Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XIII)

Stone of Lamentation, Tademait Plateau, Sahara Desert, Algeria

27 January 1942
Spoiler: Desert at Night

The stars overhead were a mass of diamonds spilled across the black velvet of the night sky. Colombe paused from stacking brushwood in the final fire pit to admire them. The wind from the Stone of Lamentation gave an eerie counterpoint what she saw, with the moaning of unspeakable sorrow at the transience of existence.
Spoiler: Night sky in the Sahara


"Takes your breath away, doesn't it, Del?"

"Yes, yes it does, Sis. It reminds me of a clear night on the Great Plains, nothing but me and the stars forever."

"Reminds me of the moon rising to form a rainbow over Mosi-oa-Tunya south of here."

Delilah looked a question at Colombe in the light generated by her wand as she glanced up from her watch.

Colombe's eyes were distant and her voice hushed "'The Smoke that Thunders' is the translation; the British call it Victoria Falls. Prefer what the locals call it. Waterfall on the Zambezi River in south-central Africa. I saw it in 1900 heading north to the Congo. One of the most awe-inspiring sights that I ever saw. In the dry season you can swim out to the edge and look down into the clouds as the water around you roars like a thousand lions."

Delilah nodded and responded in an equally hushed voice as the wind moaned and howled around them. "Something to look forward to after the war, Sis. Maybe we can take Mother, Jackie, and even our father there, make it a family outing."

"I'd like that. Thinking about it, a lot of what has happened over the years has sucked but then moments like tonight make it all worthwhile somehow. Sharing it with friends makes it even more special."

"Agreed. I would have enjoyed my around the world cruise a lot less if I didn't have Jackie along to experience it with. Half a hour until midnight."

Colombe mock pouted as she walked back to Delilah and surveyed the desert around them, resting one hand on her rapier. "Aww, and here I never got an around the world cruise. Woe is me." Her lower lip trembled and she sniffed obviously.

Delilah's voice was as dry as the sand that she stood on. "You never asked, Sis. I'm sure after the war that Jackie will be delighted to drag you off to get into trouble in some ports on another sea cruise. Jackie's never so happy as when she's got the wind in her hair and the wheel in her hands, after all."

"That...isn't a bad idea, Del. Maybe make it a family outing so I can meet your mother finally?"

The revolver frowned and spoke hesitantly, "Maybe. I'd have to talk Mother into it, and she has other commitments that she monitors that she won't drop to go off and sail. I...can't tell you more, because I'm sworn to secrecy and she makes the decisions on who to tell about that."

Colombe shrugged and drew her rapier. "I understand. What you don't know you can't tell. Same reason I have been vague about some of my activities because that way if the ICW ever questions you about me you legitimately can tell them nothing under Veritaserum."

Delilah smiled in clear relief. "Just so. Security's important. Speaking of that..." The revolver trailed off and looked up into the stars for a long moment as Colombe waited.

Delilah's voice was hushed and tentative. "You know the Ifrit better than I. What...what is the meaning of this emerald?" Her hand caressed the spot where the Medicine Pouch under her clothing lay next to her heart.

Colombe frowned in thought, picking through her memories of the abn Alnaar, stories that she had heard from Tamenokalt and other natives, and things that she had read during her travels. She spoke slowly as she nibbled her lip. "Mind you, I don't know, Del...but I can make some guesses."

The rapier shrugged, "All of what I know agree that while you can enslave a Djinn or Ifrit with the right item to trap her and the right spell to bind, they are always looking for a loophole. Commands carried out to the letter that harm their 'master', commands not given that liberate them. Knowledge withheld unless specifically asked for. The Devil is a lawyer, and another name for her kind is Shayatan. I rather doubt our quarry ordered Zamarad to leave a token forged from her magic in the embers of a fire that she perhaps ignited. Especially one as symbolically significant as the emerald representing her."

Delilah nodded and spoke slowly. "That makes sense. She admitted to me that she heard everything that was told to us therefore I would come here. Although our enemies are ahead of us..."

Colombe's teeth gleamed in the wandlight in a smug smirk. "Exactly. They were not at that haunted lake where we purified ourselves. If she was commanded to reveal the start of the path to the Sleeper's Mountain..."

Delilah's own teeth gleamed in a matching nasty smile, "She might only tell them to head here and summon the guide at midnight with fire. Not telling them a critical step to pass whatever lies ahead."

"My thoughts exactly, Del. Speaking of guides, how long?"

"Five minutes. Shall you do the honors, or shall I?"

"I'll handle it, Del. But back to Zamarad, we... well mortal humans and I guess those like us... represent a threat to them because we can bind them into servitude. Depending on the legends you read or listen to, that might date back to King Solomon. So they have an innate learned distrust of humanity, but we are also... well... the forbidden fruit to them. Now, it takes a lot to get an Ifrit to trust you and betrayal of that trust is really not worth contemplating, but if you are loyal to them then... there's more than a few folktales about genies having half-human children. Granted all of the tales that I know tend to have some apparently arbitrary rules that the mortal spouse must follow. Normally followed by the spouse getting curious or greedy or stupid and breaking the rules, then Bad Things happen."

Delilah nodded, her eyes distant and her voice very thoughtful, "Like Cupid and Psyche then. A common theme of a relationship between the Mortal and Immortal. They have rules that they have to follow and woe betide the mortal that violates them. Logically if I were to pursue Zamarad, honesty would be the best policy, and speaking to her directly about 'ground rules' is a must. Oh and never never letting Jackie hit on her in any serious way."

"Not unless you want to see if she can melt Jackie's blade. Ifrit can be extremely quick to anger and when they do...." Colombe trailed off with an impressed whistle at the memory, "Speaking of Jackie, where is she now?"

"In the Pacific. Some acquaintances were planning a private military effort against the Japs and I got Jackie in touch with them. She's incredible on the oceans. Byproduct of sailing the Seven Seas, I suppose. It's time." Delilah extinguished her wandlight.

"Oui." Colombe's rapier flashed in the starlight as she swept it in a salute and then spoke in a powerful voice that had an undertone of cracking flame as her blade moved, "Agni Kee Jvaala!" Fire trailed in the wake of the shimmering steel and all five bonfires lit as one.
Spoiler: A Midnight Guide

Delilah smirked, "Indian, Sis?"

Colombe nodded as she lowered her blade, "An invocation the priests of Agni used to light fires in their temples. Learned it in 1778."

Delilah smiled. "Works, I guess... Movement." Her head turned and tracked a dimly lit shape in the firelight who had appeared out of the darkness.
Spoiler: The Guide


Clad in a jet-black chador and with her face veiled in shadows, the figure approached to the edge of the flickering firelight with a slightly limping gait as the moaning wind fell deathly silent.

"Travelers. Met under starlight in the blaze of fire. Whither journey thou?" The voice was that of a young woman.

Colombe curtsied, "May your journeys find water and shade. I am Colombe Du Chasteler, and my sister is Delilah de Breuil. We journey to the tomb of the Sleeper under the Mountain of Flint. We were told to light the fire to summon a guide. Are you she?"

The figure gestured in affirmation, "I am Ghula-min-Mldalil. Well met Travelers. I knoweth the path, if thou hast the courage to follow it. Wilst thou follow me under starlight to where thou seeketh?"

Colombe's grip on her rapier tightened. "I shall, Ghula-min-Mldalil."

Delilah stepped alongside her sister, "As shall I."

Ghula stepped into the firelight fully then with her limp. As she did so, her head raised, showing an oddly-carved wooden mask covering her face.
Spoiler: The Mask


Colombe blinked twice. "That mask looks like ones from the Congo. May I ask where you got it?"

Ghulah laughed demurely, "A traveler many risings of the moon ago gifted me it as a token for his passage. It was crafted in the image of his God. All service cometh with a price, Colombe, Delilah. But you know that, this is the way of things since Adam was created."

She gestured. "Now, let us depart. the path is long and only those who wish to die wander under the heat of the sun. We travel by night and rest by day."

With that, the flames flickered and died suddenly in a cold gust of wind. Ghulah turned and began to walk, and nodding to each other the sisters followed her into the darkness.

 

Weaver

Thursday, 26th December 2013

As had been the case for the majority of Boxing Days in his life, this one found Dan on the beach with his family, part of a large, slightly chaotic crowd who'd come to watch a bunch of nutters run into the sea. Some were in clothes that were season appropriate apart from being barefoot with the legs of their trousers rolled up, some were inv shorts and t-shirts,some were in fancy dress of various levels of absurdity (including at least four shipgirl costumes), and there was at least one nutcase braving the December weather in a Speedo.

The annual Boxing Day Dip was a local tradition that was organised by the Rotary Club to raise money for charity. The war had prevented it for several years, but with things cooling down and the nearby shipgirl base providing a fair amount of production, the beach had been cleared of mines and tradition resumed. This year's Dip was the third since then and like previous years Dan spotted his uncle Keith and other lifeboats volunteers suited up and keeping an eye on the proceedings.

Unlike previous years, this time they were accompanied by a familiar figure dressed like a nineteenth century fisherman and a large, shaggy Newfoundland, both of whom were standing on the water's surface. Zetland had been declared to be sufficiently seaworthy to handle being on calm and shallow water and, much to the delight of the lifeboat crew and Rotary Club, had volunteered to take part. While both her and Crossley were being very professional about things, they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their first time at sea in over a century.

Another difference from previous years was that his family was a good deal larger. In front of him and his parents were the four River-class destroyers, wrapped up in coats and scarves to avoid attracting unwanted attention from shipgirl fans and watching the goings on with bemusement and a side of being visibly scandalized by what some people were wearing, although they didn't say anything. Neither did Forward, who was standing to his mum's left and also dressed to blend in, or C9, who was standing at the end of the row of destroyers next to Moy.

All of the seafaring members of the Hartlepool Bombardment club had been at his house the day before, which among other things had turned Christmas dinner into a major feat that had made everyone glad that they had two ovens and a good sized hob. It had also led to the discovery that parlour games were far more interesting to those who were from the Edwardian era, although them having only been in the modern world for nine days made charades and quizzes difficult.

Since they'd planned on coming to watch the Boxing Day Dip, the destroyers, Forward and C9 had spent the night. The destroyers in their newly purchased double bed in Dan's former bedroom, while, after a brief round of rock, paper scissors to decide things, Forward had ended up in the same room on the camp bed that used to be in the former spare room and C9 had slept on the sofa.

All of them clearly thought that those running into the sea weren't right in the head, although to be fair plenty of humans thought the same.

As the last of the brave, and now shivering, lunatics found their way back on to dry land, Zetland followed them and made a beeline for Dan's family.

"Good afternoon. Did you have a good Christmas?"

Dan's mum beat him to replying.

"Yes. We were a bit more crowded than usual but the more the merrier."

Meanwhile the other WWI vessels were looking at Zealand and Crossley in a way that Dan suspected meant that they were seeing a pair of specialised rowboats as well as a young woman and a dog. Zetland looked back at them.

"And who are these young ladies?"

Forward spoke up first.

"I'm HMS Forward."

The destroyers and submarine followed suit.

"I'm HMs Doon, pleased to meet you."

"I'm HMS Waveney."

"I'm HMS Test."

"I'm HMS Moy, pleased to meet you."

"I'm HMS C9."

Zetland smiled slightly.

"Pleased to meet you. Dan's told me about you. I'm Zetland, the world's oldest lifeboat and this furry individual is Crossley."

Doon tilted her head to the side.

"The world's oldest lifeboat? How old are you?"

"Well, I was built in 1802, so that'll make me two hundred and eleven. I served sixty-two years as the main lifeboat and made my last save sixteen years after I officially retired."

The last sentence was said with noticeable pride. The WWI vessels looked suitably impressed. Doon kept talking.

"Why'd you go out after you were retired?"

Zetland shrugged.

"Had to. The other two boats were out of action so it was up to me."

Test spoke up next.

"How many people did you save?"

"On my last launch or in total?"

"Both."

"Seven in the case of the former, over five hundred in the case of the latter. Which isn't as impressive as people keep making out; Tyne up in South Shields has well over a thousand saves to her name."

Despite Zetland's modesty, Dan sensed the WWI vessels' collective level of respect ramp up a few notches. He spoke up and changed the subject.

"What's it like to be at sea after so long?"

"Amazing. And a bit weird to be honest. It's certainly not the same as my hull doing so. Still, it was nice to be back on the water after spending over half my life on land."

"What do you think of the Dip?"

"It was what it was. I had noticed that there was something going on when I was still in the museum but I never knew what. Now I do."

As the crowds started to disperse, his family started the long walk back home, Zetland tagging along and chatting with Patricia while Dan listened in.

"So what about you? Did you have a good Christmas?"

"I suppose so. It's my first one as an actual person rather than a boat so I don't really have much to compare it to, although I had to put some effort into not thinking about the worst one I had."

Realising what Zetland was referring to, Dan winced slightly in sympathy. Of all the days you could lose a crewmember on, Zetland had probably had it happen on one of the worst ones.

His mum steered the conversation away from depressing territory.

"So, what did you do?"

"Went to church in the morning since my crew insisted on it. There was a bit of an argument about denominations but Church of England won, at least this year. Then I spent the rest of the day with the Picknetts since they invited me first, which Thomas was happy about. I'll probably be at Fred's for New Year's."

After a while the approached the lifeboat museum. While more or less intact, the old building had suffered some damage during Blood Week and the years that followed and was therefore boarded up. Zetland gave the place that had been her home for almost a century a sad look, which made Dan speak up.

"I heard that they're planning on repairing it soon. Your hull might be back inside it this time next year."

"Hmm. Maybe. It'll be nice for all of me to be near the sea again, although I don't really want to leave our James on her own."

Dan refrained from pointing out that the Sir James Knott was still just a hull. After all, it didn't mean anything; shipgirls were proof that there was more to ships than their hulls and Zetland remembered all of her two hundred and eleven years. Sir James Knott may not look like a person yet but that didn't mean that she shouldn't be treated as one.

"You can always go and visit."

"True. Anyway, I'd best be off. Someone's giving me and Crossley a lift back to the museum I'm currently living in."

"Okay, bye."

Goodbyes were repeated by everyone else and they parted ways, Zetland heading back towards the lifeboat station, Newfoundland in tow, and Dan and family heading on towards home, tea and Christmas cake.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A/N: The Boxing Day Dip is an actual thing. See below for video evidence of the real life 2013 one.
Spoiler: Video

The Picknetts are a real life family who have been heavily involved with the lifeboat crew and Zetland for over a century. As in, you can't throw a rock at anything to do with either and not have a good chance of hitting a Picknett. The Thomas mentioned is Thomas Hood Picknett who AFAIK is the first of the family on record as having served on Zetland, although it should be noted that earlier records are almost none existent. The fairy version of him is very proud of his descendants.

Fred is Fred Brunskill who's in charge of the lifeboat museum in real life. I figured that going by what I know of him he'd want to be part of Zetland-the-person's life as well.

By the by, the real life Zetland returned to the museum earlier this month after going in for a much needed referb last year. She looks good.

 

mikelima777

Now for some more Canadian stuff

*****

The Captain took a deep breath as he paced outside the bridge. He looked around at the city where his vessel remained docked, the sounds of a busy Japanese city at work. He watched as his crew settled back into the ship that kept them alive for nearly a decade. For the first time in ages, the signal flags were out on display as his ship, the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Regina, FFH-334, got ready for the long journey home. Captain Wilson now had the unintentional record for the longest command time of an RCN warship, having served as Regina's CO since before Blood Week.

For HMCS Regina, many expected this to be her final journey home, at least in her current form. Her diesel engines were now operational, but her two turbines were still unrepaired; it was found that they would need to be completely replaced, which necessitate cutting open the ship, a costly and resource consuming operation at best. Her old Sea King Helicopter had been taken off the ship; it had been loaded onto an RCAF C-17 Globemaster which flew back to Canada; several museums were already making bids to acquire it. The hangar was filled with spare parts, additional supplies, as well as some extra beds for a few passengers. While some of the crew had been flown home, many had remained aboard. They as well as their children were itching to head home. This time, she would not be sailing alone, responding to a distress call off the Aleutians and was subsequently presumed lost for years. No, this time would be different.

On the radios, Captain Wilson could hear the transmissions from the other vessels escorting Regina, as well as the shipgirls. Leading the escorting hulls was the new AEGIS destroyer HMCS British Columbia. The guided-missile destroyer was a derivative of the Arleigh Burke, inspired by the Japanese Atago-class and the Sejong the Great-class destroyers of the ROKN, featuring more missile cells and a sizable hangar able to accommodate two CH-148 Cyclone helicopters. There were also two of Regina's surviving Halifax-class sister ships, HMCS Vancouver and HMCS Calgary, as well as the Hamilton-class frigate Kelowna, a derivative of the Halifaxes. Rounding out the steel hulls bringing Regina home was the USS Ralph Johnson, a "wartime" Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built to replace losses from Blood week.

Also escorting Regina were a trio of Fletchers, as well as the Canadian shipgirls Ontario, Nootka, and Algonquin. They had orders to sail ahead of the group and act as the first line of defence. As well, a shipgirl tug was also sailing with Regina, ready to aid the frigate should the diesels malfunction. But they were not the only ones protecting the more vulnerable steel ships.

To some surprise, the group of abyssals known as the Wardens, who once guarded the captured Regina before joining the crew in survival, had all accepted offers to join the Royal Canadian Navy, with a possible route towards Canadian citizenship. To avoid the risk of being considered mercenaries, the Wardens were temporarily given ranks of Ordinary Seaman (B) and were technically under the command of cruiser shipgirl Ontario. However, they were de facto still under the command of their leader, the battleship Tandy Ferguson, despite her mysterious "health" conditions.

The de jure Ta-class battleship, Kai Flagship variant, had been dealing with increasing headaches, centred on a growing spike on her head. She was also confused over the change in her hair colour. Formerly, Platinum Blond, it was now partially coal-black, and it started to grow even longer than before. To add to the mystery, she had developed an appetite that could match a Yamato, yet there were no signs of pregnancy, and there was no strange cravings, only a desire for any food. To the shipgirls, it seemed like Tandy's hull, which eerily resembled an Iowa-class, seemed to be stretching, and a gap had developed between the aft turret and the aft superstructure. That gap now had a hole covered by a tarp, which slowly grew wider and wider. Despite this, she was willing to do her part to guide the ship carrying her husband and children home.

All of the Wardens, for now, continued to fly the flag of Hoppou's fleet, with the multicoloured aurora and crab pot. But they were also flying the Canadian flag as the state ensign. Given that their supposed status as commissioned warships was still ambiguous, they have not been issued the Royal Canadian Naval Ensign.

In the evening, the force departed the port with some fanfare. The formation of abyssals, shipgirls, and steel ships made their way eastwards. The Regina and her escorts would rendezvous with a merchant convoy bound for North America, carrying goods across the Pacific. The convoy was part commerce, part test; with the Fleet of Laughter signing the accords to assist humanity, it was hoped that the North Pacific trade route along the Aleutians would be re-established as a safe corridor for merchant ships, though escorts would be needed in case of incursions by hostile Abyssals.

In the distance, under multiple concealment charms, a vessel quietly shadowed the force, ready to intercept any wizarding threats to their non-magical counterparts. The orders from the Canadian Ministry of Magic were clear. Even if it were wizards from the Tokyo government or other ICW members, they were to intercept any attempts to interfere. Were the ship visible, observers would have been surprised to see what appeared to be an Annapolis class destroyer, a design that ended its service in 1998. The flag on her mast was the Canadian flag, except for crossed wands behind the red maple leaf, and the sides of the hull had the number "264 1/2" painted in black. On the superstructure towards the stern on each side, a wood embossed name plaque displayed the ship's identity in bold.

"SEVERN"

 

Harry Leferts

A slight smile on his face, Harry walked between the various groups of people. He could see people chatting about various things or exchanging gifts with family and friends. No matter how many times he had seen it though, just the sight warmed his heart. It is was far different then the odd gift exchange he had seen with the Dursleys.

Briefly, a memory came to the fore in his mind. His five year old self looking through a crack in the door as gifts were exchanged between the Dursleys and a few neighbours at a party. How the adults mostly made polite noises with the gifts and placed them aside, likely to either exchange them later or toss them somewhere to be forgotten. Or Dudley just tearing off gift wrapping and tossing the present a few seconds later to go after another. Not really caring all too much what it really was... just that he had gotten it. Which was not to say that there was any real thought or effort put into it. But still...

Quickly shoving that thought to the side, Harry took a deep breath and let it out. His hand holding the bag at his side tightening some. Perhaps that was why whenever he bought a present or made it, he always put in the maximum thought into his choice. Or why he enjoyed making gifts so much.

Granted, from what he could see he was not exactly alone in that. After all, many of those there also took care in the gifts that they chose for their family and friends. And unlike those parties, the smiles and laughs were genuine as well, which made a lot of difference.

Shaking his head, Harry glanced around before spotting two familiar forms. One of them he had expected there, but the second? That was a surprise. Making his way over, he smiled up at the two who turned away from their chat, also brightly smiling, "Shinano-Chan! Regina!"

Lightly blushing, Shinano reached down and gave a hug to the teen, "Harry-Chan, merry Christmas."

Once she pulled back, she was replaced by the Re-Class who also had a small amount of blush on her cheeks, "It's good to see you as well, Harry. Merry Christmas."

Tightening the hug briefly, Harry pulled back, "Its great to see both of you here, though I am kind of surprised, Regina. After all, I thought that you were coming a bit later."

Just shaking her head, Regina gave him a smile, "I thought so too, but I was finished with my patrols early. So Lady Wanko allowed me to come before I was going to do so originally." Pulling her scarf up a bit, she hummed, "And I am happy for it."

A grin on his face, the wizard gave her another hug, "And so am I, Regina."

Beside her, Shinano was nodding, before giving her a half-hug, "I am too, Regina-Chan."

When they pulled away, Regina's smile grew before she suddenly gasped and put one hand into her poncho, "Oh! I got your present right here, Harry." Pulling out a small box, she handed it to him with a bashful look on her face, "I hope that you like it."

Somewhat bemused, Harry looked up at her, "It's coming from you, Regina. Of course I'll like it!" Opening the box, he gave a blink before pulling out a necklace of sorts in the form of a silver chain. Hanging from it though was an odd pendent in the form of a small person or baby, with a wooden head and glass eyes, "Huh..."

Chewing her lip, Regina pointed at it, "Um, that's a fumsup."

Head tilted to the side, the teen examined it more closely with his eyebrows furrowing, "I... remember hearing about them before? From Tiger, I think. And on SGO..."

Regina gave a nod at that, "They're a lucky charm and were popular during WWI. And, um... they made a comeback now with so many shipgirls from then." Shifting a bit, she smiled unsure, "I found it during one of my leaves in Australia."

Giving her a soft smile, Harry hugged her before kissing her cheek, making the Abyssal blush with some wisps of steam coming from her ears, "I love it, thank you." Pulling back, he slipped it around his neck and nodded, "And one can never not have enough good luck after all."

With a sharp nod, Shinano showed her own, "That's what I told her, Harry-Chan." Reaching into her own pocket, she pulled out a small, wrapped box, "And this is my gift, Harry-Chan."

Intrigued, he opened the box and blinked at what was inside before slowly lifting it out, "This is a seal... wait..." Recognizing it, Harry gave Shinano a shocked look, "This is my family seal."

Nodding, the Carrier smiled, "Hai, it took some work to find out what it was, but I did. And I had it made since you sometimes need it from what I know." Adjusting her glasses, Shinano blushed, "I... used some scrap steel from when I came in with some damages for it."

Shocked, Harry stared at her for a few moments. Gently placing it in his bag, he wrapped her up in a hug, "Thank you, Shinano-Chan." Kissing her on the cheek, he smiled as she flushed deeply, though with a pleased look on her face, "Thank you so much."

All the shipgirl did was nod before speaking, "You're very welcome, Harry-Chan."

Harry then reached into his bag and pulled out two boxes that he gave to the two, "And these are from me to you."

Both girls' eyes widened some and they unwrapped it and opened the boxes before gasping. Tears in her eyes, Shinano looked down at him, "Oh, Harry-Chan..." Reaching inside, she pulled out a block of quartz crystal, with a model of her hull made out of black jet on it. Around it, white quartz formed a wake, as if the model was steaming across the surface, "This is..."

Rapidly blinking away tears, Regina nodded with her throat feeling constricted. Her gift was the same, but instead of Shinano's hull, it was her own. The amount of detail made her blush some, but she could also feel her boilers running hot in her chest. With a deep breath, she summoned her courage and leaned down. Moments later, Harry's eyes widened as he felt her cool lips against his for a few seconds before she pulled back, "T-thank you, Harry..."

However, before he could say anything, Shinano did the same as her friend. When she pulled back, she had a bright smile on her face, "Hai, thank you, Harry-Chan."

At seeing his stunned expression, she gave a small giggle, though also feeling rather pleased with such a reaction.

Similar reactions played out with other shipgirls that Harry gave gifts much like the ones he did Regina and Shinano. When he gave Shioi hers, Shion stared for a few moments at it before becoming rather thoughtful. After all, it said a lot to her that he crafted such a thing for her sister.

When he gave Verniy hers, Inazuma could only shake her head in awe, "Hwawawa! That is amazing, Hibiki-Chan!"

Blushing, said Destroyer only nodded, "Da, it is." Throwing her arms around Harry, she gave him a quick kiss and pulled back, "Spasibo, Harry-Chan."

Akatsuki continued to examine the gift that Harry had given her sister while her mouth was open, "That is a really elephant gift, Harry-Chan! You are so lucky, Hibiki-Chan."

There was a frown on Ikazuchi's face as she raised a finger, "You mean elegant." Ignoring Akatsuki looking away, she hummed with a slight smirk, "Enough to give back those tickets to that Hatsune Miku concert that Harry-Chan got for you?"

Gripping said tickets tightly, the purple haired Destroyer stared at Ikazuchi, "No!" A blush on her face at the snickers, she gave a sniff, "No, because Harry-Chan understands what I like and I will not degrade such a gift."

Simply rolling her eyes, Tenryuu poked Ikazuchi in the head, "Lay off Akatsuki-Chan, Aki-Chan. You know how much she loves Hatsune Miku. And this is one of those concerts with augmented reality after all."

Rapidly nodding, Akatsuki smiled, "It is going to be so amazing!" She then gave Ikazuchi a look, "And I am not sure if I should bring you along, Ikazuchi-Chan. After all, you're not being very lady-like right now." Ignoring the grumbles from said Natural Born, who crossed her arms and huffed a bit, the Destroyer considered things, "Huh... maybe bring along Atlanta-San? She did seem interested... and Inazuma-Chan and her boyfriend."

Now it was Inazuma's turn to be blushing, "T-Toby-Kun is not my boyfriend, Akatsuki-Chan! Just a really good friend."

A smirk on his face, Harry hummed a bit, "Well, considering that video that Ikazuchi-Chan posted on SGO~"

If anything, that made Inazuma flush before she shot her twin a withering look, with said look bouncing off the unrepentant girl. Then she turned back and gave both Verniy and Harry a look, "You're a fine one to talk, Nanodesu."

Blinking, the thirteen year old wizard cocked his head to the side, "Poi?"

 

NotHimAgain

"This one... and this one... and this one here..."

Takumi looked up from his book and scanned the boys in the seat just ahead of him. They were clustered around something that the one actually sitting there--he didn't pretend to remember his name--was holding. From context...

"This entire page. Right here. Hottest."

"Yeah, but they're Cruisers. They're gonna stay that age like forever. You wanna go for a battleship."

... They were looking at a photobook of some kind. Probably something to do with Shipgirls. Takumi groaned, but just as he was returning his attention to his book, someone spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm totally joining the navy. Once you reach captain and beyond, they all start throwing themselves at you."

Lowering his book again, Takumi thought back to his admittedly somewhat intermittent interactions with the Shipgirls and naval personnel of Yokosuka base. He didn't think that he had ever observed behavior quite like that. Maybe it was done in private? No, people weren't so stupid or unprofessional.

"Oh, dude! You could have your pick of them!"

"Or you could just have all of them at once! See, I have this cousin..."

Putting his book down, Takumi tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "... Am I the only one who doesn't really get the appeal of having multiple girlfriends?" he mused to himself.

As one, the boys in the seat ahead of him turned on the one individual in class who not only had a girlfriend, but a girlfriend who wouldn't mind bringing another girl into the relationship and a second girl who was outright interested in him.

"YES!" they roared in unison, brought together by their dislike for the one person they personally knew who had anything close to the dream they wished to live.

Takumi shrugged and returned his attention to Father Brown.

 

Harry Leferts

Eyelids flickering some, Haku hummed some as he slowly awoke. The first thing that he noticed was that he was warm in his futon, toasty as a matter of fact. It was the type of warmth that made one want to snuggle in and stay like that for a time.

Which brought his waking self to the next point... mainly that the warmth in his bed was not coming from him, but a second body as well.

Opening his eyes, Haku felt himself smile some as his vision cleared and he was greeted by the sight of the slumbering Kiyohime. The demoness had her eyes closed and was softly breathing in and out, an expression of contentment on her face. Like he had done so every time he could since his girlfriend had started sleeping in the same bed as him, Haku just traced her face with his eyes, committing it to memory. Moments like this was precious to him like nothing else.

Moments that he used to convince himself that, yes, this wonderful woman was in love with him as he was in love with her. That she cared that deeply for him and returned his affections. And that this was not some sort of dream. Something that he knew she did much the same when she woke up first as well.

Gently reaching over, Haku pushed a strand of hair from her face, fingers brushing against the soft, warm skin of her cheek. Shifting a bit, he pulled himself a bit closer to her as he just laid there with the clock on his dresser ticking away the seconds, the minutes, and the hours. None of that really mattered much to him, after all right now was almost a dream despite being awake, for he was with his Kiyohime.

Eventually, the demoness' eyelids fluttered and soon opened. As Haku watched, sleep cleared form the golden orbs of her eyes and she blinked the last bits away before yawning. Upon seeing her boyfriend watching her with a small smile, she blushed deeply, "H-Haku-Kun...?"

Lips curling upwards into a smirk, Haku cupped her cheek with one hand, feeling the heat from the blush under it. Hot, but not burning though he noted with some amusement how smoke seemed to curl from her ears as she subconsciously leaned into his hand, "Hmm? Yes, Kiyohime?"

Still blushing, she glanced away, "Were you watching me sleep?"

