell and a gesture caused the mist to swirl in from the garden to form seven clones of herself in the dojo facing her. Each one had a character for one of the seven virtues of Bushido glowing on her forehead. She quietly listed each virtue as she knelt in seiza before them, her hands caressing her sheathed true self.

Gi, Integrity and Rectitude. Rei, Respect. Yu, Heroic Courage. Meiyo, Honor. Jin, Compassion. Makoto, Honesty and Sincerity. Chu, Duty and Loyalty.

At the end of her meditation upon her failings she bowed and recited Miyamoto Musashi's words that she had read but not understood until the moment when the blow from the foreigner had knocked the wind from her lungs, the strength from her body...and victory from her grasp.

"Anger. Control your anger. If you hold anger toward others, they have control over you.Your opponent can dominate and defeat you if you allow him to get you irritated."

With that the seven clones drew their replicas of herself and attacked. Tokunotakai blurred out of her kneeling position in an iaido strike and Makoto's head flew from her shoulders as her body dissolved back into mist. Chu's pear-splitter was blocked by the scabbard in Tokunotakai's off hand and the counterstroke skewered Duty in the heart even as the Masamune flash-stepped between Yu and Meiyo, her blade moving like lightning as the Courage and Honor clones disintegrated.

Jin, Rei, and Gi cut at her as she leapt and dodged backward, parrying what she could before a riposte cleft Rei shoulder to hip. Gi's blade leapt out as Jin locked blades with Tokunotakai, the Masamune almost parrying it with her scabbard. A small tear formed in her robe over her collarbone and blood began to ooze from the shallow cut, and her brow wrinkled minutely. Changing tactics, she threw her scabbard at Gi's throat, and used the moment of diversion as with a grunt of effort, Tokunotakai grasped Jin's wrist, using a jujitsu throw to hurl the clone from her followed by a blast of wind magic that blew Compassion back into mist.

Now alone, Gi began to circle Tokunotakai, feinting attacks as the clone smiled smugly. The Masamune blade moved in calm counterpoint, refusing to get baited until she suddenly flash stepped past the clone. A fresh cut appeared in the sleeve of her haori as the final clone returned to where it came from. She turned and waved her hand, directing a gust of wind to pick up her scabbard to return it to her so that she could properly sheathe herself.

Automatically Tokunotakai bowed to the rock garden beyond the open shoji screen in thankfulness for her morning lesson before closing the screen as the morning mist began to dissipate with the coming sunrise.

She walked to her private chashitsu tearoom then began to hand brew a cup of green tea to finish her daily morning ritual. As she poured the water, she paused briefly as she saw a single vertical stalk float to the top of the cup.

"I see. I shall have a visitor today."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

The curtains of Harry's bed were closed when the door to his Owl Box rose up to reveal Shiromizu. Said Mizuchi transformed into her lamia form and slipped through the curtains to find Harry staring at the canopy of his bed silently. Around him, various Smols had unsure and worried expressions, when Minagato turned to her, "Gato. Gato gato gato."

Lips twitching a bit, Harry glanced at the Smol and shook his head, "I'm fine, Minagato."

All the Smol did though was turn to face him with her pudgy hands on her hips. A near perfect attempt at replicating the larger Nagato's look and one she nearly succeeded at. Rolling her eyes, Shiromizu moved her coils up onto the bed and laid down beside him, "No you're not."

Frowning, Harry shrugged his shoulders some, "I am."

Her tone dry, the Mizuchi's voice was laden with sarcasm, "Oh yes, because the canopy is so interesting. Really, it is positively riveting." After getting a grumble, she turned to him, "Want to talk about it to Onee-Chan?"

Silence met her for roughly a minute and then Harry sighed, "You're not going to give up unless I actually talk, are you?"

On her face, was a smirk, "No, no I am not." Shiromizu's smile then fell away, "I know that it is eating you up from the inside."

Grimacing, Harry looked at her and huffed, "Can you really read me that well?"

Eyebrow raised, Shiromizu snorted some, "I would be amazed if I couldn't. Not after we've known each other for... what is it now? Five, six years at least?"

About to say something, the wizard paused. Then he sighed and shook his head, "Around that." Still staring at the bed canopy, he let out a breath in the form of a huff, "I'm sort of pissed the heck off right now about it. We had him! We freaking had him, and he escaped because..."

Slowly, Shiromizu nodded, "He escaped because the adults, the ones who should have been able to, failed. Because of them not realizing the danger or beefing up security, the man who led to your parents dying is once more free."

For a few moments, Harry scratched his head but finally gave a sound of agreement, "About right. I mean, I can understand that what happened came from nowhere. No one could have expected that it was that Yaxley guy who was a hidden Death Eater after all. Susan was rather shaken up because he's visited her aunt at their family manor and she's been there. If he had wanted to, he could have brought down most of the protections from the inside and exposed them to an attack."

Rubbing her chin in thought, the serpent next to him frowned, "It is something unexpected. And also lets us get a look as to why the Death Eaters were so feared if they could have someone in that deep of cover for decades and no one know." With a glance, she raised an eyebrow, "You don't think that Peter had a reason for his fear, do you?"

That got her a scoff from her long time friend, and little brother figure, "No, even what happened does not condone what he did, Shiromizu. Voldemort had nothing to do with it and it was his own actions that brought it down on him. The point still remains though, my parents trusted him with their lives and would have died for him. But he could not do the same for them, because even his fear of it maybe happening was enough for him to turncoat. So many people lost their lives who didn't need to, all because he wanted to keep himself safe. Look at how my parents set up theirs and his safety! They were his secret keeper just like he was theirs. He would have been perfectly safe, but instead chose to betray them."

Head tilted to the side, Shiromizu gave a nod, "That is true enough. Everything he has done, can be traced back to his own actions. None of it was Voldemort, or the Death Eaters really, it lies at his feet." Grimacing, she shook her head, "Though the whole thing with the Death Eaters changes things..."

A shudder went through Harry as he nodded, "Especially if half the things in the Prophet were true."

Conversationally, the young Mizuchi next to him hummed, "You know, Senpai was not too happy when she found out what happened the other night. Neither was her mother." This time, it was Shiromizu who shuddered, "Mary Maleficus is a really scary woman when it comes to traitors and such. Some of the things she muttered about what she would have done to Yaxley were... disturbing enough that even Senpai backed up a bit."

Blinking, Harry stared at her for a few moments and then slumped back into the pillows, "I can imagine." Several seconds passed of silence before he closed his eyes, "It is just... I want to stop thinking about it, but I can't. Sirius is still going free apparently, but..."

Shiromizu gave a slow nod of understanding, "Just the fact that Peter is still out there gets to you." At the nod from the thirteen year old, she frowned and thought. Finally, a slight smile crossed her face and she patted him on the arm, "You know what you need? Something to get your mind off what happened."

More than a little confused, he stared at her but still allowed for her to pull him from the bed. After transforming back into her snake form, she asked that he take her to where the Room of Requirement was, which Harry did with little complaint. Once they were there though, he looked at her, "{Now what?}"

There was a smirk on her snake face, but she gave a small nod, "{Get us the biggest room that you can.}"

While still confused, Harry gave a shrug and walked back and forth until the door appeared and stepped inside. Upon doing so, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped some as he looked around, "Okay, this is impressive..."

Slithering off his shoulders, Shiromizu gave her own nod as she spoke, her voice echoing a little, "Hai... this must be what the Room of Many Things looks like when it is completely empty." Head tilted to the side, she hummed some, "We've got to be talking about a space that has to be at least a kilometre long judging by the size. And about... what? Three hundred feet wide?"

Harry could only nod, "There abouts, this place is bigger then aircraft hangers!"

Laughter made him turn to where Shiromizu was rubbing her hands together, "Which makes it perfect for what we need."

Eyebrow raising, the thirteen year old wizard frowned, "O-kay? And that is...? What exactly?"

In Shiromizu's eyes was a sparkle of amusement as began to walk along, gesturing for Harry to follow her, "Well, a few things. See, while I was at Kami-Con-" That got a snort from Harry, which made her laugh, "What? It fits... Anyways, while I was there I decided to learn some skills from the other Mizuchi and Wani, or those that they were willing to show me. But the major one is this."

Watching, Harry's eyes widened as a ball of flame gathered in Shiromizu's hand. It was a soft orange, but it was obvious to him that it was not a natural heat. Slowly, the flame grew from the size of a candle's flame to one the size of a basketball, and then a beachball. The whole time, he could not feel any heat from it.

With a gesture, Shiromizu sent it hovering in the air with others joining it in an odd dance. Even as Harry watched, the flames warped and changed into various shapes. At one point, into a stylized Japanese dragon. With a start, he realized what she was using, "Ryūtō..."

Just nodding, the serpent nodded with a smile, "Hai, Ryūtō. A form of Kaika, strange fire, that us dragons can produce. In English, it would be 'Dragon lights', a phenomena that appears above bodies of water where us dragons live. Senpai helped me master it to this level, though hers is far more impressive."

That made Harry blink some, "Wait, really?"

Shrugging, Shiromizu shook her head, "They really are, though she mostly uses them for intimidation for the most part and mixes them with the flames of a Yuurei. So unlike a normal Mizuchi's whose Ryūtō doesn't actually have a temperature, hers are really, really cold. If she wants, they can cause frostbite within seconds and such, like freezer burn."

Harry shuddered a bit at that and shook his head. Regular dragon fire was bad enough, one whose flames were supernaturally cold was worse in some ways. Instead, he focused back on the Ryūtō, which had taken the form of a dragon once more and was hovering around him and Shiromizu. It seemed to pause and look at him before breaking apart into embers of light with the Mizuchi slumping a bit, "Shiromizu?!"

Waving him off, she straightened some, "Don't worry, Harry. Just a bit tired since that is mentally exhausting for me. But... that was not the only thing that I wanted to do." Upon seeing his curiosity, she backed up some, "Just... watch, Otouto."

Only nodding, Harry did so only for his eyebrows to shoot nearly to his hairline in surprise as Shiromizu transformed into a snake... except this one was obviously able to compare with record holders. But then he noted the smirk on her face and this time his jaw dropped a bit as a ripple seemed to spread through her. And before his very eyes, she continued to transform as her coils thickened and lengthened still further. Even her head seemed to elongate a small bit.

Finally, she stopped and smiled down at him as Harry took her in, "Well? What do you think?"

Awed, Harry only shook his head, "Amazing." Moving, he looked down the empty room to take her in before taking in each bit separate. Shiromizu's head, alone, was the size of a truck with each eye the size of a dinner plate as they glowed with power. From the back of her head, Harry could see two small horns. Really, just stubs of bones, if something the length and thickness of his arms could be called such. At the tips, they were just beginning to branch. Walking forward, he placed a hand on her snout and chuckled as her breath blew his hair back. At the feel of the warm scales under his hand, he shook his head, "Wow..."

Smirking some, Shiromizu lightly laughed, "Want to see more?" At his nod, she opened her mouth wide enough that he could have stepped inside and be able to stand fully upright without worry of hitting the roof of her mouth, "Ahhhhhh!"

That got a laugh from Harry as well and he stepped forward to better look. Most people would be utterly terrified to be looking into the mouth of a dragon. But then, the thirteen year old was not most people and trusted his friend implicitly. Pulling out his wand, he lit it for a better look. Two giant fangs, each at least four feet long, jutted from both the top and bottom of her jaws. Other teeth, at least ten inches, lined the rest of her mouth, in rows. Reaching out, Harry barely tapped one only to yank his hand back and shake it, "Sharp."

With a snort, Shiromizu pulled back some and shut her mouth, "No, really? I would never have guessed that my teeth were sharp." Amused, she shifted her head so that it was in profile, "What do you think of my horns?"

Running a hand along one, all the wizard could do was shake his head, "Amazing." Glancing down her body, he gave her a questioning look. At her nod, he began to walk down her form, one hand on her side as it brushed against scale as hard as steel. Partway down, he paused and bent down. From between her scales, just a foot above her belly scales, was a fleshy stub about the size of his forearm. From the end of it though, from bumps, there were small bone spurs the size of his pinkie. With a start, Harry realized that this was one of Shiromizu's forelimbs.

When he looked further down her body, Harry could see a second which he knew was one of her hindlimbs.

Neither were truly impressive to be quite honest, perhaps a bit funny compared to the rest of her body. But they still told him that his friend was still transforming, changing with every day. Part of him wondered what she would look like once she was all done even as the small, still forming limb wiggled a bit. Continuing his walk down her body, he glanced at where her spine was and could see the raised scales there and looked back towards her head, "Um, Shiromizu? Could you tilt your body a bit to the side?" He knew that the question amused her, but she did so with him backing up a step or two as to not be crushed, "Thanks."

As he could not better see, Harry looked closer at the raised scales, running his hand along them. They also seemed to be splitting down their middles in thin lines. But even now, the wizard could see small fibers poking out from underneath and inside the cracks. Fibers that would one day become the hair of the mane that would run down her length. Continuing his exploration, he finally reached her end and looked at her tail. Here, the cracked scales were more obvious and the last few inches of her tail was covered in soft hair.

Casting a spell, the thirteen year old began to walk back along her undulating length, a small ribbon following from where the end was at her tail. Reaching her head, he made a flick and a number came up which made him whistle, "Eighty feet long... that is really impressive."

Moments later, he felt her tongue wrap around him and then lift him up onto her head. At his yelp, Shiromizu laughed as Harry tried to keep his balance, "Well, of course I am impressive! I am a Mizuchi after all."

Quickly cleaning his robes, Harry shook his head with a slight grin of his own, "That you are." Laying back on her head, he stared at the ceiling in thought, "You know... this summer I wonder if you could give me a ride?"

Laughing, Shiromizu grinned at that, "Actually, that sounds like fun. And I would love to go and give myself a real bit of exercise in this form." Feeling his look, she gave the best form of a shrug that she could in the form that she was in, "Not many places really where I can fully dragon up and let loose safely."

For a few seconds, Harry considered that before shrugging, "True." His grin returned and was soon mirrored by Shiromizu's own, "We'll just need to change that."

Both teens laughed at that as they imagined it.

Shortly after transforming back, Shiromizu gave him a slight smile, "By the way, Harry? There was another reason that I came besides this."

Interested, he turned to her, "Really? What?"

For the first time, there was an unsure look on her face before she coughed and looked away, "I... was wondering if you could do something for me." At his nod, Shiromizu continued, "My Shrine is well on the way to being complete. But... I was wondering if you could make the Komainu for it using your magic. Dragons in this case."

Unable to say anything, Harry stared at her and was about to say no, that anything he made would not be worthy. But then... she looked at him and he could see how important it was in her eye. How important that he do this for her Shrine, for her. That she wanted something that he had made as pride of place. Understanding now what this meant, Harry felt the pinpricks of tears gathering at the corners of his eyes and smiled, "Sure, I can do that, Shiro-Nee."

That got him the brightest of smiles from her.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

Fluffy hit the ground with a loud thump, rolling a couple times before coming to a rest in a disheveled heap. "...ow…" she whimpered.

"I see you're still trying to get the hang of jumping." The Princess craned her neck up from her current position to see Regalia peeking around the corner of the cabin with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"

"Yes…" Fluffy admitted sheepishly. "Just kinda sore, is all."

"Hmm…" Regalia looked around her with pursed lips, to the numerous patches of compressed dirt that marked the young Princess's prior takeoff points. She rounded the corner and stepped up to Fluffy, offering her a hand and pulling her to her feet. "I think you may need to start a little smaller than this. I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation in which you'd need to be able to jump with full force AND stick the landing. It's both difficult and a little destructive."

Fluffy briefly shook her head energetically, trying to get the dust and dirt out of her hair. "What do you suggest, then?"

"Just start with normal jumps. Use as much force as your body can naturally produce, and no more. See how high you can get with just that. Then just keep doing that, adding a tiny bit of your horsepower each time. Eventually, you'll have a much easier time controlling how hard you jump."

Regalia turned towards the cabin, focusing on an open window. Fluffy watched with wide eyes as, with just a hop and a skip, the Re-class leaped into the air… landing in the windowsill just as she reached the apex of her jump. Her eyes then fell back to the ground, where Regalia's takeoff had left a far shallower crater than her own—which said a lot, given how much the battlecarrier outmassed her. "Wow… you make it look easy," she mumbled, just a little bit jealous.

Regalia took a few seconds worming herself the rest of the way into the cabin before she poked her head out the window. "Don't get me wrong, I've had years to get good at this sort of thing. But once you get better at controlling how much force you use, it becomes a little like calculating a firing solution. Really not that difficult."

"Calculating a firing solution…?" Well, Fluffy could see what she meant by that. "I guess I can do that much. But what about landing?"

Regalia shrugged. "Best I can really say for you in that respect is that you should bend your knees, and let yourself roll if you have to. And above all, don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

With that, the Re-class waved farewell to the Princess before retreating into the cabin, leaving her to her thoughts. Perhaps Regalia had a point, Fluffy mused… she needed to start small, and work her way up from there. Fluffy spent a few seconds stretching, loosening up her muscles, while internally she cut off her propulsion. Taking a deep breath, she crouched down, tensing her muscles—and jumped with as much force as her human legs could manage.

Fluffy felt herself leave the ground, hang in the air for a moment… but just as quickly, she felt gravity reassert itself, and her feet hit the ground once more. While she wasn't sure how high she'd jumped, it certainly felt far lower than before—a couple feet, at the most. But then again, height wasn't the important thing here; she just needed to get used to running at less than one-hundred percent.

Winding up, Fluffy jumped again—only for her landing to be thrown off by a foot landing in one of the craters surrounding her, sending her tumbling sideways into the pit.

"Ow..."

XXXXXXXXXX

The sea was nice, Marble thought.

The water was pretty, the salty breeze was pleasant, and it was much easier for her to move around in than on land. She just needed to remember to tend to her shell after the fact, keep it smooth and polished… But that would be a couple days away.

In the meantime, her first supply run!

The fledgling Oku-class was practically vibrating as she kept formation with her aunts, eager to see for herself just what sort of stuff she'd be bringing back to the fleet. Would there be lots of scrap metal for her to salvage, to recycle into new ships or other such things? Would there be oil to siphon? Or could there be food? So many possibilities…

"Hey, Marble!" The Oku-class perked up at hearing someone call her name. "You doing alright so far?"

Marble nodded brightly. "I'm doing great, Aunt Rudy! I'm really excited to be taking part in my first sortie so soon!"

Ruadri chuckled. "You're not the only one who's excited, honey, I'll tell you that much. This mission is our fleet's first big step towards being able to provide for ourselves again. Towards repaying the kindness and generosity of our allies."

Marble tilted her head slightly. "That sounds good, I guess. Although I haven't met any humans or shipgirls yet…"

"Don't worry, we'll fix that soon enough. Maybe we can find a way to take you to Japan after this." Ruadri reached out and patted Marble's head. "Just let us know if you're getting tired and need to slow down, okay? We are sailing pretty close to your maximum speed, after all."

"Okay, Aunt Rudy," Marble responded with a nod. "Can't wait to show Momma what a good job I can do…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ritou?"

"I'm working on it! Just let me focus, please..."

"Oh no, you're absolutely right, just take your time… it's not like the rest of us are all bench-pressing a yacht the size of a small destroyer, keeping it from sinking while you slap on a patch job—"

"Look, Sunny, if you wish to have a go at it, then by all means be my guest." Ritou cut off her blowtorch, taking a moment to inspect her work on the steadily-growing patchwork of steel plating before her. "Or, if you want the job done RIGHT, leave it to someone who has a ghost of an idea what they're doing!"

The Battleship Demon groaned, glancing to the other dozen or so Abyssals who were currently aiding her in holding up the heap of scrap that, years ago, was probably a very nice yacht. Unfortunately, Blood Week and the years following it had done a number to the poor boat… stranding it at sea on a reef, exposing it to the elements for ages with no maintenance whatsoever as the coral grew over and into the hull. After they moved in, the submarines had done what they could to keep the deterioration from getting any worse—even managing to partially restore the ship's power—but they couldn't change the fact that if it was dislodged from the reef without repairs, it would sink.