Now blushing himself some, Haku nodded, "Hai, I was. You look so peaceful when doing so that I can't help myself, Kiyohime." Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips, "I love seeing it."

Flustered some, Kiyohime buried her face in his chest, "It is somewhat embarrassing, Haku-Kun.." Tilting her head back up, she looked into his eyes with a small smile on her face, "But... also wonderful."

Chuckling, the nearly eighteen year old nodded, "Hai." Thumb gently rubbing around the base of one of her horns, Haku smiled as she sighed, "I'm just glad that I am blessed by you being my girlfriend."

Her eyes meeting his, Kiyohime shook her head, "No, Haku-Kun. It is I who am blessed. And every day as well since I met you." Kissing him, she threw her arms around his neck as she pressed their lips together for almost a minute and then pulled away, "Truly blessed."

Heavily blushing, Haku grinned a bit. At least part of it was from the kiss and the rest was from the fact that his girlfriend's body was pressed against his own. Giving her a peck, he chuckled, "Merry Christmas, Kiyohime."

Brightly smiling, she gave a nod, "Merry Christmas, Haku-Kun." Shifting a bit so that he was on his back, and she was straddling him, she sat up and the blanket fell away. Unlike what most would think, the room was not cold, but was warm from Kiyohime's warmth. However, she smirked a bit as he gulped from the fact that the blanket now off her revealed that she was once more wearing his clothes.

Something that she tried to do every time she went to bed due to the effect it had on him.

Eyes flicking from the bare legs exposed to Kiyohime's own eyes, Haku only sighed, "Why do you do this to me?"

Giggling with a twinkle of happiness in those golden orbs, Kiyohime tilted her head, "Because of what it does to you, Haku-Kun." With a soft hum as his hands gently brushed the soft skin of her bare thighs, she smiled, "And because I like to."

Only shaking his head, the seventeen year old sighed before propping himself up and looking at her, "Well... I can't deny that I enjoy it myself, Kiyohime."

Head tilted to the side, Kiyohime gave another giggle before closing her eyes for a few moments. Opening them, she looked down on her boyfriend with a happy look. Once again, she sent out a silent thank you to whoever had allowed for her to wake in this time and meet the young man before her. To her, despite what she had done... this was heaven indeed. Placing one palm on his chest, Kiyohime leaned down and gave her boyfriend yet another kiss. Another kiss that she placed into her heart which was slowly filling with warm memories of their relationship. Yet another moment that she would treasure and revisit time and again.

Eventually, the two did get out of bed and got changed, neither of them leaving the room. After all, they had seen each other before in little. Though, they did sneak looks at the other. Once they were dressed, Haku kneeled down on the end of the futon and patted beside him, "Come and sit, Kiyohime, I'll do your hair."

An air of mischievousness around her, Kiyohime did that... except she sat in his lap. Lips curling as she laughed a bit at his expression, she shook her head, "Thank you, Haku-Kun."

With a sigh, the young man brushed her hair to the side a bit and kissed her neck, which caused a shudder to run through her. Another one also went through her with an electric tingle as his warm breath tickled her ear, "You're very welcome, Kiyohime."

Not long after, the two were down in the living room exchanging gifts. Opening hers, Kiyohime gasped a bit at the sight of the silver earrings with yellow gemstones hanging from them. Yes, in her day such a piece of jewelry was unknown. But she had no doubt that if it had, it would be something for a noble to wear, not the simple daughter of a Village Headman. Feeling a hand on hers, she looked up at Haku, "Haku-Kun?"

Cupping her cheek, he gave her a serious look, "You are not just the daughter of a Village Headman, Kiyohime. You're also my girlfriend... and the woman that if I had a chance, I would take as my wife."

Breath freezing in her chest just as it had done so each time he had made such a pronouncement, Kiyohime stared at him before tears gathered in her eyes. Then, sniffling, she launched herself at him which knocked him back fully onto the couch, "Oh, Haku-Kun!" Kissing him hard, she pulled back as the two of them were both breathless, "Thank you..."

Arms coming up and around her waist, Haku smiled at her, "You're welcome, Kiyohime." Briefly, his mind went to something else, something that he had been thinking of for some time now. After various conversations, he finally relented and published his first Light Novel. It was the one dealing with a young boy in the Heien Era and his various adventures around his village. Much to his surprise and shock, it became something of a hit and already, there was quite a bit of money flowing into their home.

Enough money for him to consider a special gift...

Yes, he knew that he might never be able to marry Kiyohime as much as the two wished for it. She had no presence in the non-magical world after all, so that was a no go there. And in the magical world... the Tokyo Magical Diet had declared her a criminal for multiple breaks in the Statute as well as what had happened when some Aurors had knocked him out and were going to modify his memories. Granted, from what he found out later, said Aurors were rather hated by Yokai, and thus no one shed a tear for what happened to them, but still. It just meant that was a no go there as well as far as marriage was concerned.

But... after some time, Haku had thought about things. What was marriage anyways? A piece of paper? Something that declared to the world that the two were one? Was that really all that important in the end then what the two people in question thought and believed?

Haku came to the realization that such things didn't really matter in the end, what did was what the two people in question thought and wanted with their hearts. And as far as he was concerned, the beautiful young woman who was his girlfriend? She was the one he wanted as his wife. No lack of paper was going to stop that from happening.

The only question in his mind... was what the ring should look like...

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XIV)

Tademait Plateau, Sahara Desert, Algeria

28 January 1942

Delilah frowned as she followed her sister Colombe and their masked and shrouded guide Ghulah deeper into the desert through the predawn darkness. Fortunately both she and Colombe had spells to see in low-light conditions as they walked deeper into the desert. Ahead a range of hills rose like the spine of some ancient beast, dark in the starlight.
Spoiler: A Dark Journey

Delilah frowned minutely as the guide gestured to the left and they proceeded into a ravine that wound deeper into the hills. Ghulah's soprano voice sounded. "Not long now, another three hours before we can stop and rest through the day."

Colombe responded, "Come on, Del. How long will it take us to reach the Mountain of Flint?"

"As long as it takes us to." Unhelpful. Not an answer.

"Oui, I see." Colombe shrugged and clambered over a small drop with cat-like agility. Delilah followed and continued to follow their guide.

Finally as the sky just barely began to lighten the guide stopped and gestured to their left. The long-vanished river that had cut the canyon had carved a cave in one of the bends. "We rest here and resume our travel in the cool of the night."

Delilah nodded and flexed her wrist to let her wand shoot out of its forearm holster.

"Lumos!"

The nine inches of English Oak flared to light and her eyes narrowed at the scuffed sand on the floor of the cave. "One moment, let me examine this."

She walked forward with a cat-like tread and knelt, reading the tracks with trained skill that had been honed with her decades of experience as an Auror and spy. "Two individuals with hobnailed boots... one small one with sandals..." Automatically her mind flashed back to the Ifrit Zamarad's feet in leather sandals "and a group of them with clawed toes and paws walking upright, at least eight." Wulfen.

Her lips thinned as she walked to a fire pit and carefully laid her hand on it. "Lingering warmth in the coals. One day."

Her eyes flicked at Ghulah and then rested on Colombe. "I suggest rotating watches. You sleep first after eating and drinking Sis. I'll wake you at noon, you wake me an hour before sunset."

Colombe nodded. "Works for me."

Delilah lit the firepit with a small application of magic and soon enough a leg of mutton from her pack was roasting under Colombe's supervision, using the rapier as a spit. Delilah meanwhile laid out a bedroll and then cast charms to refill the canteens that they had used.

"Ghulah? Do you need me to refill any waterskins that you have?" Delilah asked the silent woman sitting in a shadowed niche.

The figure shook her head. "I must decline your offer of water."

Past her Colombe's eyes narrowed slightly. "Anyone want mutton, flat bread and salt?"

Delilah smiled. "I will have some, I have worked up an appetite."

Another head shake. "Alas, I ate before I met you." There was...something...in that soprano voice.

Colombe nodded decisively. "Well then, breakfast is served."

After eating, and extinguishing the fire, Colombe glanced over at their guide. She then smiled smugly. "Oh Del? I really have to thank you for introducing me to that poet you like so from Baltimore that you sent me as a Christmas present in 1940. You know the fellow who wrote 'The Raven'?" Edgar Allen Poe. And it was 1934 when I gave you that for your birthday, not 1940.

Delilah smiled with slightly forced cheerfulness. "Indeed I do! 'Quoth the Raven --Nevermore!'"

Colombe nodded as her smile grew. "Well this little walk reminded me of part of his poem about the 'The Bells'. 'Hear the tolling of the Bells - Iron Bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!'"

Delilah's smile froze as she nodded. "Indeed it does. Indeed it does." Her eyes found the curious masked form of their guide. "Indeed it does."

"Perhaps I shall compose a poem for you while I stand watch." With that Delilah walked to the opposite wall from Ghulah and leaned back against the solid stone; her right hand resting in her lap an inch from her pistol's grip. "Sleep well, Sis."

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

When Delilah woke after exchanging watches with Colombe, she saw Colombe examining scratches on the stone as her rapier glowed gold. 'Coincidentally', she was in a position to watch the unmoving form of Ghulah as she did so.

"Look here Del, I have seen inscriptions like this before. The Berbers south of here told me that these are spells of protection and binding."

Delilah nodded, filing away the data point to refine her tactical calculations. She cast her own divining spell and saw faint witchlight dance along the worn grooves in the bedrock. "Interesting, Sis. I'll pack the bedroll so we can make good time."

Delilah's eyes hardened and she watched her sister's jaw firm as Ghulah finally stirred. "We have a few things to discuss with those ahead of us. Pointedly."

Colombe's matching smile showed all her teeth.

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

Unfortunately, the Nazis and their captive stayed a 'day ahead' as hills and canyons turned to salt flat that turned to shifting sand, and then turned to more hills and wadi and finally wind-sculpted mountains.
Spoiler: The durar Uhaggar


The miles dragged on into monotony for Colombe, albeit a familiar one from her travels from Belgium to Japan and then throughout Africa. From words shared with Delilah, her baby sister had done her share of long chases and travels as an Auror in the West and then into Mexico before she had met her oldest sister.

The days were the same pattern, one sister slept as the other stood watch over Ghulah, who refused water, bread, and salt.

The only thing that changed was the tension as it steadily ratcheted up notch by notch.

Finally at the beginning of their tenth day of travel, things changed.

Ghulah paused at a twist in the wadi which they had been traveling down, and gestured at a large stone that had slid down the slope. With a solemn groan, the boulder moved, revealing a dark passage into the heart of the stone.
Spoiler: The Final Leg of the Journey

"Not far now. We shall reach the Woods by the rising of the Moon!"

Delilah flashed her wand to light. "Good. The Mountain is just beyond the Woods."

With that she nodded to Colombe and the trio entered the tunnel. Obsidian glass reflected the wandlight back in a maze of mirrors that subtly distorted their forms as they walked on a slight downward slope. Behind them, the stone rolled back into place.

Finally, the tunnel ended, and Colombe, Delilah, and Ghulah stepped out into a round valley filled with vegetation. The sky overhead was a yellowish-gray as the moon illuminated a massive sandstorm swirling overhead.

Delilah's voice was glacially calm as she looked up. "Ahh, that explains the golden clouds of the poem."

Colombe nodded and loosened her sword in her sheath as she surveyed the tangled dark trees ahead with a low silvery mist filling them. "True, at least there is a path if those white markings on the ground are any indication. Be ready, Sis."
Spoiler: The Woods


"Come, come! The Sleeper awaits!" Ghulah limped forward.

Colombe followed with one hand on her rapier as Delilah knocked a half-moon of obsidian from the tunnel walls and pocketed it before bringing up the rear. The path ahead was marked with cairns of rounded off-white stones.

Delilah smiled as they passed the first one and then whispered to herself in Italian, " Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita."

Colombe raised an eyebrow and spoke in an equally quiet voice as her eyes flitted among the mist shrouded woods.. "Dante's Inferno, First Canto? How fitting. Finding ourselves in a Dark Wood with a guide."

"I didn't know that you spoke fluent Italian, Sis." Delilah's voice was hushed.

"You never asked, Del. Time to do this." Colombe squared her shoulders and stepped forward.

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

The path wound and twisted, and finally reached a pair of statues. The one on the left was a woman carved of black basalt with a circlet on her hair and a flowing robe. On the right was an armored and vizored knight with a short sword and three hearts and three lions on his shield, all carved from white marble. Just past the statues, the path continued to a ten-meter wide moat filled with brackish water, surrounding an island of flint with a visible cave entrance. White stones made a pavement starting between the statues and ending at the water's edge

Delilah waved her wand as the trio stopped just before the statues. A circle of swirling energies formed in front of her face. She slowly turned in a full circle, humming to herself.

"Anti-Apparation and Anti-Flight wards, no anti-Portkey though, although that does not help. Must have been a recent development after Morgan or her acolyte set this up. Concealment and notice-me-not littered throughout the forest. Guess we need to swim, although that water looks foul. Also... some nasty curses in the woods, probably kill anything living in a matter of moments. Path between the statues is clear."

Ghulah laughed melodiously. "Nay, Travelers, I shall summon the bridge." She began to chant guttural and disquieting syllables and a brown causeway appeared from the water stretching from shore to shore. Water streamed from its broad surface.

"After you, Travelers."

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XV)

The Mountain of Flint

7 February 1942
Spoiler: A Step Along the Path

"After you, Travelers," Ghulah's sweet soprano sounded in Colombe's ears as their guide spoke.

Colombe looked at the paired statues ahead and shrugged. She tapped a finger against her chin as she took a step along the white flagstone path between them; her boot crunching on the stones. Her eyes flickered to the causeway across the brackish moat that Ghulah had just summoned, and gave a low, impressed whistle.

Another step, then she turned, tapping a finger against her rapier's hilt as her hand moved to it from her chin and the ghost of a smug smile appeared on her face. Her eyes flickered to the mist shrouded trees that she had journeyed through, and the smile grew. Next her eyes alighted on Delilah, crystal sapphire meeting warm emerald in a moment of unspoken sisterly communion as the smile got smugger. Finally her eyes found the masked and shrouded form of her guide, and the smile grew even more, her teeth showing.

"Non." Colombe's voice was calmly conversational as the memories of something dark flickered in her eyes. "You see, I wondered why the purification before we came here. Now I know. You need to face your Dead..."
Spoiler: Steel Is Drawn

Her blade flashed like lightning out of her sheath as she flash-stepped in a lunge at Ghulah - scattering the Wulfen bones that she had been standing on that had been cracked for their marrow - and her eyes blazed with sapphire fire. Ghulah's mask flew away from her as the rapier blurred into combat, her voice dropping to a venomous, savage, joyful snarl as she finished her statement.

"TO SEE THE FACE OF THE WALKING DEAD!"
Spoiler: The Guide Revealed


As Colombe moved into close combat with the revealed monstrosity, Delilah blurred past her sister in the same instant, drawing her rifle from her hidden holster as she did and taking a firing stance with her back to Colombe's fight.

Ghulah screamed in anger as its concealing cloth tore to reveal the misshapen form underneath and a pair of massive bone scimitars formed in its hands as it swelled to double a man's height.

"KILL THEM! KILL THEM BOTH SO WE MAY FEAST!!"

Bone and steel clashed as once again, Colombe found herself in a fight for her life against something dark and foul, and a fey joy caused her heart to pound like a war drum.

-------------------------------
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM BOTH SO WE MAY FEAST!!"
Spoiler: Delilah Hunts

With that, the 'causeway' reared up to stare at Delilah as massive jaws opened.
Spoiler: Delilah's New Boots


Delilah's eyes were chips of frozen verdant ice as her favorite rifle's stock found her shoulder and she took aim, ignoring her sniper scope. Anything within five hundred meters was effectively point-blank to her after all with it in her hands.

CRACK

The massive draconic serpent hissed in pain as its left eye exploded and Delilah worked the bolt on her rifle. The revolver's voice was ice cold as her lips curled back from her teeth.

"You should be aware. I killed the Horned Serpent whose hide I'm wearing right now. And I'm in the market for new boots and a purse."

A spray of venom answered her and she flash-stepped out of the blast. One drop scored a trail along her upper left arm leaving a nasty gash as her avatar's flesh was scoured away.

CRACK

The other eye exploded, blinding the serpent.

A second enchanted .30-06 Springfield bullet's casing tumbled to the bones stripped clean of all flesh by fang, venom, and tooth as Delilah loaded her next round and calmly, coldly, continued as she took aim again.

"That hurt. But not as much as what I'm about to do to you will."

CRACK

--------------------------------
Spoiler: A Muramasa's Steel

Colombe parried a scimitar blow aimed at her head and in the same motion lashed out with a flat footed kick. Her eyes blazed sapphire with fury and revulsion and her voice was filled with sarcastic glee as her blade caused a foul green ichor to flow from a cut the length of the creature's gangly arm.

"You know, I knew you from the beginning. You thought this infidel couldn't speak Arabic. I've been fluent for two centuries. Ghulah. Ghūla. She who seizes. Corpse-eater. Dead-defiler. Ghoul. That was your first mistake of many."

CRACK

An inhuman howl of pain and a bone scimitar clattered to the ground as the rapier pushed the evil spirit back, more ichor flowing. Colombe's voice was murderously polite and filled with steel-deep loathing.

"You really shouldn't have tried to do this to me and my sister, you know. I first fought your lesser kin in 1743 on Lesbos. Some of them were hunting the locals to get 'warm flesh' for their feasts. Turned out that the village elder used to ward off your kin until he fell ill and couldn't do it for several months. He taught me a little something that your kind don't like in gratitude for saving his youngest granddaughter."

CRACK

"Ηλιακή φωτιά!"

Colombe's sword suddenly caught fire with a pure golden flame, and the undead cowered from her, swinging wildly in panic, as Colombe pressed her advantage mercilessly.

CRACK

The rapier's smug smirk turned even nastier and Hell itself danced in her blue eyes. Her voice lowered an ocatave, revulsion lacing every syllable of her aristocratic French suitable for a King's court.

"I still remember what it was like in that warren as I followed the terrified screams of that little girl. I told the creatures there that I sent back to Hell what I'm going to tell you. Your kind hungers endlessly for flesh, especially the flesh of the pure and innocent. You face Muramasa steel now, and if you want to taste it..."

CRACK

The pained scream of something dark and foul that was old when Rome was young sounded through the woods as a severed hand crashed to the forest floor and began to burn with solar fires.

"...Μολών λαβέ! Eat your fill, glutton, I'll give you a belly full that you'll never forget!"

CRACK

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

Delilah surveyed the corpse of the serpent-dragon with smug satisfaction as the massive head crashed to the ground, the bones of its victims flying. She then turned and raised an eyebrow at her sister looking at the still-twitching dismembered pieces of the Ghoul as they burned with golden flame.

"Was that really necessary, Sis?"

Colombe nodded as she walked over to the mask and picked it up. "Actually, yes. Greater Ghouls like her are evil spirits given form. Give her a century or five and she will reform gradually. Unless you happen to have a priest handy for an exorcism. How's the arm?"

"Healing spell's cleaning it up, snake got lucky with some acid." Delilah smugged. "I have holy water blessed by the vicar. What's with the mask?"

Colombe frowned thoughtfully as she examined it. "Not quite sure. It's magical, and reminds me of a few spirit masks I saw in the North-Eastern Congo. Shamans there wear them to amplify their powers, become one with the spirits that they summon. That kind of thing. Odd design, and I wonder if she picked it for the four eyes. If they are meant to be eyes; I'm not sure if they are."

Delilah shrugged as she pulled out a vial of holy water and began to sprinkle it on the pieces. "Beats me. You are the expert on African magics here, Sis."

Colombe shrugged. "I'll hang onto it, put it in my trophy collection back home. I think I know a nice suitable spot in my study alongside the Zulu spears, battle-axes, and tolla throwing-knives I got from that bunch that had the tribal 'succession dispute' in Kukuanaland during 1901. Fun times."

Delilah smirked at her sister as she finished sprinkling the remains with holy water. "Not just sleeping with a Potter, but infected with their Pottering. Guess being a magpie is sexually transmitted."

"DELILAH!"

Colombe glared at Delilah as her lips unwillingly curled in a fond smile.

The revolver was the picture of wounded innocence. "What? It's true." She then sobered. "Any sign of Zamarad's ring?"

Colombe examined the bones. "No. Which is troubling. The werewolves are all new and fresh. None of the human bones are. Five gets you ten that she took those two Nazis to her larder. She will have trinkets looted from her feast there too. Bet it's the Sleeper's tomb; if not we scour the woods. Assuming the curse-work the trees radiate doesn't kill us or anything."

Delilah nodded and put her rifle back into the holster that it came from. "Logical. You're the expert on Arabian ghouls and the nasty cannibalistic habits thereof. All I know of them is from Poe and the Burton translation of the Arabian Nights. Oh yes, and Gothic fiction written by batty fuckers like that twitchy nut-bag from Providence, Rhode Island, who was all about 'things man is not meant to know'. He was a crank, but an entertaining harmless crank until he died... five years ago now. Boy, time flies."

"Truth, Del. Nice work killing the overgrown snake in such a way to give us a sort of bridge with some jumping." Colombe leapt from coil to coil of the dead serpent as she crossed the moat.

Delilah giggled as she drew her wand and revolver before following her big sister. "I aim to please."

"Going to tell that to your fiery-hot girlfriend when she gives you the traditional 'hero's reward'?" The rapier smugged suggestively at the revolver as she leapt to the island in the middle of the lake

"SIS! TAKE THAT BACK!! NO FAIR!"

Delilah, Colombe noted, was rather cute when she was blushing and flustered like that.

With that though the sisters turned the search for an entrance as behind them the trees stood silent sentinel, save for the rustling of the odd leaves in the wind and the howl of the sandstorm overhead.

 

Harry Leferts

A smile on his face as he waited by the door, Haku called out, "Kiyohime! Come on! We have to get going if we're going to make our reservation!"

Moments later, there was a banging noise before Kiyohime appeared in front of him. When she saw his jaw drop, she smiled slightly and blushed, "Um, sorry about the wait, Haku-kun." Walking up to him as her dress shifted, she chewed her lip, "Are... are you sure that we should go out?"

Quickly shaking his head, the teen chuckled, "Hai, I am sure, Kiyohime. Besides which, this place wouldn't have issues with your horns and such."

Still confused, Kiyohime furrowed her eyebrows before giving her boyfriend a look, "Where are we going anyways? You haven't said..."

Just smirking, Haku shook his head, "You'll see... now come on!" After he took her hand though, the seventeen year old pulled her close before putting his hands on her waist. Moments later, he gave her a firm kiss that she returned after a few seconds of surprise. Pulling back, Haku began to guide her outside, "Anyways, we should get going."

Blinking as she was still stunned by the kiss, Kiyohime nodded absent mindingly. Soon, the two were on his scooter and going through the various roads. Despite it being December though, Haku was not cold in the slightest, mainly due to Kiyohime using her heat to keep him warm. She, herself, was not bothered in the slightest by the chilly air. Kiyohime though was just enjoying the ride as she hugged her boyfriend from behind. Something that she rather enjoyed.

Especially as it was easier then a ride on an oxen or horse would have been at the same speed.

As Haku slowed down on the road by the river, he groaned, "Dammit... those lunatics are here again!"

With a blink, Kiyohime was about to ask when she noticed some people shooting odd looks towards the riverbanks. Others were taking video and the like... which was also when she noted the glow of a fire out of the corner of her eye and turned. After a short moment, she sighed and hung her head, "Hai... they came back..."

Down on the river bank, there was a bonfire going on. But that was not the issue, rather... it was the bunch dancing around said bonfire.

Abyssals.

One of them was a Re-Class in a red and yellow version of a Miko's outfit, waving around a stick with some fire on it as various Abyssals shouted along with her. "PRAISE THE FIREY ONE THIS WINTER NIGHT!"

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

"VENGENCE THAT BURNS ALL IN HER PATH!"

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

"THE BURNING SERPENT OF THE HIDAKA!"

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

"SHE WHO ROASTS THOSE THAT LIE TO THE HEART TO ASHES AND SOOT!

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

"THE DRAGONESS WHOSE FURY CAN ONLY BE CALMED BY HER TRUE LOVE! THAT BURNS THOSE WHO WOULD HARM THE INNOCENT!

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

"SHE WHOSE SCALES ALIGHT WITH FLAMES OF JEALOUSY THAT CONSUME ALL UNTRUE!"

"PRAISE THE FIERY ONE!"

Slowly blinking, Haku looked over his shoulder at the embarrassed Kiyohime, "I will never understand how a bunch of Abyssals became so scared of you that they decided that they would worship you.'

The Dragoness in question glanced at the Abyssals and sunk down some in her seat, "Hai... I do not know how it happened either." She then shook her head, "At least the Cult of the Dark One is not here. When those two meet..."

Moving away from the gathering of Abyssals, Haku only nodded, "True, though that gets really confusing when they meet up." For a few moments he thought and then frowned, "At least the people who used to bully me stopped because of them."

Giggles escaped from Kiyohime as she remembered one time some of the old bullies of her boyfriend were once more insulting him... right up until the Cult of the Fiery One showed up and scared the crap out of them by shouting at them for "Bothering He Who Has The Heart Of The Fiery One!" Despite her embarrassment, it was amusing to her.

Haku, meanwhile, continued, "Though I guess that it is no odder then the fact that some humans and Yokai have joined them..."

Just shrugging, his girlfriend shook her head while ignoring the shouts behind her, "Um, let's just ignore them... and at least they are not camped out front." It was not long after that they pulled into a parking lot and Kiyohime blinked some, "KFC?"

A grin on his face, Haku nodded, "Hai, what else is more Christmas then going to KFC? I got the reservations for this back in October."

Eyes wide, at least partially because she understood how hard it was to get them, she nodded. Kiyohime then got off the scooter with some help from Haku. Instead of going in the front way though, they made their way to the back of the resturant and moved between two old stacks of pallets, to find another door. Opening that, they walked into a version of the fast food place that instead of humans, had various Yokai out of their disguises here and there eating fried chicken and other things.

Not long after, the two were being guided to their reserved spot, Kiyohime's arm through Haku's as she leaned against him. At her giggle, he blinked some, "What?"

Only shaking her head though, the Dragoness smiled before kissing his cheek, "It's nothing, Haku-Kun. Just thinking..."

Later that night, after arriving home and avoiding the cultists this time, Haku stretched some, "Ah, that was a nice meal."

Placing her coat on a hook, Kiyohime smiled, "It was." Briefly considering things, she shook her head before licking her lips, "The fried chicken was good."

Lightly laughing, he shook his head, "Isn't it always? Though I am glad that the resturant has a Yokai section hidden away. Makes things easier to take you there." Walking up to her, he gave her a soft kiss that she returned. Keeping one hand on her hip as he pulled back, he placed his phone on the side table and tapped it. Soon after, music began to play as he returned his other hand to it's original place and began to sway, "I'm just glad that you enjoyed your surprise, Kiyohime."

Softly smiling, Kiyohime leaned her head against his chest and nodded, "I was always going to enjoy it, Haku-Kun. Because you took me there." Tilting her head up, her lips met his lowering ones for a few moments. Just smiling into the kiss, she hummed, 'I am always going to enjoy these times with you, Haku-Kun.'

As she tightened her embraced, the two deepened their kiss. When he pulled back, Haku smiled at her before once more kissing her. A decision that Kiyohime fully backed considering she pressed herself against him and moved his hands from where they had been, her own arms around his neck.

This was, she decided, one of the best Christmases that she had ever had, despite only coming into contact with the holiday after reawakening. All because it was her first with her and Haku as a couple.

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XVI)

The Mountain of Flint, Sahara Desert

7 February 1942
Spoiler: The Island of the Sleeper

Delilah turned in a full circle, flexing her healed left arm as she surveyed the island. Green grass neatly grew on a gently sloping incline of thirty meters between the cursed water of the moat to where suddenly a wall of flint rose into the endless sandstorm above. All was peaceful.

She didn't buy that promised peace for an instant.

There was nothing in sight, just a heat-shimmer from where the remains of the creatures that she and her sister had slain lay.

To her side Colombe made her own observation circuit, her steel rapier blade sharp and bright in her hand, although less keen than her eyes.

"You see anything Del?"

"Nothing, Sis. You?"

"Non. So, left or right?"

Delilah took a deep breath; flipping a mental coin as she did.

"Left. Let's go deosil, sunward. Also the grass is undisturbed. Keep alert."

"Oui. I'll take point, Sis." The Rapier nodded and headed to the left, with Delilah moving behind her, her eyes flickering in constant vigilance.

They had continued around the island (which Delilah noted was perfectly round and no doubt unnatural) for half an hour until they reached the point opposite their start. Both sisters paused as they saw that unlike the suspected perfect circle, the larger island was apparently a C shape, with a single cross-shaped smaller island in the gap.

A simple bridge of white marble spanned the gap between the land they were on and the cross, which was covered in blooming blood-red roses and pure white lilies. in alternating triangles. A matching bridge was visible on the far side of the cross, and the short arm to their left had a golden cross standing at the tip. The lilies and roses extended to their right into an arched entrance.

Delilah's lips quirked as she spoke. "Well the floral symbolism couldn't be any more blatant if the gardener came down and hammered me around the head and shoulders with it. Cover me, Sis."

Colombe nodded and gestured, forming four circles of fire that began to spin around her off hand's wrist. "Got you covered, Del. Bonne chance!"

"Thanks, Sis." Delilah approached the bridge and carefully crossed it, every sense alert for danger. At the end she paused, knelt to examine the flowerbed in front of her, then stepped onto the moist dirt.

"Clear, Sis." Delilah then covered Colombe as the rapier crossed. Once the sisters stood there, Delilah proceeded to the point where the far bridge reached them and again examined the flowerbed.

"Nothing. We are ahead of them unless they just don't leave tracks." Delilah's smug satisfaction was self evident.

"Good." Colombe wiped sweat from her face after dismissing her spell and then drank from a canteen."Water, Del?"

Delilah nodded and flicked her wand away before taking the canteen in the empty hand. "This heat is brutal. With the trees and moat it is hard to believe that we are in the middle of the largest desert on earth until now. I have never been to the Sahara until now, and it is not what I expected."

"True, Del. With those heat shimmers I see, all we need is sand to create a dust devil. Not that I want one."

"Me either. Cave now, Sis?" Del handed the canteen back and then drew her wand again.