The subs, however, were convinced that it wasn't beyond saving just yet.

"Someone remind me why we're taking this thing home, again?" Asked Ridgeline from her position close to the aft.

"Because it's a big fat yacht, abandoned in the middle of the ocean, that we have all to ourselves!" Ritou stated like it was the most obvious answer in the world—which, in a sense, it was. "A ship this size, in its original condition, would have been worth tens of millions of dollars! Even as ruined as it is now, it's still extremely valuable for us; we would be stupid to just leave it here!"

"But we're Abyssals. What are we going to use it for?"

Ritou shrugged, putting her mask back on and pulling another slab of steel from her hold. "We can work out an answer to that question while we tow the ship back and restore it to working condition. We have plenty of time and options."

"We could use her as a diplomatic vessel, for example," Tanith suggested. "It could give us a bit more of a professional image among the nations of the world."

"Or, perhaps, we could use it as a public ferry," Ritou continued. "Offer trips to and from Avrora for civilians."

"We could even just use it for its intended purpose: leisure," Sunny finished. "While things on Avrora have certainly gotten a lot better with the help of Uncle Harry and others, we still don't really have our own electricity yet. This ship would make a nice, comfortable stopgap for us until we can develop that stuff ourselves."

"Really, nothing's stopping us from using it for all three if we want." Ritou cut off her torch once more, nodding to herself. "Okay, I think I've got the hull more or less sealed. On my mark, I want you all to lift up and pull back."

She glanced to Tanith, who stood just next to the reef that had trapped this vessel for so long. "You ready?"

The dreadnaught nodded. "As much as I can be, for what we're about to do."

Ritou glanced up to Sonata, who was peering down from the deck. "The other submarines standing by to staunch any flooding?"

"We know this place like the back of our hand," Sonata replied, giving her a thumbs-up. "If something starts to break down as we start moving, we'll catch it."

"Alright then. On three. One… two… THREE!"

Ritou leaped back from the hull, scrambling to get clear. As one, the sisters supporting the yacht heaved, eliciting a screech of protest from its hull—but to their relief, it did not buckle or tear. While they did this, Tanith raised her mechanical arms over her head and brought them down as hard as she could on the reef. The result was immediate and quite predictable: the mass of stone and coral pinning the yacht in place all but exploded, in the face of a power equivalent to a dozen twelve-inch guns focused into a single spot.

The Abyssals all fell back in anticipation of what came next—after several seconds of steel screeching as it grated against stone, the vessel finally came free of the reef's clutches, slipping backwards into the water and generating a wave that soaked all the girls.

As the water settled, Sunny sat up. After a moment she realized she had a live fish wriggling in her mouth and spit it out. "Not a sushi kind of girl…" she mumbled.

A short distance away, Ritou pulled off her bonnet and wrung it out. "How's the ship, Sonata? Is it holding up?"

The Submarine Princess spoke up on the radio. {It could be better… but it could be worse, as well. There's a little flooding here and there, but the welds are otherwise holding. It's nothing we can't handle."

"Good. In that case, our part of the job is done."

Ritou looked behind her, to the latest—and smallest—addition to their fleet.

"Now it's your time to shine, Kora!"

The young, pale, muscular girl—a tugboat—gave her mother a sharp salute. "I won't let you down, Ma!"

---

Edit: for those who might be curious...
Spoiler: This is what I had in mind for the yacht the Submarines found.





At 82.5m long and over 1800 tons, this ship is heavier than a John C. butler-class DDE. And it's not even in the list of top 100 largest yachts... anymore, at least.
[/hr]

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking through various papers on the table, Ryuujou had a grimace on her face. At the sound of the door opening though, she looked up to find that Dumbledore was walking in alongside Victory and Jin. With a nod, she pursed her lips thinly, "Thank you for coming."

Eyebrow raised, Dumbledore bowed slightly to her, "You are very welcome. Thank you for asking for us."

With a grunt, Jin slumped into a chair, "Yeah, you're welcome." A frown on her face, she glanced around and noted that the screen was on showing a tired American Admiral on it. Furrowing her eyebrows, she thought it over before realizing that it was Admiral Richardson. Especially as she recognized his wife as well as some of the other shipgirls in Sasebo there that she had seen in the newspapers and on the news. Clearing her through, she turned back to Ryuujou, "So... what are we all doing here?"

For several moments, the Light Carrier was quiet before turning to Junyou. The other Onmyouji Carrier was, for once, stone cold sober, which said loads about the conversation. After a shared look with her sister, the converted Cruise Liner rubbed the side of her head, "Each of us here are involved with the issue regarding Voldemort and his... method of surviving past when he should be dead."

Tapping a finger against the table, Haru ignored the shudder of disgust from her niece. Just like she also didn't comment on how both Shiromizu and Hoshi placed hands of comfort on the younger Kitsune's shoulders, "Yes, his Horcruxes. What of them?" Then she narrowed her eyes slightly, "Unless you have managed to locate some?"

Hiyou shook her head at that, "No, not yet anyways. We've narrowed them down though with at least two seeming to be somewhere in London. Another is somewhere in Northern England. But... we're slowly working at tracking them down. But that is not what we've called all of you today."

A frown on his face as he leaned forward, Goto hummed, "Truly?"

Where she sat, Shiromizu thanked Kongou quietly for the cup of tea and took a sip before setting it down with a puzzled expression on her face, "If it doesn't have to do with the locations of those things, then... what?"

Letting out a deep breath, Ryuujou shook her head, "Well, we've been looking at some things in case they could be useful. Such as examining Dark Marks on Death Eaters. Ah mean, we don't know if some of the places he hid his Horcruxes would not need one ta access them. Better safe then sorry with knowing how they work."

Thoughtful, Dumbledore gave a small nod at that, "Yes, I can see why such knowledge could be useful. Though I very much doubt that Tom would have used such a method, it could give us some insight." He then gave her a piercing look, "Is that why you asked for access to Severus as well as Peter when he was in custody?"

Slowly, Ryuujou shrugged, "Same with MacNair and Yaxley. We wanted a wide sample of these here Dark Marks. Had ta activate them to get better looks, but still. Thank Amelia for us again since she gave us access due to being 'Foreign Witches investigating possible Death Eater activity in the Far East.'"

Jin gave a snort at that, "Oh, Mom is going to love that."

Ignoring the undead Mizuchi's comment, the Headmaster frowned, "And what did you discover then? Something important?"

On Junyou's face was a look as if she had bitten into something truly disgusting, "We found out that the Horcruxes were only one part of Voldemort's full plan to keep himself from dying."

Utter silence met that statement before the others all sat up. Eyes narrowed, Hoshi let out a growl, "Only part of? What else..."

Leaning back, Ryuujou placed her hands on her stomach for several seconds, "Wha' one needs ta understand about Horcruxes is how they work. They anchor one's soul ta the here and now, sort of like one of them Liches in those RPGs. But there is one major difference." Holding up one finger, she continued, "A Horcrux only anchors one's self for as long as they would have lived and then break. So Voldemort might have only a century or two for them to work. Its why they're found in tombs and such, but no longer have a soul piece attached. They just fail once one hits the end of their given lifespan."

Eyebrows furrowed, John leaned towards the screen, "Given lifespan? What do you mean by that?"

Suddenly, Jin spoke up surprising them, "What she means is that everything has a certain amount of lifespan. Even long lived creatures such as Yokai and Mizuchi, though ours would be in the thousands or tens of thousands of years... maybe longer. But there is a definite point where we would die of old age."

Junyou gave a nod at that, "Hai. What most people don't realize is that one is born with a certain amount of life. Grant you, that is a lot and you can stretch it out though various methods. But it does run out eventually. In the case of Voldemort, after a century or two, he would normally reach the end of his lifespan and would then die. Not even his Horcruxes would be able to help him as they protect against unnatural death such as being killed. Not death from old age."

Her eye narrowed, Victory scowled, "Which means that he found someway around it."

Waving a hand, the converted Cruise Liner shook her head, "Less around it, and more a complimentary method. I would be impressed if it was not so sickening... and the method is hidden inside of his Dark Marks he branded his followers with."

At that, Natsumi swallowed, "Um, it doesn't let him drain his followers, right? To stop him from dying?" Seeing the looks, her ears flattened against her head, "That is the only thing that comes to mind..."

Only rubbing the side of her head, Hiyou shook her head, "No, thankfully not. At least consciously." Now that everyone was looking at her, she made a gesture with her hand, "Remember how we stated that everyone is born with a set amount of lifeforce? Which is what their lifespan is based on?" Getting nods, the Light Carrier continued, "Being killed in, say, a fight does not change what is left. What is left, simply... drifts off into the aether, as it were. Unused."

Placing her hands on the table, her purple haired sister looked at each one there, "Wizards have about a century to three or four hundred years for the extreme ends. Usually, it falls somewhere between those two with two hundred or so being common enough. Good exercise and the like can extend that, but that is beside the point. We had to examine each Dark Mark in order to get a good idea of how they work, the four we examined did that..." Grimacing, Junyou let out a sigh, "What the Dark Mark does is that when a marked Death Eater is killed, there is a spell deep inside of it. For that brief moment of death, it absorbs what is left of the lifeforce that would go normally to lifespan, and transmits it to the mark's creator... Voldemort. In the process, that burns out the Dark Mark."

Dumbledore pinched his nose as he nodded, "When examined, the bodies of dead Death Eaters show the Dark Mark as having burned away, leaving a deep burn. We believed that was due to the connection being broken, but..."

Shaking her head, Ryuujou frowned, "Ya not wrong, it is due to the connection being broken. Just mainly due to the strain from absorbing the lifeforce of the dead Death Eater."

Now looking as if she had bitten into a lemon, the British shipgirl there growled, "Great. That means for each Death Eater that gets killed, we strengthen Voldemort by making him able to live longer. And that is just bloody lovely."

A frown on her face, Haru glared at the table, "It also means that he likely has hundreds of years built up already from all the deaths that his forces took in the last war." Hearing a laugh though, she frowned at the grins on the Light Carrier's faces, "And what is so funny?"

If anything, the grins they had widened before Junyou spoke up, "Weeeeelllll, that would be true under other circumstances. However, here? He sort of fucked himself over with Harry-Chan." With a glance at a confused Jin, she continued, "You see, Jin-San, there is a method to make ships that were never built come back as shipgirls. But under most circumstances, it needs to have a wizard sacrifice magic as well as their lifeforce. In the process, it kills them. Harry-Chan got exposed to one of these rituals that had not been fully completed before the wizard performing it had died. It then finished and is still going on... but from what we can tell, it is draining Voldemort through the horcrux that the Kiddo has."

Moments passed before the undead Mizuchi clued in and she stared, "Wait, you mean..." At the nods, she began to laugh, "Holy fuck! That is hilarious! So this ritual is draining off all the fucking lifeforce he collected, the likely thousands of years... and in the process summoning the ships that were never built?" When they nodded again, Jin howled with laughter, "Fuck!"

Smile falling away, Ryuujou sighed, "Yeah, but that just takes away one of his advantages here. Don't even know if he realizes it yet or not... but I doubt that the ritual will finish him off. Might be enough that it cuts down on how long he actually has to live though, even with his Horcruxes..."

The meeting soon turned to the mechanics of what he did, with Jin as well as Haru and Hoshi picking apart the Dark Mark with the information having been given. Jin, herself, stated that she was going to pass on the information to her mother to see if anything could be made from that direction. Still, it gave them all food for thought...

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part III

Nerima Ward, Tokyo:

A trio of clearly western young women carrying gym bags walked down the street from the train station. The blonde in the lead hefted her gym bag and gave a smug grin at the her sisters as they stopped to wait for a crosswalk to clear. "Nice work digging out Dad's address, Delilah. I knew you were good for something."

The taller brunette preened back at the blonde. "Piece of cake, Colombe, she hasn't moved in a century. It just took using a few of my contacts to cross-reference her place of residence from the old property records back when this was a magical suburb of Tokyo." She then turned to the third member of the trio, who looked a little worse for wear. "Are you all right, Jackie?"

The shorter brunette gave a gulp and nodded. "Aye, just take me a bit tae get me land legs under me."

Colombe sniffed. "From the smell of cheap perfume and cheaper rotgut when you showed last night, it wasn't seasickness that got you." She crossed the street with a determined stride. "Oh look, a bakery! After we deal with dad, let's get lunch here. I could stand a fresh croissant!"

"Sounds like a plan, Sis. They should be open by then; they don't have a shop banner out yet to show that they are open. Just eight more blocks to Norimune's address, Come on Jackie!"

"Ulp, me poor head. Ye are cruel as a bosun's mate, Delilah!"

As the trio of Muramasas headed down the street, a fourth one emerged from her family's bakery. Suisei paused in opening the bakery as a sudden chill ran down her spine and then shrugged it off.

Eight Blocks Away:

Colombe narrowed her eyes at the seedy bar with a double dozen motorcycles parked in front. "I...have never seen someone put pink glitter and chrome on one of those before.. Delilah you can read moon-moon, right?"

Delilah nodded absently. "I have been studying it for two decades. Speak it fluently too, unlike someone who is too aristocratic to learn. This is the Kokoronobyōki Kitsune, the Crazy Fox."

Colombe perked up at the name and then suddenly scowled as her sister's veiled jab hit home. "Hey! I resemble that remark! Plus vite s'il vous plait Jackie!"

"Oooh, me poor legs..." Jacklyn staggered up considerably worse for wear thanks to the hike. "I could use a dram of rum to pick me up."

"I'll buy the bar dry for you after I beat some answers out of Dad, now come on!" Colombe strode in, and pointed at the bouncer. "Confundo!" A pink light flashed from her finger and the bouncer stared cross eyed at her as she power-walked past him with Delilah on her heels, and Jacklyn bringing up the rear.

As they entered the bar, Colombe stopped dead at the hostile stares of two dozen young women in black leather. "Norimune Muramasa, petites filles! Tell her that she's got a lot to answer for!"
Spoiler: The Kitsunes



Their leader picked up a bokken from her table where she held court under an Imperial Japanese battle flag and leveled it at the trio of Muramasas. "You got some big ovaries coming into Kitsune territory, Burondo no kami. Accidents happen around here to people who don't pay respect." The other girls picked up an assortment of bats, clubs, pipes, and chains as they followed their leader's lead.

Colombe narrowed her eyes, and slowly unzipped her gym bag containing her true self as the tension rose. Beside her, while Delilah did not have her eldest sister's centuries of mercenary experience, as a senior agent of MACUSA and the Winters Network she had been in plenty of combat herself and cracked her knuckles as she ran through a list of combat spells before twitching her wrist and letting her wand slide free into her hand.

Jackie stepped past her sisters, grinned at the scene presented to her, and casually sauntered over to the jukebox. As she strutted over, she pulled out a silver coin that she flipped from hand to hand. "Now this is my kind of place!"

All eyes in the bar watched the pirate as she caught the coin, bowed, and put it in the jukebox. Then with a fluid movement Jackie grabbed a bottle of sake by the neck and broke it over the face of the nearest bosozoku gang member as the speakers blared with the sounds of a motorcycle gunning before seguing into Mötley Crüe's 'Girls Girls Girls'.
Spoiler: Jackie's preferred bar fight music

"Friday Night! And I need a Fight!"

Colombe snarled and leapt into the brawl, using the hilt of her rapier to punch one of the gangers in her face. Behind her Delilah gestured with her wand, throwing a bar table into the nearest pack of Kitsune.

"My Motorcycle and a Switchblade Knife...."

Half an Hour Later:

Suisei looked up from where she was ringing up her first order of the day as five police cars sped down the street with their sirens flashing. "Oh my!"

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Edit: This segment of this snippet is no longer effective. See HERE for details.

"So, this backup o' yers," McKay said, looking out the window boredly. "When're they s'pposed tae get here?"

Tatsuya opened his mouth, then closed it, frowning. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "I don't know. Honjo's going to want to get over here as fast as possible, and I can't say that her friends will be any more receptive of the idea of that guy running free any longer, but…"

"I'll see if I can call Honjo with the new information," Benio said, stepping out of the room.

"Well, technically speaking, this sounds like a logistical nightmare," Diehl said, tapping her wand to the back of her head. "Actually, what if we could make it less of a nightmare. Large scale teleportation without a physical ai—"

"No," Mrs. Bones said.

"But I haven't—"

"You don't need to," she cut her off again.

"Waitin' too long sounds like a bad idea, ye knoo," McKay pointed out pensively.

Tatsuya shrugged. "Yeah, but I know these girls, and if they don't get their respective pounds of flesh, there's going to be problems."
-----

Nagato examined the bizarre group around the Vanishing Cabinet. They looked back at her.

Someone's cell phone began to ring.

"It's an emergency?" someone offered.
-----

"And that's why I don't date," DuBois snarked. Sam looked aside uncomfortably, but said nothing. Curiously enough, Reiko responded with a piercing look that set DuBois shifting around a little himself. Tatsuya was going to have to ask what the story was there.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part IV

Nerima Ward, Tokyo, Morning:
Spoiler: Mandatory Nerima Chase Scene

"Run faster Sis! I hear motorcycles and sirens!!"

"You don't need to tell me twice, Delilah! This isn't the first time I have had to get out of a place ahead of les flics."

"Aww but the fun was just starting!"

In unison the other two girls glared at their middle half sister and yelled in chorus, "SHUT UP JACKIE!"

Delilah grabbed Jackie around the waist with her free arm and gestured with her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Ignoring Jackie's surprised squawk, the two flew over one of the walls to land in someone's back yard. A moment later, Colombe joined them and dusted herself off with a smug smirk. "Well, so much for Delilah's information that Dad lives here."

"Hey! It is not my fault, Colombe! Take that back!" The revolver glared at the rapier. "That is what the official records said. I suspect that she moved out sometime after the war and never updated."

".... Merde. So we should go someplace else and let the heat die down. I vote for Kamakura and visit the temple there." Colombe tapped her lip with a finger and then began to put her blade back into the gym bag that she had grabbed when the sirens sounded.

"I don't have a better idea, Sis. Jackie, how about yo---? Where did you get that bottle of booze?!?"

"Raided the bar for me liquid breakfast while Colombe was interrogating those girls and you were Obliviating them Delilah. Want a nip?" The cutlass gave her sisters a saucy smug smirk and took another pull off the bottle in question.

"JACKIE!!"

Ryorijin Bakery, Nerima, Noon:

"Why hello Detective Kunio. Your usual then?" Suisei looked up with a warm smile at the familiar sight of one of her regular customers.

"Hai. Make the coffee a double, please." The middle aged policeman gave his own smile as the baker delivered a steaming-hot plate of muffins with butter to his table. "Rough morning."

Suisei paused in pouring the coffee. "Oh? I heard the sirens earlier."

"That wasn't the half of it. A group of someones barged into the bar that those borozoku were using as a clubhouse, destroyed the place, and roughed them up. No fatalities, but a third of their gang is in the hospital and the rest are out for blood. The funny thing is that despite all the ruckus, we barely got a description of two of the attackers."

Suisei frowned and then added whipped cream to the top of the coffee before serving it. "That is odd."

"Indeed." The Detective looked around and lowered his voice. "Someone Obliviated them but good before we showed. When I reported that to the Special Crimes Unit downtown, I got an immediate demand for all my information about this, and a photograph from Magical Chiyoda that corresponded to the drawing of one of the perps."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a magical photograph of a slender European witch in her apparent late 40s with her red-brown hair up in a bun. She was dressed severely in a black woolen skirt-suit and cream blouse and smiling smugly to herself as she waited for a taxi.
Spoiler: Delilah's traveling clothes

Suisei frowned slightly as she examined. "She looks familiar. Something about that face and her eyes... Oh! Now I remember! I saw her along with two other foreigners - a blonde and a shorter brunette - walking toward the Crazy Kitsune Bar while I was getting ready to open the store."

Kunio smiled and scribbled a note to himself before draining the coffee. "Thank you very much! That's confirmation that our mystery witch was part of this brawl. If you see them again, give me a call and don't approach her since whomever they were, they were skilled enough to put twenty people in the hospital."

Suisei's lips thinned and her voice hardened. "I see. I will do my best to help you lock them up. Can I have a copy of this photograph to spread to people that I know so they can be on the lookout too?"

"Certainly, that is part of the reason that I stopped in. That and your muffins."

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura, Afternoon:

Masamune-no-Tokunotakai returned the bow of her intermediate kendo class. "Dismissed."

As the students dispersed at the clap of her hands, raised voices from the shrine courtyard outside her dojo caused her to quirk an eyebrow. She glanced at the clock and decided to investigate, taking her true form from the dojo's sword stand. She slipped her hand-made wooden sandals on as she exited the building...and froze.
Spoiler: Tokunotakai confronts her past

Across the courtyard, her eyes locked with the crystal blue gaze of a blonde tsukumogami arguing with one of the priests, and the rest of the courtyard, the shrine, the torii, and the other people present vanished from her sight. All she could remember was that face smirking at her as she heard words spoken to her a century and a half ago here. Words that had cut her to the core.

"Stop playing with yourself, you frigid bitch, and find a man or four!"

She felt her avatar's fists clench in white-hot fury and shifted her weight to prepare to take the first flash-step forward that would end in punching that smug smile off the gaijin's face. Then slowly, her fists relaxed as she returned to her center.

Gi. Rei. Yu. Meiyo. Jin. Makoto. Chu. The virtues of Bushido.

She would not dishonor them, dishonor her father, dishonor Hachiman...dishonor herself a second time.

With that, she focused on the blonde tsukumogami from her past and felt the steel of her will exert itself. Her anger was still there, she could feel it like the heat of her father's forge giving her birth, but it did not define her as it had before.

Slowly and calmly she walked to the side of the priest and bowed politely. "Sumimasen Kurita-ji. If I may, I will handle this matter for you."

As the priest returned her bow, she turned to the trio of tsukumogami facing her and bowed formally as she spoke in carefully-studied English. "My apologies, I did not get your name the last time that we met." Her voice was calm, polite, and controlled, showing no sign of the effort of will needed to get the words out past her calm smile.

The blonde blinked in confusion before grinning lazily like a smug cat. "Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler. Don't tell me that I'll have to kick your ass again, Miko Punchable Face."

"Masamune-no-Tokunotakai, Masamune of the Warrior's Virtues, Consecrated of Hachiman actually." The Masamune's eyebrow twitched at the jab, but she continued in that controlled, precise, polite tone. "I shall help you find your father, but first, a small indulgence."

Colombe glared at the serenely smiling Masamune facing her. "Looking for another humiliation like the first time?"

Tokunotakai breathed deeply in response before returning Colombe's smug smile with a calm one of her own. "I wish to test myself against you once more to see what we have learned since last we met du Chasteler-san. If you will follow me along with your companions....?"

"Sisters actually. Jacklyn Fox and Delilah de Breuil."

"So ka. Well met then, Fox-san, de Breuil-san." The Masamune turned to the priest. "Kurita-ji, I require use of the north courtyard and shall be unable to teach my final class. Inform my special advanced students that they may watch in the warded area for their education. Please bar the non-magical public from entry since there shall be dangerous spells being cast there."

With that, she gestured to the Muramasas. "Please, follow me."

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part V

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū:

Tokunotakai kept her polite smile up as she escorted the three Muramasas through the maze of shrine buildings. "If I may inquire where are you from, du Chasteler-san?"

"Belgium. My sisters are from America." The somewhat puzzled Muramasa rapier responded.

"I see. You may be interested to know that the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū was founded in Kenkyū 2, 12th day of the 7th month, or in your calendar 1191 by Minamoto no Yoritomo to call the favor of the Guardian of Warriors upon his rule as Shōgun. Two centuries before my father or your father was born in fact."

Delilah gave a low whistle as she looked at the buildings. "Impressive"

"Quite so, de Breuil-san. My own service started in Eishō 9, or 1511 in your calendar." The miko's serene smile caused Colombe's hackles to rise slightly. She was certain that there was some kind of superiority complex behind it.

"Ahh, here we are" Tokunotakai bowed to the red-painted torii gate ahead and then gestured to the others. "The shrine ahead is warded and will be a safe zone for your sisters to observe our contest of steel, spell, and skill, du Chasteler-san. I shall be a moment in raising the main wards to prevent anyone being harmed," Tokunatakai's voice dropped an octave on the final word although she still remained calm and serene, "unnecessarily."

Colombe nodded and then stopped dead in disbelief at the beauty of the courtyard ahead. "Mon Dieu, what a sight!"
Spoiler: Autumn at Hachimangū

Jacklyn and Delilah nodded in matching shocked awe and then hastened along the path to the small shrine on the island in the artificial lake.

Colombe slowly stretched as she walked to the bridge, and drawn by some impulse she could not name, crossed it to the far end and waited, loosening her rapier in the sheath.
Spoiler: Tokunotakai's Prayer

Movement caught her attention as Tokunotakai walked from the Torii gate, chanting softly as her hands moved in an intricate mandala. White mist filled the gate behind the Masamune and rose from the lake, spiraling in Japanese characters as it flowed like water to the corners and midpoints of the courtyard walls to form eight ghostly banners. The Miko reached the midpoint of the bridge and bowed to the four cardinal directions as overhead the late-afternoon sun broke through the clouds to illuminate her along with a single white dove spiraling down from the heavens.

She then clapped her hands once and a thunderclap sounded as the ghostly banners solidified and began to flap in a unseen gale.
Spoiler: Muramasa vs Masamune music

Tokunotakai walked to the bridge end opposite Colombe and turned to face the rapier. The Masamune miko then bowed and held the bow as the dove spiraled lower.

Colombe curtsied in response and then drew herself to salute the other blade before shifting into a ready stance. Sunlight sparkled in rainbows from her edges as her dove etching blazed with a pure white light. In turn Tokunotakai raised herself from her bow and slowly drew herself, shifting into her own ready stance as a whirlwind formed and began to whip fallen leaves around her.
Spoiler: The Combatants

For an agonizing moment all was still as they gazed into each other's eyes.

The dove touched down atop the torii with a click of claws on cypress and both blades charged across the bridge at each other.

Colombe sprinted forward and blurred into a flash-step assisted flèche lunge as Tokunotakai left a vortex of leaves in the wind of her passage in her own headlong attack. Steel screamed on steel as Muramasa met Masamune edge to edge and the shockwave of their contact blew the bridge to splinters. For an instant they were body to body staring into each other's eyes before disengaging.

Colombe leapt backward like a cat, and raised her off-hand above her head as Tokunotakai floated backward gracefully from the point of contact like a flower petal on the spring breeze and extended her bare palm toward the blonde. A half dozen flaming circles began to orbit Colombe's raised hand as an icy blue-white kanji formed in Tokunotakai's hand and formed on her blade.

"Chakrati of Arjuna!" "Howling Rebuke of Rectitude!"

The flaming circles screamed toward the Masamune at Colombe's throwing gesture, only to meet a blast of razor-edged ice shards propelled with gale force winds. Steam filled the courtyard and both blades launched into a charge at the other through the cloud of steam, casting spells as they went.

--------------------------------
Spoiler: The Rematch

"A na-egbu maramara!" Lightning wreathed Colombe's blade in a crackling corona before being flung at the Masamune. Tokunotakai grunted in pain as the bolt enveloped her katana and then snarled through gritted teeth.

"Indomitable Strength of Duty!"

A pink kanji formed on her blade and she was surrounded by a pale pink aura formed of blown cherry blossoms as she clashed with Colombe again, swinging her blade one-handed in an arc that Colombe parried.

The Muramasa flew backwards like a rocket from the impact until she was stopped by a boulder that spiderwebbed at the impact and her eyes widened at a notch in her steel where she had contacted the Masamune's edge. A cut formed on Colombe's ribs and blood began to flow as she frantically flash-stepped in a dodge just ahead of another swing that shattered the granite boulder where she had been like glass.

Colombe snarled in anger as she looked at the damage to herself and she gestured with her off hand as she shouted out another spell. "Mercurius celeritas! You BITCH!!" A pale blue light surrounded her and for an instant her boots grew bird wings. Then the rapier blurred into action with a crack of displaced air, leaving an afterimage of herself as she flickered in and out of sight in lunge after lunge, driving Tokunotakai back as the Masamune's strokes met naught but air where the rapier had been a heartbeat before.

Finally Colombe skidded to a halt on the far side of the courtyard from Tokunotakai as the blue light died around her and breathed heavily in clear exhaustion. Across from her, Tokunotakai's flower petals fell to the ground and blood began to stain the Masamune's robes as the miko collapsed to one knee.

Tokunotakai coughed up blood as Colombe gasped for air. The Masamune then daintily wiped blood from her lips before smiling serenely in response to the Muramasa's smug smirk.

"Compassion of Kannon!"

The bulk of Tokunotakai's wounds vanished as a emerald green kanji formed on her now scratched and scuffed blade. She then stood upright and gave Colombe a mocking smile that never reached her calculating blue-green eyes. "Tired already? I am just getting started here."

Wind whipped the Masamune's bloodstained robes like a tornado as she raised her katana to the skies with both hands and a vortex of golden clouds formed overhead and began to circle. With a triumphant shout a bright golden kanji formed on the Masamune's enchanted steel.

"Piercing Thunderstroke of Sincerity!"

Colombe gulped as she incanted her strongest shield spell and braced herself for what was about to come her way.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking through the school, Harry reached the Seventh Floor and set down his backpack. Several moments later, a fox leapt out of it before transforming into Hoshi who gave a nod as she looked around, tails waving behind her, "Hmm, yes. This works out fine."

Confused, the Third Year tilted his head to the side in such a way that the Kitsune had to hold back from giggling at how much he looked like a fox, "Um, Hoshi-San? What exactly are we doing here anyways?"

Lips curling a bit, she walked up to him and came to a stop. Much to her amusement, he kept his eyes on hers, "We are here for many reasons, Harry-San. But part of it is due to Natsumi-Chan as well."

That made Harry blink in befuddlement, "Natsumi-Chan? What does she have to do with this?"

Hoshi gave a glance around and nodded, "Just give me a moment." Walking back and forth, soon, a door appeared and she opened it to reveal a small entryway where there were three doors. Opening the middle one, she gave another nod at the two beds there as well as the bathroom door, which was open. Walking to the left one, she motioned for Harry to follow her and the black haired boy felt his eyes widen at the sight of what looked like a dojo, "I think that you have started to understand, Harry-San."

More than a little curious, he gave a nod, "You're going to teach me?"

A slight smile on her face, the Kitsune turned on the balls of her feet. Behind her, the nine tails that marked her as a Kyuubi weaved amongst each other, "Hai. Natsumi-Chan mentioned that you have taken up Aikido, correct?" At his nod, she continued, "I am a master of such, so I can help you continue to refine what you know here at Hogwarts. Perhaps even add a bit more to it."

Bowing, Harry smiled back at her, "Hai, Sensei."

Only chuckling, she waved him off. But then, Hoshi's expression became serious, "It is good though that you are showing full respect, Harry-San. Normally, I do not handle those outside of family." Her face softened a bit, "However, Natsumi-Chan asked that I do this and it is not something that I mind too much."

Simply nodding in understanding, Harry tried not to show too much of his excitement. From Natsumi as well as Haru, he understood that the Kitsune in front of him was well known for her capabilities. And Haru had mentioned that she had taught both her and Sakuya, Natsumi's mother, quite a bit about combat and other things. It was then that a thought occurred to him and he frowned some, "This isn't going to be cutting into teaching Natsumi-Chan, is it? She mentioned that you were going to teach her some things as well..."

For some reason, that got him a smile and a happy look on Hoshi's face. As if he had passed some sort of test... But the moment was gone soon enough, and the Kitsune was once more all business, "No, Harry-San. It will not interfere any with Natsumi-Chan's own training. Haru-Chan is doing a good enough job with it as it is that I am not needed quite yet." Her grin reappeared, though it was somewhat predatory, "Which means that I can focus on you for a while."

Gulping, part of the wizard considered if, maybe, he should back out. But then he summoned what inner courage he had and nodded, "And I thank you for that, Sensei. I can only hope that I meet each and every bit of your standards."

Her lips curling, Hoshi chuckled a bit, "Oh, I doubt that will be much of an issue, Harry-San. Just the same though, I am not like many of your Sensei in regards to this and I shall push you to do your best." A grimace crossed her face, "Especially with the one known as Peter out and about. If this Voldemort returns, then you shall need every skill that you can gather to you. Which is why we shall not be dealing simply with Aikido."

That made Harry blink some in surprise, "We're not?"

Shaking her head, Hoshi began to walk around him, "No, we are not, Harry-San. While Aikido will be part of it, I shall teach you some bits and pieces of other forms of hand to hand for example." Now coming in front of him, the Kitsune went into a stance that made Harry's eyes widen as he recognized it as a Kung Fu one like what he had seen Yukikaze practice once or twice. After a few moves, she shifted flawlessly into Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, and various others. Coming to a stop, she twisted and smiled, "I have lived for a thousand years, Harry-San. In my time, I have mastered many, many styles. While I cannot teach you all of them, I can teach you some pieces here and there to help. Alongside that, there is something else as well that I can teach you."

Now really interested, Harry took a step forward, "Really?"

With a hum, the Kyuubi held out one hand and a glowing blade of foxfire appeared in it. Still smiling, she went into a whirlwind as she used the blade as if it was an extension of herself. Part of Harry realized that while she could go much faster, she was keeping it at a speed for him to keep up. Coming to a stop, Hoshi smirked a bit as the tip of her "Blade" was inches from Harry's nose, "I shall give you a foundation of Kenjutsu as you shall need it to wield either Juuchi Yosamu or Tsukiakari no Suzu. To do otherwise would dishonour them and your ancestors."

Eyebrows furrowing as she pulled the blade away, Harry frowned, "Wait, foundation?" Then he remembered something else, "And, um... I don't know about being able to learn as..."

Hoshi's lips twitched a bit and she chuckled, "Because you cannot focus on too much, Harry-San? Yes, Natsumi-Chan mentioned as much and that is why I am not going to teach you until you have a mastery of the blade. Such skills take years to hone and put into use, which we do not have. But! What I can do is give you the very basics of the skill." She then pointed with her sword, "Which is where that wonderful device you have come into play."

Blinking, Harry realized what she meant and looked to where she had been gesturing and his eyes widened, "The time turner!"

Just humming, the Kitsune dismissed her sword and walked up, "Yes, the time turner. What comes next will not be easy, Harry-San. I shall work you hard using the old ways, how one would have trained a new Kenjutsu user before there were such things as schools. How one would be taught in the Sengoku Jidai of Japan. It is my hope that by the end of the year, you will be the equivalent of a Second Kyu in Kenjutsu. That will be more than enough for many of your foes... and I suspect that Juuchi Yosamu will be able to take it from there."

Quickly, Harry bowed, "Hai, Sensei! I will try not to disappoint."

Gently, she patted him on the head with a small smile of approval, "I very much doubt that you will." Hoshi's expression then turned serious, "Keep that enthusiasm, you shall be needing it. You see, Harry-San... We shall have a two to three hour lesson on martial arts. Then, I shall have you use the time turner to turn back time and rest some before we move on to Kenjutsu... which shall be five hours long. That is the bare minimum that I can tolerate."

Harry felt a shiver go down his back at her grin, which was all teeth. One that stated that she was going to enjoy every moment of it, "H-hai."

Internally, the Kitsune nodded, 'And, perhaps, it shall keep your mind off what has happened...'

Once their lesson was done, Harry was laying on his back groaning while also soaked in sweat. While what he had done was nothing more than repeat the same things over and over with a shinai, it utterly exhausted him, 'I... can't feel nothing but pain in my arms... and shoulders... and everywhere else.'

Amused, Hoshi stood over him and chuckled as she checked the watch she had, 'Hmm... three hours for Kenjutsu with the last hour flagging. Not too bad considering, still going to have to work on that.' Outwardly, she gave a small nod, "While you have not completed the full time, it is still good enough... for now. We shall be meeting every three days to give you time to recover."

Jaw dropped, the wizard boggled at her before speaking in a near whisper, "Every three days...?"

With a sigh, as if she misunderstood him, Hoshi nodded sadly, "Yes, if I had my way we would be doing this each and every day. But I must give you some time to recover and to also keep up with other things as well, I suppose. A shame, I know." Then she gave him a closed eyed smile, "Still, it is rather enjoyable to get back to teaching again... and I shall be teaching Shiromizu-San some methods of using her own swords as well."

Part of Harry prayed for his older sister figure, another part though was thankful that not only was he not alone in this hell, but that Hoshi would be focused on her as well, 'Sorry, Shiromizu...'

Right as his thoughts were done though, one of the Kyuubi's tails shot out and picked him up before setting him on his feet. With that smile still on her face, she chuckled, "Now, it is time for the cool down among other things, Harry-San! One of the most important parts of these lessons after all."

There was a part of Harry which wanted nothing more than to whimper. But, at the same time, he understood that it would do no good either. Once he was done, and nearly spent, Hoshi had him sit before she brought out a small tin of salve, "Um, Sensei?"

Hoshi chuckled some as she motioned him to remove his gi top, "While I am many things, I am not truly cruel." She ignored the look on Harry's face that said otherwise and dipped her fingers into the salve, "Which is why at the end of the lessons I shall teach you one last thing. This salve is simple and easy to make, so I shall give you the recipe for it. How it works is to relax the aches and pains of muscles, while stopping them from seizing up too much... but one needs to apply it in a certain manner." Kneeling behind him, she rubbed her hands together until they glowed and began to work at his back, "Pay attention best that you could, Harry-San. In time, you shall find this quite useful to know and master."

Barely able to keep his eyes open, partially due to hisses as she got knots out, but also because he could already feel his muscles relaxing, Harry nodded, "H-hai, Sensei."

As she continued to work, the Kitsune explained, "What I am doing is targeting specific places and muscle groups. This will help speed your recovery. And while it would be effective without the salve, this helps greatly in the process. It can also be used for more than recovering from hard training. Do not worry if you are unable to perform this yet, it will take time to master. But it can be quite... beneficial."

Getting a nod, even though it was obvious that he was confused by her giggle, part of her noted that Harry's eyes were already drooping even though he tried to keep awake. Internally, she laughed lightly at it and shook her head in amusement. By the time that the thirteen year old got back to the Gryffindor Dorms, he was utterly exhausted and practically collapsed on his bed as the Kyuubi left through the Owl Box.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part VI

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura:
Spoiler: Toku's Strike

"Piercing Thunderstroke of Sincerity!"

The wards on the shrine building where Jacklyn and Delilah stood flashed to visible life with the energy discharge and the Muramasa sisters blinked spots away from their eyes in the aftermath of Tokunotakai's keystone lightning spell.

Jacklyn gave a low, awed whistle at seeing the steaming four meter-wide glass-bottomed trench dug across the courtyard starting where Tokunotakai slumped in weariness, fresh blood staining her robes. Straight as an arrow's flight, the trench shot to where Colombe had stood, then exploded outward in a crazy spider-web of electrical backlash where it had hit the rapier's shield. Smoke filled the courtyard from where some of the trees and bushes had caught on fire from contact with the lightning bolt. One of the now charred and smoking pine stumps had a familiar rapier transfixing it, steam wafting from her hilt.

Delilah's eyes narrowed at the sight of her sister's avatar embedded in the outer courtyard wall at the end of the trail of destruction. Blood covered Colombe's white fencing uniform as she crashed to the ground. The revolver spoke half to herself as the Masamune began to slowly walk toward Colombe as the Muramasa gasped for breath in a pool of her own blood.

"I think Big Sis may have bit off more than she could chew here."