"Cave, I'll take point, Del." Colombe hefted her rapier and moved toward the dark entrance.
Spoiler: The Cave

"Lumos!" Her blade burned a creamy dove-white, revealing that to either side of the entrance were carved lion waterspouts feeding the moat. Between them was a pair of great steel doors carved with a maiden on the left and a knight on the right, identical to the statues that the sisters had passed. No handle or lock was visible.

Colombe walked to them and pushed. "Won't budge and probably enchanted like you wouldn't believe. Any ideas, Sis?"

Delilah grinned as she walked to Colombe's side. "Actually yes."

Delilah gestured with her wand and an invisible drum and fiddle began to play. She then curtsied to the figures, and began to recite Orlando Furioso in the language of the codex that had started the quest.

"Le donne, i cavallier, l'arme, gli amori
Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese io canto;
Che furo al tempo, che passaro i Mori
D'Africa il mare, e in Francia nocquer tanto;
Seguendo l'ire, e i giovenil furori
D'Agramante lor Re, che si diè vanto
Di vendicar la morte di Troiano
Sopra Re Carlo Imperador Romano."
*["Women, cavaliers, arms, loves
The courtesies, the daring enterprises I sing;
That was at the time, that the Moors passed
Of Africa the sea, and in France they will hurt so much
Following the wrath, and the young fury
D'Agramante their King, who took pride
To avenge the death of Trojan
Above King Charles Roman Emperor."]*

The doors silently swung open before the sisters revealing a broad stone staircase leading up. As they walked up, paired torch sconces flickered to life with magical flames as they approached each one.

Finally the stairs ended at another set of arched doors that swung open for them.

Delilah and Colombe looked at each other in the hushed stillness and then Delilah swept around in another circle. Her eyes lingered on the flickering torch-lit stairs leading down, but she said nothing as she continued her sweep.

Colombe nodded and stepped inside, then gave an awed whistle. Delilah joined her and gave her own soft cry of shock.
Spoiler: The Tomb of the Sleepers


The room beyond was circular and carved out of the heart of the mountain. Massive monumental columns carved in the shape of a giant mourning face flanked by twin mourning knights held a dome up. At the apex of the dome, a pure white light shone from lantern of silver and crystal to illuminate the tomb.

In the center of the floor a gold engraved seal of Solomon surrounded a granite bier with rippling sparkling energies surrounding it. Two figures rested there with their heads pillowed on stone.

The woman to the left was clad in a bliaut dress of dark purple trimmed with ermine fur. Her ornately braided midnight black hair was covered with a pure white wimple surmounted with a silver coronet. Her hand which was adorned with a brilliant silver ring held an ivory wand to her chest. Her beautiful face was marble pale.

To the right a knight lay in his own repose with a shield with three roses and three lions at his feet. On his mail-clad breast lay an unsheathed shortsword. A short blond beard and mustache accentuated his boyish good looks as he in turn looked ready to stir from rest.

A carved inscription was chiseled in the stone bier at their feet.

ET HIC REQVIEM MORGAN OGIER BENEDICTVS QVI DIMISERIT SOMNVN TVRBARE QVIETEM PERPETUO FLERE
(Blessed are those who leave their everlasting sleep undisturbed)

"My God, Sis." Delilah's voice was hushed and reverent.

"You said it, Del, you said it." Colombe swallowed at the sight before her. "We did it."

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XVII)

Sleeper's Repose, Underneath The Mountain of Flint, Sahara Desert

7 February 1942

Colombe and Delilah stared at the funeral bier in front of them and then at each other, exchanging tired, but triumphant grins.

ET HIC REQVIEM MORGAN OGIER BENEDICTVS QVI DIMISERIT SOMNVN TVRBARE QVIETEM PERPETUO FLERE
(Blessed are those who leave their everlasting sleep undisturbed)

"My God, Sis." Delilah's voice was hushed and reverent.

"You said it, Del, you said it." Colombe swallowed at the sight before her. "We did it."

"Yeah. You locate that knowledge that we need to secure while I cover the door once you get the Owl Box out to transport it to the one Lyra has?"

"Works for me, Sis." Delilah sprinted around the bier and took up a position at its head, leveling her wand and revolver at the door. "Got it. Don't pass between me and the door."

Colombe stepped behind her and nodded, opening the pack and pulling the Owl Box out. "Hm, let's put it here and out of the way and your fields of fire." She headed to the left and placed it in a niche between two pillars, then opened the sliding lid with its carved wooden handle.

"Now for the knowledge...' Colombe broke off and sketched a sinuous arc with the tip of her rapier, chanting in Chinese as she did. Her eyes glowed and she smirked. "Bingo...let me lower this spell and...."

Silently the back walls of the niches lowered to reveal scroll racks cut into the bedrock. Rows of vellum scrolls filled them.

Delilah's focus on the door did not waver. "Nice Sis. What's the one next to you?"

"Asia Animae Bestarii Terrae. Beasts and spirits of the land of Asia."

Delilah's eyes flickered left and right, "Africa to the left and right. Probably land creatures and spirits on the left side and water creatures to the right. Bet Europe's behind me."

"Makes sense. I'll grab these since they are close then start at the door and work around."

"Works. Still nothing."

Fifteen minutes of grabbing scrolls and stuffing them into the Owl box for transport later, Colombe moved to Africa Anime Bestarii Terrae and grabbed the first scroll from the top. "Africa now. Can't wait to see what they say."

"My big sister. Colombe, Queen of the Jungle."

A soft female voice sounded from the empty door. "Marhabaan Delilah."
Spoiler: Fight in the Sleeper's Chamber

At Zamarad's words from empty air, Delilah blurred forward to duck behind the bier, a Killing Curse nearly hitting her to splash harmlessly against unyielding stone.

Colombe in turn charged the spot where the curse had originated from point-first, dropping the scroll in her left hand as she did. Colombe's dove engraving flickered to life, and scant seconds later, an invisible hand grasped her sword wrist in an iron grip as a dagger slammed into her kidney.

Wolff appeared in front of Colombe as his SS Ehrendolch inscribed with "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" was twisted in her gut savagely. Spittle flew from his lips as his furious ice-blue eyes stared into her crystal blue. "I'm looking forward to this, Jewish whore."

Colombe's left hand shot like lightning to Wolff's crotch and she grabbed and squeezed with bone-crushing force as red filled her vision.

"Out. Of. My. Way."

His grip on the dagger and her wrist slackened and her right hand swung in a brutal short arc that shattered his cheek and snapped off several teeth with her hilt. As he staggered, Colombe screamed with the sound of steel in agony and threw him off her to land half-stunned next to the discarded scroll. Grasping the dagger wedged in her pelvis with her left hand to keep her intestines inside and slow the bleeding, she saw a familiar scarred shape appear in a cloud of smoke ahead of her leveling his wand at Delilah as he circled to get a clean shot on her. Red filled her vision and she left a trail of equally crimson carmine behind her as she charged Drachenzähmer, shrieking in fury as she did.

"Pas ma sœur, bâtard!!"

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

Delilah had problems of her own. Her attempt to peek over the bier to get a shot nearly got her hair parted by a second Killing Curse and she couldn't see the mage. Also she wasn't sure if her shield spell would stop his spellcraft.

Without a target to engage... Wait.

Delilah smiled smugly and stuck her hand over the bier, gesturing with her wand. "Nubes Fumi!" A cloud of black smoke formed in the door, revealing a pair of vague shapes by outlines where the smoke was not. One was moving left, the other right, followed by a third shape as she heard her sister scream in pain.

Delilah moved left, leveling her weapons at the shape in the smoke there. Suddenly the shape rippled as a cloaking charm was dropped to reveal a familiar heart-shaped face gazing back at her with warm fire in her emerald eyes. "Zamarad!"

With that Delilah spun to level her revolver at the fight going on across the room.
Spoiler: The Final Fight

"AVADA KED---"

Drachenzähmer leveled his wand at Delilah then with a sudden flash of green light Colombe's blade shattered it. Both vampire and rapier staggered back from the concussion as the energies from the unfinished Killing Curse blew wand pieces all over the room. The vampire hissed venomously and the ring on his right hand glittered as he took his longsword in a two-handed grip to confront Colombe.

"Sklave des Ringes, töte Delilah de Breuil!"(Slave of the ring, kill Delilah de Breuil)

Crimson chains of light flew from the ring to Zamarad's ankles, wrists and neck and she silently mouthed "I'm sorry" to Delilah's horrified gaze before exploding into a roaring tornado of fire.
Spoiler: Zamurad's Transformation


Twin emerald flames formed in the column and a tendril of fire lashed out at Delilah who barely dodged it.

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

Steel clashed on steel as Colombe thrust herself at Drachenzähmer with a savage snarl on her face, ignoring the blood streaming from the hideous wound in her abdomen.

"Pour ce que vous avez essayé de faire à ma sœur, je vais vous donner un sourire assorti de l'autre côté!"
(For what you tried to do to my sister, I'll give you a smile to match on the other side)

Her blade flickered in a feint at his forward leg, and as his point dipped, again she flickered like lightning and his ear flew off as she carved a bloody line across his other cheek.

"There. Now you match. Time to die."

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

Wolff staggered to his feet, and glared daggers at Colombe as the rapier dueled his teacher and Master. Automatically reaching for the empty pistol holster, he snarled in fury through his ruined mouth. Instead he grabbed the discarded scroll from his feet and stuffed it inside his shirt. Then his eyes lit on the knight's sword and blazed in triumph. Sprinting to the bier he lifted it from its resting place.

Letters of black formed along the ancient blade as he did so.

CORTANA NOMEN EIVSDEM FERRO ET ANIMIS ET JOYEVSE DVRENDEL
(Cortana/Curtana is my name, forged of the same steel and soul as Joyeuse and Durendel)

As Wolff lifted the blade from its resting place, the steel doors slammed shut and the lowered walls suddenly shot up, sealing away the scroll racks. The Seal of Solomon that he stood on blazed to light and threw him, still holding Cortana, across the chamber to thud against the wall of an alcove as the bier was concealed in a swirling dome of crackling energies that solidified into solid stone. The pillars opened their mouths and began to pour forth a oily unreflective black ooze onto the floor.

Delilah's face turned white as a sheet and her eyes widened.

"Death Potion!"

 

Harry Leferts

Standing close to one of the refreshment tables, Shinano was softly smiling as she watched the various people dancing on the floor. Her eyes, though, were mostly on one person. Harry, the man she considered her future Admiral. Said boy was currently dancing with Maruyu, who was dressed in her usual Christmas costume. Both of them moving with the beat of the music and laughing.

Despite what some might think though, Shinano was not really jealous. In fact, it warmed her boilers to see Harry enjoying himself. The smiles, the laughter... this was what she enjoyed seeing. What she would fight for, to see more of.

At that thought though, her mind drifted back to an odd dream she had just a few days earlier...

********************************************

Having dozed off in the Repair Pool, Shinano blinked and looked around herself. For some odd reason, she was standing on the ocean. The deep, nearly sapphire waters stretched beyond the horizon and there was no land to be seen. Looking up, Shinano could see white, fluffy clouds drifting on a breeze, while the water itself was perfectly still, like a mirror as it reflected the sky above. It was warm, but not too warm.

Comfortable, was the word that came to mind.

Still, Shinano was confused about where she was and what she was doing there. After all, the last thing she remembered before dozing off in the Repair Pool was how excited she was to be home for Christmas and getting to share it with Harry. That thought brought a warmth to her heart.

"As it should, I suppose."

Eyes widening, Shinano whipped around and stared at... herself. Or someone who looked almost so close to being herself that she swore that she could be looking into the mirror. Except...

There was something wrong with the shipgirl in front of her compared with Shinano herself.

The shipgirl in front of her looked... worn, tired. As if she had seen and done far too much. Even from where she stood, Shinano could taste the saddness that was under the other Carrier's hull. How the other Shinano felt like she just wanted... to finally rest. It sort of reminded her of tales that White Plains had told her about Enterprise. Not the Enterprise before the war, or during it. But how Enterprise was after the war. How tired and worn the Carrier was, and how she accepted her fate with relief. That was what the other Carrier reminded Shinano of.

At the same time though, there was a small feeling of hope. But the other shipgirl did not have hope for herself...

Rather, it seemed directed at Shinano.

When Shinano looked over her "Twin's" hull though, her eyes widened some. Unlike her, in her mind, the other Shinano was a true Carrier. Even from where she stood, she could see the differences between the two. More than that, the other shipgirl was also more advanced, looking like she had technology from the 1950s. Shaking off her thoughts, Shinano took a step forward, "Who... who are you? Where are we?"

For several moments, it was like the other girl did not understand. She was looking at Shinano with a soft, melancholy filled smile. There was also something... needy about that look. Not hungry, but wistful, and also wishful, "Where we are...?" Looking around, the other Shinano hummed, "Somewhere wonderful, I think. So peaceful... Like the whole world has been drowned in the color of the sea."

Also looking around, Shinano frowned some, "A sea of hope."

Chuckling, there was a slightly bitter tone from her doppelganger, "Or a sea of tears, in my case." Just waving off any response from Shinano, she turned her attention back to the Support Carrier, "As for who I am..." Pausing, she seemed to think.

"I am... you, one that never existed for you much to my thankfulness. In a world that never should have been."

That response was not one that Shinano had expected, "You're me?"

Waving a hand, the other Carrier shrugged, "In a way, though as I said, one that should never have existed in my mind."

Even more confused, Shinano was about to say something when she looked down and gasped some. At the other shipgirl's foot, an image was reflected in the water. Most of it was... horrific. But she could see part of it... Yokosuka in flames, people dead and dying as various steel hulled ships sunk in the waters. Some of whom, to her horror, Shinano recognized as some of her friends and fellow Japanese shipgirls. Above it all... a mushroom cloud rose. Then there was a second double flash and when it faded, all that was left was the clear, glass like surface of the water. For several moments, Shinano tried to say something only to stare at the other, who had a look of grief and sadness on her face, "What..."

Only shaking her head, the other Shinano sighed, "As I said, a world that should never have existed and one that you avoided. Thank the Kami." Chuckling, she waved her hand and once more images came up, "I prefer something like this..."

This time, Shinano did recognize them. How could she not? They were her memories after all. Various scenes of happiness over the years. But all of them had Harry or White Plains in them. Harry being a friend, and how her spiritual heart grew more and more fond of him. The fake Carrier deck he built so that her pilots could practice more easily. His hugs, and more recently some of the kisses. For White Plains, it showed things like how she guided her through being a Carrier. How she acted like a mother to Shinano.
All the while, the other shipgirl was watching with a smile, "You... are so lucky."

Not glancing at her, Shinano smiled as well and nodded, "Hai, I know that."

Looking at her, the mysterious Carrier laughed some, "I can see that." Her smile turned sad, "Unlike me."

Upon seeing that smile, Shinano wanted to hug her... which is what she did. Briefly, much like Harry had, the other shipgirl stiffened before bringing her own arms up and hugging back, tightly. Moments later, Shinano could feel her clothes slowly becoming wet from silent tears. No sounds, not even a sniffle, escaped the other girl. Just...

Tears.

Eventually, she pulled away and the doppelganger gave her a smile, "Thank you."

Shinano just smiled and nodded while straightening her back, "You're welcome. It was what Kaa-San and Harry-Chan taught me after all."

Once more, there was a melancholy smile on the other hers face. But there was also some happiness too, "And they are quite wise." Chuckles escaped from the girl wearing her face as Shinano gave a sharp nod of agreement. Lips twitching, the other her looked out onto the sea, "As to your original question of why... because I wished for it. For I have something for you."

Head tilted to the side, Shinano blinked, "Something? For me?"

With a hum, the other Shinano reached into her clothes and pulled out what looked like a thick folder, "This. Consider it a... gift, to the better me. One that will help you protect your happiness."

Blinking, the Support Carrier held the folder close, "My... happiness?" Yet again, an image came up on the surface of the water. This one showed Shinano hugging Harry from behind, a smile on both their faces looking like it was from a photograph, "Um..."

Amusement tinging her voice, the other shipgirl chuckled, "Yes, your happiness. I just wish..." Shaking her head, she sighed, "Never mind."

Expression one of sympathy, Shinano slipped the folder into her clothes, feeling it placed into her hull. Turning back to her reflection, she frowned, "Um, now what?"

Softly smiling, this time with some happiness, the other shook her head, "Now? Now it is time for me to leave. To fade away into the sea of sadness. Just... do me a favour?"

Wetness gathered at the corners of Shinano's eyes, but she nodded, "What?"

Looking at her, the shipgirl nodded, "Don't repeat the tragedy."

Only shaking her head, Shinano smiled, "I won't, I promise. And you can believe in that." Already, the other Shinano was fading away, "But... I hope that you can find happiness too! On the other side of that sea, where it will be waiting."

Surprised, the full Carrier blinked at her and smiled, "Happiness on the other side of that sea, huh? I... can only hope and wish for it. And thank you... for giving me hope at seeing you and how you are the better of the two of us... Now it is time for me to fade away into the light."

And, with that, she vanished into nothingness with that sad, though also hopeful smile.

For several moments, Shinano stared at the spot as she thought over what had happened. Then, she closed her eyes and bowed to where her other self had stood, "I wish for you to find peace and the happiness that you seek. Somewhere, and somewhen, but I hope for it to happen..."

**************************************************************

In the present day, Shinano shook her head out of her memories. Shortly after, she woke up with her fully remembering what had happened. When she spoke to Akashi, the Repair Ship had seemed confused and her crew look over her hull... and was in turn shocked when she found a large folder in Shinano's ship safe. From what the Support Carrier understood, Akashi had been holed up in her workshop for the past few days, though not really why.

Shrugging that off, she instead turned her attention back to the party and smiled as Harry came out from the crowd, "Harry-Chan?"

The thirteen year old boy grinned and held out his hand, "Want to come and dance with me, Shinano-Chan?"

Lightly blushing, Shinano shifted a bit, "You want me to dance with you, Harry-Chan?" Getting a nod, she looked at Regina who nodded with a smile. She then turned back to Harry, "Hai, I would like that as long as you dance with Regina-Chan afterwards."

When Regina blushed, the Japanese shipgirl smiled as it made her friend look cuter.

Gently taking Shinano's hand, Harry nodded with a serious expression on his face, "Of course I will, Shinano-Chan! After all, I haven't danced with her yet."

Nodding, giggles escaped from the Carrier's mouth as she nodded, "Hai." With another nod and a wink to Regina, she let herself be lead out to the dancefloor. As the music changed to a slow beat, Shinano blushed some. But... she simply placed her arms best that she could over Harry's shoulders, as he placed his on her waist. Despite the difference in their heights, the two of them moved in sync as the music played, Shinano holding him close as he did the same with her. Eyes closed, she sighed as she enjoyed the moment, placing it into her mind and fortifying it as she did with so many others.

Once the song was done, both of them smiled at each other and Shinano lead him back to Regina. Reaching her friend though, the Shipgirl had paused and leaned down, gently kissing Harry for a few seconds and pulling back with a smile despite her blush, "Thank you, Harry-Chan."

Blushing himself, Harry gave her a smile, "You're welcome, Shinano-Chan."

As she leaned back and watched the wizard lead Regina out onto the floor before another slow song played, Shinano smiled as she thought back to her promise to the other her. Yes, she would do her best to protect her happiness.

She didn't even need to promise to do that as she would do it anyways.

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Part XVIII)

Sleeper's Repose, Underneath The Mountain of Flint, Sahara Desert

7 February 1942
Spoiler: Never Tell Me The Odds

Delilah paled at the sight of the Death Potion pouring from the carved columns around the room that she, Colombe, Zamarad, Wolff, and Drachenzähmer were trapped in.

Automatically dodging a fiery tendril lashed at her by Zamarad, her eyes focused and hardened as her brain worked in overdrive.

"Colombe. Lock his blade." Her voice was utterly calm. Panic, after all, would be fatal.

She then immersed herself in her calculations, ignoring the tendril of living fire coming for her legs. Her lips curled up in a smug smile as she took aim at the swordfight across the room.

Wolff's head raised, showing a scarlet M burned into his forehead between his eyes deep enough to char the bone of his skull. He hefted Cortana, leaping over a stream of Death Potion as he charged at Colombe to kill her.

The rapier responded to her sister's command with a slash that Drachenzähmer caught with his broadsword. The vampire's eyes glittered in satisfaction as his superior strength and two-handed grip on his sword forced the weakening rapier to her knees.

CRACK

Delilah's finger squeezed her trigger as the whip of fire hit her around the legs and she began to burn alive. Her teeth gritted through the pain as her bullet sped across the chamber at 1000 feet per second, glowing with magical energies.

The bullet's spell punched through the vampire mage's shield spell to impact Drachenzähmer's ring finger where it grew from the palm of his hand, severing the finger wearing the golden ring that bound Zamarad cleanly from his body.

Delilah's smirk grew and she tossed her revolver underhand to clatter into the Owl Box. Her wand moved as the flames reached her waist.

"Accio Ring!"

Half a second before it would have plunged into the Death Potion, the ring shot across the room in response to Delilah's spell to her waiting free hand.

The flames consuming the revolver instantly snuffed out as their mistress suddenly formed herself from the column of fire that she had shifted into.

Drachenzähmer's head snapped around and his panicked eyes met those of the Ifrit whom he had enslaved. Zamarad's smile showed all her needle-pointed teeth as she whispered a single word. "'Iisheal..."

Drachenzähmer caught fire like a gasoline-soaked bonfire atop a lava flow.

His screams of mortal agony sounded through the chamber as his sword hilt welded itself to his hands with the heat of Zamarad's flames. They then redoubled as he staggered backward into the Death Potion and began to slowly dissolve.

Delilah's head snapped around to meet Zamarad's eyes. "Get in the ring if you want to live, please!"

The Ifrit stared back, emerald green flame meeting cool leaf green and then vanished.

Colombe staggered to her feet and gasped as she looked for her sister.

"Del?"

"Nein!"

A hate filled snarl answered her as Wolff appeared from the smoke behind the rapier, blade moving in a gleaming arc.

Colombe screamed in agony as Cortana's edge took her sword hand off at the wrist. She collapsed to the floor in the shrinking safe area next to the pool where Drachenzähmer burned, whimpering in pain as her eyes found Wolff's as he loomed over her. She desperately reached out with her one good hand, catching Wolff's wrist as he drove Cortana's point toward her face as her blood pumped out on the floor and the Death Potion flowed toward them. Behind their death struggle the burning Drachenzähmer continued to scream as the Death Potion reached his knees.

"Accio Rapier!"

Colombe's blade flew across the pool of Death Potion to her sister's hand as Delilah collapsed next to the Owl Box as her horribly burned legs gave out.

Delilah hastily jammed the rapier, ring and her wand into the Owl Box and slammed the lid shut just before a wave of Death Potion reached her. Seconds later, the Owl Box began to dissolve.

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

Potter Manor, England

7 February 1942
Spoiler: A Lonely Vigil Rewarded

Lyra sat in her solar, with the candles illuminating it burned to mere stubs. A collection of sealed scrolls rested on the table next to the tea service with cold tea and untouched tea biscuits. One hand clutched the hilt of Tsukiakari while her other clenched the fabric of her dress over her heart with white knuckles.

Her eyes were on the open Owl Box in the middle of her tea table.

Suddenly the lid of the box slammed shut by itself.

Her hand shook uncontrollably as she slowly reached for the box and tears streamed down her cheeks. She lifted the lid and sobbed in relief as her hand relaxed from the death grip on her husband's beloved sword.

Inside the box, glimmering in the dawning of a new day through the windows was a rapier, a revolver, a ring, and a wand.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she grabbed the rapier and held it close to her chest with both hands. "Colombe...Colombe, it's me. Lyra. Please answer."

Silence answered her desperate pleas. Crying silently, she set the blade down on her tea table slowly and gently.

She then grabbed the revolver from the box. Delilah's avatar formed and crashed to the solar floor with terrible burns over the lower half her body. Hurriedly Lyra poured healing potion down Delilah's throat.

The revolver coughed twice as some color returned to her face. She then gave a weak but smugly triumphant smirk as her eyes found Lyra's.

"Hi, Lyra. You ought to see the other guys. Sis is in worse shape than me. She lost her sword hand and nearly got gutted. I'm not sure if the Death Potion got to her too since I was busy at the time. Hand me the ring and my wand please."

Lyra complied. "Is the tomb of Morgan le Fay safe?"

Delilah slid her wand into her sheath. "It is. Grindlewald is out two minions and the Sleeper's knowledge is secured. Remind me to let you get a copy of the memories of the werewolves he sent after us. Speaking of werewolves, I'd like you to meet someone. You can come out now, dear."

The guttering candles flared to life and Zamarad formed from streamers of fire from them and looked around curiously. "Zamarad, meet Lyra Potter. She is Colombe's girlfriend and the best erotic stories writer that you will ever meet. Lyra, meet Zamarad aibnatu Alnaar. She is an Ifrit that that vampire enslaved - long story that - and I'll free her as soon as I can figure out how to do it."

Lyra's lips curled in a perverted smirk as she dug for her notebook and began to scribble after Zamarad knelt and rested Delilah's head in her lap. The revolver's smug smile grew wider as she gently patted the Ifrit 's hip with one hand. "I don't suppose that either of you know how to release a genie from a ring permanently, or do we need to nurse Sis back to health first so I can find out if she knows? Maybe something in those scrolls we managed to save?"

Zamarad blinked curiously at Lyra's frantic writing as the Ifrit began to stroke the revolver's auburn hair gently. "Marhabaan, Lyra Potter, and well met. What are erotic stories?"

 

Harry Leferts

Glancing back at Shinano, Regina blinked her eyes before turning back to Harry with a slight smile, "Thank you, Harry." At his look of confusion, she blushed some, "For dancing with me."

All Harry did was frown at her as he got ready, "Why wouldn't I want to dance with you, Regina?"

If anything, that caused the blush on the Abyssal's face to increase. But she just smiled brilliantly and nodded, "Still, thank you."

Placing his hands on her hips, on the outside of her poncho, Harry gave a shrug, "Don't see why you need to do so, I like dancing with you." For a moment, Regina bit her lip before reaching down with her hands and taking his, "Regina?"

Still smiling, she took his hands and guided them inside her poncho to rest on nearly bare skin that covered the swell of her hip and her waist. Seeing his surprise, Regina nodded as she placed her arms over his shoulders, "That's much better... I think."

Now it was time for Harry to blush, but he nodded with her, "Yeah, much better." Her bikini bottoms touched one side of his hands, where his pinky was. Under his palms though was soft, smooth skin that was cool to the touch. Not unpleasantly chill, but still cooler then for a normal person. Harry could also feel the corded muscle moving under said skin as the two of them moved to the slow beat of the music. Relaxing, he chuckled some as he met her gold speckled red eyes, softly glowing in the dim light of the room, "Much better."

Humming, Regina nodded before shifting so that she was a bit closer. Her tail also came around and held Harry from behind, making him chuckle. Eyes meeting Harry's, she gave him a happy smile. At the same time, Regina could feel the warmth of that golden star in the Abyss... her connection with the young man in front of her, that she was dancing with. Much to her surprise, it had remained even after she rejoined Wanko's fleet.

Unsure, she had reported it to her Princess. But rather than be dismayed, Wanko had been pleased at hearing it. Seeing the confusion on Regina's face, she had explained why she did not mind that there was still a connection there. One that showed that Harry could command her as her Flagship.

To Regina's shock and happiness, Wanko had been hoping for it, for such a bond to be formed. Because her Princess had a plan for the future of their nation and part of it was to show that they could work alongside the humans and shipgirls. Even more so than they had thus far. But for that, Wanko needed someone on the human side that she could entrust with some of her Abyssals as a force. Someone that the Harbour Princess could be certain would treat said Abyssals well.

And that person was Harry.

Wanko had even sounded it out with Goto and a few others, but without details. Though she was certain that Goto had easily picked up on what was unsaid just the same. Hence, she did not mind the connection between Regina and Harry. Besides which, she was not worried as she was still Regina's Princess and Mother, if needed she could overrule Harry's orders though she could not see why such a thing would come up. Granted, Wanko had then added somewhat slyly, she also looked forward to the connection deepening, which made Regina nearly pass out from blood rushing to a full body blush.

In this moment though, none of that really mattered. Regina was... content, happy. She was dancing with a young man who she cared deeply for. Both of them smiling as they drifted across the dancefloor. His hands on her hips while she had her arms over his shoulder and her tail around his back, holding him close as he did the same with her.

It was wonderful.

Once the song ended, they walked back to where a happy Shinano had been watching. With a glance around, Regina leaned forward and gently kissed Harry. Pulling back, she placed her face in her hands as she blushed. Harry, meanwhile, blinked before smiling, "Wow..."

That only made Regina blush harder as steam escaped from her ears. But at the same time, she was smiling brightly and nodding, "It was."
Glancing at Shinano who was on one side, and Regina on the other, Harry smiled and hugged them both with one hand. Neither of the two friends complained all the much and hugged him back, as well as the other girl. Some people raised an eyebrow, but only shook their heads some.

Elsewhere on the dancefloor, Natsumi was smiling some as her partner took her hand and gave her a twirl, "Thanks for this."

Bemused, Louisiana chuckled in a way that reminded the Kitsune of rich hot chocolate, with caramel, "But it is I who should be thanking you, ma chérie. After all, you accepted this dance with me."

Simply shrugging, Natsumi smiled as she swayed with the music, "Well, I don't mind it." Twirling with help from Louisiana, she went back to holding the shipgirl around the waist, "Besides which, you are a good dancer."

Lightly laughing, the Battleship looked down at her, "Oui, I do try, ma chérie. Though you are a very good dancer as well." Getting a grin, she smiled back, "And this is a very good dance."

Humming, Natsumi made a sound of agreement. At the same time though, she looked over the shipgirl who was her dance partner. Louisiana had chosen a simple blouse and skirt combo, though the shirt strained at her bust. Her skirt also did not hide legs that showed off the horsepower of her engines. Legs which, Natsumi had noted with some annoyance though not towards the Battleship, had attracted some looks from various people during the party. Granted, most of those were from people newly transferred in, but it still annoyed her for some reason that she could not quite place.

Just mentally shaking those thoughts away, the Kitsune went back to enjoying the dance. And, only slightly to her surprise, she found herself enjoying the dance quite a bit. When the last notes died away, Natsumi was smiling before taking Louisiana's warm hand in hers and pulling her off the dance floor towards a refreshment table. She did pause some and gently tug Louisiana's dress to get her to bend down. Quickly, Natsumi kissed the shipgirl's cheek, right where it met the corner of her lips, "Thank you for the dance."