Jacklyn gave a shaky nod.

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

Tokunotakai permitted herself a victorious smile through her pain and steel-deep weariness as she approached Colombe, who was slowly and painfully dragging herself to her hands and knees. The rapier's avatar was coughing up blood while stray electrical discharges from the spell that had dropped the Muramasa flickered across her body periodically.

"Now that is resolved, Colombe-san, I shall hel---"
Spoiler: A Dove's Trauma

Her voice died in her throat as Colombe's head snapped up at her words and the intense mad focus of the Belgian's glare pinned her like a mouse seeing a a snake.

Unbidden, visions of Colombe's past flowed through the Miko's mind as the rapier's one working eye narrowed at her.

A trackless green hell of an uncharted rainforest where thirst, hunger, and the pain of betrayal by her kin hammered at her and whispered how easy it would be to just give in and die, but her desire to find her father and avenge her family honor drove her on step by endless, weary step....

A hill overlooking Verdun where the air itself was poison and endless artillery fire churned up the ground, disinterring the countless dead and maiming the living, their screams for water, for mother, for an absent God, scarce heard among the mad thunder of the guns that would... not... stop... As terrible as this place was, the worst part was the knowledge that she had failed to stop the assassination that plunged the world into the Great War and that this was her penance....

With a wordless bloody snarl, Colombe leapt at Tokunatakai, hammering a fist into the Masamune's midsection and knocking her katana from her grasp.

The two rolled over and over again in their grapple, Colombe screaming incoherent half-broken words in French, English, Chinese, Urdu, and other languages as she hammered at Tokunotakai with her fists, feet, and even bit her. In return the miko responded with her own punches and kicks as she tried to subdue the maddened spirit.

Finally their grapple rolled into the lake. Koi scattered in multicolored shock as the two tsukumogami flailed at each other underwater before separating and gasping for air.
Spoiler: A Dove's Healing

As Colombe began to tense for another grapple, Tokunotakai magically leapt backward to dry land, her hands moving. A deep indigo kanji formed on her discarded blade as an indigo cloud enveloped Colombe, causing the Muramasa to blink several times and then slump in bone-deep weariness as the madness faded from her eyes.

"Warrior's Respect!"

For a long moment afterward, all was still with the only sound being the drip of water off their clothes and the crackle of the fires set in the now shattered courtyard.

Then Tokunotakai bowed deeply to Colombe before slowly and painfully walking to the edge of the lake and extending her hand. The blonde looked at the extended hand, then into the Masamune's eyes for long moments before limping over to be helped out of the lake. The ghost of a smug smile flickered around her lips as she looked at the battered miko and wheezed out.

"Once... we... recover... I demand... a... rematch."

Tokunotakai smiled slightly and then winced as fresh blood seeped from her wounds. "It would be my honor, Colombe. Let's get you out of that tree first, though."

Colombe put a foot on the stump and began to lever herself out of the wood as Tokunotakai picked her katana up from where it had been dropped. Colombe then paused and glanced over to the miko before speaking softly.

"Was the lightning bolt really necessary?"

Tokunotakai glanced up from where she was examining the damage to her blade as the kanji on it faded and spoke equally softly for Colombe's ears alone.

"For you? Hai, it was. You just don't know the meaning of 'quit'. Maddening and admirable both, really."

Delilah walked out of the shrine and gestured at the shattered bridge with her wand. "Reparo!" As the bridge began to reassemble itself, Tokunotakai chanted a fire-extinguishing spell and the smoke began to clear.

Jacklyn wandered over to the miko as she sheathed herself. "'Tis a pity what happened to your garden. It was beautiful"

Tokunotakai gave a sad smile as she spoke calmly. "Indeed, it shall be repaired, but will never be the same as it was this morning. Such is mono no aware in the world of flowers that we inhabit."

She looked into Jacklyn's eyes and then gestured toward the sun. "See the beauty of Amaterasu-ōmikami as she departs us today? She will return tomorrow and be equally as beautiful, but her beauty of today's departure shall never come again."

A cry of triumph interrupted their conversation and they looked over to find Colombe hefting her chipped and battered true form that she had pulled from the tree. "Success at last! So much damage and I'm covered with pine resin!"

Tokunotakai gave a small frown at the condition of Colombe then nodded to herself. "If I may request your indulgence once more? One of my former pupils operates an onsen in Kamakura and I suggest a soak in the mineral bath to clean us off and relax us. Then you stay the night here and I shall help you find your father in the morning."

Colombe blinked as she sheathed herself. "Wait, you won...but you are helping us?"

Tokunotakai smiled. "Of course. As I said, this was simply to measure what we had learned since our first meeting. It would dishonor me not to provide assistance for your quest."

Colombe blinked and then glared at the serene Masamune. "That wasn't what you said in 1864!"

Tokunotakai blushed and looked downcast. "I was an arrogant fool then. I am less of one now. Humility is a harsh but necessary tutor."

Delilah smugly grinned as she started to guide Colombe toward the torii gate. "She's got you there, Sis. You could stand some humility and tact. For the scenery's sake if nothing else"

Colombe glared at her youngest sister in response.

Inamuragasaki Onsen, Kamakura:
Spoiler: The Onsen

Colombe gasped in relief as the coffee colored mineral water worked on her many cuts and bruises. She then glanced over at the Masamune sharing the private bath with her as the elder sword's avatar floated in the water, Tokunotakai's own wounds slowly closing.

"So, do you come here often?" she quietly asked, using the noise of Jacklyn trying to get Delilah drunk on the complimentary sake that had come with the seafood meal that her sisters were eating as cover.

Tokunotakai shook her head slowly. "Once a year, in fact, on the anniversary of my forging. I purify myself in the waters and reflect upon what I must improve. Have you been in an onsen before, Colombe? I noticed that you were flushed when we disrobed to enter the baths."

Colombe blushed and looked away. "N-never. I am used to bathing alone, or if in a pool to wear a swimsuit. Also, this is only the second time I have ever been in Japan. I spent most of my life wandering through Europe, India, China, and Africa."

"So ka. I envy you a little. I have never traveled outside Honshu, and for the past four centuries have rarely set foot outside Kamakura. The last time I traveled outside the prefecture before this past year was as part of a delegation to Edo where I assisted in consecrating the rule of Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1716."

Colombe closed her eyes and spoke reminiscently. "I was nine years old and just taking my first fencing lessons from Master Antonio on the lawn outside the stables at Castle Moulbaix in 1716. Mother had died giving birth to me and Lord du Chasteler had adopted me as his own daughter. He told me that I needed to know how to fight like a du Chasteler should to uphold our honor."

Colombe then started as she felt warm fingers squeeze her hand under the water and looked over at the Masamune next to her to see a compassionate blue-green gaze meeting hers. "He sounds like an extraordinary man, your adopted father. While you have many, many flaws and rough edges, his honor and his family's honor is upheld in you."

Tokunotakai then chuckled and shook her head as she released Colombe's hand. "Words that at one time I never thought that I would utter to you, Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler. I was so angry with you when we first met. I still am angry... a little... for what you said to me and how you defeated me before. It was a harsh lesson and a bitter herb for me to eat. But a necessary one for me to learn. There is no dishonor in losing to a worthy foe if one does her utmost in the battle."

Tokunotakai looked away at where the sun was painting the sky over Mount Fuji orange. Her voice hushed and acquired a melancholy undertone. "A lesson that can be told to us all, but can only be learned once one has to swallow the bitter herb of defeat. To endure the unendurable is necessary to do at times for us to grow."

Colombe nodded somberly. Her eyes were distant as the sun slowly set, lost in memories of times gone by and people long gone.

Finally as the sky over Fuji turned to purple and her sisters joined her in the mineral water, Colombe spoke. "After I find Norimune, I'll come back and have that rematch with you. For honor's sake."

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

"Alright, Regalia…" Hoppou said, rolling out a set of schematics. "These are notes Hoppou took from an incident where one of her girls, Rikers, carried out a field repair incorrectly, and Rivet got very sick because of it. Can you look at them and tell Hoppou where she went wrong?"

Regalia leaned in a bit, trying to get a closer look. Ever since Hoppou had tasked her with memorizing her own blueprints, learning everything that made her tick, it had gotten a little easier for her to interpret other schematics. She couldn't exactly reproduce what she saw flawlessly, but she was able to make out patterns... details and designs that remained relatively consistent through all types of ships. Even if two ships were drastically different sizes, or had different numbers of turrets, screws, boilers/engines, what have you, they usually had the same rough ventilation layouts, the same ammo storage and loading mechanisms, and the same means of disposing of boiler exhaust.

Eventually, something caught her eye. The Re-class pointed. "Right here. This pipe connected to the boiler feeds into her ventilation, when it should be leading to the smokestack."

Hoppou nodded. "Good. Now can you tell Hoppou what that resulted in?"

Regalia thought the question over for a moment. "She had smoke being pumped through her entire hull... Her filters probably could have handled it for a little bit, but they'd inevitably fail, causing clogs in her vents and poisoning her crew."

"Correct!" Hoppou grinned and patted Regalia on the head. "Even one pipe not leading to the right place can result in disaster for entire ship. Regalia is learning fast."

"Thanks…" Regalia scratched her scalp, looking mildly concerned. "I know Aunt Rivet is okay now, of course… but was she in that condition for long? She didn't suffer too much, did she?"

Hoppou paused for a moment, giving a small frown. "Well, Hoppou found out about it really quickly after it happened… but that was because Rivet went out on a sortie the next day, and was towed back a couple hours later having a really bad coughing fit." Regalia stifled a small gasp. "Regalia doesn't need to be sad—everything was okay in the end. Hoppou managed to fix the bad piping and clean her systems out easy, so she woke up feeling better by the end of the day. But Rikers ended up quitting her job as an engineer out of guilt for what happened, resulting in Ritou taking her place."

Regalia let out a small sigh, relaxing. "Thank goodness." Glancing in the seat beside her, the Re-class opened up her duffel bag and stored the notes she'd written for the day. "By the way, Grandma… are you free for the next couple hours?"

The Princess tilted her head slightly as she rolled up the blueprints she had laid out on the table. "Um, Hoppou thinks so. Why?"

"Mom was hoping you could come to Avrora for a bit and take a look at a couple things."

XXXXXXXXXX

Stepping out of the Vanishing Cabinet, Hoppou immediately perked up. "...Hoppou can feel new IFF. Ritou's new design hatched already?"

Regalia nodded as she closed the cabinet behind them. "Aunt Ritou was surprised, too. She was incubating for… five, six days? But then, she IS a pretty small boat."

"True."

The new Abyssal tugboat—a Ko-class, according to Aunt Ritou—was quite the surprise to everyone. She'd developed remarkably fast, both physically and mentally, to the point that she was all but independent just days after birth. Kora was an incredible little bundle of spunk and muscle; even when surrounded on all sides by ships that outweighed her immensely, she wasn't intimidated or discouraged one bit—because she had enough strength in her tiny frame to haul all of them, and she knew it.

It was honestly quite endearing.

Hoppou brought a finger to her chin. "That said, Hoppou wonders why the new Ko-class was sent on a mission already. Can't think of anything that would need towing."

"Didn't the submarines tell you about how they took shelter in an abandoned luxury ship?" Regalia provided.

After thinking for a moment the princess's eyes widened in realization. "That's right! They did tell Hoppou about that!" She hummed thoughtfully. "So they decided to tow it home and brought new granddaughter with them to help?"

"Yep." Regalia frowned. "They also said there were... remains, on the boat, which they assume belonged to the original crew. At few dozen,at least."

Hoppou grimaced briefly, before she sighed and nodded. "That probably makes recovering boat even more important. Can return bodies to the humans, so their families can have closure." Pushing the sobering thought aside, she looked to Regalia. "Hoppou can feel fleets coming close. Want to go out and meet them as they come in?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

The walk from the palace down to shore was quiet, the two girls occupied by their thoughts. When they got there, they found a few other Abyssals were already milling around in anticipation of the fleets' return. Hoppou leaned in towards Regalia. "Remind Hoppou next time you come to Japan about designs for a pier. Hoppou thinks you all could use a proper place to wait around for fleets to come back."

"You got it, Grandma."

Returning her attention to the inbound Abyssals, Regalia could feel her mother's IFF approaching quickly alongside the tugboat—and she could also feel Ruadri and Marble incoming. What fortunate timing!

Tanith's fleet was the first to cross the horizon, spearheaded by the four flagships who set out on the endeavor. Not far behind them, however, was a sight that was equal parts amazing and ridiculous: a young, pale girl who couldn't look more than fifteen or sixteen years old, trudging slow and steady across the water… and pulling along an absolutely enormous vessel behind her.

"Das' a big bote…" Regalia heard one of her aunts mumble.

"Hoppou agrees…"

It was one thing for many of them, to see massive warships when they were walking around in human form—it's what they were, what they're familiar with. But this… this was possibly the first time any of them had actually SEEN a vessel so visibly, obviously massive. Although smaller than even a common destroyer, and absolutely dwarfed by the cruisers, carriers and battleships of the Fleet of Laughter, the yacht nonetheless towered over each and every one of them on the physical plane. That its surface was more rust than paint, coated in barnacles and coral polyps, did nothing to diminish its sheer physical presence.

Even in its current pitiful, decrepit state, the yacht was a sight of awe for the girls.

So naturally, someone chose that particular moment to kill the mood.

"I'M ON A BOAT!" Sunny cried from the bow of the vessel, wearing a top hat and white-rimmed shades with a wide grin on her face.

Regalia and Kora tilted their heads quizzically.

Hoppou—and everyone else within earshot—facepalmed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hoppou nodded slowly as she looked over the Abyssal tugboat, silently approving of what she saw. "Kora is alright?" She asked. "No fatigue or muscle strain from hauling the boat such a long distance?"

Kora rolled her shoulders. "Nope. Honestly, I feel great!" She grinned brightly. "I actually got a chance to get out on the waves, put my brawn to good use for the fleet right off the bat. And as the first of my class, it's important that I set the bar as high as I can!"

The Princess giggled softly. "Hoppou is glad to see Kora takes her job so seriously, even though she's less than a week old." Standing up fully, she gave her newest granddaughter a hug. "Just remember to take time to enjoy life every now and then, okay? It's no good to run yourself ragged."

The Ko-class shrugged with a smile as she returned the hug. "Aye-aye, Grandma."

Content, Hoppou released Kora and stepped over to the Oku-class a short distance away. "So, Marble, how was your mission?"

Marble bounced a little in place, still excited after returning from her first supply run. "It was amazing! We tore up all the old metal stuff on Aunt Ritou's island, including this really old-fashioned car and some broken down gun emplacements! And I had more than enough space in my hold for everything we salvaged, so I got to bring home this really pretty rock, that's all shiny and sparkly on the inside… wanna see?"

Leaning back and reaching into her shell, Marble produced her trophy—a stunning emerald geode.

Regalia stared at the object her sister had brought home with curiosity. "Wow… it really is pretty."

Hoppou nodded. "Marble has a good eye for valuable things, it seems." She watched quietly as Regalia pulled out a bottle of Fubuki Milk from her hold and offered it to Marble, who let out a small squeal of glee and hugged her before accepting the drink. "So, looks to Hoppou like the new ship designs are off to a good start." She looked to Ritou and Tanith. "You two have done really well with them."

Tanith nodded, a little bashful. "Thank you, Mother."

Ritou inclined her head. "Yeah… thanks, Mom. I'm really happy with how Kora has turned out, myself." Looking back up, she gestured outside—to the super yacht now anchored just offshore. "So, while you're here, do you think you could give us a hand in inspecting the hull? We were hoping, if the humans are okay with us keeping it, that we could give a shot at restoring the ship for our own use."

Hoppou brought a mitten to her lips, looking thoughtful. "...hm. Hoppou has never worked on an actual boat, before…" she grinned. "Hoppou thinks it will be a fun challenge!" Hoppou paused, looking up to the girls. "That is… if you all want to do the restoration yourselves, rather than let big brother use magic to fix it up?"

Tanith and Ritou shared a look before turning to Hoppou and shaking their heads. "It was a tempting possibility at first," Ritou admitted, "but after we thought about it a little bit… it may not be the best idea. I mean, it seems like this ship has been missing for quite a long time, maybe even since before Blood Week. If Uncle Harry repaired it completely, made it good as new… what would non-magical humans think of it when they saw it? For the ship to be in pristine condition after being lost for so long… they may ask questions. Which wouldn't be good for that…Statute thing."

Hoppou frowned. "...that's… actually a good point."

Tanith nodded again. "Besides, on the way back from the retrieval, we were discussing possible modifications. Like improving the engines, remodeling the interior to accommodate larger Abyssals, and other such things. And we figure it would be easier to implement such changes during a proper restoration."

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Hoppou nodded. "You're right. Hands-on rebuild it is!" Pulling out a clipboard and pencil, the Princess began to rapidly jot notes down. "Okay, Hoppou thinks hull itself can be repaired without too much trouble, but if girls want to repair internals, we will need original schematics of ship. Need to ask Sonata and sisters if they can find a set onboard the ship itself. If not, next option is retrieving ship's documentation, taking it to the humans alongside remains of original crew, and having them find blueprints via official channels. First option will get immediate results but has risk of designs being deteriorated by ocean environment; second option will take some time, but give us intact blueprints…"

A sudden creak caught everyone's attention. The girls looked behind them, to the Vanishing Cabinet—which slowly swung open, revealing an unexpected visitor.

"Mommy?" Hoppou noted, eyes wide in surprise, as Nagato stepped out into the open.

Hearing her adopted daughter's voice nearby, Nagato's wary—and slightly worried—expression softened. "Ah, there you are Hoppou-chan. I was wondering where you disappeared to so suddenly."

Hoppou walked over to the shipgirl, who kneeled down to give her a hug. "Sorry, Mommy. Regalia invited Hoppou to Avrora to take a look at some things. It was important."

Pulling away slightly, Nagato arched an eyebrow. "Is that so? What could be important enough for you to not at least warn me where you were going?"

Ritou pointed towards the exit, where the yacht was visible in the distance. "That, maybe?"

The shipgirl's eyes followed the Princess's gesture—and blinked, stunned. "...ah. Yes, that would do it."

Nearby, Marble stopped sipping her drink and leaned in close to her sister. "Who is that?" She asked, a little nervous.

"That's our great-grandmother, Nagato," Regalia explained. "She's a nice person, but you should be respectful of her just in case, because she's really well-known by humans as a strong and experienced shipgirl." Marble nodded quietly, before returning to sipping her milk.

"Sonata and her sisters found the yacht a few years ago, stuck on a reef. We think it's been there for even longer than that," Ritou explained. "The old crew's remains have been stored away belowdecks. We hoped to hand them over to the JSDF so they, and the ship, can be identified."

Nagato slowly nodded. "I see..." With a huff, she rose to her feet. "I think I will spare you a trip by bringing back the remains myself. Do you girls have any objections to that?"

"Not at all," Tanith said.

"Alright." Nagato turned back to Hoppou and ruffled her hair, giving her a small smile. "I guess it's a good thing I came looking for you, Hoppou-chan. Now these lost souls can be laid to rest properly."

"Mm." Hoppou closed her eyes, simply enjoying the affectionate gesture. She looked back up to her mother once she pulled her hand away. "Hoppou is a little curious… why did Mommy need to find me so suddenly?"

Nagato's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, yes! I almost forgot…" her gaze shifted to Hoppou's daughters and granddaughters. "And I guess it's fortunate that you're all here, as well." Reaching into her hold, the battleship produced an envelope and handed it to Hoppou. "Admiral Goto revealed to me that a very special letter had made its way to Yokosuka Naval Base… addressed specifically to you and your girls. I thought you should see it right away."

Hoppou worked the envelope open—briefly struggling with her mittens—and brought out the piece of paper within. She spent a few seconds scanning the letter… and stiffened. "...Mother?" Tanith asked, stepping forward hesitantly when Hoppou didn't respond. "Are you okay, Mother? What does it say?"