A dusting of red could be seen on Louisiana's cheeks, but she nodded with a bright smile, "You are very welcome, ma chérie." Pausing for a moment, she gave Natsumi a kiss on the cheek in the same spot, "It was wonderful."

Louisiana was very happy when Natsumi squeezed her hand and smiled before they continued towards the refreshment table. Reaching it, the Kitsune smiled at Harry who turned from his conversation with Regina, "Harry-Chan!"

Brightly smiling, Harry gave her a hug, "Natsumi-Chan!" After a few seconds, he let go and gave a hug to Louisiana, "Louisiana!"

Only chuckling, Louisiana hugged him right back as tightly, "Mon chéri, it is good to see you." Then she winked at him, "Though it has only been an hour since our dance." Slowly, the wizard nodded some. The Battleship, after a smile, turned to Shinano and Regina, "And how are we? Having a good night?"

Eyes lighting up, the Support Carrier nodded, "Hai! We've been having a very good night." Taking a ladle, she glanced at Louisiana who gave a slight nod, before pouring out the concoction into a paper cup which she handed to the American, "Here you go, some adult eggnog."

Grateful, Louisiana took said cup and sipped, "Ah, this is good."

Pouting, Harry crossed his arms and shook his head, "Not that I would know. It won't be for a few years yet until I get to try it." Giggles escaped from not just Shinano, but also Regina as Louisiana lightly laughed. Which made him sniff a bit playfully, "Mean, all of you."

Lightly blushing, Regina waved the hand that did not have a cup of her own eggnog in it, "Sorry, Harry. But... it is kind of funny."

After one final pout, Harry grinned and laughed, "Yeah, it kind of is."

Sipping her own drink, which was non-alcoholic eggnog, the lone Kitsune of the group tried not to smile at the byplay. Though she did find it somewhat amusing. Hearing the beat of the music speed up into the usual club music, she looked towards the dancefloor. Only to pause and feel her eyebrows shoot up and her eyes widen, "Wow..."

Confused, Harry blinked and looked himself only for him to have a similar reaction. Mainly because there, on the dancefloor, he could see Ooi and Kitakami letting loose. Both girls were pressed closely to each other as they stared into each others eyes as their hands roamed each other's bodies, holding the other close. Hair was flung this way and that as they danced to the beat. At one point Kitakami dropped nearly to the floor with only Ooi holding her up before yanking her back up. The two Light Cruisers pressed their foreheads together as they continued.

At the end of the dance, Ooi traced Kitakami's cheek and down the length of her fellow Natural Born's chin as the two were close.

Needless to say, it was not just Harry and Natsumi who were flushed from what they had seen, which neither Light Cruiser seemed to care all too much about.

 

Harry Leferts

Letting out a foggy breath into the cold, night air, Taichi sighed some as he stuck his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky. At a tap on the shoulder, he blinked and looked to Kaga who was holding out a cup, "Here."

Gratefully taking it, the Kitsune nodded, "Thanks... Kaga-Chan."

The smile he got from the Carrier brought one to his own face. Feeling someone next to him, he found a smiling Akagi there who had a look of interest, "Aren't you cold?"

Bemused, Taichi gestured at the club dresses that the two shipgirls wore, "Aren't you?"

In reply, Kaga pointed at her neck, "We're wearing scarves." That got her a snort of amusement from the eighteen year old, which made her shrug with a smirk, "It works."

Only shaking his head, Taichi chuckled, "I suppose so." Unable to help himself, he gave Kaga a once over, followed by Akagi. Shaking his head, he missed the looks shared by CarDiv1. Instead, the Kitsune shrugged, "It has to do with being a Kitsune. Even though right now, I look fully human... I can use a bit of magic to have the feel of a fur coat over myself invisibly."

Both shipgirls looked interested and he shivered some as Akagi ran one finger down his neck with a thoughtful hum, "Hmm... can't feel any fur."

Feeling heat in his cheek, the Yokai shook his head, "Well, just the feel. It's a simple trick... Sort of uses my magic to trick my body into believing that I actually do have a coat of fur. Not a complicated trick... but it works."

Head tilted to the side, Kaga nodded, "A useful one."

Glancing at her, Taichi smiled a bit, "Um, anyways... sorry about heading out. Just sort of wanted to take a break and..." Looking back at where the mess hall was, where even now the sound of music blasted from, he shook his head, "Couldn't really in there."

Warmly chuckling, the red clothed Carrier of the two shook her head, "No, I suspect not. Especially with how everyone has started to cut loose a bit."

Taichi rubbed the back of his neck before blushing as he remembered the show that Ooi and Kitakami put on at times. Or, for that matter, when the two Carriers on either side of him had put on when dancing with each other without him. The memory of the two girls dancing together, pressed close was bad enough. It also brought to his mind the memory of when the two had dragged him and trapped him between them. Gulping, he was unable to look at either of the two shipgirls, who smirked as they guessed at what he was thinking, "Kind of got..."

Leaning in, Kaga smirked even more, "Hot? Indeed."

Needless to say, Taichi flushed even more than before at that due to how it dragged up even more memories of the two shipgirls on either side of him, "Heh... Hai, kind of." Looking at his drink, he took a sip of it, "Pretty fun though all told."

Head cocked to the side, the red clad Carrier raised an eyebrow, "It has been fun." Akagi turned her attention to the distant water, "Something that I am thankful for." Understanding the unasked question from Taichi, she smiled a bit, "If you had told the me before Pearl... or even before I sunk at Midway, that one day I would be enjoying a Christmas party, well, I would have had words for you. Nasty words as a matter of fact."

Considering that, Taichi frowned for a few moments, "I suppose that I can see that... well, kind of." He gave Akagi a grin, "Somehow, I got issues seeing you being nasty like that."

Much to his amusement, Akagi blushed a bit and looked away for a few seconds. Then, she turned back to him and smirked, "Well, I can be quite nasty as a matter of fact." Her eyes narrowed some, "Very much so."

Taichi coughed a bit as he thought that was another meaning to that. Chuckling weakly, he glanced towards Kaga, "You too, Kaga-Chan?"

Slightly smiling, the Carrier nodded, "Hai, that's right." Gesturing around her, she continued, "I never would have thought that I would have gotten this chance, Taichi-Kun. But I am thankful for it nonetheless. And while this may not be the Japan that I sunk for? As far as I am concerned it is a much better Japan. One that I am honoured to now defend."

On his other side, Akagi raised a finger, "Which is not to say that we will not live our lives to the upmost, after we have been given a new chance. Because we will..." She glanced at her friend and fellow member of CarDiv1, and got a nod in return, "In every way including when we decide to settle down with someone."

Blinking, the Kitsune turned to her with a confused expression, though there was a slight suspicion there, "Someone?"

With a hum, Akagi nodded, "Hai, someone." Motioning with one hand towards Kaga, she continued, "We have been together in both our previous life and this one. Neither of us can see us not sharing this life as well... in every way."

Eyes widening, Taichi glanced between them, "I... see. And what would you be looking for in such a person?"

Head tilted to the side, Kaga chuckled as she leaned in close, "Well, as Akagi-San mentioned, it would need to be someone who could accept that the two of us would be together as well. One who would not get annoyed or angry over that fact." Placing one hand on his thigh, she continued, "But also someone who could, ah, keep up with us."
Now leaning against him as well, Akagi smirked, "Yes, it would take a special sort of man. As well, one who would not be intimidated by the two of us as well. Which is easier said then done as many men, or women, are somewhat intimidated by us. Either our histories or how powerful we are now."

Mouth dry, the Kitsune licked his lips some, "That... is rather interesting. Have you..." Pausing for a moment, Taichi took a deep breath and let it out as he looked from one to the other, "Me." Somewhat surprised, Kaga raised an eyebrow which made him sigh and chuckle at once as he shrugged, "I kind of thought as much, but, well... I also thought that I was seeing things. Despite how it is a guy's dream and in so many manga and light novels... and other things, that sort of thing doesn't happen in that way. Not really."

Raising a finger, Akagi pointed back towards the mess hall, "Harry-Chan."

Briefly, Taichi grimaced, "Don't remind me, especially as one of those is my Imouto." Letting out a breath, he ran a hand through his hair, "But why me?"

Not saying anything right away, Kaga frowned before nodding, "Many reasons. I won't deny that part of it is looks, as you are very attractive."

On his other side, the other shipgirl closed her eyes and made a motion with her hands, "Also, fluffy tail. Want to touch fluffy tail."

Ignoring the raised eyebrow that Taichi, Kaga nodded, "Touching fluffy tail is important." Lips twitching at the look being given her from him, she waved a hand, "There is also how you were not intimidated by any of us, as we said. Oh, you were impressed and the like, but you didn't see our strength and the like as a threat to your... maleness, let us just say. Also, there was our dates."

Confused, the Kitsune furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait, our dates?" Glancing between the two of them, Taichi frowned, "I mean, I sort of saw them as dates, but still."

A smile on her face, Akagi shook her head, "We were testing you, Taichi-Kun. Seeing not only how you would react with one of us alone with you, but both, as well as your reactions to our greeting the other when they came home. All tests that you passed. Such as when I came home from our date in November, and Kaga-San kissed me on the cheek."

Kaga gave a nod at that, "I was keeping an eye on you to see how you would react to me greeting Akagi-San first. You didn't show any jealousy or annoyance. Just acceptance." She tilted her head some, "There was also how when we went on dates, you did not go out of your way to show us off. Either when it was us alone or both of us, like many guys might. Once more, a test that you passed."

Frowning, he was quiet as he rolled it around in his head before blinking, "Well, I cannot say that I am not attracted to you... because I am. But..." He looked from one to the other, "What does this mean? What now?"

The hand that cupped his chin and turned his head made him blink. Kaga's lips on his made his eyes nearly pop out of his skull in surprise. After nearly half a minute, she pulled away with a smirk, "What do you think?"

Before he could answer, a different hand cupped his chin and moved his head to his other side, where Akagi kissed him. This time, something did pop out, mainly his tail and ears, much to the amusement of the two shipgirls. It took some time, but he snapped out of it only to be embarrassed as he realized that Kaga was gently stroking his tail as Akagi played with his ears, "Um... wow... guess that should answer that question."

Lightly chuckling, Akagi nodded, "Hai, it should." Bringing her hand down onto his thigh, she smiled, "But we can take it easy for now."

Just nodding, Taichi smiled, "Sure, I need to get used to that."

Akagi gave a bright smile at that, "Exactly, in the meantime..." She took his tail from Kaga and stroked his before rubbing her cheek against it, "It is my turn with fluffy tail."
Meanwhile, her fellow member of CarDiv1 smirked, "Which gives me something else to focus on."

Bemused, Taichi looked at her, "And what is that-Mmph?"

Her lips against his, the Kitsune soon found himself rather busy to say the least.

 

Yellowhammer

Operation: BUTTERKNIFE (Epilogues)

Potter Manor, February 14th, 1942
Spoiler: Revolver and Ifrit

Delilah smiled happily as the aromatic healing incense smoke from the Arabian mabkhara incense burner next to her bed suddenly began to spiral in an unseen and unfelt breeze.

She pulled herself a bit higher to slide another pillow between her shoulder blades, leaf-green eyes sparkling as she placed a bookmark to mark her place in the treatise on Arabic speech and customs that she had been reading. A gold and ruby ring glittered on a chain that hung over her nightgown as she put the book aside in favor of a cup of steaming black tea.

Suddenly the mabkhara spouted flame from all of the openings in its intricate brass filigree meshwork over stone. The flames snaked upward to form a familiar red-headed Ifrit sitting on the cloud of aromatic golden smoke as if it were a sultana's throne. Emerald eyes sought her own and full lips curled in a smile.

"Marhabaan, Delilah." The Ifrit's tone was smoky with the undertone of the cheery crackling of a warm fire in a snug study in winter as snow gently fell outside.

"Marhabaan, Zamarad. How were the gardens?" Delilah's own tone was equally warm as she sipped her tea before placing it on the bedside table.

Zamarad shook her head. "Truly, I am glad that the rains finally passed so I could venture outside in comfort. The green of leaf and bough and the shimmer of dew on the grass made me think of some of the descriptions of Paradise." The cheery fire popped and crackled with delight as if the owner of that study had just tossed a fresh billet of firewood onto her coals.

"Indeed. What I have seen from the windows is quite beautiful and reminds me of my family home back in New York. More cozy and older here at Potter Manor, but the same kind of serenity and peace in every tree and hedge, every turning of the path and stream revealing a new view, every memory etched in the mind of those who live there, just like the homestead my family claimed from the wilderness before the Revolution. Peace that I have to defend and nurture with all my strength. We all need something to fight for." Delilah's voice was reminiscent as an unguarded smile broke out on her face.

"Indeed we do, Delilah. I was fortunate in my exploration alongside Lyra. The storm that passed last night damaged one of the cherry trees that Lyra's husband planted for their blossoms, and I was asked to consume the wood of the downed branch. It was... delightful, very flavorful." The fire in the Ifrit's voice hissed and gently rumbled as she smiled. "I would not mind tasting such again."

Delilah smiled smugly, and gestured with her wand to float a small package tied with twine to her lap. "I hope that you saved some room for me, Zamarad."

An inquisitive cocking of the head requested the revolver explain her statement.

The smug smile grew warmer as Delilah untied the twine. "Mother owled me back in response to the letter that I sent the day after we arrived here. I thought that you would like to taste a little bit of what awaits you if and when you decide to accept my invitation to visit, so..."

Delilah spilled a double handful of black, dark red, and pale white wood chips into her lap, along with several ribbons of dried sweetgrass.

Zamarad leaned forward with her eyes glittering and flashing, as the revolver tapped the bounty on display, pointing out specific parts of it. "You know the sweetgrass already, and its significance. The black are American Walnut from the stand we have that supplied the chairs in my upstairs parlor sitting room. Red is American Chestnut, we warded our grove and woodlot off from the fungus that decimated the nomaj owned growths and I have a bed carved of it. If you ever visit us for Christmas, I'll show you how to roast chestnuts in the fire with hot mulled apple cider. The white is Balm of Gilead tree that Great-great-grandfather brought to New York from France for its medicinal properties. The Bible mentions it, as does one of my favorite poems. 'Is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me, I implore!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."' I love my Poe, and..."

Delilah trailed off and then tossed a chip of walnut to Zamarad who caught and swallowed it with a happy hum. "I'm sorry, it is...difficult to open up to people. Habit of a lifetime, telling the wrong person who I am, what I am, letting them see beyond the mask I project would be..."

Again the revolver trailed off, and she picked up a chip of chestnut to give to Zamarad as the Ifrit watched her intently. "You know better than my words can ever convey what a risk trust is. A necessary risk, granted, but that step into the unknown, it terrifies me. I...meant to say, that I write poetry when my heart compels me to. Would..." Delilah swallowed down the lump in her throat and her vulnerable eyes sought Zamarad's emerald flames and the revolver whispered, "...would you like me to read you what I wrote this morning when you were in the garden?"

Zamarad leaned in and placed a hot finger against Delilah's lips to silence the revolver's slightly panicked speech. "La ilaha illa'l-'ishq. There is no Deity but Love. Such is what I learned when I consumed Fakhr al-Dīn Ibrahīm ‘Irāqī's Divine Flashes as a young girl under the guidance of my mother and aunts. There is poetry in flame, that mortals sometime grasp as they listen to our voices while the embers flash and spark."

Delilah's smile lit up her face as she handed another wood chip to Zamarad and began to speak in a hushed voice from her heart.

"This life that we call our own
Is neither strong nor free;
A flame in the wind of death,
It trembles ceaselessly.

And this all we can do
To use our little light
Before, in the piercing wind,
It flickers into night:

To yield the heat of the flame,
To grudge not, but to give
Whatever we have of strength,
That one more flame may live."

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

Later after wood, sweetgrass, and poetry were all consumed in measure able to satisfy both a being of fire and a being of steel, the Ifrit slid onto the bed and embraced Delilah 's torso, warming her with simple proximity. One hand slowly and gently slid along the sheets covering the revolver's still-bandaged legs and the Ifrit's eyes dimmed.

"I... regret what I did to you to make you suffer so." The Ifrit's voice was hushed with barely any fire in it. "It is a strange emotion that I am learning to feel, one that hurts and yet oddly warms me."

Delilah's hand caught Zamarad's wrist and then entwined her fingers. "I forgive you. All the blame rests with that scum you sent to Hell where he burns endlessly. Don't think that I did not comprehend what you did in there to save us." The revolver's lips curled in a smug grin. "He commanded you to conceal him from Sis and I and also ordered you not to warn us as they moved to strike. They had us dead to rights then."

The Ifrit nodded. "His very words and commands yes." Her voice was hushed and her eyes shadowed.

Delilah's grin grew even smugger and happier. "Pity he forgot to command you that you could not politely welcome a friend who you just met again by chance." Delilah's tone of voice made it clear that whatever formula Muramasa had used for the steel that made up her true body, pity for a slave-taker was never an element of it.

A fey light danced in Zamarad's emerald eyes as they flashed to life again and her teeth gleamed, "So I outwitted He-who-burns-endlessly."

"Indeed you did. And then when he gave his... final command to you... well he did not specify when you were required to kill me, or with what powers. If you had truly wanted me dead then whatever magics you used on him would have destroyed me in an instant when my gunpowder lit off and my steel melted."

Zamarad nodded, "Such is within my abilities, yes. Yet you do not fear me for the deadly threat that I represent to you and yours, Delilah de Breuil. You instead seek my freedom. Why this madness?"
Spoiler: Delilah's Fire

Delilah's voice was very heartfelt as she responded, "Because a nomaj man with exceptional wisdom wrote down words that I engraved on my heart as a child which guide me today. My father met him, and helped him in his dream, as I found out from Mother. Mother and Father believe as I do and have passed that down to me both because they believe in those words and what they mean, and because those words are the great truth that I pursue alongside my sisters."

Delilah's voice grew very reverent and she stared into Zamarad's eyes as a great fire of belief to match the inferno that had given the First Ifrit life filled the Muramasa's leaf green orbs.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Delilah forged on with her explanation, the fires of her soul burning in her molten gaze as her voice became as resolute and strong and unyielding as her Muramasa steel.

"Not just men, not just nomajs, not just humans. All of us who think and feel and love and mourn and live are equal and have these Rights. Rights which I will defend to the last breath in my body, the last drop of blood in my veins, and the last cartridge that I shall ever fire. That is why I volunteered to come here, when I could be safely home in comfort as another takes my place, because these Rights are only purchased in one coin. The blood of patriots and tyrants. Mother, Father, Colombe, Jacklyn... all of them have paid of that coin willingly and well and I am proud to be given the chance to heap up my own payment, all that I was, am, and shall ever be, alongside theirs upon the Altar of Freedom."

Zamarad's eyes found the ring that bound her in servitude as it twinkled on Delilah's heaving bosom and she tapped it with a finger; her voice hushed in respect for what Delilah was sharing with her.

"Then that is why you mean to free me of the ring. Why you refuse to use the power I represent to make your path easy. Why you plan to seal away the Sleeper's knowledge as you promised once I am liberated despite the benefits to you and yours."

Delilah nodded as the inner fire that drove her was hidden once more behind the revolver's well-practiced facade. "It is the reason. Sis... Colombe believes what I do down to her core as well, although she comes at it differently. The ends do not justify the means, for in taking those means the end is corrupted and twisted utterly."

Zamarad nodded, "Then your legs...?" Again her eyes sought the burnt flesh that was slowly healing under the sheets.

Delilah shrugged, "The price of your freedom. Cheap steel paid by me in exchange for priceless emerald gained by you. I'd do it again and much much more to let you or another live free from slavery's yoke."

Delilah then sobered and continued, "When... if you ever come to visit me, I'd like to take you to Gettysburg so you can learn what happened there. Both the cost of freedom for America's slaves... and the words spoken afterward as those who died there were dedicated that define the dream that I fight for. Not a dream fulfilled yet, but one day I shall see it happen through my efforts alongside those who believe as I do."

A crash from the hallway outside as a tray of medicinal broth and healing potions for the patient in the next room was dropped interrupted them. Running footsteps followed and the sounds of not just one but two muffled voices followed.

Delilah sighed and pinched her nose, "Better reinforce the soundproofing for here, Zamarad. Sis and Lyra's reunion will be noisy now that she's woken up from that healing coma."

The Ifrit blushed as she complied, cutting off the sounds of Colombe's bed groaning and moaning under heavy stress. "Verily, I still have trouble understanding the allure of such actions despite Lyra's explanations and my readings in her library. Perhaps I need a different tutor to satisfy my curiosity?"

Delilah choked and blushed scarlet at the sight of the flame in the Ifrit's eyes.

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

Potter Cottage, Godric's Hollow, England

7 March, 1942
Spoiler: Secrets Kept

The fire in the hearth blazed green and Delilah hobbled out, leaning on a cane as her weakened legs wobbled. Zamarad rushed to support her and the revolver smiled gratefully.

"Won't be long before I can ditch the cane and be back to normal. Therapy sucks even with magical healing."

Lyra's eyes twinkled as she leaned against Colombe and responded. "I have said it before and I'll say it again, sex is a great way to recover from injury. Gets bloodflow going to all the extremities."

Colombe mock-scowled at the giggling Lyra as Delilah and Zamarad both blushed.

Colombe then coughed. "Anyway, you know why we are all here. We need to put our plan into place." She tapped the wooden coffer Lyra held containing the scrolls of Morgan le Fay and the codex that had started their quest. "Let's be about it."

Delilah nodded and gestured with her wand as Zamarad spoke in a hissing, popping tongue.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The flame in the fireplace floated out to the center of the room under Delilah's direction as the red-hot stones of the hearth suddenly cooled. The Ifrit stared at the smoke with a commanding gaze and it obediently twisted in a rope to float up the chimney.

As her sister and her sister's friend did their part, Colombe chanted in Chinese, swirling brown-green energies growing around her intricately moving hands.

"Di Long Bai Wei!" Colombe's hands scooped like she was molding clay and the solid block of slate hearthstone where the fire rested suddenly rippled and shifted, creating a square well in the middle surrounded by unbroken stone on all sides.

Lyra carefully placed the coffer containing the knowledge in the hole created, spells of fire resistance, wards against divination, and wards against scrying all glimmering in traceries of intricate charmwork from four different sources.

As Lyra stepped back, Colombe bit her lip and moved her hands again with filling in and smoothing motions. The stone rippled and flowed like water, covering the coffer in unbroken rock. Soon the stone was like it always was with no trace of the hidden treasure entombed in it visible.

Delilah flicked her wand and the fire floated back to sit in its proper place on the hearthstone. She then wiped her forehead.

"Well done Sis, Lyra, Zamarad. Now for the next stage."

Deliah extended her free hand to the others, palm up. Zamarad placed her hand in Delilah's, squeezing once. They were joined by Lyra and then Colombe as the Rapier drew her blade.

Delilah began to move her wand in intricate traceries, and a leaf-green spark of light appeared on the tip. Zamarad flicked a flame to life that danced in similar motions and shifted from the orange of natural fire to unnaturally bright emerald. Lyra's wand tip glowed the red of a rose and Colombe's rapier gleamed with crystal blue light in matching motions as the four spoke in unison.

"I hereby swear and am bound in compact to never reveal by word spoken or written, deed done or undone the knowledge that we have learned from the scrolls that we have retrieved from the Sleeper. I furthermore swear to never reveal by word spoken or written, deed done or undone the location and secrets of the Sleeper's resting place. Finally, I so swear never to retrieve the chest that we have locked away from the sight of the Seen and Unseen here today. Only by the agreement and unanamity of those who make this compact can such a vow be set aside so that another can be brought into our compact. Such will stand as long as I live."

The lights of each aura shifted from leaf-green to crystal blue to emerald green then to rose red that became leaf green once more as the casters began to glow in turn. As the energies peaked four voices became one.

"Fidelius!"
Spoiler: One Last Epilogue (warning, somewhat dark)

Sleeper's Repose, Underneath The Mountain of Flint, Sahara Desert

7 February 1942

Obersturmführer Helmer Wolff shook the after effects of the concussion he had gotten from the activation of the trap in the chamber as Death Potion continued to spew forth from the mouths of the statues and fill the chamber.

His every muscle hurt and his crushed and abused groin was a molten fire of pure agony.

None of it was even a thousandth of the pain he had felt the moment That Woman had betrayed him. The pain he still felt that fueled him even more than the hunger for carmine bliss.

The sword filling his hand felt right as if it was part of him and he sensed that something inside it welcomed the chance to awake from slumber and do what it had been forged to do. A fey aquamarine light began to flicker along its edges and he felt his lips draw back from his fangs as The Betrayer turned Her back to him and locked blades with The Master.

CRACK

His Master's pained scream as he caught fire was a distant thing as his arm raised.

"Del?" Her voice was that of a Valkyrie called down from Valhalla.

"Nein!" His command was that of Her Master for She was Woman and he was Man.

The Betrayer turned to face him and for an eternal moment his eyes met Hers. He relished the horror, fear, and guilt in Her eyes as his steel hacked through Her wrist, disarming Her in all senses of the word and leaving Her at his mercy to do with if he wished to hurt Her as She had hurt him.

She was so beautiful when put in her proper place and properly broken to his Will. As the Führer had so wisely said at his graduation ceremony as a member of the Schutzstaffel: “Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle.”

She crashed onto Her back, Her blood flying everywhere. He licked his lips and knelt over Her, savoring Her terror and fury as the aquamarine-shimmering point of his sword approached Her throat. One blood-slick hand grasped his wrist to fend him off, but it was not enough; it was never enough for he was the stronger and more worthy. Slowly the point approached, and he felt the sword begin to dimple Her heaving throat.

Then She vanished as if She never was.

He howled in anger as his blade gouged the blood-soaked stone where She had laid...soaked with Her blood.

His head came up as his Master's pained screams began to slowly subside as the Death Potion ate away his lungs.

She wouldn't get away from him that easily. For She would be His as a living trophy of his superiority as Übermensch.

Ignoring the pain as he stepped into the pool, he reached out with his free hand through the flames and grasped the swastika amulet that his Master had enchanted. The pain as the white-hot metal marked his palm for all time with the Hakenkreuz was nothing compared to his Will exerting itself.

"Portus!"

With a crack of displaced air Wolff vanished leaving the chamber empty of all life save the fading embers of Drachenzähmer's as the Death Potion reached the vampire mage's neck.

Wolff crashed to the stones of the wadi outside the tunnel to the Sleeper's tomb as the Portkey discharged.

He flopped over, smoke rising from his ruined ankles and feet and gasped, then fumbled in his belt for a moment before coming forth with a vial of healing potion. Quaffing it, his broken jaw slowly reknit itself and his feet began to mend. He then pulled out a second blood-red bottle and drank deep of the precious carmine within.

Groaning, he finally staggered to his feet and surveyed his possessions. The sword, the scroll he had picked up, another bottle of delicious, precious carmine, a few day's food, and a canteen of water. Finally, the half-trained magical abilities his former Master had given him along with the Embrace to turn him into what he was today; the pinnacle of Aryan evolution.

Not enough to head back across the trackless desert to the Fatherland.

Therefore...

He turned his face south toward the heart of Africa.

Slim chance of survival was better than no chance, and his Will would prevail over all obstacles in his way natural or unnatural. Man, spirit, or beast; desert, savanna, or jungle alike he would surmount them all in His Struggle.

Colombe would be his.

 

Harry Leferts

Checking over various things, Harry gave a nod before slinging the backpack over his shoulder. A smile on his face, he walked out to find Hedwig and Shiromizu speaking to each other, "So you two ready to go?"

Just blinking, Hedwig in her human guise nodded, "I am, Harry-Wizard."

Lips twitching, the Mizuchi also nodded some, "And I'm ready as well. You?"

Harry gave a chuckle at that, "Hai, I am. I placed my new bokken into the stand for now since I'm not going to use it until we get back to Hogwarts." Gently, he patted the sword at his waist, "And I got Tsukiakari right here to go with us as well as Juuchi." Scratching his chin, the thirteen year old hummed, "I think that Tsukiakari is rather excited to go."

A grin on her face, Shiromizu snorted some, "That, I have no doubt. Considering that it has likely been decades since she last saw any of the Arashi clan." Getting a rattle from the sword that they were talking about, she shook her head, "Right... What about..."

When she waved her hand, Harry shrugged some, "I sent that Firebolt back to Hogwarts."

Nodding, Hedwig crossed her arms, "Yes, I delivered it right to Professor Dumbledore. Though I am confused..." Furrowing her eyebrows, she frowned, "I thought that it came from your Godfather?"

Once more, the teen shrugged, "It did, apparently he spoke to the warden at the Prison and explained it to him. But I am still going to have it checked out just in case. After all, if someone realized that the payment came from the Black family account? They might suspect that it was him and curse it just in case he was the one to use it, which they would think was going to happen. Better to be safe than sorry."

Chuckles made him turn to where Siusan was sipping some tea with a smile, "Ah, that would be a good idea, Harry-Child. While I am sure that the Dog means well, he is still a dog. Sometimes they miss things."

Eyebrow raised, Harry sighed a bit, "You know, that could be taken as insulting... if I did not know that you called Uncle Moony 'Wolf' and Dad 'Stag'."

Blinking, Siusan frowned some, "Is that not what they are though? He can become a dog, the Wolf becomes a wolf, and the Stag becomes a stag." Eyes narrowing, she growled a bit, "And the Rat is most certainly a rodent."

Simply shaking his head, the wizard frowned a bit, "Are you sure that you will be okay, Grandmother? You can come along if you want."

Lightly laughing, Siusan walked over and hugged him, "I am fine, Harry-Child. We are talking about members of your family from the other side of your blood. As for this old fox... Hoshi is going to be taking me to where Natsumi-Child's grandparents live. I shall stay there for a day or two and speak with them." A thoughtful look crossed over her face, "I am... interested, in what may come of it, I suppose. In fact, I cannot think of the last time that I spoke with someone who is old enough that I can get along with."

With a sigh, Harry gave a nod before hugging her, "Then I hope that you have a good time there, Grandmother. And I will bring you back some treats from Hokkaido.'

Gently, she kissed his brow and nodded before returning the hug, "I will await that, and the tales of what happened, Harry-Child. Now, you go and have fun meeting relatives that you have not."