Hoppou's voice was almost a whisper. "It's… from Unalaska."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Eyes closed, Natsumi dozed in a car's passenger seat and didn't notice as said vehicle slowed for several minutes. Nor did she notice until it came to a stop, with the driver chuckling warmly. However, she did notice when a hand gently shook her awake, "Ma chérie, it is time to wake up. We're here."

Blinking, the Kitsune looked around before yawning and revealing her larger then normal canines. Part of Louisiana thought that it looked cute before chuckling as it reminded her of a sleepy fox waking up, "Hmm? We're here?"

With a hum, Louisiana nodded, "Oui, we are here."

For a few moments, Natsumi rubbed her eyes and then stretched as various joints popped. Then, she looked around and smiled, "Huh, we are!" At the soft laughter, she blushed some and gave Louisiana a look, "What?"

Shaking her head, the shipgirl smiled a bit, "Just that I am happy that you are here, ma chérie. Though I do hope that you had a nice nap."

Just shrugging, Natsumi chuckled herself before rubbing the back of her neck, "Well, we did have to leave pretty early to get here. And, well... I'm sort of excited to be here. Especially as you have not."

In reply to that, Louisiana placed a hand over Natsumi's and gave it a small squeeze, "Then I am in your care..." Pausing, she looked over her shoulder at Hamakaze and Hoel Ni, "We are in your care."

The American Destroyer gave a small wink, "Well, Louisiana is anyways." Placing a finger to the side of her head, she gave a small nod, "Anyways, Tenryuu-San also got her car parked and will meet us nearby."

Nodding, Louisiana opened her door and got out, "Then it would be best not to keep them waiting, I think." Walking along the front of the car, she opened the passenger side for a somewhat flushed Natsumi. "There we go."

Lightly blushing, Natsumi shook her head, "Thanks, Louisiana-Chan."

With a smile, she watched as the Kitsune did a few more stretches before doing so herself. Part of her was happy that it attracted Natsumi's attention if the glances she got said anything. Then looking around the car park, Louisiana hummed in thought even as the chill breeze brushed her hair, "It is less cold here then I thought."

For her part, Natsumi gave a shrug to that and looked around herself, "Not surprising, Nara doesn't get that cold during the winter... or at least before Blood Week. After? They had record snowfalls for a few years and chilly winters, but things are finally getting back to normal."

Taking her hand in her own, Louisiana gave her own nod in agreement. Soon, the group left their car behind and entered the maze of the parking lot. The Battleship noted that there was a number of cars despite how late in the year it was. Eventually, they met up with Tenryuu and Tatsuta as well as the rest of DesDiv6 and the new Tenryuu sisters. The fin-like horns alongside her head spreading and closing with clacks, Takinami stared a bit at what was before them, "This is an amusement park?"

A bright smile on her face, Inazuma bounced around her, "Hai!" She then spread her arms in the air, "Hwawawa! We're going to Nara Dreamland!"

Hands in her pockets of the jeans, Tenryuu looked around with her one eye, "Been a while since we were last here to be honest..." Pausing, she glanced at her new 'Sisters' and internally shook her head, "Though a first for you."

Even as the two recently summoned Never-builts nodded with still awed expressions, Akatsuki looked over at Atlanta who walked over with a wave, "Atlanta-San!"

Smiling, the American Light Cruiser nodded, "Miz Akatsuki." Turning her attention to the theme park, she raised an eyebrow, "Reminds me of Disneyland in Califonia..."

Natsumi then spoke up with a slight shrug, "Not surprising, it is based off it." At the looks, she smiled slightly unsure, "Um... Haha-ue and Chichi-ue actually went to the opening back in the 1960s. We visited it a lot before, um, Blood Week."

For her part, Tenryuu gave a nod, "Same with us, I remember going when I was a kid with my folks. And it was a lot cheaper then going to Tokyo Disneyland, easier too with the crowds there. But yeah, the guy who designed it was inspired by Disneyland in the US and based it on the park." A thoughtful look crossed the Natural Born's face, "Though... it was in decline before the war and there was talk of closing it down."

That made Atlanta blink and she looked around the well filled parking lot with a raised eyebrow, "Decline? Doesn't look it..."

With a shrug, Tenryuu shook her head, "Competition from Disneyland Tokyo and the like was killing it. Besides which, people could go to other places as well..." Frowning, she snorted some, "Ironic that as much as Blood Week hurt the rest of the country, it along with the war actually saved Nara Dreamland."

At that, and the nods from Inazuma and Ikazuchi, the only Battleship there turned to her, "Truly? It saved this theme park?" When they nodded, she frowned, "How?"

Instead of Tenryuu, it was Natsumi who answered her, "Because of where it is." Seeing the looks, she gestured with one hand, "Tokyo Disneyland got hit somewhat during the First Battle of Tokyo Bay, though it was mostly fighters strafing the park, same with Tokyo DisneySea. But even repaired, people came here rather then those places for much the same reason that Universal Studios Japan had issues..."

Her tone dry, the one-eyed Cruiser continued, "Mainly that all three places were practically right next to the ocean. And with how in the early days, a lot of such places were in danger..." Rolling her eye, she shook her head, "Meanwhile, Nara Dreamland is well inland and, well... the city is also surrounded by mountains. Made it a lot safer in the early days. Add in that international travel was pretty much shut down, and it is not that hard to imagine why they saw a revival here."

Ikazuchi had a thoughtful frown on her face before shaking her head, "They closed down for a few months there after Blood Week for various reasons and reopened the next years. All the repair issues was gone, though I still wonder how they managed that..."

Soft snickers came from Natsumi and she waved off the Destroyer, "Magic, in this case. There were a few muggleborns who got together under the nose of the Magical Diet and fixed the place up along with work crews. Mostly those whose parents had taken them here as kids... though there were also some at Tokyo Disneyland and the like as well. A bit of a scandel when it came out, though they never caught the ones responsible."

As they walked closer, Hamakaze looked at her in thought, "Are there any magical amusement parks?"

For almost a minute, Natsumi was quiet, "There are a few of them? They're all pretty small though and I've never been to one."

While everyone looked confused, one of them didn't. Verniy narrowed her eyes some as she turned to Natsumi who had a sad look in her eyes, "Because you are a Yokai."

Now, everyone turned to the Kitsune who nodded, "Hai, because I am a Yokai outside the reserves without permission I can't go to any of them. If I did and got caught? Me and my whole family would be rounded up and tossed into the Reserves." She then shrugged some, "Not that I am all too interested in them anyways." Before anyone could say something though, Natsumi grabbed Louisiana's hand and began to drag her along, "Anyways, enough of that! We're here to have fun at Nara Dreamland!"

Softly smiling, Louisiana nodded and allowed herself to be dragged along by the thirteen year old while the others tried to keep up.

The Sun had set by the time they had gotten back to Yokosuka, all of them having spent a fun filled day at Nara Dreamland. Louisiana once more opened the door for Natsumi when they pulled up in front of her house. A smile was on her face as she watched the Kitsune close the car door and lean against it as the two simply enjoyed the evening air. Taking a deep breath of the cold, winter evening air, Natsumi let it out and looked up at Louisiana, "Thank you for today, Louisiana-Chan. I really appreciate it."

Only shaking her head, the shipgirl chuckled warmly, "You do not need to thank me, ma chérie. After all, I enjoyed the day out with you."

Head tilted to the side, Natsumi chuckled herself, "Same here, I had a lot of fun with you going on the rides." Both of them lapsed back into silence before she gently took the Battleship's larger hand in her own, surprising Louisiana. Giving it a squeeze, Natsumi looked up at her, "I'm glad that we enjoyed the day together."

It was now Louisiana's turn to lightly blush as she found her boilers pound a bit, "Oui, so did I... even though there were others there."

That made Natsumi give a bark like laugh, "Well, it would have looked odd if it was just the two of us and it gave us some cover. Still, they kept some distance." Thoughtful, she hummed, "I think..." Glancing at the shipgirl next to her, she continued, "I think that I would like to do this more often."

Simply tilting her head, Louisiana nodded, "As would I, ma chérie."

Moments later, Natsumi gave her a hug before pulling her down some. Still smiling, Natsumi gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Chu!" Then she pulled away from the blushing Louisiana, "I'll see you around."

With a final wave, which was returned by Louisiana, she headed to the door and went inside. Brightly smiling, the Battleship got back into her car and drove off to the base, certain that she was going to have nice dreams that night.

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part VII

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura:

Colombe stirred in the darkness before dawn.

It wasn't discomfort from the plain futons that Tokunotokai had laid out for her and her sisters, for she had slept in far worse circumstances. It wasn't Delilah's snoring or the odd obscene mumble from Jackie that disturbed her rest, for as much as she more than occasionally wanted to choke her sisters, they were her family. It wasn't even the pain from the wounds she had suffered in the 'friendly spar' with Tokunotokai that had destroyed the courtyard that it had been held in, she was used to pain and wounds from her three centuries wandering the earth as a mercenary, a soldier, an adventurer, a smuggler, an explorer, and a seeker of knowledge.

It was something else, something that happened during the fight that was nagging at her.

A soft footstep sounded from the hallway outside and she tensed slightly before her brain caught up and identified the tread.

Tokunotokai.

With that she silently rose from her futon and grabbed a robe from the closet before taking herself from the weapons rack containing their true bodies.

Colombe stepped to the foyer and noticed that the Masamune's wood and straw sandals were missing from where they had been placed the night before. Pulling on her own boots she stepped outside. Her eyes narrowed at the expected red and white robes of the miko drawing water by hand from an ancient well with a bamboo bucket into a stone basin. As she silently padded closer she heard the words of softly chanted Japanese as the shrine maiden washed her hands and face in the basin, then paused.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Colombe. I apologize for waking you." Tokunotokai's voice was soft and gentle.

"No. No, I couldn't sleep. Yesterday was...." Colombe's words trailed off as she walked to the well.

"Indeed it was. I confess I am...unsettled too. Would you care to join me in my morning routine?" Tokunotokai looked up at the Muramasa, her eyes unreadable.

Colombe nodded and at a gesture from the miko washed her face and hands in the cold spring water. As she did so, Tokunotokai went to a storage shed and returned with two bamboo brooms, handing one to the rapier. "I sweep the Great Staircase of the shrine every day at the third hour of the morning. This...is the first time that I have had someone to share my duties."

Colombe nodded silently, not sure how to answer that, as they walked down the staircase to the bottom where a massive gingko tree grew with a braided rope around it. Tokunotokai bowed to it and clapped once then spoke softly. "Eight hundred years ago on this spot, on Jōkyū 1, 26th day of the 1st month,the shōgun Minamoto no Sanetomo was descending the stairs here when his nephew hid behind this tree and assassinated him. I am doing so for respect for his spirit. As you know better than I, blood spilled has...consequences."

Colombe nodded briefly as they began to sweep the steps. "Yes, yes it does. I have shed quite a bit of blood in my lifetime, and have watered the ground on battlefields from Europe to China and back again."
Spoiler: Common Ground

"Hai." Tokunotokai spoke softly as they worked up the staircase, then nibbled her lip. "I am glad that I can speak to you in private today. I...owe you an apology."

Colombe paused and looked at Tokunotokai as the Masamune took a deep breath. "In our duel, when I cast the Piercing Thunderstroke of Sincerity."

She leaned the broom against her shoulder and used her hands to describe a circle in the air. "It is both yin and yang in my Onmyōdō. The lightning is the obvious effect, loud, direct, masculine, yang. But there is also a yin component, the inward enlightenment and sincere perception that comes to a person as a bolt of thunder. It caused a link between us when I looked into your eyes after it struck you down."

Tokunotokai visibly steeled herself and spoke very quietly. "I...saw some of your memories. The scars upon your soul that have never healed fully and drive you on past the point of madness to prevent a recurrence of that pain. No one should have to bear your unbearable pain. I fear that I have increased your burdens by invading your private pain uninvited, and I am very sorry. If you require it, I shall expiate my clumsiness toward you with seppuku for I have wronged you."

As she finished she bowed to Colombe who stood stock still, trembling slightly. Slowly the Muramasa's fists clenched as she looked at the Masamune. Tokunotokai held her bow, looking at the blonde with tears in her blue-green eyes and a deep compassion that cut Colombe in ways that nothing in over two centuries of searching for her father ever had.

"T'es rien qu'une petite connasse, pétasse!" Colombe screamed at Tokunotokai as she swung a roundhouse right at the Masamune, knocking her blade over hilt down the steps to land in a sprawled heap against the gingko tree. For a moment all was still and then Colombe took two steps down and pointed at the other sword with a trembling finger.

"Not. One. Word." Colombe hissed out as Tokunotokai spat out a tooth. "You never talk about this. You take that to your grave."

Tokunotokai bowed, her cheek swelling with a new bruise that was a perfect mark of Colombe's knuckles. "Hai, Colombe-dono." She responded quietly as she picked herself up.

Colombe glared at Tokunotokai and then nodded sharply before turning away. "Right. Pick up your broom. These steps won't sweep themselves. Don't use that spell on me ever again either."

The Masamune bowed and climbed up the stairs once more.

Very quietly Tokunotokai spoke as they finished the top of the stairs. "Many of my students have gone off to war. Far fewer have returned, and of those, none have come back as the man or woman that they were when they departed me. Often... I have wondered what more I could have done to prepare those who only came back as an urn of ashes for their family. Where my failings were and how much responsibility I hold for their deaths."

Colombe paused and then looked at Tokunotokai. The Masamune's voice was very sad and tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as she stared at the sea. "The Pacific War... what you call World War Two was... very hard on my students. I can count the survivors who came back on one hand."

"Worst of all, I had warned them that the West was not weak and decadent as our leaders proclaimed, but had fighting spirit equal to any samurai. I... learned that from you when I saw how you refused to quit against impossible odds after I lay there defeated. A few listened, many did not." Tokunotokai bowed her head as her tears flowed.

Colombe paused in her sweeping and placed a hand on Tokunotokai's shoulder before speaking quietly as her own tears flowed. "You can only do so much. Trust me, sometimes there is a shell with your name on it and only random chance determines who lives and who dies. It is always hardest when it is the good ones who pay the iron price. The only thing that makes it bearable is what that price buys for those who stay at home in safety and prosperity because the price is willingly paid."

She gently squeezed the miko's shoulder before pulling her into an embrace. "Sometimes.... Sometimes the dead are the fortunate ones. They at least have an end to suffering."

A silent nod answered her as tears soaked her robe.

A sudden cheeky voice from behind them caused them to whirl and separate. "Oi! Hurry up, roger her till she cannae stand, and have kids so I can be the cool aunt who teaches them the noble art of piracy!"

Colombe flushed in anger and embarrassment at Jacklyn's saucy grin as behind the cutlass Delilah rubbed at her eyes sleepily.

"JACKIE!! It's not like that!"

Grabbing the first thing that came to hand (the broom), the rapier chased the laughing cutlass around the courtyard while Tokunotoki fought down her own blush before approaching the semi-awake Delilah. "Tea, de Breuil-san?"

Delilah muttered as the sound of bamboo meeting a fluffy tail echoed across the courtyard. "Tea, Coffee, Pepper-Up Potion, or just shoot me because it's too early for this."

Luxury Suite, Hotel Okura Tokyo:
Spoiler: A "Present" for a Fox

"How did you get access to the room?"

"Bribed the night clerk. Hurry up and give me a hand with this."

Right, let me unlock the padded case..."

"Careful! Erumpet Horns are explosive!!. Gently set it down here."

"Are you sure that this is where the gaijin pirate the oyabun wants dead is staying?"

"Look at her pantsu. 'Save a Ship, Ride a Pirate' with the skull and crossbones. It is her all right."

"Right. So all we do now is rig a spell to the door that when it opens will trigger the horn and...."

"Hai. We just leave a 'Do Not Disturb' tag on the door and insure that the maids do not clean the room. Not that there will be anything that they can do about the mess when 'Jacklyn Fox' staggers in from her debauchery. Her and the two whores of hers who are renting the suite along with her."

Magical Diet, Magical Chiyoda, Tokyo:
Spoiler: The Other Shoe

"We have confirmation from our sources in New York, sir. This is confirmed to be Auror Colonel Delilah de Breuil."

"Hmmph, So she Floos in and immediately heads to Nerima. The street gang...cover for who she was meeting?"

"Hai. The gang has been known to host meetings at that bar for coin and as you know, Nerima is a swing district in the next elections..."

The elderly wizard behind the desk drummed his fingers and then smiled.

"Good, We just need to get a tracer on her and then get evidence of her meetings. That plus a leak in the papers showing the opposition politicians she is meeting with are really MACUSA puppets and that will take them out of the running."

"Sir, a word of caution. She is a skilled witch; she has experience against Grindlewald in the 1940s. Anyone who can operate in Europe under the Nazis..."

"Irrelevant. Kamo was superior to those European fools. Contact our people and find out where she is staying and follow her everywhere. And if she is not kind enough to provide a political scandal..." The wizard's lips thinned, "We can provide one that will crush opposition to what needs to be done to preserve the Diet."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Glancing out the window at the haze of cold sleet coming down, just like it had for the past week or so, Harry could only shake his head. A glance at the calendar though made him smile some as it stated that it was a little more then a week before the next Hogsmeade trip, hopefully with the weather clearing up. Something that made the thirteen year old rather happy, especially as he found out that the first day was going to be Hachi and Iku going with him, with Imuya and Shioi for the second. Part of him wondered how that would go.

Of course... there were other reasons that Harry was somewhat excited besides that.

Roughly a week after that would be when those students leaving Hogwarts would on the Express. But more importantly though, it was also the Solstice. Which meant that Harry would be using his time turner when he got home as there was one important thing that he had to do. There was a small shiver of excitement in him and some twisting from worry despite it being almost two weeks away. Gently patting Hedwig, he smiled down at her, "You excited, Hedwig? About becoming a full familiar?"

The owl looked up at him and clacked her beak before gently nipping his fingers. He could almost hear her talk to him. Chuckling, Harry swore that she was just as excited as he was for what was coming up. Which was something that he knew for a fact from Shiromizu having translated for him.

Speaking of said snake, Harry stroked Hedwig's head with his finger and hummed, "By the way... should I even ask why you had Shiromizu get you some buri Amberjack? Just to give to Crookshanks?"

All Hedwig did was open one eye to give him a look before closing it. Grinning, Harry shook his head at that in amusement before the sound of something, or rather some things, hitting the wooden floor made him turn his head. Even as he did so, the black haired wizard watched as ShiNano leapt off his bed canopy, "SHINA!"

Body dropping, she threw a bundle in her arms up and jerked as the parachute slowed her descent towards the floor, Smolgina right behind her. It was not the first day that the two of them had done this either as they and the other Smols had been practicing for something. What that something was, Harry still did not know. All he could get from them was that it was rather important in regards to him.

It also amused him to no end to see Minagato dressed as a member of the Airborne... granted, part of him was suspicious as they had pulled Barghast into it and sometimes he saw Shinano's pilots there talking to them in whispers.

Shaking that off, Harry decided that it would be best not to ask. Whatever they would do, they would do in the end. Instead, he decided that he was going to head down to breakfast. Partway through though, the daily newspapers came and Harry looked at the front page which had a snarling MacNair cuffed to a chair in it. For a first day, the news that Peter had betrayed the Potters were on the front page of the newspaper. It also talked about how he had been a Death Eater and that, from a 'Re-examination' of the evidence, it was obvious that he had killed the non-magicals that was originally blamed on his godfather.

Part of Harry was actually impressed with whoever wrote the articles, and thankful it was not that Skeeter woman he had sometimes read about before deciding that she was the worst of the lot.

However, by the next day, Peter had fallen to the back pages. Instead, most of the newspapers were taken up by the news of the investigation and trial of MacNair and Yaxley. For the second, it was due to how juicy the story was. A Death Eater spy in the Auror Department, responsible for who knows how many deaths of good wizards and witches. And that he had continued on for years.