Brightly smiling, Harry tightened the hug a bit before pulling away. Soon enough, he was waving outside as Siusan did so back and then transformed into her fox form and took off. Turning, he looked towards his adoptive mother, as he felt Hedwig in her owl form alight on his shoulder, and Shiromizu curled around his middle, "Okay, Mum, all ready."

Nagato chuckled some and nodded, "Good, now we just need to get over to the Vanishing Cabinets."

Hopping up beside him, Hoppou smiled and took his hand, "Come on, Big Brother! Hoppou wants to meet Big Brother's relatives!"

Unable to help himself he laughed some as he allowed himself to be pulled along, "Okay, Hoppou. Hold up a bit and we'll get there soon enough."

As he was still pulled along by Hoppou. Siusan watched from nearby with a smile on her face. It did her heart good to see her grandchild of sorts so happy and full of life. With a nod, she turned and ran through the base. Upon reaching the Ono residence, she transformed back into her human form and knocked on the door, which opened to reveal Natsumi. Said Kitsune bowed some, "Welcome, Siusan-San."

Bowing back some, the Irish fox smiled, "Thank you, Natsumi-Child. It is appreciated." Once she stepped inside and the door was closed, she took off her boots and placed them into a bag. While a bit bemused at how one took off their footwear, she did obey it. After all, it was only polite. As she was guided through the house, she looked this way and that at various pictures. Some of which was of Harry and Natsumi, which made her smile softly. Glancing at the fox, she internally sighed, 'I am reminded so much of you and myself, Brigid. Though I hope that they do not go through the same tragedy as we did...'

However, before she could get too much into her memories, Natsumi opened a door and smiled, "And here we go! The room containing the Owl Box between here and my Obaa-San's and Ojii-San's house."

Just nodding, Siusan patted her head, "Thank you, Natsumi-Child." Walking in with Natsumi behind her, she bowed some as she had picked up to Hoshi, "Hoshi."

Tilting her head some in acknowledgement, Hoshi chuckled, "Siusan-San. I hope that you have been enjoying the holidays so far?"

It went without saying that the Kitsune smiled even more at how happy the Irish fox looked, "I have, spending time with Harry-Child has been wonderful. Though for now, he needs some time alone."

Only nodding, Hoshi shook her head, "That is true enough, now then, shall we?"

Not long after, the two foxes, with Hoshi disguised as a normal fox, entered the Owl Box with it closing behind them. Moments after, it reopened and they climbed out to find themselves in a different room. Transforming back into her human form, Siusan looked around in interest. Due to her long life, there was little that she had not seen before. But since coming to Japan, she had been seeing and experiencing new things every day.

For one such as her, it was... amazing, making her feel young again even as the time spent with Harry helped her heal some wounds of the past.

Hearing the door open, her eyes widened at the sight of two Kitsune dressed in fine clothing, a Kimono, she believed that Harry had called them. Both of them had nine tails behind them as they took in Siusan and Hoshi. Before she could bow, they grinned and the female of the two ran over and hugged the other female Kitsune before twirling some, "Welcome home, welcome back! Welcome to our humble shack!"

Rather amused at her old friend, Hoshi snorted, "I very much doubt that this place could be called a shack." Ignoring the snickers from her friends, she gestured at the bemused Siusan, "And this is Siusan-San, as I told you about."

The two Kitsune bowed to her with smiles, before Naoki snapped open a fan, "It is good to meet you." Grinning evilly, he chuckled, "Especially as our grandchildren are rather close, and being grandparents, it is our prerogative to tease them some.'

Blinking for a few moments, Siusan smiled. She felt like she could enjoy this time quite a bit...
________________________________________________

As he stepped out of the Vanishing Cabinet in Kushiro, Harry blinked and looked around in confusion, 'Why did I have a shiver go down my spine?' Deciding to ignore that for a moment, he turned to the purple haired Destroyer and grinned before walking over and giving her a hug, "Akebono-Nee!"

Lips twitching, she gave a suffering sigh, but hugged him back, "Welcome back to Kushiro, Harry-Chan. It has been a while."

Just nodding, Harry laughed some, "It has, and I'm glad to be back." Seeing her hum and cup her chin in thought though, he blinked, "Something wrong, Akebono-Nee?"

Placing her hand on his head, she chuckled some, "Just realizing that you've grown some since I last saw you, and that was just a few months back. What do the Americans call it? Sprouting like a weed?" Getting a laugh from him, Akebono nodded towards the door, "Anyways, Nagato-San is right outside waiting for us."

With a nod, Harry followed along with the Destroyer, "So how are things going here since our last visit?"

Akebono glanced at him and shook his head some, "It has been going well enough. They finally gave our Shitty Admiral the promotion that he earned some time ago. So he's fully an Admiral, a shitty one, but one that is better than most."

Softly snickering, the thirteen year old gave her a smirk, "Still tsundere, huh, Akebono-Nee?"

Flushing, Akebono glared at him with a huff, "I am not a tsundere!" Looking away, she scowled, "I... just find him more acceptable then most, that's all!"

Only humming, Harry nodded, "I see..."

Quickly shaking her head, the Destroyer changed the subject, "Anyways, things are changing for the better now. We're getting a new summoning pool built here and I know that we're supposed to be getting some new shipgirls at some point, so that's good. And about time too!' A frown on her face, Akebono shook her head, "Though sometimes the Fleet of Laughter visits here, so that's good as well. They already stated that they're willing to help out as needed..."

Head tilted to the side, Harry frowned, "Huh."

The Destroyer opened the door and lead him outside where he could see Nagato waiting, and the two were lead to his office. Reaching it though, the Battleship blinked and cocked an eyebrow at the Torii that was across the door, "Should I even ask?"

Facepalming, Akebono groaned some, "No, you do not. It is just because of what happened with the Fleet of Laughter when they first arrived and that is it... trust me..." Opening the door, she gestured them inside, "Anyways, the others are waiting... DAMMIT YOU FUCKING LOUSY BATTLESHIP!"

Dressed as Mutsu, Settsu leaned forward, "Ara, what do you mean?" She then waved at Nagato, "Hello, Nee-San!"

Bemused at the whole thing, the actual Nagato class member waved, "Ah, hello there again..."

Meanwhile, Harry simply snickered to himself.

Less then an hour later found Nagato pulling up to what looked like a gate with a small store next to it, currently closed. Beside the gate was a sign that stated that it was "Fubuki Farms", which she nodded at, "Well, it seems that we're here."

Around them, snow fell gently down giving the whole place a peaceful feeling. Looking out the window, Harry smiled some, "Wow, this place looks awesome."

Chuckling, the Battleship nodded some, "I believe so." Upon checking her phone, she hummed, "And it seems like our guide is nearly here."

Within five minutes, a car pulled up to the gate and a young woman hopped out in jeans and a t-shirt, completely unconcerned with the sub-zero temperatures. Opening the gate, she walked over to the car and smiled, "Itoko! You came!"

Just grinning back, Harry nodded some, "Hai, I promised, didn't I, Koyuki-San?"

Eyebrow raised, the Yuki-Onna wagged a finger at him, "Now, none of that 'San' business! You're family, so call me Koyuki-Chan or Ko-Chan... maybe even Koyuki-Nee-San if you feel like it." Turning to Nagato, she gestured with her head towards the gate, "If you'll follow me, I'll lead you up to the compound. A bit of a way to drive as our farm is pretty big."

Only smiling, Nagato chuckled, "That would be great, thanks."

With a nod, Koyuki moved aside so that the car that the shipgirl was driving could move inside, before closing and securing it. As she walked past, she shrugged, "Can't have the cows escape after all... even though they're all warm in the barns right now."

Hopping back into her car, she drove backed it up, before turning and leading them along the road. As they drove, they passed snow covered fields, which made Harry look out in interest. Soon enough, they reached the gate to a family compound which made Nagato nod as they continued to follow Koyuki's car as it turned towards a small hill. One that they noticed had a hidden entrance in it which lead down into a parking garage, which itself had various vehicles in it. Parking, the Battleship got out and helped both Harry and Hoppou out of the car. Harry then looked around in interest as Hedwig did the same on his shoulder, "You have an underground parking garage?"

Koyuki chuckled some as she twirled keys on her finger, "Hai, we used to use one of the barns on the property for parking. But... we could only expand the inside so far before it got noticeable. So we built this back in the 1980s for most of the cars and such for the clan with some strengthening charms and such to keep it safe from earthquakes and floods. Also doubles as a bunker." That got her a nod from Nagato, and she continued, "The old barn is just used for farm equipment and the Hiluxes that we use to get around the property."

Now grinning, Harry laughed some, "Those are probably good trucks to get around here in."

Snorting, the Yuki-Onna shook her head, "Well, we use them as well as some old army surplus trucks we bought from the Americans back in the 1960s. Those are really good for getting supplies and the like around." A smile on her face, she lead them out of the underground parking and closed the shutter, before heading to the gate of the compound. Opening it, she grinned, "Come on in, guys, everyone wants to meet you."

The three shared smiles themselves and followed her into the compound as the snow continued to softly fall.

 

Yellowhammer

Dove in the Moonlight

Castle Moulbaix, Belgium

13 October, 1990

We should be constantly reminding ourselves that the beauty of a work of art is something that will always remain mysterious; that is to say one can never find out exactly “how it is done”. At all costs let us preserve this element of magic peculiar to music. By its very nature music is more likely to contain something of the magical than any other art.-Claude Debussy

Colombe couldn't sleep.

She rolled over and punched her favorite comfy pillow, then scowled. Judging from the faint sounds of an elephant with flatulence coming from next door, Kasuyu did not have that problem.

Lucky bastard.

Finally she shrugged and slid out of bed. Maybe a glass of warm milk would get her to finally drowse off. Although she suspected that the reason for her unrest had nothing to do with the churning in her stomach.

Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé du Chasteler. Her bastard of a grand-nephew who had nearly destroyed her family in his mad quest for power. Patricidal, matricidal, and nearly killing her twice, up to his neck in Dark Magics, the slave trade, and worse. Who would have been one hundred and sixty years old tonight.

Carefully tiptoeing to her wardrobe so not to awaken Kasuyu, she pulled out some pink flannel pajamas (a Christmas gift from Delilah in 1947) and slid on a pair of ratty Bugs Bunny slippers (a birthday gift from Jackie in 1959). Suitably attired, she then snuck out the door.

If Kasuyu knew what she was up to, of course he would serve her the milk on a silver tray. That annoying axe! She did not want any of this 'lady of the manor/chieftaness' nonsense he delighted in this late at night, she wanted some warm milk!

Again tiptoeing past Kasuyu's door, she froze at the sound of movement within, one foot comically raised. Holding her breath, she listened to the mumbles from inside, than slowly lowered her foot as the elephant inside resumed his battle with flatulence.

Gotcha!

Smugly smirking she continued down the darkened hall stealthily, then turned the corner. The hall ahead was lit by the full moon in great silver slashes across the hardwood floor. Faint ethereal music drifted down the corridor, notes like liquid quicksilver caressing her ears and her eyes narrowed.

Right, who left the piano's enchantments running? Wasn't me.

Sparing a scowl in the direction of the room containing a guilty flatulent elephant, she headed down the hall to her study to turn the piano off.

The milk could wait. She certainly did not need musical accompaniment and a soundtrack for her late night kitchen raid.

She opened the door and froze. The piano, her piano, wasn't there where it normally was. The joke wasn't funny any more.

Her eyes narrowed as she thought. While one of the enchantments on her piano had allowed it to be Apparated around the house to save the hassle of fitting it through doors and moving it down and up stairs, she didn't think that Kasuyu knew about that since it was from before she met him, and she had handled moving the piano herself always.

Which meant....

Scowling, she marched to her desk and pulled the SS Ehrendolch dagger off the hardwood display stand where it normally rested when not acting as her left-hand weapon when practicing sparring two-blade styles or doing duty as her letter opener. Idly she rubbed the left side of her stomach where a small scar still appeared, placed there by the very blade that was in her right hand. That fight had been one of the closest of the close calls in her long life and she winced, remembering the young man whose knife this was who had died horribly there. Enemy or not, she regretted what had happened.

A shift in the music brought her head up and she headed for the door. Losing herself in memories of the past was well and good, but she had a piano to track down.

The search led her to the first floor ballroom. Taking a deep, calming breath, she cast a stealth charm as she prepared to confront the thief. She then peeked around the half-open door. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.
Spoiler: Moonlit Music

The full moon shone through the window, throwing liquid silver across the hardwood floor, subtly worn by over a century of use including more than a few times that she herself had trod it alongside her family. Through the windows, the moon shone bright, illuminating the oak trees in her back yard with soft light as they framed the argent ripples of the pond at the rear of her estate.

All that was a backdrop for the missing piano. Silver light caressed it, brushing across the polished gilding of her family crest on the sides and lid, the sculpted lion's feet holding the bronze rollers, and warm mahogany paneling covering the spruce soundbox and steel wires within, as notes equally as gentle and loving poured forth in a stream of pure joy and delight.
Spoiler: The Pianist


A young woman sat on its bench, her head thrown back in ecstasy and eyes closed, short hair of darkest ebony swaying in a cloud of shadow as her whole body moved to the sounds that her fingers of purest ivory brought forth from the piano as they danced across the keys with feather-light touches. Her modest bosom heaved in her ballroom dress of wine-red silk velvet that left her arms bare to be caressed by the moonlight that she was calling forth as if it was her lover.
Spoiler: Claire's Dress


The arpeggios that she was calling forth soared higher and higher, calling out to Colombe, who could not even breathe because of the aching beauty of the music. She reached the music's climax as her fingers slid to the right, paused for an eternally heartbreaking instant lightly touching the keyboard then descended, sliding across the ivory and ebony keys in a magnificent waterfall of sound as the tension of the piece broke like a stone tossed into the moonlit lake outside.

The chord of the music changed, shifting from D-flat major to F minor as the arpeggios sadly, slowly, descended in dissonant sheets hinting at the emotions the player felt before suddenly shifting into perfect D-flat major harmony in the final arpeggios that soared, paused, soared once more...then ended in a trailing of quick high notes like the loving caress of an angel on Colombe's cheek.

Colombe could barely see the piano through the tears in her eyes at the ephemeral beauty of the moment that she had witnessed.

She stepped inside the ballroom as the young woman breathed deeply and slowly, clearly returning to herself from wherever she had been transported to in her playing of Claire de Lune. Her head fell forward, and then suddenly turned with a nervous start to face Colombe as the rapier closed the door behind her.

Mahogany-brown eyes widened in surprise, like a small helpless animal suddenly facing a threat.
Spoiler: Claire du Chasteler


At her start, Colombe reached out her right hand in a protective gesture automatically as she whispered. ""Wait! Please...please don't go. I'm sorry. I just heard..."

The rapier swallowed at the look the young woman gave her. "I heard you play. You're the spirit of the piano then?"

A shy nod as the young woman relaxed minutely. Her fingers caressed the keyboard automatically. "Y-yes..." Her voice was low and soft, timid and mysterious.

Colombe started as she realized that she had the dagger in her extended hand and hastily stuffed it in the waistband of her pajamas.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. Um...I'm Colombe, Colombe d'Aubigny-Muramasa du Chasteler."

The girl gave a very faint smile. "I know...you bought me, played me, loved me. Sometimes you still do. Not too often recently."

Colombe blushed. "Um, yes, yes I do. I'm sorry that I don't play you more. Not that I will ever be able to play like you did just now. I'm... too hard... too unsuited for that."

A faint smile, and ivory fingers called forth music in a slowly building wave as the girl played herself and looked at Colombe.
Spoiler: A Rapier and her Piano

"You love what you call forth when you play me. Why don't you play me more since you love it so?" Her voice was curious as her fingers danced, calling a melancholy yet hopeful tune from her depths.

Colombe shook her head. "I have to protect you and others like you from those would would abuse you or destroy you. That's why I'm not always here. Part of me...has to protect people, protect family; just like part of you has to make music that would cause the Gods to weep tears of joy."

A silent nod followed by a gentle arpeggio. "I see. Am I part of your family then?"

Colombe sighed, "Yes, if you want to be. I'll never hear the end of it from my sisters but...yes. I am responsible for you, for the enchantments on you, for you being here, and I'll make it right. Somehow."

For long moments the two sat in silence, looking at the piano as she played. Finally Colombe stirred. "Um, do you have a name?"

The girl silently shook her head.

"Do you want a name then?"

A hesitant nod.

"Um...well, that piece you were playing when I came in is Claire de Lune by Debussy. Debussy himself played it on you once, a hundred years to the day right here. I remember it...I guess you do too." A shy happy smile and a nod. "Um, it means 'Moonlight'...do you want to be called Claire? Claire du Chasteler?"

"Claire... I...like it." Claire's face lit up in a happy smile and she excitedly ran her fingers along the keys, producing a rich, happy hopeful tone as her song continued.

Colombe looked at the girl. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

She nodded slowly with a question in her eyes. "I think so? I have been aware for a while but I only fully woke up when the sun set. I took myself down here to play so as not to disturb you or Kasuyu."

"Just stay here and... well play whatever you want. I'll raid the refrigerator for a midnight snack for us both and answer your questions on how to girl or piano or something like that. Um."

Colombe was struck by a sudden urge and gently placed the dagger on the housing of the piano and gave it a look. "Keep Claire company and protect her. Oh and enjoy the music."

Moonlight sparkled from the silver, ebony and steel of the dagger in response.

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

Castle Moulbaix, Belgium

24 December 1990

Snow coated the windows of Colombe's upstairs study as the moon rose on Christmas Eve. The rapier turned from where she was getting another bottle of her good brandy out and surveyed the scene with a happy smile.

Over by her desk, Jacklyn leaned across it, exposing a fair amount of cleavage barely held in by her Little Black Dress to Kasuyu 'coincidentally' as she 'curiously examined' the inscription on the Ehrendolch that Colombe had personally polished and burnished to shine like purest silver. Silver and emeralds flashed from her throat and earrings as she took a swig of the brandy Colombe had reserved for tonight

The Axe was smiling as he responded to her not serious flirtatious banter, gesturing with the hand holding a Havana cigar as he leaned against the wall by the tree, his own brandy snifter easily at hand on the corner of the desk.

By the fireplace, Jezabel de Breuil sat in the most comfortable chair Colombe could find as if it were a queen's throne, a warm shawl around her and a white Persian cat in her lap that she lazily petted.

Her daughter Delilah sniffed the aroma of her brandy appreciatively before throwing a handful of chestnuts into the roaring fire in the fireplace. Her expression became impish and she fed one to Zamarad, who was attired in an identical emerald-green ballroom gown.

Unlike the other brandy snifters present, Zamarad's was containing the blue flame of her brandy burning as the Ifrit took a 'sip' of the alcohol flame, before reaching her hand into the fireplace to produce and peel a now-roasted chestnut. The Ifrit got a mischievous grin as she took that roast chestnut in her mouth to 'feed it' to a laughing Delilah.

Jezabel looked on with a fond smile at the byplay between her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend before sipping from her snifter appreciatively, her eyes distant.

Colombe smirked smugly at the scene of familial bliss and pulled out two more brandy snifters, walking to the piano in the corner that was softly playing 'Silent Night' and placing the snifters at either end of the keyboard before carefully filling them with 1890 Baronne Jacques de Saint-Pastou Armagnac. She then sat at the bench and turned her head to the room.

"Oi, Sis, are you starting the serious drinking early?" Jackie smirked at the two snifters in front of the rapier.

"Not quite Jackie. Everyone, I have an announcement! I'd like to provide the musical entertainment this Christmas...with some help from the family."

Delilah smugged at her oldest sister as she took a sip of brandy. "Tell me you won't be singing, Colombe. You can't carry a tune in a sack and I'm not nearly drunk enough to be entertained by you trying to scare the notes as they go by." Zamarad crackled a laugh as she refilled her snifter and set the brandy alight, before placing an arm around her girlfriend.

"You are off the hook to deal with my singing; I'm on Piano. Jackie will be singing tonight; I got a promise from her." The rapier's smug smile grew as she placed a sheaf of freshly purchased duet music on the music stand in front of her and began to play bass arpeggios softly to warm up.
Spoiler: A Very Butterknife Christmas

"Blackmailed, I was!" Laughter greeted that melodramatically anguished pronouncement.

As the second round of arpeggios began, Colombe smirked. "And since this is a duet piece, I'd like to give everyone their one early Christmas present with my daughter. Claire du Chasteler, it's time to come out and play."

With a pop, Claire appeared on the bench next to Colombe. She was wearing her wine red dress and crowned with a wreath of holly. She gave the room a shy, unsure smile as her fingers found her keys alongside Colombe's.

Jacklyn's eyes bulged in surprise. Delilah stared with well-concealed shock at the sight of her new 'niece', which caused Colombe to smirk wider at a point scored in their running game. Zamarad looked intrigued at a fellow spirit as her eyes burned with curiosity and joy. Jezabel raised one eyebrow and then her brandy snifter in a salute before starting to pet the purring cat's ears.

Claire segued into 'O Holy Night' with soaring treble notes above Colombe's base of bass arpeggios providing the melody and Jacklyn raised her voice in song, her crystal clear lyric soprano that of an angel from the heavens.

"O holy night! The stars are brightly shining!

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth."

Delilah raised her own voice to join her sister on the next verse, her softer mezzosoprano providing counterpoint and texture for her sister's soaring song.

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining

'Til He appears and the Soul felt its worth"

Kasuyu's rumbling bass and Zamarad's smoky contralto joined in as the piano notes and the voices began to become one.

"A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn"

Jezabel wiped tears from her eyes and joined in alongside her daughters adopted and of blood, along with Claire after Colombe nudged her gently with an elbow and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Fall on your knees; O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born"

Outside the moonlight turned the snow purest silver under the gleam of the twinkling stars as the piano swelled triumphantly in perfect harmony with the singers.

"O night, O holy night, O night divine!"

 

Harry Leferts

Walking along the clear path after the doors had closed, Harry looked around. Inside the walls of the Arashi Clan Compound, the thirteen year old could see the garden was just as beautiful as it would be in warmer months, with snow draped over everything and sculptures made of ice. Seeing his interest, Koyuki smiled and snapped her finger, a burst of snow coming from it, "Such things are rather easy for us."

Lightly chuckling, Nagato gave a nod, "I would assume so." Looking at a rock garden, which had no snow upon except for white caps on the stones themselves, "Which explains some things."

Koyuki glanced in the same direction and nodded, "Hai, snow is easy to control for us Yuki-Onna. Ice is more the Tsurara-Onna, and together during the colder months we like to think we transform the gardens here into works of art. Representing the season of winter at its most pure. The Hone-Onna take over for the warmer months and, I will admit, they make them into works of art then as well."

Head tilted to the side, Harry hummed some, "I'll have to visit during the summer." Considering something, he smiled, "And I think that Natsumi-Chan would like to come here as well. She loves drawing landscapes."

Eyebrow raised, the Yuki-Onna looked at him in interest, "Natsumi-Chan?"

Blushing lightly, Harry chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "Ono Natsumi-Chan, she's, um, a Kitsune and a really good friend of mine." His smile softened a bit as did his voice, "A really good friend of mine."

In reply, Koyuki nodded with a slight curl of her lips into a smile, "I see." Giving a look to Nagato, she shook her head, 'Well now, Ono, hmm? That is rather interesting...'

Now looking at the main buildings, Harry's eyes widened in surprise at how big they were, "Wow..."

Laughing some, the Yokai guiding them smiled with a twinkle in her eye, "Yes, I do suppose that the main manor is rather impressive as are some of the other buildings here in the compound."

Rather interested, Nagato turned her attention to Koyuki, "Buildings? I assume that means that most of the clan lives in the compound then?"

Just nodding, Koyuki gave a shrug, "Most do, yes. There are some smaller farmhouses elsewhere on our properties of course for when one wants to live away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the clan." Gesturing at the main building, she cleared her throat, "Now, that is actually the oldest building in the compound and dates back to when it was built in 1870 as a matter of fact, to house the entire clan at the time. Other buildings were added over time, with the compound itself growing along with it."

Eyebrows raised, the Battleship stared at her, "1870? So it has been here for over a hundred and forty years?"

Grinning, Koyuki nodded, "That's right. The Clan was created two years before, so we're just a few years from being over a century and a half old." She then made a motion around them, "But I got little doubt that you will learn more about the clan history as we go in." Upon reaching the doors, she opened them and guided them inside, before having them change into slippers. As they walked, she did notice Harry looking a bit unsure, "Itoko? What seems to be the matter?"

Harry swallowed a bit and shifted a little, "I'm... just worried." At the confused look, he took a deep breath and let it out, "About if they'll like me..."

After a moment, Koyuki crouched down and placed a hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him, "Itoko, look at me." When he did, she continued as she looked into his eyes, "Not only will they like you, we're all excited to have you here. You're family, distant perhaps, but still family. We share blood after all, and one thing that the clan prides itself on besides our dairy? Is our love for family." Once she got a nod, she stood and took his hand, "Now come along, if we make them wait too much longer, they might all rush out."

While he walked along with her, Koyuki glanced at Nagato who gave the barest shakes of a head. The Yuki-Onna resolved to ask later if one of the others did not. That reaction was... not normal. Placing that aside, she reached the doors to the main hall and opened them. As she did so, Harry's jaws dropped while Nagato's eyes widened and Hoppou looked surprised. Poking her head out from Harry's shirt, Shiromizu stared while Hedwig did much the same from his shoulder.

Mainly because the whole main hall was filled with people, a large number showing that they had European blood to one extent or another, especially the messy hair that the Potters had.

A large number of the people there were women of various ages, though none looked older then their late thirties. Each of them being beautiful and the type that would draw an eye to them. Besides the Yuki-Onna though, Harry could see the odd other Yokai, female and male. All of them though were now staring at him and a number were whispering which made him shift a bit.

Before it got too bad though, one voice rang out, "Stop starring at your Itoko now!" From the back, a group of women walked forward, at least thirty of them, with one in the lead wearing a Kimono decorated with snowflakes. Reaching Harry, the lead woman smiled down at him, "You must be Potter Harry?"

Nodding, Harry bowed to her, "Hai, I am Potter Harry." When he straightened, he found that the older woman was now crouching and examining his face. After a few moments, she smiled and nodded, "I can see some of him in you, despite how many generations it has been. Ian-Kun's blood tells..." Bowing some, she smiled even more, “I am Yukina, a Yuki-Onna and one of Ian-Kun's many wives, as that was what he saw us as."

From next to her, another woman settled, her Kimono having skulls on it, "And I am Tsubaki, a Hone-Onna."

On Yukina's other side, a third woman settled down in front of Harry, "I am Mifuyu, a Tsurara-Onna."

Still examining Harry's features, Yukina brought up one hand and held it against his cheek, "Welcome, child. It is good to have family with us from Britain after so long."

Despite the slight coldness of the touch, the wizard leaned into it before smiling, "Hai... Yukina-Obaa-San."

Brightly smiling, Yukina chuckled as the others also smiled. Stranding, she tilted her head some, "Perhaps you can introduce us to the rest of the family, Harry-Kun?"

Turning, Harry introduced Nagato, who was thanked, along with Hoppou. He then introduced Hedwig, who transformed and bowed politely, as well as Shiromizu, who did much the same. At seeing the serpent, Tsubaki blinked, "A mizuchi in the family? Well, this is rather unexpected." Then, she smiled and shook her head, "Or perhaps not considering we are talking one of Ian-Kun's blood after all."

Lightly blushing, said Mizuchi shook her head, "I see Harry as being my Otouto as a matter of fact." Then, she smirked at Harry, "Besides which, Harry already has enough there."

Each of the oldest shared an amused look at that as Harry blinked and gave Shiromizu a confused look, "Poi?"

Softly giggling, one of the other female Yokai with the group in front of them giggled, "Well now, it seems that Ian-Kun's blood must run quite strongly in Harry-Kun~"

As Nagato sighed and shook her head to Harry's confusion, the others also giggled. Shaking her head, Mifuyu reached out and placed a hand on Tsukiakari's hilt, "Now this one needs no introduction. It is good to see you once more, Tsukiakari, it has been far too long." When the sword warmed under her touch and rattled, she chuckled and glanced at the blade giving off some smug, "And this must be Juuchi Yosamu, welcome to our abode."

Juuchi gave a rattle while giving off a feeling of amusement along with the usual smug.

Only shaking her head, Yukina nodded at Nagato and the others before guiding them along the table, "Now come, I am sure that all of you are rather hungry and we have quite a bit of food ready."

Blinking, Hoppou looked up at her, "You do? Hoppou is a bit hungry, but wasn't going to say anything."

Wagging her finger, one of the other female Yokai shook her head, "That is not any good! A growing child like you needs to have plenty to eat! And don't worry about such things while here, we have plenty from the farm to eat after all."

Nagato bowed some at that, "Thank you, we appreciate the hospitality."

Just scoffing, Mifuyu shook her head, "Hospitality nothing, you are family. And family does not need to worry about going hungry in this household. Even with rationing, we have more than enough food." Reaching a spot, she smiled, "Go on and take a seat as well as help yourself to the Ishikari nabe and butadon. That is what it is there for after all."

After sitting down, Harry looked around as various people went back to talking about various things. The whole atmosphere was warm and friendly, with smiles and such being shot at him. Suddenly, one of the younger kids sat next to him, "Hi! I'm Arashi Fuyune!" Smiling, she tilted her head some, "So you're our Itoko?" Then she snickered, "Though with hair like ours, that's not too hard to guess."

Slowly, the black haired boy nodded, "Hai, I am. Ian was actually my great-great grandfather and, well..." With a look around, Harry smiled, "I'm sort of happy to be here."

Laughing, the young girl shook her head, "And we're happy to see you! I sort of have questions about Britain and stuff too!"

Moments later, a snowball appeared above her head and dropped on it, drawing a yelp of surprise from her. From where she sat, Yukina wagged a finger at her, "Now, now, Fuyune-Chan, there is going to be more than enough time for you to get to know Harry-Kun, he is staying... three days, I believe?"

With a smile, Nagato nodded when the Yuki-Onna looked at her, "Hai, we shall stay at least until the twenty eighth. Perhaps until the morning of the twenty-ninth."

Humming, Mifuyu smiled at that, "Ah, that sounds fine. We're glad to have you in any case, though I suspect that there is going to be quite some talking and such to get everyone used to one another. But such things are normal for family after all!"

Soon enough, the meal fell into conversation and shared food among the whole clan, every once in a while one of them would come up and introduce themselves to Harry with a smile, or a hug. It was easy to tell which ones were Yuki-Onna and Tsurara-Onna as besides the coolness of their skin, they also mostly had names regarding snow, ice, or winter. Some of the Hone-Onna surprised him though as their names were Japanese versions of western ones, but he just smiled as they were no less warm in greeting him.

Meanwhile, they continued the meal in the family atmosphere.

 

Yellowhammer

Lord Khuzdul said:
Something that came to mind: After learning about Delilah, what would Muramasa do? He likes experimenting, but the technicalities are a bit beyond his expertise. So, would he set out to contact the two people within the jurisdiction of the Shinto pantheon who are prominent enough for him to find: Arisaka Nariakira and Kijiro Nambu?​

Highly likely that he consults with an expert in the field once he finds out that he's diversified into firearms. Of course if he talked to Delilah, she would try to convert him to the Church of John Moses Browning.

And since people have been speculating about shipping Claire with Antonio S.(tradavarius) Potter, have some 'well down the road crack snippet'.

Duet for Stradivarius and Bosendorfer

Castle Moulbaix, 2018

Colombe sighed at the sounds of beautiful music from Claire's music room across the hall from her study.
Spoiler: The Sound Of Colombe's Worst Nightmare

Daughters, it seemed, were divine revenge upon you, for you worried about them meeting someone like you were at their age.

She glanced over at Tokunotakai, only to see her love with her eyes half-closed in a blissful expression as her body swayed and her heel tapped to the sound of the piano.

No help was available from that quarter. Rats.

At least Ehren was doing the household monthly accounts while watching the happenings in the music room with an eagle eye.

It all started so innocently too!

The Statute of Secrecy had fallen and with it, came a reexamination of the various ICW arrest warrants and cease-and-desist orders on her. With that and the ability to finally explain herself and tell her side of the story (plus payment of some hefty fines to boot), she was now a free rapier to go as she pleased openly.

Just in time for the centenary of Claude Debussy's death.

The fact that Claire had actually been played by Debussy in 1890 and remembered him had the organizers requesting her presence when that fact became known after the Statute fell. Worse, Claire would have packed herself up and run off to Paris anyway to participate in honoring her favorite composer. In this case, Claire even pulled her ultimate lethal technique upon the obstacle in her path with the deadly combination of tears, pouting, little-girl eyes, and begging Mom to relent able to melt the hardest heart. Or one of Muramasa steel.

Needless to say, it became a family trip to the City of Lights. Once Claire pried the first crack in Mom's defenses, Kasuyu, Tokunotakai, and Ehren followed in a flood of polite requests and travel plans.

The actual centenary events were very enjoyable and Colombe had found herself having a good time as the family had elected to dress up in period wear. The high point in her opinion was undoubtedly Claire's solo virtuoso piano performance of Claire de Lune in the style of Debussy in 1890 which brought the audience in the Philharmonie de Paris to tears of joy and sadness mixed as she poured her heart and soul and memories of a never to be forgotten or equaled night through her playing of her namesake. Colombe had only once heard it played better, and that was by Debussy himself at the height of his genius.

Colombe cursed herself for not picking up the warning signs that the luck she shared with her father was about to flip to the debit side of the ledger.

She might have gotten Claire away clean if she was a little faster on the lunge.

The first indication that things were going south for her was when they visited Passy Cemetery that evening to lay flowers on Debussy's grave. Claire had just placed her own token of remembrance (a bouquet of lilies tied with the silk choker ribbon that she had worn for her performance) on the grave when the first notes of a solo violin rendition of Claire de Lune sounded through the chestnut trees and light rain veiling the Eiffel Tower as it lit up.

Claire at once hurried to find the violinist, leaving her family in her wake. Outside the cemetery, a thin young man with messy black hair, liquid chestnut eyes, and a threadbare but well-kept suit coat had erected a spell to ward off the rain from himself, his violin, and the battered fedora containing what passers-by had gifted him. He was playing his violin with enough melancholy heartfelt passion to cause the very stones to weep.

Claire didn't stand the ghost of a chance.

Even her normal shyness was absent as she listened to his playing with tears in her eyes, her delicate pianists' fingers twitching in unconscious time with his notes. Colombe sighed and privately conceded that Claire had not been the only one. There was not a dry eye in the house that day and the rain had nothing at all to do with it.

When the musician finished and gathered his violin case to go, Claire reached forward and grabbed his sleeve, asking in her gentle voice if he had anything to eat today in an uncharacteristically forward manner. He answered in the negative, saying that he had spent the last of his money that morning to get a standing room ticket in the back of the Philharmonie de Paris. "Money that he would never regret spending," as Tony said, "for then I heard what true genius could be! Something that I shall always grasp for but never seize, alas."

Claire was not having any of the 'starving genius musician' trope and with combat deployment of 'Nuclear Grade Moe Munitions' (to quote the smiling To-chan afterward once the kids went to bed), Tony was kidnapped to a nearby bistro by the du Chastelers to have a full dinner plus the replenishment of his funds. Conversation naturally turned to music, unsurprising considering Claire's monomania about it and equal interest from Tony.

It seemed that the young man was planning a European Wanderjahr, playing along the way to pay his travels as he studied and practiced his music. Quite Bohemian, really, and Colombe wondered privately if he had missed the memo regarding either World War since he was running a century or so too late for that to be in vogue.

Claire mentioned that she played piano, of course.

(Here Colombe wryly chuckled since calling Claire 'interested in playing the piano' was like calling Delilah 'interested in target shooting' or To-chan 'interested in kendo').

Unfortunately she didn't stop at piano-mad, oh no.

Instead Claire borrowed a pen from her smugly smirking sister Ehren in exchange for unspecified sisterly concessions to be paid at a later date and scribbled directions to the Castle on the back of the receipt. Colombe was distracted by the last of a first-rate Lobster Thermidor at the time and missed the secret message altogether. To-chan thought that it was right out of a shojou manga when she revealed that she had seen the whole thing play out and cheered Claire on silently, the romantic soft-hearted Masamune traitor.

Delilah and Jacklyn had a lot to answer for regarding corrupting her little girl. Colombe was certain that learning how to pick a pocket came from one of them. Or in this case, stuff that damned receipt with directions to Castle Moulbaix and an invitation to visit into Tony's suit pocket.

Something that came to light a week later when Tony turned up on her doorstep.

Unfortunately, a certain pianist had gotten a resupply of Nuclear Grade Moe Munitions and after some 'family discussion' where the Lady of the Manor and Head of the Household was outvoted five to one, Tony was allowed to stay to give Claire some promised musical tips. Under strict conditions of chaperonage for their time together and only after Colombe made it clear that any untoward activities involving innocent young pianos would result in one less wandering musician in Europe.

Then on her way out, after putting the fear of Muramasa into Tony, she passed Ehren going into the parlor. This worried her that the potential cad might be going for a 'two for one special' on Du Chasteler daughters seduced by his violin, so she listened at the door. It did not take her long to hear her younger daughter explain graphically that heartbreak for Claire would result in the replacement of catgut in his violin's strings with Tony's guts courtesy of her dagger body.

For a warm-up.

Ehren was such a good girl sometimes. Colombe approves of this message.

That smug thought warmed her steel heart as she tiptoed away. Ehren had things well in hand, unlike sweet innocent Claire.

It also helped that she saw To-chan and Kasuyu having their own private conversations with Tony over the next week. Judging from the expressions involved, everyone was on the same page.

Which brought her to the current state of affairs.

Piano and violin duets were becoming the new normal in her home, and she was... starting to appreciate them. The two musicians were magnificent alone, but together simply divine.

Which was the problem.

Colombe was rapidly wondering if she really wanted to inform Tony that he was on the verge of overstaying his welcome. On the one hand, Claire would be safe when not if he thought about making a move on her... on the other hand, she was certain that Claire would be moping for weeks if not months after he headed off to pursue his dream someplace else away from her.

Not a good thing at all if Claire got into a mood. Colombe was not all that fond of early Rachmaninoff piano pieces thundering through the estate. Damn moody Russian composer with depression that he was even if Claire 'liked testing herself against the technical difficulty of his works' when she was upset.

Her computer pinged with a message from Juuchi to her. Curious what her 'Potter Aunt' (and oh how the smug sword had paled when Colombe informed her that "she had relations with the Potters too, with all three family branches no less!") wanted from her she pulled it up.

Colombe blinked and read the header above the picture of a Stradivarius in the hands of 'Tony'... Antonio Stradavarius Potter aloud. "Have you seen our violin?"

The room started to spin and Toku rushed to her side as Colombe fainted in shock.

It's worse than I thought! Tony isn't just interested in seducing sweet, innocent Claire, oh no! He's POTTERING her!!

 

Harry Leferts

After lunch was done, some of the Clan elders took Harry, Nagato, Hoppou, as well as Hedwig and Shiromizu on a short tour of the complex with Koyuki and Fuyune helping. Walking along the halls, Harry's eyes widened some at what he was just told, "I have my own room to stay in?!"

Chuckling, Yukina smiled some, "Of course you do, Harry-Kun." She gave a slight nod towards Nagato and the others, "As well as you. If there is one thing that we do not have lack of, it is room. There is plenty of it in the compound, and do not get me started with how we have several other houses on the property."

Slightly bowing, Nagato nodded, "Thank you."

Lips curling upwards, the youngest of the Yuki-Onna in the group jerked her thumb in another direction, "Heck, we have our very own bathhouse here if you need to use it." After a moment, Fuyune shrugged, "Well, as long as you don't mind the fact that it is mixed bathing."

All Harry did was shrug in reply, "Doesn't bother me any."

Pausing, one of the Tsurara Onna gestured at a door, "If you would follow us in here for a moment." Once they were inside, the visitor's eyes widened some. The room itself was done in Japanese style, with the floors clean and shiny. Obviously, the place was well taken care of.

But what caught their attention was various items in the room such as photographs on the walls. They could also see things such as instruments, swords on hooks, and the like. Looking around, Nagato turned to the elders who were looking around with smiles of fondness and memory, "If I may ask..."

Mifuyu turned to her and chuckled, "We call this place 'The Hall of Memories', for that is what it is. A hall filled with memories." Pausing at one picture of a young man from the 1910s, she gently touched her finger to it, "This is one of the places that we keep memories alive, for future generations of the clan."

Coming up beside her, Harry examined the young man in the picture. He was obviously part European and part Japanese, with hair not unlike his own. Voice soft, he glanced at her, "Who is he?"

Gently placing her hand on his shoulder, the Tsurara-Onna took a deep breath and let it out though there was some sadness and grief on her face, "His name was Yoshi, and he was mine and Ian-Kun's son, my only son with Ian-Kun as it was." Eyes closed, a tear dripped out and fell to the floor, shattering as it was made of ice, "He died in 1933 during the Sanriku Earthquake, his body washed out to sea by the tsunami... Though I am happy that his daughter survived, a Yuki-Onna who lives here."

Eyes taking in each picture, Nagato walked up beside her, "So each one of these pictures..."

With a nod, Mifuyu sighed, "Are people that the Clan has lost over the years. Mostly husbands and sons, as they do not live as long as we." Eyes misting a bit, she swallowed, "I am not the only one to have lost a son, though most were from old age and I am thankful that they lived long lives."

Silently, Harry looked over each photograph, some far more recent. Each one a member of his family that he would never get to know, and that would never know him. At least in this life... Slowly, he walked along before pausing at one photograph and leaning in. It was of someone in an IJN uniform, sword above the picture. But... there was something wrong about their looks. Walking up, one of the other elders pointed, "That would be Hikari, one of Ian's daughters."

Blinking, Shiromizu frowned and looked from her to the picture and back, "Daughters? In the IJN? But..."

Lips twitching, the Yuki-Onna shook her head, "How is such a thing possible? Well... she had something of a boyish figure and managed to use some magic to hide the fact that she was a girl. In her case, she served aboard the Fubuki after her launching right up to when she retired from the navy in 1935 due to fear that the Kamo Government was catching on." She frowned some, "It is darkly ironic that she died in 1954 when the ferry that she was on sank between Hokkaido and Honshu."

A frown on his face, Harry stared at the picture, "I wonder if Fubuki-Nee knows? She could come back as a fairy after all."

That caused the Yuki-Onna to start a bit and she swallowed, "If you speak to Fubuki-Sama... could you ask if there is a Arashi Hikari onboard? And... and tell her that her Okaa-San misses her and loves her, and that her son married a Yuki-Onna with a daughter of his own?"

Harry just bowed to her, "Hai, I will ask Fubuki-Nee when I next see her."

Just blinking away some tears, the Yokai hugged him in thanks. Thoughtful, Nagato gave Harry a smile before turning back to the pictures, "That... is two sons that you have mentioned so far that married Yokai like yourselves."

Understanding the question, Tsubaki chuckled some and nodded, "Hai, it is a bit strange in that our sons, grandsons, and the like end up marrying Yokai much like us. All of them clanless when doing so, becoming part of our clan." Head tilted to the side, she considered Nagato a little, "I believe that Koyuki-Chan explained about how Yuki-Onna, Tsurara-Onna, and Hone-Onna are sometimes created without being born?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry nodded, "She did, she said that Yuki-Onna and Tsurara-Onna are sometimes created in the mountains and such when a woman dies in the snow. And that Hone-Onna are created due to feelings of love from a woman that dies."

Her lips curling upwards, the Hone-Onna nodded, "Hai, and that is true. I, myself, came about from a woman who loved someone deeply before she died." Grimacing, she shook her head, "In my case, it was another woman. But I did not know that she had been killed much like I had been as well."

Walking up, another one placed a hand on her shoulder and gently kissed her, "And returned for you, Tsubaki-Chan, much as you did for me."

Softly smiling, Tsubaki kissed her back before turning to Harry and her eyes twinkled in happiness as it was obvious that he had no issue with that fact. Turning back to the pictures, she continued, "Now, despite the Statute it still does happen, though not as commonly as before. But it is odd in that oftentimes, the males in our family will often stumble across a Yokai of one of the three species that makes up the clan. Often, with them falling for each other, and then we give them a home."

Lightly chuckling, the Hone-Onna from before winked at Harry, "We think that Ian-Kun is somehow behind it as there are coincidences, and then there are this." Smiling at Tsubaki, she shook her head, "But it still leads to happy, loving relationships. And gives them a far better fate then..."

When she trailed off, Yukina walked up and looked at Harry, "How much of our clan history do you know, Harry-Kun?"

Frowning, Harry cocked his head to the side, "Koyuki-Chan told me some? The cliff's notes of it and how before you met my Great-Great Grandfather, you were, um... Ladies of the Night?"

A scoff came from one of them as she stepped up, "We were whores, Harry-Kun. Women who sold their bodies for coin." Looking at him, her stern vestige melted some as she saw him wince, "I can understand why you were trying to be gentle, and thank you for it, but you do not need to worry so much. While we did not enjoy having to do what we did, nor are we proud of that fact, we do acknowledge it as having happened. We will not hide from our past as so many might." Her smile softened still further as she looked at one large at the end furthest from the door, "At the same time, it allowed for us to meet Ian-Kun, so perhaps the karma balanced out."

Simply gesturing at her, Yukina nodded, "Harry-Kun? Keiko-Chan already introduced herself to you, but she is actually the oldest of us all. And she was also the one who brought some of Ian-Kun's ashes here to be enshrined."

Bowing, the Hone-Onna smiled at Harry, "Once more, it is a pleasure to have you with us, Harry-Kun."

The thirteen year old bowed back, "And it is a pleasure to be here, Keiko-Obaa-San."

On her face was a pleased expression before she turned back to the non-magical portrait of who Harry knew was Ian, with a slender woman next to him that he figured was Ian's wife, Lyra Potter, nee Black, "I... became a Hone-Onna in 1835, Harry-Kun, having died during a disease outbreak. But I loved a young man close by, and I believe that he loved me as well. So strong were my feelings, that I came back as a Hone-Onna. Much to my dismay though, he had been engaged to someone and they had married already. When I travelled there, to my grief, it was obvious that the two of them had fallen deeply in love with each other and she was with child. I tried to get away, but he caught me and... rejected me, for what I am now."

Placing his hand on hers, Harry frowned, "Then he was a fool."

Much to his confusion, that got a laugh from her. Seeing that, Keiko waved him off with a smile, "Do not worry too much, Harry-Kun. It was just that Ian-Kun said much the same thing when he finally got the story out of me... granted, it was just after a rather long session of sex, but still. And it certainly helped!" Smile going away though, she gestured to the others, "You will find similar stories among the others. Mifuyu-Chan, for instance, died after slipping on some ice and tumbling into a frozen stream in the dark after being left behind by her parents, with her returning as a Tsurara-Onna after the stream froze entirely."

When he looked at her, the Tsurara-Onna nodded, "Hai, that is what happened, Harry-Kun. Though my parents... well, you do not need to know about that."

Attention returning to Keiko, she continued, "Being as we were created, not born, we were clanless. Under most circumstances, we might have been taken in by a clan, eventually. But in the 1850s, Japan was opened to the wider world and the ICW began it's campaign to force the Statute of Secrecy upon us. Many clans fought for or against it, hence none would take us in as more than a few feared that we could be spies. A harsh time, and it was understandable. But it forced us to make a living in the only way that we could..."

Hedwig frowned but bobbed her head, "As prostitutes."

Just nodding, the Hone-Onna sighed, "Hai, we sold our bodies in order to put food on the table. And there was no shortage of those who wished to use us as such, both Japanese and foreigner. We slowly gathered together in a small bordello in Hakodate. After all, there was safety of a sort in numbers and we could rely on the others giving a hand if things went too far. It... was not a happy time for us, except for one thing."

Softly smiling, one of the other Yuki-Onna who Harry remembered was called Sora, giggled, "1862, it was October when we met Ian-Kun when he came to our bordello. It is hard to believe that he was shy and somewhat uncertain of himself." A sly smirk on her face, she gestured to Yukina who grinned, "Yukina-Chan was the one who bedded him that night."

With a hum, said Yokai nodded, "Hai, and while he was unsure, he rapidly grew in skills. And visited more than once afterwards for several months." Her eyes glistened a bit and she brought her hand to her stomach, "He gave me the first of many wonderful children."

Her own hand going to her stomach, Sora giggled some more, "And you were not the only one. Tsubaki-Chan and Chiho-Chan as well as Keiko-Chan, Mifune-Chan, and myself were just five of them." Turning to the picture of Ian, she sighed, "Ian-Kun... he treated us not as the whores that we were, but rather like ladies. He did not fuck us in the vulgar way, but made love. And we grew to love him... it was thus with a heavy heart that we bid him goodbye when he left after a few months, though he left us with plenty of potions and supplies. But what months they were..."

A snicker escaped from Yukina and she shook her head, "I remember one night where this American wizard got rather rough with Tsubaki-Chan. Do you remember?"

Rubbing her cheek, Tsubaki grimaced, "I do remember some, mainly being knocked to the ground and him kicking me... before he was flung into a wall by Ian-kun." Then she smirked, "From what he told me later, Ian-Kun erased his memories as well as giving him a rather nasty rash as well as being incapable of getting it up for at least a year..." Frowning, she furrowed her eyebrows, "Didn't he die the next year anyways?"

Chiho snorted and crossed her arms as she stood beside her fellow Hone-Onna, "Hai, he went and visited one of the other bordellos run by one of the magical branches of the Yakuza and decided that he was going to be rough with one of their women due to being a Yokai. They found his head a few days later and nothing else."

Several seconds later, Keiko shook her head as she noticed the somewhat disturbed look on Harry's face, "Anyways... we gave birth to daughters, all Yokai of our own species. Granted, we did know that they would likely have similar lives but... we wished for children. We thought that we would never see Ian-Kun again, but he showed up four years later and found Koyomi-Chan playing with Fubuki-Chan, Yukina-Chan's daughter. At the time, Koyomi-Chan thought that Ian-Kun was going to be angry... but he asked to meet us and upon finding that we had other daughters, smiled and stated that he was going to take care of us, which he did. Every time for the next two years when he visited, he brought potions, food, toys, and quite a lot of money for us to use to take care of us and our children... with some new young ones joining our little family in that time period as we were rather... busy, whenever Ian-Kun visited."

Rather bemused, the Battleship sighed some and shook her head, "Yes, I can imagine so."

Keiko suddenly frowned some, "That said, one of the big turning points was the Boshin War as the magical side was just as bad, and in some cases worse, then the non-magical. Ian-Kun spent all of 1869 staying with us as fighting was going on all around. Oftentimes, he helped defend the building, once nearly dying. Though, in that case, the people involved regretted it." A small, cruel smirk crossed her face, "After all, Ian-Kun knew a conjuring spell that created insects, and used it to create giant Japanese hornets. And they decided that the attacker's faces looked very tasty."

Even Hoppou winced a bit at that, but nodded nonetheless. She could understand fully and actually approved as well. Not that she was going to say anything out loud.

Walking up to Ian's picture, Yukina smiled a bit, "We decided that we were going to stick together as a clan that year. And, when Ian-Kun brought the land here, we all packed up and left for here. Something that we have never regretted." She turned her head and looked at Harry, "After that, we were his wives in heart and word, if not on paper. His family supported his actions in taking care of us though and so he brought us cattle. Alderneys to start with, and then a herd of Glamorgan cattle they bought from a farm in Wales. Dairy was becoming a very, very profitable business after all."

Just shaking her head, Keiko snorted some, "Which is putting it mildly as western cuisine was all the rage at the time. Still, we needed help and he brought Jeffery-Jiji. And we call him that because he became like a Ojii-San to us in the short time we knew him. It was from him that we learned how to not just farm cattle, but make products from the dairy. Cheese, cream, and the like." Perking up some, she looked at their visitors, "Remind me to bring some of it out. Our Glamorgan is rather good as are the others. We also have some damson wine to go with it." Looking at one photograph, which was obviously of her in old fashioned farm clothes and some of the others with an old man, she sighed, "He left about ten years later as his health worsened and we all grieved when we heard that he had died. In many ways, he was as important as Ian-Kun in what the clan has become, and those of us alive who knew him miss him still."

Now looking at the picture, Harry could see some parts that he recognized, though very few. One of which was the messy hair, obviously having long since turned white. But there was also a lopsided grin on the old man's face. For several moments, he examined the photograph before realizing something and looking at Tsukiakari, "Wait... wasn't that in the same time frame that he bought Tsukiakari? And that she saved his life?"

Lips curling upwards, she nodded, "Hai, that is correct." Gently, Keiko stroked the hilt of the sword in question, "We are very thankful that she saved him that night that she had. Though he always kept her close at hand after that night, even bringing her into the bedroom just in case both him and us as well."

Unknown to Harry, Juuchi's thought processes froze at that and her hilt heated up while Tsukiakari was confused at her Senpai's response.

When their tale got to who would become Ian's "Actual" wife, and Harry's great-great grandmother, said boy blinked, "Wait, what did he do?"

Shrugging, Sora giggled some and shook her head, "Well... Ian-Kun was somewhat unhappy with the two of them being pushed together for an arranged marriage. Especially as everyone who knew about it realized that the Black family really wanted her out of the country for some reason. Granted, he did find her very attractive in her own right. But, Ian-Kun came up with a plan to get it ended. He had her perform a magical swearing that she would not tell anyone in Britain about what he was going to show her in Japan, unless he said that she could when not under any form of duress. When he introduced us, Lyra-Chan had this thoughtful look on her face for a few moments, asked him if he was serious if he was with all of us... and grinned before asking to join in, whether with Ian-Kun or alone with the rest of us." The Yokai grinned, "Needless to say, Ian-Kun did not have much time before Lyra-Chan dragged him into the bedroom with us... and we had her join."

Amused at the memory, Yukina chuckled, "That was a fun night." She then pointed at another photograph, which showed a young British boy with several of the female Yokai that was in the room around him, "That was your Great-Grandfather, Henry Potter. He was born in Britain in 1886, but Ian-Kun and Lyra-Chan brought him here and he spent most of his first ten years living in Japan. We were all mothers to him, some of us nursing him alongside our own children by Ian-Kun. Granted, Lyra-Chan nor us had much issues with him having dalliances elsewhere as long as both were consenting and he told us after. Like that one sword spirit... Norimune while they were on a deserted island during the 1880s."

Juuchi, who had just been coming out from her mind crashing, had it happen again.

The female Yokai continued to tell their tale, until they reached one photo. Gently, Yukina tenderly stroked it, "You might have noticed that we mentioned a Koyomi? Yet, she is not here?"

Chewing his lip, Harry nodded, "Hai, seeing her picture though... she's dead, isn't she."

With a shuddering sigh, Yukina nodded as various others sniffled some, "She is, she died in 1922 due to a Dragon Pox epidemic that happened. Ian-Kun and Lyra-Chan saved most of us from it, but... Koyomi-Chan snuck most of her medicine to the worst cases, eventually joining them and dying. We love her to this day, but she was the first real death in the clan. It was hard when she was followed five years later in 1927 by Ian-Kun. Both are enshrined in our clan Shrine on a hillside not far away."

Everyone lapsed into a thoughtful silence before Shiromizu cleared her throat. Feeling everyone's attention on her, she smiled a bit unsure, "I... sort of knew about the enshrining. When I went to Kannazuki this year, I came across a British pub there being run by a Kami... Ian-San, as a matter of fact. And I was told that Lyra-San as well as a Yuki-Onna named Koyomi-San were his attendants."

For several moments there was silence before Keiko looked at her, tears in her eyes, "Is... is that true?" When the Mizuchi nodded, she smiled brightly, "That... is wonderful news. Thank you."

Lightly blushing, Shiromizu bowed some, "You're welcome."

 

NotHimAgain

Cold Stop

Pascal shuffled in Tsubaki’s arms, inadvertently headbutting her in the crook of her neck. She adjusted her arms, letting him slide down into a more comfortable position. The sun was starting to get a bit low in the sky, wasn’t it? Glancing to her left, she noted the island to the north—well, it looked like an island in any case. Jutting out just a little bit away from the edge of the horizon, it looked more like a chunk of pumice sitting in a puddle but Tsubaki was willing to take what she could get.

“Hey, Talon!” she shouted after the Abyssal. “We need to stop for the night!”

The Abyssal kept on sailing. Tsubaki grimaced, then sped up.

“Talon, it’s late,” she said. “Wherever it is we’re going, we don’t need to get there this fast, do we? And you can’t keep running like this. You need to take some time and sleep, understand?”

Talon glanced at her, then turned ahead again. Completely unresponsive. She’d always been responsive before, even if she was just mocking or scaring her! Was-was something wrong? She wasn’t… gone, was she? Talon couldn’t be gone! Tsubaki wouldn’t let her!

“Talon, please!” she cried, reaching out and trying to grab her friend’s arm. She missed on the first shot, but on the second she managed to snag Talon’s wrist. The battleship slowed in a spray of sea water, then glanced back harder.

“We don’t have to walk your pet,” she said simply, then began to push forward harder.

“P-pet?” Tsubaki asked. “Talon, that’s not like you!”

Talon went still for a moment—just a split second. Then she sagged, glanced over at Tsubaki, and smiled. And not the too-wide, psychotic smile that she had been seeing these past few months of meandering randomly across the Atlantic. This one was tired, gentle, apologetic, it was Talon. Talon was back! “Sorry, Tsubaki,” she said, voice comforting, reaching out and placing a hand on the light cruiser’s shoulder. “We’re just… restless. Tired, but restless.”

Tsubaki’s vision began to blear. She blinked rapidly, trying to get the tears out of her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she replied, trying not to choke on the warmth filling her chest. “It’s okay, I’m not upset. We can just take a break is all—”

Then Talon flicked her wrist, and Tsubaki was flying backwards, shoulder screaming in pain. She smashed into the water, flipping over and finally landing facedown. Frantically, she flailed—had to get up, had to get her feet under her, couldn’t sink—where was Pascal!?!

“Oh, that feels much better!” Talon chirped as she cast about frantically. “Guess we found what was bothering us! Food shouldn’t be so loud, right?”

“Pascal?” Tsubaki shrieked. “PASCAL?”

Suddenly, there was splashing behind her. She spun, to find the boy breaking the surface, coughing and spitting. No! He wasn’t strong enough—she needed to—

Her leg was torn from under her, and she slapped into the surface of the water again. Nonononono!

“Oh, quit your bellyaching!” Talon laughed mockingly, yanking her further away. “He’ll go down easier if he’s not struggling!” Her hand closed around the cruiser’s left arm, just under the shoulder, gripping painfully as Tsubaki tried to pull away. “Just got to get you ready first—”

Pascal’s head dipped beneath the water.

Tsubaki whipped her right arm around, rigging roaring to life.

Agony.

But she was free.

Push forward, ignoring the pain, balance balance balance reach down and grab Pascal as she passed, go go go go GO GO GO GO GO—
-----

They punched themselves in the temple until the ringing stopped.

“Geez! Didn’t see that coming,” they laughed, twisting their arm back and forth. The cornered cat would bite the hippo! Was there a hippo in there? They didn’t think it was a hippo.

They looked at the figure rushing across the surface of the water to the only place she could possibly go. She thought she could run away, it was so cute!

Well, it wasn’t like she had anywhere to go. Or even that long. Besides, they’d been waiting for this meal for a while now. It wasn’t like they could wait a little longer.

Oh wait, were they still holding her arm? What was left of it, anyways. Score!
-----

Tsubaki didn’t even notice as the rocky surface gave away to sand and green when her feet hit the beach. She didn’t notice the overgrown path. She just stopped when she reached shade.

The last thing she was able to do before consciousness slipped away was to lower the crying Pascal to the ground as gently as possible, and hunch herself over his body.
-----

I kind of wish I could have done more with this, but there just wasn't much there. Next time, stuff that happens before fighting Talon!

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

Harry Leferts

Continuing to examine the various pictures, Harry stopped at one and tilted his head some. Frowning, he gestured at it, "Is that a ship?"

Keiko moved up beside him and then nodded, "Hai, that is a ship that was used by the clan for many decades to transport various products around." A slight smile came over her face, "Her name is Kazehana, and she was a Clipper that Ian-Kun had built for the clan."

Eyebrow raised, the Battleship looked at her, "Ian-San went and had an entire ship built for your clan? To transport products around Japan?"

With a hum, Sora nodded some as her eyes traced over the picture, "Ian-Kun was rather like that. And a Clipper was not a bad choice when all was said and done. It was both quicker and cheaper then a steam ship would have been. We could reach Tokyo from here at top speed in less then a day. I believe that was at around seventeen to eighteen knots."