Yet, it was MacNair who had caught the public imagination. Almost every day the Prophet printed another lurid detail as they seemed to relish in the story. The sheer grotesqueness of what he had done both horrified and drew in readers. And the newspapers were loving it. Included were interviews with family and friends who spoke of what he had done. One thing that Harry noted was that many of them mostly talked about the murders of "Fine, upstanding Purebloods". But much to his surprise, Lucius' interview had talked about how he found the whole thing both disturbing and disgusting.

Granted, Hermione pointed out that the language was just enough that one could argue that he was supporting much the same thing as other "Innocent" Death Eaters, but that he did seem disturbed and utterly disgusted with the details.

That had been something confirmed through a quiet conversation with Daphne and Tracy during one of their business meetings. Both girls had confirmed that Lucius was disgusted with MacNair. Not just because he killed Purebloods, as many had thought. But because of his habit of taking trophies from those he killed and drawing it out. Daphne stated her father had believed that while Lucius would not have had much problem killing, the man would rather it be done and over with rather then drawing it out... and also saw the issue of taking trophies distasteful.

After briefly going through the paper, Harry placed it aside. He really did not need to read more about what MacNair had done before his screwup and subsequent arrest. Not to mention the whole bit about him likely being the first wizard to be executed in decades now that the Kiss was outlawed. The description of using the Death Potion did send shivers up his spine as well as make him more than a little disturbed. Just the idea of a potion that would keep you mesmerized even as it dissolved your flesh and bones disturbed him on many levels.

Once he was finished his breakfast, the thirteen year old went through another, normal Friday. Now, after supper...

Yelping, Harry hopped a bit before a strike from one of Hoshi's tails knocked him to the, thankfully cushioned, ground. The Kitsune just raised an eyebrow before yanking him to his feet, "Now, do the stance properly." Shinai still held in his hand, as that was the first lesson Hoshi got into his head was never to let it fall out of his grasp, Harry once more went into the stance. Moments later, he winced as one of the Kyuubi's tails slapped him in the thigh, a stinging hex making twitch, "You are still doing it wrong. Shift your weight a bit more to the side."

With a swallow, the black haired wizard ignored the sweat dripping down him, "Hai-Sensei."

Still walking along him, and using stings from her tails to adjust his stance, Hoshi raised an eyebrow, "Do not misunderstand me, Harry-San. I am not doing this because I wish you harm, in fact it would be the opposite. As a matter of fact, I am taking things easy with you."

Glancing at her, Harry continued the swings that she had told him to with his mostly corrected stance. And he knew that it was mostly corrected because Hoshi's tail wrapped around one leg and yanked it into the proper one, nearly sending him to the ground, "Easy, Sensei?"

There was a thin smile on Hoshi's face as she nodded, "Yes, easy. If I was truly teaching you the way that it would have been? By now you would be bleeding I would guess." One aristocratic eyebrow raised, she hummed, "As well as one giant bruise." Needless to say, that image made the teenaged wizard wince as he had heard how brutal Samurai training had been. Moments later, this was hammered home as one tail slapped him in the head before another smacked him behind the knees and sent him into the floor once more with a grunt, "Yes, you would likely be bleeding by now."

Lips pressed thinly together, he slowly got to his feet before re-entering the stance, "Hai, Sensei."

Just nodding, Hoshi continued to walk around as he went through his swings, "Remember, still, you must understand that I am only as tough as needed. You wish to learn, then we shall do it in this manner. With time, you may become an acceptable at the sword. Be thankful that I am using a similar method to the lower level of the Samurai and just for Kenjutsu." Another yelp escaped from Harry as she tapped her tail against his lower leg, "You are one and a half inches from a proper stance, fix it."

Quickly, Harry did so and continued until he was able to perform one hundred swings in that stance. Already, he could no longer feel the burn in his arms as that was a while back. Finally, Hoshi motioned for him to stop and take a break, which he did by sitting down. As he was handed a towel to wipe himself, Harry bowed, "Thank you, Sensei."

A slight smile on her face, the Kitsune nodded with her own slight bow, "You are welcome, Harry-San. Now, come and sit to rest for fifteen minutes and refresh yourself. Then we shall continue as we still have three hours left."

That made Harry internally cringe, but he pushed on and took his break.

Once he was done with his break, he watched as Hoshi walked over and stood beside him with her own shinai in her hands. With a slow, though fluid motion, she made a strike before nodding, "Now, do as I did." Harry tried his best, but she shook her head and stepped up behind him. The teen flushed, and not just from exertion as she pressed herself against his back and fixed his stance and leading him through two strikes. Then, Hoshi pulled back though, unnoticed by Harry, there was a small curl to her lips into a smirk, "Now, let us see if you can get a hundred with that form."

It was thus, his training continued...

By the time the session was done three hours later, it was an amused Kyuubi watching Harry laying on the floor panting. With a hum, she gave a small nod, "Very good, you have improved."

Harry blinked and looked at her, "I have?"

Lightly laughing, Hoshi smiled a bit, "You have, as every little bit is an improvement." Raising one hand, she held a finger close to her thumb, "Even such as this is an improvement." At his grimace, she laughed louder, in a barking form that Harry had come to associate with Kitsune. Tossing him a towel, which fell onto his panting face, Hoshi grinned, "You have done quite well for yourself thus far, Harry-San."

Reaching up with one weak hand, Harry grabbed the towel and began to wipe his face, "Really?"

With a hum, Hoshi gave a small nod, "Yes, very few now would have kept up even to this point. More than one person who sought out myself for training, usually for the wrong reasons which yours most assuredly are not, do not take well to such form of lessons and quit well before this point. There are a few though who I have kept up with even now."

Interested, the exhausted wizard sat up, "Really? Anyone that I might know?"

After a moment, the Kyuubi gave a small nod, "Hai, one of them is Taichi-Chan as a matter of fact."

That made Harry blink, "Taichi-San? You're training him in swordsmanship?"

Shoulders shaking from her chuckles, Hoshi nodded, "I am as a matter of fact as well as Yabusame. Both of which he is quite good at, and I make sure to take him aside once in a while to see if he has kept up his training."

Head tilted to the side, the black haired wizard considered things and gave a slight smirk, "Perhaps one of those times you should have Akagi-Oba and Kaga-Oba observe if possible?"

Confused, Hoshi was about to ask when she thought about it. The first image was the two Carriers watching as Taichi performed archery on horseback. The second was them watching as her and the nineteen year old spared with bokken. In particular, Taichi being covered in sweat and panting from exertion from sparring with the older, more experienced Kitsune. Much to Harry's amusement, the constantly moving tails of the Kyuubi slowly stilled as a grin crossed her face.

Far away in Japan, one young Kitsune as well as two Carriers suddenly shivered and looked around in confusion.

Meanwhile, Hoshi gave a barking laugh, "I shall have to consider that, Harry-San. Yes... I shall have to consider that well..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part VIII

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura, Morning:

Colombe sipped the green tea that Tokunotakai had prepared for her and her sisters and her eyebrows rose. "This is surprisingly sweet and rich. It is similar to Longjing tea from the Anhui highlands, but...not quite. A local blend?"

Tokunotakai smiled demurely. "It is gyokuro from the Uji region actually. You are a connoisseur of teas then?"

"You might say so. Before we first met I was involved in the China trade with Jardine. Tea was one of the major exports back to Europe, and therefore I had to acquire a taste for it to determine what was worth shipping home and what was not. This most certainly is worthy. You might say that I have an appreciation for the finer things in life, which I share with Delilah."

Tokunotakai nodded. "I confess that I enjoy a good gyokuro in season." Tokunotakai was fastidiously ignoring the look of disgust Jacklyn made at her bowl of tea, followed by the Muramasa cutlass pulling out a hip flask to 'improve' the taste.

Delilah nodded and sipped her own bowl. "I also enjoy a good tea. In my case, though, I prefer black teas such as a fine Earl Gray. This is certainly a refreshing change."

Colombe snarked at her youngest sister. "That is because you are a black-powder kind of girl, Delilah."

"Perhaps." The revolver sipped her tea. "I am led to believe that it is traditional to admire the objects on display from my research into Japanese tea ceremony, Tokunotakai-san. I notice that the wall scroll over the rack holding your true form has some of the same kanji that I observed with your spellcraft. If I may inquire?"

Tokunotakai bowed her head. "Indeed. That is my own modest attempt at calligraphy, and has a special meaning for me. Those are the Seven Virtues of Bushido. Gi, Integrity and Rectitude. Rei, Respect. Yu, Heroic Courage. Meiyo, Honor. Jin, Compassion. Makoto, Honesty and Sincerity. Chu, Duty and Loyalty."

Delilah nodded. "Interesting. Matching the names of some of the higher-level spells that you used against Sis. At some point, I would like to discuss this further with you."

Colombe nodded. "I would not mind talking shop either, there is always something more to learn. Delilah has a mind like a steel trap, just to warn you."
Spoiler: The Shadow of the Two Swordsmiths

Tokunotakai smiled. "Something to look forward to. But to business. I am led to believe that you three are sisters from the same father?"

Colombe's face firmed. "That is right. I have a portrait of my parents from 1698 before I was born." She opened her brooch and showed Tokunotakai the miniature portrait of Norimune and Julie D'Aubigny. "Delilah's mother confirmed that Del's father is the one on the left, and magical paternity tests proved that Del, Jackie, and I are all half-sisters."

"So ka." Tokunotakai examined the portrait minutely and nodded. "That is indeed Muramasa no Norimune. She and I have... a history."

Colombe blinked and then scowled. "Don't tell me that she loved and left you as well as our parents!"

Tokunotakai laughed demurely. "Oh no, nothing so vulgar. She was born at the same time as I was and our destinies have been intertwined. To explain, above all other masters of the smithy in Japan there are two peerless ones. Muramasa-sama and Masamune-sama. My father Masamune-sama, The Pure Smith, crated blades of surpassing quality and power, each the pinnacle of her role. His rival Muramasa-sama, the Mad Smith, created matching works that stretched the limits of what men thought was possible. Blades to terrify an army into madness when drawn, blades that could sever the memories of a man and make all who knew him forget his very existence, blades that could cut all before it without discrimination....and most relevantly to today a no-dachi blade who could change the fortunes of war itself. Muramasa no Norimune."

All three of the Muramasa children perked up at that.

"At the time of our birth five centuries ago, several daimyos wished to curry favor with Hachiman-dono, and two of them commissioned blades from the two Great Smiths. I was one of them; Norimune-san was the other. I was viewed as worthy to serve the Lord of Eight Banners as his Consecrated, and here I have stayed. Norimune-san was mocked for her impressive size, the height of a man, as 'overcompensating' and was scorned. While I stayed here, she left to pass through the hands of other soldiers in the battles of the Sengoku Jidai. The Age of Warring States."

Colombe frowned, and Delilah tapped her lip while Jacklyn sipped her liquor-flavored tea. Outside the sunlight seemed to dim and they could hear the whisper of distant battle.

"I know little of what transpired to her then, save that her power to alter luck must have served her well to survive those bloody days." Tokunotakai frowned slightly, "Or more accurately, she could elect to force fortune to favor her and her wielder...but at a cost. For every instant of good luck, an equal amount of negative luck would happen to her. Also her luck would never be normal, either very good or very bad fortune would come her way."

Colombe looked very thoughtful at that statement and her eyes became hooded. "I...see."

"Regardless eventually she left Japan and sired you before returning shortly after Colombe came seeking me out the first time. I know little of her travels then." Tokunotakai frowned, then sipped her tea.

Delilah spoke, "Between the three of us and what Norimune told my mother, we have pieced together many of her travels. We tracked her to the end of World War Two and then...nothing after she was released from prison for the crimes that she was accused of under the Kamo government."

Tokunotakai nodded. "Indeed. I can confirm that she is in the country. After the Pacific War, forty years ago now she came to my shrine. She was in...an exceptionally poor state, drunk and upset, accusing me of having it easy while she had lost..." Tokunotakai frowned, "I fear that of all the people I have known who had seen war, she had suffered the most and part of her... As Colombe said, sometimes the dead are the fortunate ones for their suffering ends."

Colombe's fists clenched and she bit her lip, Jacklyn frowned and Delilah sat sphinx-like with a studiously neutral expression.

Tokunotakai shook her head. "I believe that Norimune-san does not know of your existence, otherwise she would have not hesitated to throw you in my face when she confronted me. To the best of her understanding she has been abandoned by all that she knew and loved and fought beside and for. Save, perhaps for her sisters if that, and they are..."

Delilah leaned forward. "They are the best lead that we have. Someone knows Norimune and we just need to find out who."

Tokunotakai nodded. "I know of two of her sisters. Kagotsuruhe-san, the Blade of Hopelessness who spreads madness and fear with her very gaze is an actress in Tokyo. She specializes in horror roles, unsurprisingly, and is quite good at it. However, dealing with her is...distasteful." The Masamune frowned. "She is widely feared and loathed amongst our sisterhood for very good reasons involving her origin as an artifact of madness and terror and her habit of feeding upon the minds of the men whose wills she shatters and drives mad."

Delilah looked very thoughtful. "We will take her address anyway just in case. As a last resort if nothing else. The second Muramasa is?"

"Umitsubame-san, the Waterwitch Blade, is a potion-maker in the magical district of Kyoto. Amongst my sisters, she is perhaps the most respected because she embodies the virtues of her Samurai clan. Also her powers are...less problematic than Kagotsuruhe-san. I shall also send an owl to my sisters, asking for more information about Norimune-san, although that is problematic. First off, my sisters are distracted with the return of Honjo-neechan. Also just as our fathers were rivals in the smithy, so many of my sisters have their own bloody histories with the Muramasas on the battlefield. Old grudges run deep, and all of the Masamune-tachi have long memories, as do the Muramasa-tachi."

Meanwhile in Chisuheri's Apartment:

"Achoo!!"

"Sucks to be youuu~"

"Bite me Akutoku! Where are you going?"

"Got a gig lined up to sign my new release at a hotel downtown. I'll be back for the family meeting tonight to hear what Suisei was concerned about. Have fun with Kyo-chan, Nori!"

"Grrr.... ACHOO!!"

"Norimune, Norimune, can we find the Mizuchi? Mou, why are you beating your head against the wall?"

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, Kamakura:

Delilah smugged at Colombe and Tokunotakai and tapped a quill against the sheet of parchment that she had scribbled the addresses on. "Right. So we have some current leads and Tokunotakai will inquire through her sisters. While she does not have a phone, or an internet connection, I will give her Mère's address and owl off a cover letter. Mère will contact me then through the normal secure methods."

The revolver looked at her sisters. "I suggest we swing by the hotel, freshen up and get some clean clothes, and then... well we can't Floo because Colombe's an ICW wanted fugitive..."

Tokunotakai blinked and then stared at Colombe, her voice sharpening. "If I may inquire, what for?"
Spoiler: Toku Asked For It

Colombe sighed. "In rough chronological order, I broke the Statute of Secrecy saving my nine-year old nephew from an aristo-killing mob in Metz during the Terror in 1791. Then my bâtard grand-nephew Hippolyte sent hit wizards after me in the Congo in 1895 and I had to kill them to protect myself... he was a budding want-to-be Dark Lord."

Colombe gave an exceptionally dark smug smirk. "Ran him through four years later after I walked out of Africa where he tried to trap me using his contacts in the slave trade there. Not that the ICW saw it as anything other than cold blooded murder when I avenged our honor and prevented the family from being taken over."

Tokunotakai's face was an unreadable mask as she spoke softly. "But that was in the past...right? Even the ICW does not hold a grudge that long."

Colombe sighed, "You would be surprised. Then in 1914 I was in Sarajevo when that assassin shot Franz Ferdinand and started the Great War. Asshole Auror saw me trying to Imperius him to get him to shoot into the air, and assumed that I was the mastermind behind it all. Resisted arrest then... violently... since I had no desire to have a hot date with a pool of Death Potion. Then in 1927 I went to visit a friend of mine in the USA who was a priest who helped stop the slave trade in the Congo, the local nonmagical bigots got pissy about me seeing a black man when he was worth a thousand of their pale pure white asses and tried to lynch us." Colombe smirked smugly. "Biggest mistake they ever made, since I taught them a lesson they would never forget about judging people on their deeds and not skin color."

"Actually most of them did forget", Deliah interrupted with a long-suffering sigh and a scowl, "it took me and the rest of the Aurors three days of Obliviations to cover up what you did to Rappaport's Law in Louisville! And I was on vacation when you forced me to get called in!"

"Hey, I said that I was sorry! And I met you and Jackie in the aftermath, so it was all good, right?"

The revolver glared at the rapier. In the background Jacklyn laughed.

"Right, that was 1927. Then the Spanish Civil War in 1937 fighting Grindlewald's goons. Spent World War II fighting as part of SOE in North Africa and Europe 1940-45. All that was part of the blanket pardon issued for those of us in the Resistance, though, but it still shows on my record. Hey, Del, did Tijuana in '69 get pinned on me?"

Delilah's death glare intensified. Jacklyn laughed harder.

"Right, so Tijuana '69. Then I was on Jardine business in Iran in '79 when Khomeini and his fruitcakes came to power. Had to get creative to get our staff and families out of town before the mullahs would have shot them."

"Airplane hijackings are creative, yes." Delilah's tone was drier than the Sahara in midsummer. Jacklyn doubled over and pounded the tatami mat with a fist with tears of laughter in her eyes.

"It worked, didn't it? Right. Then in '94 Kasuyu and I went to Rwanda to participate in a tribal chief's crowning... oh Kasuyu's an axe from there who I picked up in the Congo in 1902 off another Dark Lord want to be. Anyway the country went mad and started using machetes on each other. And I... kind of bent the SoS over again... just a little that time."

Delilah snarked in that deadly-dry voice. "Mainly because any survivors in that mob when you cut loose on them in front of that church with the refugees are still running. Not that I think any survived you doing your whole 'screw the rules, I do what I think is right', Colombe. At least the ICW just put that one as a 'probable involvement, bring in for questioning under Veritaserum' in your file because the people who you saved from getting butchered swore that you were an Angel sent from God to answer their prayers. You can thank the government collapse impacting the local Wizarding authorities for that piece of singular good fortune."

"Small blessings. Then there's Blood Week when I was in Antwerp on business, although...Blood Week. I think the ICW just said fuckit then."

"They did. Otherwise I would be a fugitive too since I 'assisted' in fending off Abyssals attacking our family's summer house on Nantucket. That's it right?"

"Pretty sure that's it. That answer your question Tokunotakai? Tokunotakai??"

Colombe waved a hand in front of the wide-eyed and frozen Masamune's face.

No response.

"I think you broke her, Sis." Delilah snarked. Jacklyn howled her laughter.

Hotel Okura Tokyo, Conference Room B2:
Spoiler: Joker Voice...

"Oh God, I just love 'I Can't Believe It's Not Love', Muramasa Courage! I don't know where you get your inspiration for all your characters!"

Behind her oni mask Akutoku moved her lips in sarcastic counterpoint to the gushing Office Lady's words.

You would get all the inspiration you could stand and then some if you knew what kind of zaniness our family can get up to. At least by the time I get home, Kyoshu will be off the sugar high from the candy that I stuffed her with before leaving. And I left the bags for the old Halloween candy under Norimune's bed if Chi and Umi get suspicious, I'm such a genius.

As her assistant showed up with another box of the Season Three 'I Can't Believe It's Not Love' print run for the author's signing table, she leaned in and whispered. "Make sure that the valets bring my car around to the front when the event wraps. I want to beat traffic getting home."

"Hai, Muramasa Courage-sama!"

As Akutoku picked up her pen and prepared to sign the next stack of books, she glanced at the clock on the wall.

Half an hour to go....

Magical Chiyoda:
Spoiler: And Here...

"Right, Team One enters De Breuil's room and links her clothing to the tracer. Team Two covers the lobby to alert One if De Breuil returns and if so delay her while One exfiltrates. Team Three has the modified and enchanted minivan for transport. Clear?"