Frowning, Nagato considered that and furrowed her eyebrows before nodding, "That does sound correct. But you could not make it there at top speed all the way due to how the wind might work... could you?"

The last bit was said with a questioning tone as the various Yokai smirked. Raising a hand, Yukina created what seemed like a small blizzard in her hand, "Such things do not bother us too much, Nagato-San. Just one of us can generate a large amount of wind with our powers, though cold, in a localized area. But one of those who worked on the Kazehana was a Kotengu who was able to manipulate the wind." She then gave a shrug as the blizzard in her hand died, "As long as one did not do it within close sight of land or a ship, we were able to get away with it without much suspicion."

A frown of his own on his face, Harry turned to her, "Was that a big issue?"

Not saying anything, Yukina was silent before sighing, "One of the reasons that we have survived as a clan for so long, Harry-Kun, is that we go out of our way to appear as completely non-magical outside of a very few. This being Hokkaido helps as it has been generally ignored by both the Magical Diet and the ICW outside of a very few towns. We don't show off our abilities and to most, we're an ordinary clan of No-Majs that live outside of town farming dairy. Every few decades, one of the males of the clan might end up going to Mahoutokoro as a 'No-Majborn'. When they return, they generally teach the others with magic what they learned. We have done thus for the nearly century and a half that the clan has existed. And it saved us many times."

Slowly, Mifuyu shook her head, "Such as during the Kamo years. When they went around 'Building support' for the coming war, they missed us because they did not realize that we were magical. Mainly because, as Yukina-Chan mentioned, we appeared as being a majority No-Maj clan. Even when they poked their noses around, they just saw a clan with a larger ratio than normal of women farming dairy and the like. And, to be honest, we never really needed all too much magic."

Crossing her arms, Shiromizu frowned some, "Wait, but what about scent? And wouldn't they just apparate in without you knowing?"

That got her a grin from Sora who wagged a finger at her, "Nope!" Continuing, she gestured around them, "One of the wards around the farm is a special anti-apparation one. It does not block it or Portkey, which would be far too obvious. Instead, it degrades the accuracy causing one to either fall short or overshoot. And because it does so, the whole thing looks natural. The Potter library of spells is very, very thorough in many ways." The Yuki-Onna gave a shrug, "So to them, they need to walk in, which lets us know at the same time that someone has entered the property. We have... means of hiding our non-human scents to say the least."

Even as Shiromizu nodded, the only wizard among them had a thoughtful look, "What about after the war though? From what I have been told the ICW did a round up..."

Giving him the point, Tsubaki chuckled, "Yes, that was true enough. But... you see, they had issues with manpower. Thus, when Charlus Potter volunteered to go over the local area, they took him up on it." At their surprised looks, she laughed, "We were sort of his aunts as his father was Ian-Kun's younger brother. And few knew of our connection to the Potters."

With a sigh, Nagato facepalmed, "Which meant that when Charlus-San showed up, he made it look like he checked the area, shrugged, and declared that there was no magical here."

Still smirking, the Hone-Onna nodded, "Exactly. The guys he brought with him he sent to specific places where they would miss us. At most, the records that they would look at might make mention of the odd magical being born to the clan from time to time, but nothing more. At worst, the records noted that we might have had a non-human ancestor 'Decades ago'. Charlus-San did visit us for a lunch at the time and left while declaring that he saw no evidence of magicals being here. Considering that Kushiro was not considered a magical hot spot like, say, Sapporo or Yamainutaira."

Now pinching her nose, Nagato merely shook her head. Partially because of the fact that what she just heard should not have worked, and partially because it actually had worked, 'Perhaps that bit about Potter luck is not all a lie...'

Turning back to the picture of the ship, Harry cocked his head some, "About the Kazehana..." When they looked at him, he continued, "What happened to her?"

Lips twitching, Keiko chuckled in thought, "Well... when we first bought her, as mentioned we often used her to transport goods from where we are to various other places in Japan as it was both quicker and easier than overland. And it was not like we had much to transport in the first place..." Humming, she smiled a bit while glancing at the picture of Ian and Lyra, "Also, Ian-Kun sometimes used her to get around Southeast Asia, bringing back various things onboard her. Now, there was some magic used on her. Mainly making her holds slightly bigger than they should have been. To keep the food chill... we mostly set it up to look refrigerated while having one of us onboard to keep the temperatures down."

Tsubaki had a soft smile on her face, "Some of the day trips we took on her with Ian-Kun were... wonderful." She giggled some with a sly look towards Chiho who returned it, "Though we had quite a bit of fun as well~"

Just giving her fellow Clan Elder a look, Yukina shook her head, "As to what happened to her..." Humming, she tilted her head, "We used her for transport right up to the 1950s, when trucks and the like became more common. At that point though, it was starting to draw suspicion, so we retired her." Turning, the Yuki-Onna pointed, "Right there as a matter of fact."

Each of the vistors blinked and turned to find that on a table was what looked like a large scale 'Ship in a bottle'. It took a moment, but Hoppou bounced over and looked at the ship with wide eyes, "This is Kazahana?"

Walking over, Koyuki nodded as she crouched down next to her, "Hai, this is the Kazahana. We shrank her down and placed her in the bottle as we could not just get rid of her." Frowning, she shook her head, "Before Blood Week, we were planning on bringing her back out as a sort of private ship. Make people think that she was a replica that we bought... but..."

Only nodding, Nagato looked down at the ship and wondered what the spirit inside thought of what happened to it. On the one hand, she was stuck in there... on the other, it also showed that the Arashi cared deeply and did not want to depart from their beloved ship and either sell or scrap her. A thought came to the Battleship and she turned to the Arashi, "Have you attempted to summon her?"

Keiko shook her head with a small frown, "No, unfortunately not as, well... we were unsure about doing so." She made a motion with her hand, "As we stated, we don't like to be too noticeable to the magical part of society. The closest we get is when our sons and grandsons go and sell goods at either the magical market or the various Yokai markets. Having a shipgirl could attract attention, which well might be bad." Becoming thoughtful, the Hone-Onna was silent for a few seconds before humming, "But... with the changes coming, perhaps it is safe enough. This will need to be discussed."

Various nods from the others in agreement made her smile some.

Suddenly, Fuyune spoke up as the young Yuki-Onna looked at her distant cousin, "Hey, Itoko? We've been talking a lot about the clan, but nothing of you." A grin crossed her face, "So how about it? I'm not the only one wanting to know more about you." Her grin faded though and was replaced by confusion as Harry winced along with the others visiting, "Was it something that I said?"

With a sigh, Nagato shook her head, "Not... so much what you said, but more what happened." Turning to the various Yuki, Hone, and Tsurara Onna, she grimaced, "It... was not pleasant."

Just stepping forward, Keiko frowned, "Tell us."

And so, Nagato and Harry did.

By the time they were done, all of the members of the Arashi clan looked horrified at what they had learned. To them, family was sacrosanct. And to learn what Harry had gone through... Much to his shock, Keiko dropped to her knees and bowed until her head touched the floor, followed by the other elders, "Harry-Kun... I... I am so sorry. We failed you as your relatives."

Utterly stunned, Harry boggled at them before quickly dropping down to their levels, "Keiko-Obaa-San, it's okay! I mean... well... not what happened with the Dursleys, but you did nothing wrong."

Slowly, Keiko looked up with tears in her eyes before speaking in a near whisper, "But, after the deaths of your parents... we did not go to check on you. If we had, we could have taken you in. Given you a loving family who would care for you."

Much to her surprise, he only shook his head with a sad smile, "I won't say that I would not have enjoyed it, Keiko-Obaa-San. Probably would have been wonderful... but that said? I don't blame you. I mean..." Sighing, his shoulders slumped a bit, "What about the police? The teachers? Those who lived in the area? They all saw the Dursleys yelling at me for various things, having me do chores. But none of them did anything at all, because it was either not their business, or felt that doing so was wrong as the Dursleys were 'Like them'. That somehow, speaking up would be a scandal against their way of life."

Arms crossed, Nagato scoffed, "Not that it didn't end up being a big one anyways. A lot of them got questioned by the police during the investigation." Her smile then turned a bit cruel, "And for some odd reason, a lot of the local newstations picked it up and tried to catch them in interviews. How very odd that many of them moved to new locations to get away from it..."

That got her a look from the Arashi clan adults there, but Harry cleared his throat and got their attention, "Like I said, you did nothing wrong. Besides which... if you had come, what would have been the chances that you might have been exposed? And you couldn't have known how I was being treated. And from how you're acting, you would have done something if you had even guessed." A smile appeared on his face, "Besides... that's in the past. It happened and nothing will change that it did. But now? We know each other, and we're family." Gently, he hugged her and the Hone-Onna tears up some before hugging him back, "So please, Keiko-Obaa-San... don't hurt yourself over it."

Pulling back some, she looked at him and sadly laughed, "Yet again, I am reminded of Ian-Kun." Kissing his brow, Keiko shook her head before closing her eyes and laying her forehead against his, 'We're still going to make this up to you, Harry-Kun. I swear it.'

Moments later, Harry found himself being hugged by the other Arashi clan members, all of them with tears in their eyes. Standing back, Nagato smiled at it while shaking her head, 'It is good that Harry has family who cares and loves him.'
_________________________________________________________________

Once everyone had recovered from what had happened, they continued their tour of the compound. Though Nagato and the others noted that the Arashi Clan members were sticking close to Harry, they did not say anything. Coming to the end of one hallway, Hedwig blinked some, "There's a tunnel here?"

With a nod, Koyuki reached down and pulled up a trapdoor revealing stairs going downwards, "Hai. All the buildings in the compound have tunnels connecting them. For use during bad weather..." A slight smile crossed her face, "While blizzards do not bother us Yuki-Onna or the Tsurara-Onna, the Hone-Onna and humans in the clan do have issues. Or when there are large storms like typhoons. It just makes it easier to get to the various buildings without going outside."

Gesturing with her hand, she descended downwards and the others followed. Upon reaching the bottom, Harry looked around in interest. The hall that they were in was made of stone, the floors being made of cut stone and polished, "Wow... this is neat!"

Fuyune nodded as she practically bounced in front of him, "Hai! And some of us teens and kids use the tunnels to play hide and seek in." She pointed at each of the tunnels one by one, "That one over there goes to the bathhouse. And that one goes over to the place used by some of the Hone-Onna to live in besides the main building and that one goes to the Yuki-Onna dormitories and that one is for the Tsurara-Onna. Oh! And that one leads to the pool house and the one beside it goes to the tea house."

Just blinking, Harry turned to her, "Pool house? And you got a separate tea house?"

Head tilted to the side, the young Yuki-Onna nodded, "Hai? I mean, where else would we swim during the winter? I mean, the outside pool is nice this time of year, there's a minor spell to keep it from icing over. But that's just for us Yuki-Onna and Tsurara-Onna to swim in. We got a smaller pool that's heated for everyone else."

Unnoticed by Harry, Tsubaki leaned towards Chiho with a smile and whispered into her ear, "Ian-Kun and Lyra-Chan would have loved to see us in our bikinis, I think. Though even Lyra-Chan would have thought twice about jumping in with us."

Coughing into her fist to disguise her laugh, Sora shook her head. At seeing Harry look at her, she grinned back, "As to the tea house... while there is a smaller tea room, sometimes it is just nice to have a room where the clan can gather and enjoy tea as a group. It is also where we gather to enjoy cheese tastings and the like." At that, she walked up to Harry and smiled, "Which was one of the things that we were going to do."

Lips curling upwards into a smile of his own, Harry just nodded some, "That does sound good."

Sora smiled back and gave him a thumbs up, "Sounds great, and the cheeses are pretty good. I mean, those of us who make them? We've been doing so for over a century now. Some of us even were taken to Europe with Ian-Kun and learned from cheesemakers there, so we got our knowledge directly from the source."

As they walked along, Shiromizu gave her a stare, "You have been making cheese for over a hundred years? Seriously?"

With a hum, the Yuki-Onna chuckled, "That's right, there about for the oldest of us who have been. And all sorts as well since we're good at that, though our Sakura cheese is pretty popular."

Yukina frowned some in thought, "Though recently we have been experimenting some with goat's cheese as well with some that we have bought. Fubuki-Chan was at this one store in Tokyo before Blood Week and came across goat's cheese that had berries in it. Really, it is not too bad when used as a spread.."

Various others there nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Fuyune leaned towards Harry, "The cheese is pretty good, but I like some of our other treats we make here. Like our ice cream, or even the homemade Marusei butter sandwich cookies. Those are really good since we use real cream and the like in them."

Bemused, Koyuki shook her head some before turning to Nagato, "Though when we do bring out some treats, you don't need to have just tea. As we said, we have some nice damson wine we make and store down here to age, which we make from damsons we harvest from trees that Ian-Kun planted. Beer as well."

Eyebrows raising, the shipgirl was interested, "Beer and wine?"

From where she stood beside her, Keiko smiled a bit, "Hai, we both know how to make them and have been since Jeffery-Jiji taught us. So almost a century and a half in some ways. All made right here, though we don't sell the drinks really outside of the odd bottle, though Lyra-Chan always did state that the damson wine was as good as Port. We always place a bottle when we do an offering on hers and Ian-Kun's birthdays, just like we always sent a bottle to her as a gift when she was alive." Turning thoughtful, the Yokai frowned, "She did mention that others enjoyed it as well."

Seeing the interest in Harry's face, as well as Nagato's, Tsubaki shook her head, "Ian-Kun was British, so very early on we adapted some of the things from his homeland. You will find, for example, British food and drink alongside normal Japanese fare here. For example, tonight we're having roast duck!"

At their widened eyes, one of the Tsurara-Onna giggled, "Hai, we have flocks of ducks here along with other animals. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that we are mostly self-sufficient. Even with rationing, none of us went hungry." Her smile softened some, "Roast duck was one of Ian-Kun's favorite meals and we grew fond of it as well."

Simply smiling, Nagato nodded while glancing at Harry. After all, she was now looking forward to dinner as well.

 

Yellowhammer

Piggybacking on the magnificent snippet that Skye had for the ButterDagger and ButterKlavier here:

SkyeFire said:
I see it. And yet.... (gotta borrow the kids for a minute, 'hammer, for something non-canonical)​

Consider this a sequel to Skye's work with Claire and Ehren.

Meine Ehren Heisst Treue

Claire sighed, her fingers stroking her keys absently as she sat in the room that she had taken over for her music.
Spoiler: Claire's Thinking Music

While there had not been another serious argument between her mother and her sister recently, she could sense the rumblings of the inevitable next one like a slow tempo in a piece about to reach acellerando and turn into a flurry of faster dissonant chords.

She hated that feeling, and was worried that one day, her abilities to guide the two people she loved most in the world into a harmonious trio performance would not prove enough if this pattern continued.

Another sigh.

Some serious thinking was required, which meant just one thing. Time to play some serious thinking music. For this... Debussy's Reverie

The pattern had to be broken, but how? She knew that neither Mother (too hurting and too...Mother) or Ehren (too insecure) were going to be able to take the conductor's baton to straighten out the performance. Kasuyu, bless him, did not have what it took to do the necessary prodding to Mother to meet Ehren halfway and relieve Ehren's fears. Finally, as Claire was willing to admit, she had the Ehren-skills but not the Mother-skills or insights needed.

That was the problem with spending the critical years when Mother acquired Ehren gathering dust here behind German lines while being watched over by Kasuyu. You missed out on all the critical events....

Wait.
Spoiler: Claire Has An Idea

Unbidden her fingers froze on the keys for a beat before resuming as insight hit her like the first time she had played the stream of 128th notes in Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, "Pathétique" as the First Movement shifted from grave to allegro con brio to take flight.

Unbidden, her fingers moved from the Reverie to the Pathétique and a smile slowly spread across her face in time with the wave of sound as she rapidly explored the new idea at fortissimo in her mind and allegro con brio on her dancing keys.

Aunt Delilah was with Mother around the time Mother got Ehren. And Mother always listened to Aunt Delilah. Mother even told Aunt Delilah things that she would not tell Claire.

Now, would Ehren listen to Aunt Delilah? Well Aunt Delilah had a way of getting through to people like Mother and Ehren was a lot like Mother, which was the problem. Aunt Delilah had even given Ehren some tips about fighting with dagger in one hand and a gun or wand in the other so....

Her grin grew as her fingers slowed down as the end of the first movement of the Pathétique approached and she gave full voice to the beginnings of her (hopefully) triumphant master plan with the thundering, magnificent chords of the conclusion.

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

Of course the plan took some work.

Step one was to get Aunt Delilah on board.

Opportunity came that Friday when she stopped by to speak with Mother about arranging a case of brandy for Great-Aunt Jezabel's birthday next month. Claire took the opportunity presented to waylay Aunt Delilah in the hall en-route to the Vanishing Cabinet and drag her to her soundproofed studio for an explanation.

"...so you see, Aunt Delilah, I have tried everything I can to bridge the gap, but Ehren just has issues with how she hurt Mother and can't believe Mother loves her after whatever happened then. Especially when she sees the pain in Mother's eyes when she looks at Ehren."

Claire's fingers twitched nervously and she shot a look at her true self, but made no effort to do what she really wanted to do, which was to play music and not have to talk. Talking was hard. Telling Aunt Delilah some things that Ehren was hiding in her heart was much harder

Delilah's face had frozen when Claire mentioned Ehren remembering nearly killing Mother. She looked like she was looking right through Claire, and her voice was very calm and quiet. It was really terrifying and she couldn't look at Aunt Delilah's cool green eyes.

"Can you please, please help me make things right, Aunt Delilah?" Claire sniffled a little, and shot another glance at her waiting keys. She suddenly felt a gentle hand on her shoulder as Delilah stepped in close and raised her chin with one finger to let her see the small, approving smile the revolver had.

"Don't worry, Moonbeam. You did the right thing by coming to me, and I'll do what I can to fix things. Now, I need you to be strong too. Can you arrange for your mother to be out of the house with you... oh picking up sheet music and ice cream the same time Kasuyu is out so I can talk to Ehren privately? Also... tell Ehren that I'd like to talk to her in advance. This will be hard enough without her clamming up on me if I show up unexpectedly."

Delilah cracked a wry grin as Claire nodded enthusiastically. "Good girl. Just drop me an owl letter a few days in advance letting me know when I can have that talk. And get some ice cream for Ehren, too, while you are out, she may need it."

Claire hugged Delilah with bone-crushing force. "Thankyou!"

"Right. Rule Number One of secret plans, Moonbeam. Make it look like everything is normal around people you need to fool. So, since you took me aside and said that you had something to show me in earshot of your mother, therefore get on your piano and play.... Oh I don't know music like you do, Moonbeam. Pick something light-hearted you haven't played in a while or are learning, and I'll crack the door to be seen and enjoy it. That way Sis thinks you piano-napped me as a captive audience to be held ransom pending Mr. Beethoven or Mr. Mozart paying a tithe of sonatas." Delilah's voice was very sly and she gave Claire an exaggerated conspiratorial wink as the piano released her from the hug.

Claire giggled and grabbed a sheet of compositions as Delilah opened the door halfway and then took a seat by it.

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

Ehren watched the family car pull away from the driveway and sighed inaudibly. It was a beautiful day, if a little on the warm side.

And she was the only member of the household not going out to shop and enjoy herself. Claire had told her that Aunt Delilah would be stopping by to talk while the rest of the family was out, and had extracted an oath from Ehren to stay home and listen to what Aunt Delilah said.

Automatically, Ehren about-faced after closing the front door and marched down to a nearby standing mirror. Snapping to attention with the click of mirror-bright polished leather jackboots, she surveyed the girl in the mirror as she allowed a little more of her innermost self to manifest.
Spoiler: Ehren du Chasteler


Wheat-blonde hair gathered in a ponytail by a keyboard-themed hair ribbon (a gift from Claire), check.
Steel blue eyes in a proper Aryan maiden's face, check.
Starched white shirt with a black tie tied in the regulation full-Windsor knot and perfectly centered in her collar, check.
Black coat with her silver Schutzstaffel siegrunen on the right collar flash and her single silver pip of rank on the left, check.
All silver buttons polished to shine, check.
Cuff badge in silver embroidered with 'Du Chasteler' in Fraktur script, check.
Silver SS siegrunen belt buckle centered with the leather belt polished to mirror brightness holding up the regulation sheath for her SS Ehrendolch dagger on her left hip, check.
Black trousers crisply pressed with pleats that could almost serve as edges to her dagger, check.
Black jackboots polished to the point the color of the underlying black leather was near-impossible to make out, check.
Black service cap with the Adler und Hakenkreuz shining silver above the SS-Totenkopf held firmly in her left hand as per regulations, check.

She hated the girl in the glass, and was afraid of her at the same time.

"You know, I always had some admiration for the look of the dress uniform of the SS. Even though I hated everything else about them, it looked sharp. Guten Tag, Ehren." A voice sounded from behind her.

Whirling from her reverie, one hand flew to her dagger hilt then relaxed at the sight of Delilah. Automatically she clicked her heels and sketched a small bow as she returned the greeting. "Guten Tag, Tante Delilah. Wie geht es Ihnen?"

Delilah smiled smugly, "Nicht schlecht, danke!" She then continued in English, "Claire told you that I would be here and why, yes?"

Ehren stiffened slightly, her voice cool and crisp as she shifted back to her practiced English. "She did tell me that you wished to speak to me in private and that she was making arrangements to have the house to myself so this could happen, yes. The subject of the discussion is unknown to me. I was... unaware that you speak fluent German, Aunt Delilah."

Delilah grinned and shifted back to her near-perfect German, "Most people are unaware, yes. You know as well as I do that there are advantages to being overlooked until it is time to use a hidden weapon to start and finish a fight in one stroke. Sis... your mother is not used to the kind of combats that you and I are made for. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I am led to believe that you enjoy the billiard room the most in the castle?"

Ehren nodded, revealing little of her confusion.

"Then please lead the way to there. And for the purposes of this chat, let us have it auf Deutsch, ja?"

Another nod, slightly firmer this time. "Follow me then, Aunt Delilah."

The walk passed in comfortable silence, and Ehren opened the door and bowed Delilah through. "The billiard room, Aunt."

Delilah walked inside and gave an impressed whistle at the sight portrayed. Weapons and trophies from hunting and war lined the walls, separated by country of origin.

To her left, a pair of crossed battle-damaged and blood-stained flags had pride of place, one Austrian for the 1st Wallonian Grenz Regiment with visible bullet holes in the tattered silk over a Napoleonic flag for the 6th Légère Regiment with a combat damaged gilded eagle on the staff. Delilah walked over and looked at the flags with a keen eye.
Spoiler: The Eagle of the 6th Légère


".69 caliber. Musket fire. These are Napoleonic trophies so it would have been fired... 100 yards, maybe a lot closer. Bloody business that, since that is near enough for a bayonet charge before you can reload. She was probably standing on the dead and dying then when the death grapple happened. .69 caliber soft lead... well if it hits a leg or arm, there's no saving the limb, you have to amputate. Torso wound is almost a sure fatality. We learned that the hard way ourselves in the Civil War." Delilah's voice was hushed and her eyes shimmered.

Ehren nodded, a note of fierce pride in her crisp voice. "Mother and Uncle Johann Gabriel du Chasteler led the counterattack at Liebertwolkwitz village during the first day of the Battle of Nations. She says that they broke the 6th in hand to hand combat and personally claimed its Eagle with her blade red to the hilt. One in three of their regiment died around her in securing the village to plug a hole in the lines."

Delilah snapped to attention and saluted the tattered flags stained with the blood of brave men two centuries dead. Ehren followed suit.

"I can see why you like this room, Ehren. But unfortunately, I did not come here to discuss your family's proud military heritage."

Ehren quirked her head. "What then, Aunt Delilah?"

"Please, call me Del for this. Claire told me that your relationship with Colombe is strained. She has the right of it?"

Ehren nodded sharply. "Ja." Her voice was very flat.

Delilah sighed, "She also told me that you have... concerns... about the man who owned you before you came into Sis's possession. Specifically that you worry sometimes about Sis seeing his daughter instead of you when she looks at you with pain in her eyes."

Ehren stiffened ramrod straight and said nothing.

Delilah nodded slowly, "I have a question though. Do you know what happened between Colombe and SS Obersturmführer Helmer Wolff before she got stabbed with you to cause their relationship to collapse?

Ehren glared at Delilah accusingly. Her fists clenched in balls and she breathed in and out harshly.

If she had not given her word to Claire to listen to Delilah....

But she had.

Meine Ehre Heisst Treue.

Engraved on her blade and her heart.

My Honor Is True.

She had given her word.

She did not have to like it, but Duty was Duty. And her Duty was clear.

Slowly, hesitantly, she shook her head, not able to trust her voice.
Spoiler: What Needs To Be Known

Delilah sighed and sat down on a chair, looking pained. "I see. Colombe will skin me alive when she finds out that I told you, but you have a need to know, Ehren. I don't know all of what happened between them, but I know enough."

Delilah looked up with sympathy in her green eyes. "Your mother and Wolff were very attracted to each other. Sis was undercover working for SOE in France then, your 'father' Helmer Wolff was a member of the SS hunting people like her. Mind you, this happened in '41 before America entered the war, so I only got this secondhand from Sis later on. But Wolff... your father was very much in love with your mother, although he of course did not know who she truly was."

Ehren's eyes widened in shock as Delilah continued. "Unfortunately, your mother was using him to get access to a key SS base. She wanted to reveal her true loyalties to him, to see if she could sway him from the path that he was on, to try to redeem him from the darkness of National Socialism that he truly believed in. But she did not, because the risk was too great and she was afraid of what she was feeling toward him."

Ehren bit her lip, and whispered, "What...what happened?"

Delilah shook her head, "Your mother had to do her duty to SOE and to her ideals no matter the personal cost to her. She tricked Wolff into an ambush, left him tied up, took his uniform, and used Polyjuice potion to take his face to infiltrate the base and destroy it. She then caught a flight out of France to England, which is where I come into the story. The next mission Colombe went on was alongside me when we headed to North Africa to deal with a SS member who was also a vampire mage and looking to enslave Ifrit to fight in the war effort."

Ehren's mind whirled. "Wait... That was what caused Aunt Zamurad to be tortured for information? I remember a little of it."

Delilah's eyes widened in shock at the revelation, "Yes, exactly that, and promise me that you won't tell anyone other than me or Sis in private what you remember of that time. I can't tell you all the details since they are classified, but the important thing is that the vampire we were after had your father as an apprentice. Wolff had become a vampire too after your mother broke up with him. I don't know if this was punishment for him being seduced and trapped by Colombe or he volunteered or what. But when I first saw him he was a vampire trying to kill Colombe."

Ehren shook her head and spoke very slowly. "I... don't remember much of that time, only disjointed flashes with no context to place them. But I remember a sense of pain; pain and anger at betrayal."

"I can believe it. Anyway, the important thing is upon seeing Wolff again, and what had happened to him, the changes... shook Sis to the core." Delilah looked very distant and her voice was soft and sad, "You see, Colombe felt, with a large amount of justification, that she was at fault for what had happened to Wolff. The man whom she had strong feelings for. She broke down in tears in my arms then."

Ehren staggered, "Impossible, Mother is...."

Delilah shook her head, "Your mother is strong, yes, the strongest of us all perhaps. But even a will of tempered steel like hers can only take so much before it starts to snap. Wolff's transformation from someone she loved into what he had become was almost too much for her to bear because of her guilt and grief over him...and one other factor."

Ehren sat down heavily across from Delilah. "I don't want to hear any more... but I gave my word to listen. Befehl ist Befehl. What other factor?"

Delilah looked grim, "Before I met her, back in the 1890s, her great-nephew Hippolyte du Chasteler betrayed her and murdered all but one member of the du Chasteler family in a mad quest for power. He nearly killed Sis after sending her to the Congo where he was heavily involved in the slave trade, ivory trade, Dark Magics.... He was a real piece of work from what I found out about him after the fact from Sis, Kasuyu and some ICW archives."

Delilah leaned and pinned Ehren with a firm gaze, "Most relevantly, that betrayal of family, of friendship, of blood, of her ideals, cut Sis to the core. When she broke down in my arms after seeing Wolff, she accused herself of being no better than Hippolyte was to her... with how she had wounded your father."

Delilah's voice was very controlled, "For the record, I violently disagree with her words then; the fact that she could look into the abyss and be disgusted with what she saw there speaks well of her. War is an ugly business, and she and your father were soldiers on opposite sides of one. Yes, she betrayed Wolff in a certain sense by misleading him as to her name, identity, and motives, but her actions saved hundreds if not thousands. Also, and this is important to note, if she had revealed herself to him, it is very likely that she would have been sent to the gas chamber or worse at his hands. The ideology he believed in is very seductive; Evil usually is."

Ehren bit her lip, her voice a controlled whisper. "What...what happened then?"

Delilah sighed, "Once Sis pulled herself together? In brief, we continued our mission. We ran into Wolff and his vampire master again. During the fight, Wolff triggered a deathtrap that released more Death Potion than I want to think about on top of us while trying to kill Sis. I managed to get Zamarad free. She burnt the master Vampire to a crisp," Delilah gave an ice cold vicious smile as she recounted the fate of the vampire that enslaved Zamarad. "Meanwhile Wolff went after Colombe and nearly killed her before I was able to get us free of the deathtrap, leaving Wolff behind to die horribly."

Ehren winced and whispered almost inaudibly, "The fight where I was used on Mother then."

"Yes. Anyway, we were all pretty badly chewed up, Sis being the worst off, as you know. She never talked about Wolff to me after she woke up from the healing coma; we weren't as close then as we are now. I think she may have spoken to Lyra about him. I hope. Colombe can be entirely too much of a fan of suffering nobly in silence. Pot calling the kettle black here, though. I do know that she kept you after Lyra pulled you out of her avatar in part to remember a terrible decision that she had to make and the costs she paid for it in her blood and tears... and the loss of someone she cared for deeply who she did not save from his darkness." Delilah finished with a deep sigh and then looked at Ehren.

The dagger sat in silence with her head downcast, clearly thinking over what she had learned. Delilah waited patiently until Ehren raised her blue eyes, filled with the shimmer of tears that she would never allow herself to shed around anyone, to meet Delilah's compassionate green gaze.