"Clear!" The dozen agents saluted their leader under the banner of the WWII-era Kempetai.

"Right, gear up, check your guns and wands. If she makes us, take her down and Obliviate witnesses. We will interrogate her at the safehouse then."

Hotel Okura Tokyo, 30 minutes later:
Spoiler: We...GO!

"I don't know who owns that, but that is one ugly car, right, Jackie, Del?" Colombe boggled at the Civic with an itasha wrap covered in neon-color anime characters as the valet rolled it past them to the front entrance of the hotel.

"You said it, Sis." Delilah shook her head at the rolling otaku disaster.

"I dunno, looks kinda cute!" Jacklyn grinned and took a nip from her flask. "Dibs on the shower!"

Colombe glared at Jacklyn as she pushed past a swarm of women clutching some kind of colorful comic books to enter the building. "Tokunotakai was sweet to offer us a place to stay, but cold water hand pumped showers? No thanks!"

Jackie returned a saucy look and raised her voice to a mocking lilt. "Oh, sweet on her, are you? Colombe and Toku sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Colombe growled at Jacklyn. "Take that bac-- Wait. Del?"

They turned to see the revolver standing just inside the door. "Delilah?"

"Something's not right, guys." Delilah's eyes focused on a trio of exceptionally fit men in suits by the elevator as an oni-masked young woman one handed texting on a cell phone got out of the elevator.

That, of course, was when Colombe's room on the 14th floor exploded.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Bowing some with the wooden box in her hands, Tsukiakari smiled at Marie and Johann. It had taken some doing, but a number of them had gotten through the Owl Boxes to the German Potter Properties. A smile on her face, she rose, "Thank you, Marie and Johann, I appreciate this."

Softly puffing his pipe in the cold, December air, Johann smiled around it, "Ja, do not worry over it. This is to both help the Junger Herr and get her out and about." A slight smile grew on his face, "Something that she has been looking forward to."

With another bow as Marie nodded, Tsukiakari looked down at the box in her hands, "Then I shall head to the nearby woods as to be out of the way..."

The two Potter Retainers nodded and watched as the sword spirit walked out of sight. Still puffing his pipe, Johann hummed some, "Makes one wish that they could watch."

Marie only turned and began to walk away before she paused. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled, "Perhaps, but this is needed."

Even though he gave his sister a questioning look, she did not reply and continued to walk towards the house.

Out in the woods, Tsukiakari let out a soft breath that misted in the cold air as snow gently fell. Part of her mind was considering how beautiful it was with the soft flakes gently drifting down with silence all around them. It was eye catching and peaceful. Another part though mused that it was perfect for what would happen. Reaching a clearing, she smiled some at the sight of Juuchi waiting there alongside Honjo and Kagotsuruhe as well as Carnwennan, "Senpai, Kagotsuruhe-San."

A smug smirk on her face, Juuchi gave her a nod while Carnwennan just chuckled and smiled. The dagger looked at the box with a slight thoughtful look on his face, "It has been some time since the last I saw her."

Tsukiakari though shook her head some, "Not for me." Running a hand along the grain of the wood, she had a fond smile of remembrance, "I remember meeting her after World War One, though at the time I did not have an avatar such as her. And I am thankful that she did not get stolen by Grindlewald."

Scoffing, Juuchi shook her head some, "Her? She would not have allowed for Grindlewald and his group to control her."

Just nodding, the Kyu Gunto was quiet for a few moments before placing the box down. Then she opened it to reveal a sword which shone in the winter sunlight. Both Kagotsuruhe and Honjo leaned forwards to get a better look and raised their eyebrows. It was a arming sword of some type, in a leather scabbard. On the hilt though was a circular object that was gold with a red cross shape forming almost a guard. Carnwennan's eyes went along it before he nodded, "Truly a fine blade still."

Around the case, the snow whipped up and soon a woman stood there. Red hair the color of blood moved in the wind as aquamarine eyes took in the group. Her white bodice barely contained her chest while exposing quite a bit of cleavage while below that, a red dress covered her thighs with a leather skirt around it while her brown, leather boots sank into the newly fallen snow. Her white, fur lined cloak shifted with the wind showing the red inside. Head cocked to the side, she smiled a bit at Carnwennan and nodded at Juuchi, "Thank you for the compliment, and a good day, Carnwennan, Juuchi. It has been some time."

His arms crossed, Carwennan chuckled and shook his head, "Far too long, Vala."

Meanwhile, Juuchi just gave off a smugness at seeing her which made the now identified Vala shake her head. Instead, she turned to the other two blades and tilted her head, "And you are?"

For her part, Honjo bowed some, "I am Masamune no Honjo, of the Masamune blades."

Beside her, the Blade of Hopelessness nodded, "And I am Muramasa no Kagotsuruhe, Blade of Hopelessness."

Tilting her head to the side, the German blade hummed, "Yes, I see the resemblance to Juuchi." She then nodded towards Honjo, "And you are obviously a fine blade. I am Vala Ulfberht, blade of a Mother's Duty." A slight curl to her lips, she turned and smiled at Tsukiakari, eyes softening, "And it has been some time since last we met, Tsukiakari. You've grown up into a fine blade, I see."

Lightly blushing, Tsukiakari bowed slightly, "Thank you, Vala. I am guessing that you know why?"

Vala met her eyes evenly and nodded, "Yes, I overheard the reason why I was brought out. The last of our family could well become in danger. And things are moving in the darkness which need to be driven before us back into shade of the afterlife. I have no issue with this and will help you as you need... but there is one price that I ask for."

About to interrupt, Honjo opened her mouth only to be stopped by Juuchi's hand. Glancing at her, the Masamune was confused when the Muramasa shook her head and motioned to Tsukiakari, whose expression had steeled itself, "This is for her."

With a motion of his hand, the Arthurian blade pulled the box to him and held it under one arm. For her part, Tsukiakari placed her hand on her hilt, "I accept."

Nodding, Vala pulled out her sword from the scabbard it was in revealing words similar to what she gave her clan name on her blade. Said blade shone in the light, the tip as keen as a icicle. For some reason, the spirits there could had the image of places to the north, of fjords and horns being blown on as Vala drew herself. The red haired swordspirit then grasped the circular piece and pulled it off, it expanding into a round shield and revealing the blue gemstone on her chappe. Holding her true self in front of her with the flat facing Tsukiakari, Vala nodded, "Very well... let us begin."

Quickly, Tsukiakari bowed and went into a stance. Seconds later, her eyes widened and she rolled to the side as Vala appeared in front of her, attempting to bash her with the shield she held. Getting to her feet, the Kyu Gunto deflected a strike at her head from Vala's blade with her own, sparks flying. Within moments, Tsukiakari was dodging another bash from the shield and the follow up stroke of the sword.

Off to the side, Honjo was watching with an intrigued expression to her face as the two combatants fought, "This is rather different from how I have seen duels."

Carnwennan had his arms crossed and shook his head, "It is not that odd in European fighting. While many forget the fact in the modern day, in the past one's shield was as much a weapon as their sword was, and in some cases more deadly. A sword cuts, a shield bashes and crushes armour. Together, a true master is dangerous... and Vala is very dangerous."

Right then, before their eyes, Vala missed Tsukiakari who twirled away from another shield bash. This time though, the shield impacted a tree, causing the trunk to detonate from the blow as it struck by a cannonball. Splinters and shards of wood went flying in all directions as the tree itself fell, one slicing part of Tsukiakari's cheek. Tone dry as even Kagotsuruhe had slightly widened eyes, Juuchi continued what Carnwennan had said, "As one can obviously see."

Dodging another swipe with the shield, and deflecting a blow from the sword, Tsukiakari rolled and just barely avoided Vala attempting to smash her head open with her shield, the ground detonating from the blow. For her part, Honjo grimaced and nodded, "I see."

In the clearing, Tsukiakari's eyes widened as the shield came closer to her chest while the sword came from another direction, 'No room to dodge, but...'

Hand on her scabbard, the Kyu Gunto deflected the blade with her true self before striking the shield with her scabbard. For a few seconds, the entire clearing was filled with the sound of many church bells as the spells on her scabbard fought the spells on the shield while the snow beneath the point of impact blew away. Both opponents strained as they tried to overcome the other, before they were blown away from each other. Hitting the ground and rolling with the impact, Tsukiakari grunted. Shaking her head from the ringing, she spotted the shadow and dodged in time to avoid Vala's blade, which cut through a tree as if it was not even there, the blade being pushed to the side by Tsukiakari's own.

Watching this, Kagotsuruhe hummed some, "She is doing quite well, though from what I heard from Norimune..."

Arms crossed, Juuchi scoffed at that, "The reason that the battle with Norimune went the way it had was because Tsukiakari was stalling for time until either I or Honjo could arrive. And that was why it went the way it did."

Eyes tracking the two opponents as they traded blow after blow, Tsukiakari using her sheath as much as her actual blade with the sound of bells being heard each time, Carnwennan nodded, "Yes, and even then, my granddaughter did quite well for herself." His head tilted to the side, "Though I am wondering how well she will do in this case considering that Vala is an Ulfberht."

Raising one eyebrow, Honjo frowned at that, "And what is an Ulfberht?"

Still watching the duel, the Arthurian blade frowned, "Japan has had smiths in the form of Muramasa and Masamune. For Europe, especially Central Europe and the Baltics, Ulfberht were those blades. For the Middle Ages they were among the best blades that one could have... if one was able to find a smith from that tradition. Vala... may well be the last made of that great lineage as it died out hundreds of years ago."

Voice quiet, Juuchi hummed, "And he was something akin to my father..."

Only shaking his head as Tsukiakari leapt back from a blow, Carnwennan frowned, "Not quite, though her creator did push the boundaries of what could be done." Feeling the interest from the two non-Potter swords, he continued, "In the 1000s, wars ravaged Europe. One of the victims was a queen on the Baltic Coast. Her kingdom was small, and her husband had been killed as she raised her daughter. But one day, Norsemen from the north arrived and sacked her kingdom, slew her Shieldmaidens and elite guards, and took her daughter. Full of rage and grief, the Queen swore to seek them, slay the Norsemen, and retrieve her daughter. For that, she sought out the last of the Ulfberht smiths to make her a sword."

Frowning, his voice quietened a bit more, "Along with her, she brought her shield, dented and damaged, and the remains of her sword which had failed in protecting her child. She gave the last of her riches to the smith, asking that he forge her a sword with which to perform her duty. One that would save her daughter from her fate and also protect said child. The smith noticed the spirits of the Shieldmaidens gathered around the Queen, loyal in death as they were in life. When he had been young, the smith had been granted the boon of seeing the legendary blade Skofnung and examining it. With that knowledge, he explained to the Queen that he could create a blade like it. But as Skofnung had been imbrued with the spirits of King Hrólfr Kraki's twelve faithful Berserker bodyguards, finished with his own, he would need to imbue the blade he forged for her with the spirits of her Shieldmaidens. Each of them appeared and kneeled before their Queen, with them declaring that it would be their honor."

Eyes slightly widened, Honjo swallowed, "So her blade..."

Slowly, Carnwennan nodded, "Contained the spirit of seven Shieldmaidens. Each of which had taken down five times their own in men before falling. The final bit, the shield, would be imbued with the Queen's spirit upon her death. The shield was reforged by the smith's brother, who was as great with shields as the smith was with swords. Once it was done, the Queen headed out to the land of the Norse and slaughtered all those before her until she reached her daughter, now with child herself. The one who had led the raid was dead at her feet along with his own guards when she walked out with her daughter. Bringing her child back to Germany, both journeyed a distance inland, away from where the Norse would come. And there, the Queen finally died of her wounds, having held on long enough to get her daughter and grandchild to safety. Her sword was passed to her daughter, and from there down the family until they married into the Potter family and created the German branch of the family."

For several moments, both Honjo and Kagotsuruhe were quiet before nodding as they digested what they had just been told.

In the clearing, Tsukiakari was narrowing her eyes as she traded blow after blow, dodged or blocked hit after hit. 'There has to be some way...' Her eyes then widened and she had a smug smirk on her face. Something that the others noticed before she swept her blade in front of her, blasting the ground as Vala charged her. The red head brought up her shield to block, the frozen dirt exploding as it impacted. Pulling it away, she noticed Tsukiakari was right there and swinging at her. With her sword, Vala blocked it only for her own eyes to widen at the sound of bells as what she struck was Tsukiakari's scabbard.

Moments later, the Kyu Gunto's fist struck her in the face, using the guard of her sword as a makeshift brass knuckles. Head snapping back from the blow, Vala lashed out with a kick as she realized that Tsukiakari was within her guard. But rather then dodge, the other sword used the leg as a springboard to bring her own foot around in a kick that smashed into the red head's face, sending her flying.

Pausing the fight, Vala wiped her mouth and looked down at the blood that was there. Instead of being angry, she laughed a bit and smiled showing her bloody teeth, "Very good, Tsukiakari. This fight has been enjoyable."

Once more, she vanished and reappeared about so bash the Japanese blade. Dodging as the shield impacted the earth and caused a detonation, she was not ready as Vala used her shield to spin on the ground and strike her in the face, sending her skidding across the ground. Getting to her feet, Tsukiakari spat out a tooth and narrowed her eyes, though she had a smirk on her own face, "It has..."

The Kyu Gunto then pointed behind her with her sheathed blade and shot a blasting curse, dismissing her avatar for a brief second. The blast propelled her true form forward, before she re-manifested her avatar and attempted to strike her opponent, which was blocked. Yet again, the two began to trade blow after blow, sparks flying as their blades met each other, or bells and blasts sounding as sheath met shield. As the two were flung apart, Vala brought up her blade and softly whispered as it glowed, "Fenrisúlfr.."

Around her the snow exploded outwards as wolves with malevolently glowing eyes formed out of the snow with sharp shards of ice for teeth and claws. With howls, the leapt at Tsukiakari who stood her ground. Almost immediately, she was a whirl, a blade of death. Unlike Juuchi or Honjo, she was not made for duels as it were.

No...

What she was made for was what was the modern battlefield. Where one fought in tight spaces against many more numbers of men. And right now, with the wolves attacking her, she was in the type of fight that she was made for.

One wolf leapt at her, which she dodged and brought up her sheath. Bells rang out as she shattered the construct's jaw, shards of ice flying everywhere, right before beheading it on the back swing. Another tried to get her from behind, except she twirled at the last moment, cutting it in half, yet another one being gutted as she dropped and brought up her blade. A fouth, met its end as she brought down her sheath and crushed the head.

Spinning, more sparks flew as her sword clashed with Vala's, who had rejoined the battle. on Vala's face was a smile as sparks flew from where the blades met, "Very good, young one." She then brought her shield at Tsukiakari's head, edge on, only for the Kyu Gunto to duck at the last moment. As they separated, the European blade nodded, "Excellent!"

Eyes narrowed, Tsukiakari lashed out with a burst of fire from her sword that hit the snow on the torn ground, causing it to burst into steam. Then, she leapt up to grab some icicles from a nearby tree. On the other side of the cloud, Vala had only moments to widen her eyes before a whistling sound made her bring up her shield to block a barrage of icicles hurtled at her. Hearing a second whistle, she twisted to dodge what she assumed to be another icicle. However, she was surprised that it was instead Tsukiakari's true form with her re-manifesting and nearly cutting her across the back, though a thin line of red appeared on Vala's thigh.

For her part, the older blade nodded at that, "Impressive." Blocking a strike, she smiled, "Impressive, but you shall have to do better."

Breaking apart again, the two combatants caught their breath. With a glance, Tsukiakari realized that the ground from their fight was torn up. At another charge from her opponent, the Japanese blade rolled and banished a rock towards her. But it was blocked at the last moment by the shield, causing the stone to detonate and send out shards, some of which Tsukiakari had to dodge, which one slicing across her cheek.

Despite the pain though, the Kyu Gunto's eyes widened a bit before narrowing with a smug smirk.

On the side lines, those watching blinked at that before Honjo frowned, "That... was a Muramasa smirk." Glaring at Juuchi, she scowled, "The type that you bunch always had before trying something out of the box, as they say."

Just shrugging, Juuchi nonetheless had her own smirk, "Well, she is my Kohai..." Internally though, she was frowning thoughtfully, 'What are you planning...?'

Clashing blades once more with Vala, Tsukiakari internally nodded as sparks flew. When they broke apart, she jumped back and banished several icicles again at Vala. That was followed by her straining to lift a boulder uprooted by the shield's detonations, and sending that towards Vala. And just as she had expected, the other blade brought up her shield and used it to destroy the boulder...

Except this time, Tsukiakari was ready.

Shoving her blade into her sheath, everything seemed to slow as the smaller rocks exploded outwards at high speeds. There was but once chance, just the one. If she missed or messed up...

But she would not allow for herself to do so.

The ground seemed to explode beneath her feet as she pushed off at the top speed she could right into the rock fragments heading towards her. Seeing that, Vala moved her shield aside and began to bring up her sword... except, Tsukiakari brought her sheathed sword out into a swipe with every bit of strength she had and hit one of the fragments. Ringing could be heard as the shield enchantments in her sheath struggled with the mass and speed of the rock shard, itself about the size of an basketball. Her sheath had been enchanted to shield, to cause anything that impacted it to be deflected with as much force as it hit.

Which showed moments later as the stone fragment rocketed back at Vala and struck her in the midsection, actually lifting her off her feet as blood and spittle shot from her mouth. Not stopping for a moment, Tsukiakari brought her sheath down on the ground with all her strength as she jumped, the enchantments taking the force she used and pushing her off the ground with it. Seconds later, Tsukiakari's fist, with the guard of her blade acting like brass knuckles, met Vala's face, snapping her head back as blood spurted from her now broken nose.

Quickly, the Kyu Gunto yanked her blade free and held it against Vala's neck as the two breathed heavily.

Everything was quiet, the snow gently falling onto what was a battlefield as the two spirits stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Vala smiled with blood gushing from her nose and laughed as she nodded, "Well done!" Still laughing, she grabbed Tsukiakari in a hug that drove the breath from her lungs, "Well done indeed, Little One! You truly are a blade of our family!" Putting down the younger blade, Vala nodded and patted her on the back, "Well now, I have had our match so my price is met. Let us be off to wherever we need to go..."

Honjo raised an eyebrow as she glanced around the battlefield with a slight frown. Noticing, Carnwennan turned away from where he was watching Vala heal both herself and Tsukiakari, and dropped his voice to a whisper, "Yes, Vala was not going all out against Tsukiakari. But then, this was not to the death either..."

Raising an eyebrow, both Honjo and Kagotsuruhe looked at him before noticing Vala looking at them. However, she did not say anything to the two Japanese blades, merely gesturing at the ground as she whispered another spell. This time, the frozen ground exploded outwards beneath her, gathering along with tree roots into the vestage of a dragon, "Níðhǫggr... take us to the village."

The creation gave a roar before moving through the woods with Tsukiakari and its creator on its head. Not missing a beat, Juuchi leapt onto the dragon's back alongside Carnwennan, the somewhat surprised Honjo and Kagotsuruhe doing much the same before it fully left the clearing.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Wish I could write more, but apparently having your mother visit you at your new residence can be a little bit exhausting. This is all I can manage for the moment, and considering I've got a job interview tomorrow? Who knows how the future'll go?

Edit: This snippet is no longer effective. See HERE for details.

Cavalry

The sound of a church bell rang through the house. This would have agitated Jeffrey, and several others beside him, as was, but when the sound crashed through the house as if they were standing directly next to the bell? Well, that would cause even the calmest man in the world problems. The sound of the bell died away, leaving the screams of its victims (The one Reiko girl and Sam, who apparently had less experience with loud noises) clamping their hands over their ears and slamming into walls and tripping over furniture.

Diehl looked out the doorway, utterly unruffled. "Now who the hell is that?" she asked, standing and stalking out of the room.

"Wait!" The Reiko called out after her, spider-legs vanishing back into her body (Jeffrey briefly thought about making something of this, but decided if he had whatever kind of Genius Loci the Lady was, the Japanese kid could have his spider-girl). "Was that the doorbell? Why is it so loud?"

Diehl regarded her disinterestedly. "Well I need to know when people come to the door, don't I?" she pointed out, and left the room. Haneda and his girlfriend glanced at each other, then stood and followed. Jeffrey considered following them, but decided against. If he were to do anything, he already knew what his priority would be.

He knelt beside Sam. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping her to stand.

"I think I'm gonna need new ears," she groaned, slumping against his side. Jeffrey chuckled quietly, and helped her sit down, then glanced up again at McKay, who was just…

Staring. Watching the way they moved, or listening to the way they spoke, with an expression that reminded him of an aggrieved owl. Looking at him. And Sam.

Then the Tonbo girl sat down on the arm of the chair directly between his younger sister and the older girl. "Well," she said cheerily, "you do have to wonder about the so-called doorbell. Do you think she just gets really caught up in her mad-science-magic?" McKay tsked and looked away, and Jeffrey gave Tonbo a quick, grateful look that he wasn't sure she noticed as she chatted animatedly with Sam.

Diehl filed back into the room, followed in order by an old man with the kind of beard you just had to respect, Haneda and Kagamine. Tonbo trailed off, looking up at him with interest and Mrs. Bones stiffened.

"Albus," she said, "this is a surprise."

"I suppose it is," he said, in the sort of twinkle-eyed I'm-just-a-harmless-grandfatherly-old-man-pay-me-no-mind tone that meant he was far more than a harmless grandfatherly old man and should be feared and respected. "But considering how I've just had this band of lovely young ladies—" he gestured to the group of young women stepping into the room behind him, "—arrive at Hogwarts via Vanishing Cabinet, asking for you among others, I thought it best to escort them to you. Ah…" he looked around the room. "I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure…"

"DuBois," Jeffrey said, quickly, simply. He would not volunteer any information, and an elbow jabbed surreptitiously into Sam's side ensured that she wouldn't either.

Tonbo looked among the other girls. Recognition flared up on her face, accompanied with sorrow, worry, and such a storm of other emotions that they couldn't have been anything other than family. "Juuchi—Kagotsuruhe?" she asked, looking between two of them. "It's… uh—"

"Don't," one of the girls cut her off. "We'll deal with your guilt complex once we're done here. For now—tell us what you know about the situation."

Everyone turned to look at Diehl, who's face stretched into a positively demonic smile.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," she said darkly, cracking her knuckles.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

The Hunt for Norimune Part IX

Hotel Okura Tokyo:

A quarter of the 14th floor where Norimune's children had their hotel room exploded into a ball of fire, Erumpet horn fragments, the remains of the Neo Kempetai's Team One, and fragments of the occupants' luggage.

In the lobby below, Akutoku locked eyes with her youngest niece, unknown to them both for a while yet.

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

Later on, after they were introduced to their aunts, Norimune's daughters would be a topic of intense family discussion.

One of the questions would be why Delilah de Breuil was the one her sisters always looked to for leadership?

She was not as strong as Colombe or outgoing as Jacklyn, after all. She was the youngest one, the baby of their dysfunctional trio who was always seemingly overshadowed by Colombe's deeds and Jacklyn's flamboyance.

Akutoku never asked that question after finding out Delilah's identity because she knew that each of her nieces had gotten part of Norimune's personality.

Jacklyn had gotten Norimune's wanderlust, her blithe disregard for the rules, and (out of Kyoshu's earshot to prevent Embarrassing Goldfish Questions) Norimune's appetites. Norimune the Adventurer, Captain Longblade the Pirate who had blazed a trail from one end of the globe to the other.

Colombe had gotten Norimune's skill at arms, luck (a very mixed blessing indeed), desire for heroism and fame (or infamy), unwillingness to quit no matter how tough the going got, and had mixed her spilled blood with those of her foes on four continents as she followed the path her father had blazed. Norimune the Warrior.

But there was a third facet to Norimune no Muramasa.
Spoiler: De Breuil, Delilah de Breuil

Norimune had not just been a rogue and adventurer, or a warrior and mercenary. Norimune had also been an idealist, a teacher, a leader, a strategist, and someone who could cut through the howling chaos of the battlefield with firm judgement and calm decision to lead those who relied on her to victory against all odds. Norimune the Soldier.

And the secret hidden battlefields of the Cold War for MIB and the Winters Network's unending struggles against various Dark Lords, terrorists magical and mundane, human and inhuman and would-be world conquerors were just as savage and deadly as the bloodiest, most desperate boarding action Jacklyn Fox had participated in, or the hell of the Great War that Colombe had endured.

MACUSA Auror Colonel Delilah de Breuil, Special Agent Ocelot of MIB, Chief Agent of the Winters Network was spoken in awed whispers by those allies and the bare handful of her foes who had survived to see her write her own legend into ultra-classified files and hushed stories in secure conference rooms in buildings that never officially existed.

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

Delilah's hands moved like lightning while she snapped out orders in a calm, unruffled voice as her leaf-green eyes surveyed the scene with a diamond-sharp focus; identifying threats known and unknown and calculating the optimal strategy to get her sisters clear in the space between two heartbeats.

"Killzone."

Delilah's left wrist twitched and nine inches of gnarled English oak snapped into her hand from her concealed wand holster.

"Jacklyn. Exit."

Delilah's right hand came out of her skirt-suit with the cherrywood grips of a 1847 Colt Walker revolver, the most powerful black-powder handgun ever made, filling it. Her wand flicked casually and a chair flew into the path of the first stunning spell from the Magical Kempetai.

"Colombe. Backstop."

Akutoku's eyes had just begun to widen as she stared down the subway tunnel sized barrel of her niece's true body when Delilah's finger caressed her trigger.

CRACK

Akutoku's phone disintegrated as Delilah removed her ability to call her allies to assist the ambush with her first bullet.

Jacklyn took off through the door to outside at a flat sprint, her bandanna flying loose and her fox ears popping out.

A cloud of gunsmoke blew from the barrel of Delilah's pistol as Colombe flash-stepped past her toward the door, slashing her free hand up and shouting "Protego Delilah!" A shimmering shield formed around Delilah, visible in the powder smoke around her.

CRACK

The cloud of gunsmoke thickened as a Kempetai agent's elbow exploded with his pistol half-drawn. The other members of his team dove for cover and began to return fire with spells and lead as the screaming started and the civilians panicked.

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

Akutoku screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON I NEVER..." as the Sword of Corruption tried to yank her sheathed blade out of her convention bag. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MINDS?!?!?!"

"Colombe. Suppress."

Delilah's wand moved in a V pattern and the cloud of gunsmoke in front of her suddenly began to expand like a smoke grenade. She began to walk backward with a calm, unhurried stride toward the exit.

CRACK

A Kempetai agent screamed as Delilah's bullet slammed into his right shoulder as it punched through the table that he was sheltering behind.

"Chakrati of Arjuna!"

Akutoku looked up from her frantic efforts to draw herself to see a flaming disc screaming directly at her from the cloud blocking her vision of the lobby.

"FUUUUUUUUUU---"

--------------------------------
Spoiler: Aunt Akutoku!

Akutoku stared at her reflection in the polished aluminum of the elevator doors.

Her reflection stared back.

She didn't remember ordering a two inch wide strip to be shaved from her forehead to the back of her head as a reverse Mohawk.

Her Oni mask was in pieces.

It was her favorite Oni mask too.

There was breaking glass and a car alarm from outside.

At least the fire sprinklers had kicked in and were doing a nice job putting out the burning split ends on either side of her buzz cut.

CRACK

A scream from a wizard who had dropped his wand and was grabbing the shattered ruin of a kneecap.

"Colombe. Exfil."

Automatically Akutoku's head swiveled to the sound of the voice as the smirking brunette bitch with the revolver walked backward and jerked her wrist to the side.

The cylinder of the revolver popped out and she tapped it with her wand.

"Celeritas Repleo." She said as she snapped it back into place.

The spell ThAt sMUg BItCh cast must be making the lights turn red. So very deep bLOoD REd.

"HAIRCUT! HAIRCUT!!! I'LL GIVE YOU A FUCKING HAIRCUT AT THE NECK!!!!!"

----------------------------------
Spoiler: A nice Aunt/Niece bonding moment

Delilah's cold green eyes tracked the wreckage of the hotel lobby as she stepped back to the threshold.

All targets neutralized, now to fall back and regroup.

Movement.

A screaming young woman charged at her through the smoke, with a red-hilted katana raised over her head. Automatically Delilah noted her red eyes (currently twitching uncontrollably), very avant-garde purple hair in a unique cut, and that the blade resembled that of Tokunotakai.

Probably another Tsukumogami.

It would be politically unwise to have to neutralize a Masamune.

Plus unnecessary since Jackie had secured a means of egress.

Delilah half turned away from the charging form of Akotuku and flicked her wand in an Apportation spell, concentrating on the back seat of the hideous Civic that Jackie had just hotwired. "Ianuae Magicae!"

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

"COME BACK HERE AND DIE YOU SMUG BITCH!!!"

Colombe jumped in the passenger seat as Delilah materialized in the back seat of Akutoku's Civic.

"Floor it, Jacklyn!"

There was a brief pregnant pause as Jacklyn slammed the car into first gear and floored the gas, and then the rapier gave the revolver a horrified look.

"OH SHIT, JACKIE'S DRIVING!!"
Spoiler: Jackie's Driving!

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

"MY CAR!!!"

Akotuku screamed in fury as she watched her car get stolen by the kitsune that was with the Brunette Bitch.

Grabbing the first thing that came to hand (a Hello Kitty bicycle confiscated from a screaming little girl) the Sword of Corruption took off in hot pursuit, joined by a dark blue SUV containing Kempetai Team Three.
Spoiler: Akutoku's new ride


---------------------------------
Spoiler: Mobile Dumpster Fire Music

'Well, Del, now what?"

"Problem, Colombe. Pursuit. Dark blue SUV behind us and gaining. Jacklyn. Lose them." The revolver surveyed their pursuers with an icy green gaze. "Let's try to keep this covert."

"Aye, aye! Hang on!"

With a squeal of abused and smoking tires, the Civic took a bootlegger's turn to the right and shot down a side street like a cannon.

"Still following. Jacklyn. Can't this car go any faster?"

Gun fire from a figure standing in the sunroof of the SUV punctuated the statement. Not to mention the driver's side mirror catching a blasting curse that blew it off the Civic.

"Colombe. Enchant and supercharge the engine. Jacklyn. Aggressive driving." Delilah tapped her wand on the back window and whispered a spell, blowing it to dust.

"Wheeee!" Jacklyn took the next corner with two wheels on the sidewalk and pedestrians scattered in terror.

Colombe looked up from where she was trying to magically reinforce the motor and screamed in shock. "JACKIE! WE'RE GOING AGAINST TRAFFIC!! WATCH OUT FOR THOSE BIKERS!!!"

CRACK

"Less complaining, more enchanting Colombe. Jacklyn hasn't killed anyone. Yet." Delilah's voice was conversational and calm.

Delilah braced herself against the back seat for a better firing rest and her eyes tracked the Kitsune bosozoku gang who had joined the pursuit, mind whirring at the addition of this new variable to her calculations.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

With a sigh, Harry glanced around the Room of Requirement before stretching some. Once that was done, he placed his backpack down on the smooth, stone floor before the table and gave a nod before opening it. Reaching in, he pulled out pieces of milky quartz as Shiromizu slithered up beside him with an interested look on her face as some of the pieces were quite large, "Is that what you are using for the Komainu?"

Nodding, the wizard placed one chunk about the size of his head with a grunt onto the table, with it shuddering from the impact, "Hai, I'm using the quartz that they sent from the village." A slight smirk on his face, he pointed at Shiromizu's own form, "After all, your own scales are white."

Briefly, the Mizuchi considered that and then nodded, "I suppose that is true enough." Then she smiled a bit, "They also came from the landslide that my spring tumbles down and were in the water there since it first flowed."

His wand out, Harry began to use cleaning spells to get rid of any dirt or gunk on the white quartz pieces, "That should give it a pretty close connection to you, which will be important as it is your shrine after all. They have been soaking in your power for years now, so I think that will do something?"

Shiromizu noticed that he was looking at her, which made her shrug some, "I'm... not really all that sure? That would be something that Senpai or Haru-San might know, but I would not be too surprised if it does have some ability." Part of her mind went back to the freshwater pearl that she was certain was, even now, growing in her stream, 'Considering that...'

Just nodding, the young wizard continued his work, "It is also pretty hard, which means that the Komainu will last longer... and I've been learning some spells from Professor Flitwick and the like that will go great with these. Like spells that make them resistant to fracture."

That made Shiromizu tilt her head, but she nodded just the same as she watched him. Over the next half hour, Harry cleaned each piece meticulously. Eventually, there were not even stains remaining. With that done, he rolled up his sleeves which made Shiromizu smirk, "Now comes the hard part?"

Shaking his head, Harry glanced at her, "Not quite the hard part as much as the beginning of the hard part." Knuckles knocking on the table, he gave a nod with his next words causing Shiromizu to give him a raised eyebrow in question, "Good thing that this desk is so stable..."

For the next few minutes, the teenager pushed each piece of quartz closer together. Taking a deep breath, Harry began to mutter a spell while gesturing with his wand. Before them, each of the chunks seemed to lose some of their hardness and begin to flow into one another. Pieces merging as if made out of clay and were being pushed together with invisible hands. Finally, there was one big piece of quartz there in front of the two as Harry continued his work and it became a block. As Shiromizu watched though, the milky quartz continued to flow in the block as it homogenized, "That, is impressive."

With a hum, Harry nodded, "A bit difficult as well, but worth it." Making a gesture with his wand, the quartz stopped flowing and instead, a line formed down the middle of the block. Slowly, the line deepened until where there was one block, there was now two. One of which Harry lifted off the table and set down on the floor beside it, "And there we go, the first of the two blocks."

Reaching out, Shiromizu gently ran her hands along it. Beneath her palm, she could feel a thrum of power... Her power, absorbed by the crystals that now made up the block. Pulling her hand back, the Mizuchi then looked at Harry, "How is it going to look?"

Harry glanced at her before pulling out some paper and unrolling it, "Actually, Shiromizu, Natsumi-Chan actually drew a picture of how they should look."

Intrigued, the Mizuchi leaned forward to better look and blinked some. Both where dragons perched on a stand with an orb in their hands. One of them had it's mouth open in the "A" and the other with it closed for the "Um". Part of her noted that one orb seemed to be clear, and the other cloudy, with the one having the cloudy orb with lines on its body. Eyes slightly narrowed, she looked at Harry who nodded in confirmation, which made Shiromizu smile some, "The orbs are made of the same thing as the statue, right?"

Much to her surprise though, Harry shook his head, "No, as a matter of fact." Briefly reaching back into the backpack, the wizard pulled out two bags, both of which he emptied onto the table. One bag contained rock crystal, clear and see through. The other, meanwhile, had smoky quartz in it, "I'm making the orbs out of crystal and that's the easiest part."

Picking up one of the crystals, Shiromizu glanced at her, "The easiest part?"

Slightly smiling, Harry took it and put it back before holding an odd object which he placed on the stand. Tapping his wand, he picked up a crystal and dropped it... with the crystal hovering above the object, "It levitates small objects."

Curious, Shiromizu watched as he placed the other clear pieces of rock crystal into the levitation and began moving his wand. As with the cloudy quartz before, the crystals rubbed against one enough and got stuck. Slowly, they became one large crystal at which point Harry moved his wand in circles causing the crystal to rotate. As it did so, it began to get smoother, rounder as it rotated. Inside, cracks and facets faded as they disappeared, merging into the crystal as a whole. After a half hour, Harry stopped and took the now completed orb, the size of a grapefruit, out and handed it to Shiromizu who took it. The orb was cool to her touch and utterly smooth. It was then that she realized what it reminded her of, "Water..."

Humming, the black haired wizard nodded some as he repeated the process with the smoky quartz, "That's right." Once he was done, he took the orb of smoky quartz and held it in one hand as Shiromizu looked between them, "That one represents clear water while this one..."

Shiromizu finished for him with a slight smile, "Represents polluted water of a certain Mizuchi."

All Harry did was nod confirming it before he turned back to the block of quartz in front of him, "Anyways, let's try to get some more work done on this one before we leave. Still got some time for it after all."

With a nod of her own, Shiromizu settled in and continued to watch him work as he slowly shaped the block of quartz. As the minutes went by, a more and more defined form took shape within it. Head tilted to the side, the Mizuchi hummed, "Is this hard?"

Frowning, the thirteen year old shook his head, "Not quite? It is hard in that one needs concentration, but... I can fix any mistakes I make with magic. That said, it helps that I don't waste any material for it. What I start out with is what I have at the end."

The young Mizuchi just nodded at that in agreement as she continued to watch. She knew from earlier conversations that it would take weeks, or months, of work for Harry. With the time turner, that cut down on real time some, but not fully. But... in the end she did not mind it. And she was also rather happy as this also meant that he was making something for her shrine. Two statues that she was sure would have pride of place at the entrance of her shrine, guarding it.

It made her smile.

By the time they left, the first quartz block had taken on a somewhat shaped form. Not clear enough to for someone who had not seen it to be certain what it was. But, here and there Shiromizu could pick out bits that sort of looked dragonish. With that, they placed the blocks into a chest and left the room behind.

As they walked, with Shiromizu in her fully human form, Harry tilted his head some, "How has the construction of your Shrine been going, Shiromizu? I've been meaning to ask about it."

Shiromizu blinked a bit at that and gave it some thought, "It has actually been going well, Onee-Sama has been sending me pictures and videos of the work that they have been doing on it. From what they state, it should be ready no later then March of this year with all the work." Gesturing with one hand, she shook her head, "Akitsu Maru-San has been a big help there with using some of her equipment to get the ground ready. They built an earthen platform out from where the landslide happened and the Shrine is facing the debris and where my spring is flowing. On top of that platform is where they're building the Shrine itself, though the Priest and his wife have already had a home built."

Nodding at that, Harry frowned some, "So in other words it is going well?"

Brightly smiling, the Mizuchi nodded, "Very well. They've been using some climate spells to keep the area warm while they work on building the Shrine. From what I have seen, it is very beautiful already with a small portion of the water coming from my spring made to come to the Shrine and provide water." Softly smiling, she shook her head, "I am looking forward to the work being completed. When it is, it'll be beautiful..." A small giggle then escaped her, "And I can then introduce you to Himawari, Suihou, and Ryo."

There was a frown on Harry's face at that, "Would I even be able to meet them? I mean, if they are in the Spirit Realm..."

Rather amused, Shiromizu shook her head, "Well, hopefully by that time my home is built and they can stay there, though Onee-Sama has not talked much about it." Part of her worried about that without quite knowing why. Instead, she shook her head, "But you know of the term 'Spirited Away'?"

Eyes widening, the teen stared at her, "Wait, seriously?"

Slowly, Shiromizu nodded with a slight smile, "It is possible for a Kami to bring a mortal into their residence on the Spiritual Plane through their Shrine. Used to be more used for the Priests and Mikos to speak with their patron, but I can do much the same for you." Unknown to Harry, she added some internally, 'Especially as I am hoping for you to join me there one day in the future.'

A small smile on his face, Harry nodded, "I would not mind that."

While they continued to walk though, the Mizuchi beside him giggled, "Though there is one thing that I have noticed that has kept popping up time and again. Want to guess what it might be?" When Harry shook his head, she continued, "Akitsu Maru-San keeps popping up in being mentioned on my mountain alongside Onee-Sama. Enough so that one needs to wonder..."

Catching on, Harry's eyes widened, "Wait, you think that the two of them might be..."

Simply shrugging, Shiromizu shook her head, "I don't know, but if they are not then they are spending a lot of time together. And Onee-Sama does deserve someone after all...'

Harry simply nodded at that in agreement.