As tears trickled down the revolver's cheeks, Delilah spoke in a hushed voice filled with mingled love, pain, and a sad pride, "One last thing, Ehren. Your mother has told me that sometimes the dead are the fortunate ones because their suffering comes to an end. I... think she is more right than she knows or wants to admit when it comes to what happened to her and Wolff. At least his suffering caused by her choices ended. She willingly endures that pain because she knows deep down she made the only choices that she could even though she would pay a terrible price for them every day of her long life. She chose to give you the gift of growing up free rather than a slave because she loves you that much. Liberty is purchased dearly, and if we did not pay so much for it, we would not treasure it as we should."

Ehren slowly nodded, then took a deep breath and spoke in a soft voice as her hat and her uniform shifted to her normal blouse and skirt combination. "Ihre Ehre Heisst Treue."

Delilah wiped her eyes and lovingly responded, "Ja, Ihre Ehre Heisst Treue."

 

SkyeFire

Yellowhammer said:
Pretty much. Incidentally Claire is very much a shrinking violet and a pacifist and in any kind of violence situation would run and hide. Of course, if anyone was threatening violence to Claire, Colombe, Ehren, and Kasuyu would come down on them like Natsumi's family on a peanut butter cookie plant. The question then is who rallied to their little sister's/niece's/daughter's defense first (technically Ehren is younger, in reality Ehren acts as a big sister/protector role to Claire).​

I see it. And yet.... (gotta borrow the kids for a minute, 'hammer, for something non-canonical)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*


The garden was one of her favorite places to play, at this time of year -- the blossoms filling her "auditorium" with their scent of life and renewal, the sun warming her wood and skin, the bees and hummingbirds acting as her bass string accompaniment whilst the birds added their own woodwind notes....

And a small pool of miserable silence, directly behind her.

Claire did not sigh, but began shifting the flow of her improv "jam session" towards something more like the German composers she knew her sister loved. Her hard-edged, dutiful, fiercely protective little sister, who hid her vulnerable heart behind a steely facade... and, sometimes, was too much like their mother.

The piano spirit shifted into a composition for one hand, and lowered her concert-hall-filling voice to a volume fit for quiet conversation, patting the bench beside her avatar with her free hand. And waited, playing, with what Aunt Delilah would probably call "sniper's patience." Claire, for her part, likened it more to how she would entice the more timid songbirds into alighting on her finger as she played accompaniment for them.

Equally as hesitant, Ehren settled onto the bench beside her. Hm... Stiff, gingerly afraid-I'll-break-Sis motions, check. Spine as straight as her blade, check. And... the black-and-silver uniform, with full regalia and the hat, oh dear....

Claire posessed, by her own admission, little or no talent for "people things." But Ehren, the night Claire had first manifested, had rested above her sister's keyboard with orders from Mother to be the piano's bodyguard, despite being decades away from manifesting her own avatar. Some might call that silly, but there was not a single doubt in Claire's mind that, had a necessity arisen suddenly, the dagger would have risen in her defense, somehow, the trivialities of reality be damned.

And that night had sparked the beginning of a bond between the two sisters. When Ehren had first manifested, it had been Claire she went to first, rather than the mother whose welcome she had been unsure of. Where others found Ehren distant, cool, even frigid, Claire had never had any difficulty seeing what that exterior protected. And when duty and honor fell short of filling Ehren's needs, her sister's music had always been her safe harbor. Sheer familiarity, Claire thought, had given her "Ehren skills," even if people in general still mystified and intimidated her.

Claire rested her free hand lightly atop one of Ehren's, judging the flinch. Bad, but not the worst she'd felt. Talking would probably not drive her off.

"You and Mother argued?"

Ehren's free hand came up to pick at her siegrunen in a nervous gesture.

"Ah. The uniform again?"

"...that's where it started."

Oh dear. "The symbols do have some very negative associations for her. But you know she doesn't judge you by them."

"...but she can't look at me, without seeing them." Ehren's voice sank to near-inaudibility. "She can't look at me without seeing him."

Claire squeezed her sister's hand in blind reflex response to the aching pain in that simple sentence, and felt Ehren's hand turn to squeeze back. She segued her music to the quietest, most comforting melody in her repertoire, and let it carry them gently to the next conversational interlude.

"That doesn't change how much she loves you, you know."

"How can it not?" Ehren's whisper was a plaintive wail. "Our first moment together was me nearly disembowling her, in his hand!"

Claire stroked a gentle thumb across her sister's knuckles, and let the music carry her between moments, like a leaf along a brook. The waters slowed, and quieted, and she let her voice fall into near silence.

"Did you know, my white keys are made of ivory? True ivory, harvested from the tusks of elephants in Africa?"

The apparent non sequiter cracked Ehren's inward-focused self-loathing. "What? I... I don't...."

"I was made before it became truly bad, but... I was --am-- product of an industry that helped bring an entire, magnificent species, to the point of near extinction. Even today, elephants are slaughtered in cruel, terrible ways by poachers... killed by people just to cut off their tusks and carry them off, to be sold on the black market." Her fingers danced across those same keys, and their ebony siblings. "You know how Mother loves Africa, and how she mourns what's happened to it, at the hands of her own people. Do you think all she sees is murdered elephants, and a continent driven to the edge of destruction, whenever she looks at me? If I were to be... damaged... how do you think she would feel, seeing me repaired with 'lesser' substitution materials for the sake of her morals?"

"I--" Ehren fell silent, but Claire could feel her sister thinking again, no longer completely trapped in the endless circle of her own insecurities.

...it wasn't much, but perhaps it would be enough.

They stayed there, Ehren's head slowly nodding sideways to not-quite-drowse against Claire's shoulder, until the shadows grew long and Kasuyu called them in to dinner. Which, if it was less than completely harmonious, was still better than the jagged conflict of notes it could have been.

Later that night, Mother caught up with Claire privately.

"I'm sorry you have to keep mediating between me and Ehren," Colombe said sadly. "But thank you, anyway -- you seem to be able to reach her when I just... can't."

Claire reached out and hugged her mother, feeling how she was hurting over this divide as badly as Ehren was. "We all have our parts to play in this orchestra. The composition is unbalanced if any one instrument takes too much on themselves."
*-*-*-*-*

....so, yeah. Even 100+ years old, I imagine Ehren's going to be pretty young, for a while, once she manifests. And I can't see her having anything but complicated, tangled feelings regarding her "father," and the (ahem) "strained" relationship her parents have. If she's around when Wolff comes back for Colombe... well, I feel confident which side she'll pick, but no matter how completely she grasps what a monster he was/is, I can't see it being easy for her.

beorn91 said:
Does the chair swivel?​

It does now.

beorn91 said:
An hairdresser hell.
Harry Leferts said:
Well, they might see it as a challenge...​

Meanwhile, at THE HALL OF JUSTICE MURAMASAMUNE HAIRSTYLING INC....

Yellowhammer said:
ButterKlavier​

(Faceplant from laughing too hard)

Harry Leferts said:
Fun fact: The Potters have at least one Stradivarius in their collection...

Edit: Also, damn you for making me sad again about what happened in that one anime...​

"Your Lie In April"? Oh, yeah... Like a series of gut punches that you can't hate, or stop watching, b/c it would be like disrespecting the cast's honest struggles for something that's like a Good End That Really Hurts.

 

drag0nsoldier

My attempt to add some flavor to the Potter Household
*-*-*-*

- In the Future, sometime after Harry’s Fleet formalizes -

It is dark here, buried in the back of the armory. I do not mind. It lets me sleep until I am called upon. But the air is stirring, and there is something in the water. The dreams hound me to wakefulness. My Gods, let me sleep. I have given everything! Let me rest, please.

But no. Defender of Man is my name, and I am not the sword of mighty kings. My aged bronze is unadorned and worn. No enchantment has ever held to my leaf-shaped blade for long, but I find my edge honed again. And with the call of the Ancient Enemy, my leathered grip finds itself renewed. Forged for Soldiers, and mastered only by common men, I, as my wielders before, answer the call when it comes.

And now I must awake fully. Eras may pass between walks...It is time. For centuries, I have listened to that Etruscan Barbarian yammer on and on about her emperor and kept my peace. I know of her ceaser-a fake and a charlatan to true greatness. What are his master’s accomplishments compared to my kings. When compared to the Lion’s Son, who embraced my master and tested my blade on his beard before I tasted my first blood at the Hot Gates! Or my Name-Bearer! Oh the Great One, who, while enjoying a brief respite during campaign, instructed a lost stripling on how to utilize and care for a salvaged antique!

My essence coalesces slowly. I am short, benefiting a blade of Sparta, with graying hair originally the red of rusty iron. My skin is as bronze as my blade, and my eyes gleam amber. My beard is neatly trimmed yet full. Broad shoulders stretch before well-toned arms grab my physical form. Scars mangle the projection, reflecting the scrapes and nicks of two and a half millennia. Creaking bones sound as I stretch for the first time since the Potters liberated me during the sack of Byzantium. Plain and simple I may be, but leafing on a war blade is foolishness. Though I may have a few inkings that echo a few, shall we say, ad hoc etchings from my long years of active service.

It is the lack of sounds in the armory that startle me most. Weapons are generally chatty things, especially when gathered together in any large numbers. It is no longer dreams that haunt me, but a pressure of darkness- almost beyond the abyss. A shadow and a whisper down the hall, approaching the residence chambers.

It takes me a long moment to recognize the whisper as an old enchantment to lock a being’s form-I have not heard that spell since before the War of Antiochos. And if the intruder is using that, then they must have done some impressive research. Unfortunately for them, they did not realize that absence of evidence is not evidence of an avatar form’s absence. Using the skills of millennia, I stalk the fool from behind. As with My Name, I Defend Man. Sometimes the best defense is tying up the chiton and getting your hands dirty. This is probably why the Shadow Knife and I got along so well together, whispering during quiet hours. We understand such occasional honor-less necessities.

The cooling corpse now understands the dangers of bypassing Alexandros Xiphos while invading his home. Now back to bed. I can listen to the wonderment of the others just as well from my true form as the form-lock fades. As I prepare to dissipate back into the aether, I glimpse several Sea Nymphs burst through the door. Lord Hades? If it is not too much trouble, just let the beings of power take care of the problem next time.

I did not expect a tiny hand to grab mine. Well Lord Hades...it seems I was amiss once again! The stoic little one probably snuck out to get a glass of water. But if they had made a noise from this alcove, the blackguard I just dealt with would have surely killed them! But scared as this youth is, they will not let go. It seems that for the first time in centuries, I have not merely caretakers but a new Master. How exciting.

Now then, raise your head little one, and let me see your face. Well, well, well. A faded echo of my own past. An echo of my Name-Giver, the little witch-girl giving her father the blade she had commissioned as he left for one last battle. “So tell me, Little One: What is Your Name?”

 

Yellowhammer

Hound's Devotion

De Breuil Estate, Upstate New York

April 13th, 1861
Spoiler: The Making of a Muramasa

"Up, up! David Up!" The five year old girl declared imperiously to the laughing young man as she ran toward him across the grass of the front yard while the groom took his horse.

"Yes, Miss Delilah!" David picked the little girl up and spun her around twice as she shrieked in glee. He then lowered her to the ground at a cough behind them.

"David Potter, you are a bad influence on my girl you know." Jèzebel de Breuil, dressed in her normal severe black dress 'in mourning for her dead father and Delilah's absent father' walked onto the porch. "But she seems to love you, you rogue, so I'll forgive you this time. Come in, we have fresh-pressed cider from our apple trees."

David lifted Delilah to sit on his shoulders and walked inside to her parlor, where Jezabel poured the cider for him, then after a pout from Delilah, a small cup for her.

As Delilah sipped the cider, David's voice became more serious. "South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter and declared that they were seceding from the Union. President Lincoln is going to be sending out a call for volunteers to put down their rebellion."

Jèzebel's hand shook and her voice cracked. "So it has come to war then?"

David gravely nodded.

Jèzebel frowned, "What will MACUSA do?"

"They are going to call this a No-Maj matter and bar us from taking action. You know as well as I how powerful some of the families who have property in the South are. And how scared the leadership is of the Nomajs. Father will try to change their minds but...." David's voice was dark.

Jèzebel set her cider cup down. "I know. It's a battle I have been fighting ever since...." Her voice trailed off. Delilah watched the adults in curious silence.

"And Norimune?" Jèzebel's voice was hushed

"She's with the exiles in Niagara. They are still debating what to do. They didn't expect this to happen, none of us did. I told my man there to report his observations to you."

"None of us did. David, what are you going to do to leave your part of the network to me?" Jèzebel's voice rose in shock as Delilah stared in surprise. Mother never lost control like that.

"What I must do, Jèzebel. Lincoln is right when he says that this nation cannot be a house half free and half slave, it must be all of one or the other. That's why I brought the news myself. You deserved to hear it from me personally than via a letter from where I will be going as part of the 2nd New York Volunteer Infantry." David's voice was firm and sad.

Jèzebel began to cry. "Just be careful, David. If MACUSA found out..."

Delilah watched in solemn silence as the setting sun stained David's face red. "I know. I won't be coming back. I didn't get an O in Diviniations alongside you back at Ilvermorny for no reason. But if a man is not willing to fight and die for what he believes in, it is of little worth and no account. Fare Thee well, Jèzebel. Remember me fondly."

Jèzebel hugged David as their tears flowed. "Fare Thee well, David. God bless."

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19th, 1864

Delilah stood alongside Mother as they listened to the speaker's powerful baritone. She sniffled a little at the knowledge of what was happening here.

For three long years, all she had had of her Uncle David was letters delivered every week. Simple things, but he always found time to write a few sentences for Delilah that Mother would read as they hugged each other.

"...But they, I am sure, will join us in saying, as we bid farewell to the dust of these martyr-heroes, that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be no brighter page than that which relates the Battles of Gettysburg!" The Honorable Edward Everett, leading public speaker of the day, former Senator and President of Harvard, finished with a flourish among polite applause.

Delilah didn't clap.

His final letter had been penned on the First of July as he and the rest of his unit rested after their march to the small crossroads town of Gettysburg. He had told her be diligent with her studies and that he looked forward to hearing her poems when the war was over.

The band struck up a solemn tune joined by the singers as the new Federal Cemetery here was consecrated.

Somewhere under the freshly turned earth stained with the blood of thousands lay Uncle David. He would never pick her up or hear her poems. She could not forget the look in Mother's face when she received the news that he had fallen.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States!"

Delilah looked at the stage to try to drag her mind out of the painful memories. A tall man in a dark suit rose to his feet. His thinning hair and beard were streaked with gray and deep lines of pain and stress scored his face. But his eyes....

Delilah looked into his dark eyes. Compassion and pain were there sufficient to fill an ocean. But most of all there was a spark of belief, of faith, of a dream that called to something deep inside her.

His high-pitched voice sounded in her ears as he began to speak.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

His voice was reverent, filled with a fire of belief that caused her heart to ignite.

A belief that some things were worth dying for because they were more infinitely precious than very life itself. For without them, life was not worth living.

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."

Delilah nodded along, seeing his logic as he built upon that fire of belief beginning to burn inside her. Not just blind faith, but reason to advance from first principles.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

Delilah's tears flowed as he spoke to her pain, her grief, her lost Uncle David. His voice was equally compassionate as he bore her up and the fire in her soul grew.

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."

Delilah gasped as she realized the magnitude of the choice offered in those words.

She could elect to do nothing, to let others take up what had to be done, and live in ease with the fruits of others' labors. Just like a slave owner would. Or she could take up the task in front of her, and show how much she valued those like Mother and Aunt Jacklyn, and Father and Uncle David by devoting her life to making the imperfect perfect so as to establish something built by her own hands and mind and soul worthy of what she loved.

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

"But if a man is not willing to fight and die for what he believes in, it is of little worth and no account." Uncle David's last words whispered in her ears, in her soul, as the roaring flame inside her heart grew to consume her utterly with a glorious madness that she embraced.

As Abraham Lincoln sat down, for a brief moment his gaze met that of two leaf-green eyes filled with heartfelt, soul-sustaining, glorious, liberating fire in a eight year old girl's tear-stained face.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

July 2nd, 1946

A lone young-seeming woman dressed in a black skirt-suit passed through the gate of the cemetery with a bouquet of lilies tied with a red, white, and blue ribbon in her arms. She walked in reverent silence to a simple tombstone, one of thousands resting there.

SGT D. POTTER
88th New York Infantry
July 2nd, 1864

Delilah de Breuil placed the lilies on the grave of her first friend. She stood there for long moments as the wind blew the perfume of flowers to ruffle the chestnut red-brown of her hair around her face.

She then spoke in a hushed voice. "The World War is over, Uncle David. Liberty has been purchased again for those in need of it, at a terrible cost. But then if it did not come so dear, we would not treasure it as we should. You taught me that well."

She wiped tears from her eyes and then resumed speaking. "My sister Colombe mentioned a poet she knew in the Great War who in turn gave all that he was for what he believed in. He... spoke to me when I looked him up in England while recuperating from my wounds, and I'd like to share part of his verse with you."

Delilah closed her eyes and her tears fell onto the rich green grass covering the grave as she whispered.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

Her fingers trailed across the worn tombstone in a gentle caress.

"Sleep well, Uncle David."

 

SkyeFire Omake: ButterDagger and ButterKlavier

RBomber said:
Oh Dear God.

What about Церковь Святого Калашникова?​

Eugene Stoner is less famous outside of gun-nut circles, but in terms of Firearm Sainthood? He's up there.
Uziel Gal probably has his own following.
Fun fact: I had a friend who had, among his personal effects, a photo of himself, Uziel, Stoner, and Kalashnikov together at an international event. Thing would probably be $$$$ to a collector, if it hadn't gotten lost when he died.

Harry Leferts said:
Crossing her arms, Shiromizu frowned some, "Wait, but what about scent? And wouldn't they just apparate in without you knowing?"​

Need to add.

Harry Leferts said:
As they walked along, Shiromizu's gave her a stare, "You have been making cheese for over a hundred years? Seriously?"​

What, no one makes a joke about "cutting the cheese" for that long?
(is shelled)

Harry Leferts said:
Meanwhile, Fuyuhe leaned towards Harry​

SP: Fuyune

Yellowhammer said:
Piggybacking on the magnificent snippet that Skye had for the ButterDagger and ButterKlavier here:​

ButterDagger and ButterKlavier... COMEDY OMAKE WARNING!

Colombe settled into her seat at the breakfast table, inhaling the delicious aromas of Kasuyu's excellent cooking. She cast a warm eye around the table -- everyone where they should be, together, Ehren busily buttering some toast with her typical Teutonic hyper-attention and--

That long gramophone-needle-across-vinyl sound was too loud to be only in her head, but no one else seemed to notice.

"Ehren... are you... are you...." Colombe floundered, at a loss for words.

Her younger daughter glanced over, hands still briskly and precisely buttering away. "Yes, Mother?"

"........are you buttering toast with your true self?"

"Of course," Ehren replied, matter-of-factly. She handed the toast to Claire, who accepted it with the suffused expression of someone fighting mightily against a need to sneeze. Or cry. Or break down into hysterical laughter.

Ehren picked up another slice of toast and began applying herself to it. "It is only natural. I am a member of Clan Butterknife, after all." She extended the perfectly-buttered slice towards her mother. "Toast?"

Deeply-ingrained aristocratic instincts let Colombe accept the offering on autopilot, while her brain whirled in helpless circles. She did notice that the bread was precisely buttered, stopping exactly five millimeters from the crusty edge all the way around. And she knew, with a mother's certaintly, that Ehren had practiced for this moment, for days, and probably consuming quite a few loaves of bread in the process.

Claire was bent over her plate, shoulders shaking, desperately avoiding eye contact with anyone. Ehren was eyeing Colombe sidelong, toast poised on her fingertips, the challenge plain in her perfect poker face.

Well. When being trolled by a Muramasa, the only way to win... is to double down. Colombe made eye contact with Ehren, and held it, as she raised her toast to her mouth and took a bite.

The only sound around the table was the crunch of her teeth penetrating toast... and Claire's failing attempts at silence as she slowly slid down in her chair, both hands pressed flat to her face.

Ehren, not to be outdone, calmly took a bite of her own toast.

Colombe took another bite.

Ehren took another bite.

Claire slid out of sight below the table. Her mother and sister ignored the stifled, gasping giggles.

Colombe finished her toast with relish, and wiped the butter drippings from her fingers as befitted an aristocrat. "Ah, that was lovely. Could I have another, dear? Perhaps with some honey, too, this time?"

Ehren tossed down the last fragment of her own toast with aplombe, and swallowed. "Of course, Mother. I'll need just a moment."

There was a limp-sounded thump from under the table.

By the door into the kitchen, Kasuyu shook his head. I don't have enough bread for this....

Yellowhammer said:
That choice gave you and Claire the gift of growing up free rather than slaves because she loves you that much.​

THE FEELS!

This began the Era Of Random Hugs. Colombe would never know (but would not be very surprised) that Ehren kept careful track of Elapsed Time Since Last Random Hug, with a calendar and a complex algorithm to ensure that the mean hugs/time ratio never fell below a precisely-calculated threshold.
Spontaneity is something that requires careful management and planning, after all.

Yellowhammer said:
That said, she realizes now some of the reasons why [Hachiman] did what he did (she thinks), namely to prevent her winding up in 731's hands and to meet her sisters. So she's not happy at all with it, but can accept the harsh necessity of what she had to grin and bear.​

Hm... we still haven't found out who Colombe "signed on" to serve, during her duel with Kasuyu's last wielder. We've been assuming it was Hachiman. The next time he turns up, we might find out.
For maximum trollage, I can see Hachiman just show up, the next time that Colombe and Nori are both at Toku's shrine, and mentioning oh-so-casually that he has an assignment for Colombe. And that's when everyone finds out who Colombe volunteered to work for.

Cue mother-daughter bonding-violence moment while the try to beat down the God of War, and he turns it into a teaching moment, while Toku-chan lurks in the background shooting Disapproving Looks at her boss.

Then Nori pries herself out of the dirt, and declares that Colombe (who's only slightly more banged up) is obviously not ready for this, so Nori's going to do the Dad Thing and tag along, and bring Colombe's training up to snuff en route (I'm thinking Genma-and-Ranma road trip training shenanigans, just with Less Stupid). And Toku jumps in to volunteer to come along too, which diverts the pending eruption of Mount Colombe.

While Hachiman smugs like a Muramasa in the background. All according to keikaku. (Translator's note: "Keikaku" means "plan")

 

Year Three - Prisoner of Shipping Part 2b Christmas

START

 

Harry Leferts

Leaning forward some, Chiho smiled a bit as Nagato chewed thoughtfully, "So, what did you think of the Glamorgan? It is somewhat similar to Caerphilly from what I know of, but I find it rather good. We use it to make Glamorgan sausage."

Finally swallowing, the shipgirl took a sip of wine and frowned, "Sausage? I know that the Americans sometimes use cheese in theirs, but..."

Chiho shook her head, "No, no. This is not cheese being added to the sausage. Rather, the whole sausage is made from the cheese. It is somewhat popular among more vegetarian orientated Yokai. In fact, the Tsukino Clan buys them from us at times."

Just wiping her lip on a napkin, Nagato considered that before nodding, "Interesting." Turning to the cheese, she gave a bemused smile, "Now, I am not an expert on cheese, but... the Glamorgan is good."

A grin on her face, Chiho nodded, "That's good to know. Now, this cheese..."

Glancing over at his mother, Harry could only shake his head before trying some goat's cheese on a cracker, "This is rather nice."

From where she was beside him, Fuyune nodded some as she spread some on her own cracker, "It is, that's why we had the glass doors added with a minor enchantment to keep the heat in. Looking out on the winter garden is beautiful."

Only making a sound of agreement, the thirteen year old smiled, "The view is lovely." Moments after he said that, two of the female Arashi passed within view of the window. Obviously, they were either Yuki-Onna or Tsurara-Onna coming from the outdoor pool... mainly because the two were in two piece swimsuits. For several seconds, Harry was quiet before clearing his throat, "Um..."

Fuyune grinned and snickered, "Oh yes, I suppose that the view is rather lovely."

Snickering at her adoptive brother's embarrassment, Hoppou snatched one of his cheese covered crackers and sipped her fruit juice. All the while ignoring Harry's grumbling about her doing so, 'Big Brother is silly.'

Eyebrow raised at the antics, Nagato glanced towards Keiko, "Does that happen often? Them just walking by?"

The Hone-Onna smiled some and shrugged, "There is no one but family here, so there is no need to hide themselves. Besides which, when there is a sunny day, Harry-Kun might well come across some of his Itoko out in the snow sunbathing here on the compound on chairs made of snow. They do enjoy it after all, despite the fact that it can be well below freezing, they're not bothered by it."

Head tilted to the side as she considered that, Nagato could only nod, "I suppose that does make some sense when one thinks of it. After all, they are beings of ice or snow, so them sunbathing in winter wouldn't be an issue for them."

Keiko gave a light laugh at that, "Yes, that is one way of putting it. Them not being bothered by the temperature, I mean." Sighing, she shook her head with mock jealousy, "Sometimes, I am envious of such."

It went without saying that a number of the Yuki-Onna and Tsurara-Onna snickered or giggled at that long running joke. Mifuyu, meanwhile, raised her finger, "Ah! But you can instead enjoy the summer sun, unlike some of us." Turning to Harry, she smiled, "Once more, thank you for visiting in the winter when we can actually enjoy your visit. Most of us start leaving come March after all, April at the latest by which point we're gone."

Considering that, Harry tilted his head some, "Where do you go, by the way?"

Somewhat surprised at the question, Mifuyu hummed, "Where do we go when we disappear with warmer weather?" Getting a nod, she frowned, "For the most part, we sleep until the snows come once more. But... considering that Ian-Kun is now a Kami? Perhaps we could join him in the Spiritual Realm until the snows return." Her lips turned upwards into a smirk as she sipped her own beer before licking her lips with hooded eyes, "We could have fun while doing so~"

That got her good natured scowls from various others there as well as mock complaints. Nagato's lips twitched some in amusement before her eye was drawn by another Yuki- or Tsurara-Onna in a bathing suit, 'Though Harry is right... the view is rather nice...' Smirking some, the Battleship turned back to the plate of cheeses and looked them over before pointing at one, "What about that one? Is it one of those blue cheeses?"

Looking at it, Chiho shook her head, "No, that's a Wensleydale cheese. Said type lends itself to being mixed with fruits. In this case..." A slight thoughtful frown on her face, she leaned down to better look at it before nodding, "This is our 'Hokkaido Wensleydale', so named because we added haskap berries to it. That golden one is similar, but uses cloudberry instead, and there we have a blueberry one."

One eyebrow raised, Nagato hummed as she rubbed her chin before taking the 'Hokkaido' flavoured one and popping it into her mouth. After a few moments of chewing, she swallowed, "How did you decide to use haskap berries? It’s actually pretty good."

A smile on her face, the Hone-Onna shifted some, "Well... we found out some time ago about how some were blending fruit with Wensleydale cheese. Most of us have been making cheese for so long, that blending fruit into them was new and intriguing. So we decided to experiment a little and make a cheese with a more Hokkaido bent, hence, haskap. Being as blueberry has been used before, it made a certain amount of sense..."

More than a little amused, though interested, Nagato listened as the Yokai explained how they came up with the cheese in question. Several minutes later, a thought occurred to Harry and he spoke up, "Um, Keiko-Obaa-San? Can I ask you something?"

Chuckling, she gave a nod, "Of course, Harry-Kun. Ask away."

Now frowning, Harry considered his question before shaking his head, "Well, I guess that I have two. The first has to do with those cream cheese buns that we bought in Kushiro a few months back. According to them, the cream cheese was made locally."

Proudly, Keiko nodded with a smile, "Yes, we made the cream cheese for those. They've been a good hit as a matter of fact. Actually..." Finger tapping her chin, she hummed, "We've been surprised ourselves with how popular they've turned out to be." Shaking that off, the Yokai turned back to him, "And your second question?"

Harry shifted a little and chewed his lip, "Um... well, I was just wondering something and don't want it to come out wrong." Seeing her gesture to go on, he took a deep breath, "I know that you are a Hone-Onna, but I was wondering what you look like without the disguise."

It took a few seconds, but the Hone-Onna blinked before a slight smile appeared on her face, "You mean you want to see what I look like without my disguise?" When he nodded, she raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Some people find it somewhat disturbing. Us Hone-Onna, we are not like Kitsune and others who look like humans with some animal features tacked on, or like animals standing on their back legs. We are called what we are for a reason after all."

Meeting her eyes, Harry nodded, "Hai." His expression turned serious, "You're family after all, and I don't want you to feel like you need to hide what you are in front of me."

For several moments, Keiko looked at him before chuckling, "Very well, Harry-Kun. Though I will note that we keep our disguises up because at the same time, for those of us who were human it reminds us of who we were."

Nothing happened at first as the wizard watched. But then, as he continued to watch, Keiko's "Skin" faded away revealing nothing underneath but bone. Soon enough, Harry found himself staring at a skull where once there was a human face, with ghostly eyes within the sockets. Above, hair was still somehow attached to the bone as if it was normal skin somehow. But the rest was a skeleton, though there was, if one looked, a ghostly 'Skin' covering the bones and, if one looked carefully, there was still a figure under the kimono that she wore. Eyebrows raising, Harry blinked, "Wow..."

Lightly laughing, Keiko shook her head some. Despite no skin on her face, Harry could tell somehow that she was grinning, "That was not quite the response that I expected from you, Harry-Kun."

Just shrugging, Harry gave her a sheepish smile, "Sorry, but... this is sort of cool."

More laughter, that of family, met that response. Taking a sip of her wine, Tsubaki shook her head, "I would say that was much like Ian-Kun, though it was similar to his response."

Giving her fellow Hone-Onna a glance, Keiko snorted some before turning back to Harry, "Well Tsubaki-Chan is right, Harry-Kun, I am glad that you accept this." She took a piece of cheese and placed it into her mouth, somehow eating it, "Considering how we look? There can be... issues... in Japan and elsewhere."

A frown on his face, Harry shook his head before making his way over, "Yeah, but you're family. And that is all there is to it."

Somewhat surprised, the Hone-Onna relaxed. Bringing her arms up, she embraced him back before pressing her teeth against his cheek in a skeleton's version of a kiss. Despite how it should have felt creepy, Harry didn't feel it as such and just tightened the hug a touch. Pulling back, Keiko gave off the feeling of a thankful smile, "Thank you."

Harry just smiled and nodded.