Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Year Two - Secrets and Shipgirls Part 4

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[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

When the students had gone home, Peeves had been rather annoyed at it. Without them, who was he going to have his fun with? Who would he prank? But he had soothed himself that with them gone, so was Potter. His father, Peeves had liked, such chaos him and his friends had made... The son on the other hand?

Not so much.

Rather, he had annoyed the poltergeist, always interfering. Oh, how that had angered Peeves. If he was anyone else, Peeves would have gone out of his way to annoy and torment him. But that blasted boy somehow had a way of freezing him in place! Him! Peeves! Needless to say, Harry Potter was far down the list of people Peeves liked.

And considering all the problems that Potter put him through, or all the pranks that he stopped, could anyone blame Peeves for wanting to get rid of him? The poltergeist thought not. Granted, he did nearly cause the boy's death, but who cares? The face that he made was hilarious, shame it didn't. Hopefully the brat would have learned his place and stop blocking Peeves. Or, better yet, just leave, the spirit cared about neither. After all, one would have thought that people would have learned their lesson from the last time, hopefully this time the lesson would stick.

Less funny though was Myrtle's actions. How that little snot was able to punch his lights out was beyond Peeves. But it infuriated him on many different levels. Even now, sometimes he felt a phantom pain in his jaw. If it was someone else, he would have found it hilarious, but not so it being himself! And the fact that she managed to save Potter made it even worse in his view.

However, there was not much that Peeves could do though. With what happened, the Bloody Baron was most displeased and he was the only one that Peeves was wary of. Said ghost had been roaming around declaring that he was going to show Peeves exactly what he thought of his actions which made Peeves lay low. While he could not get rid of the poltergeist, the Baron did not need to. He was more then capable of making the lesson stick in other ways.

Sadly, that meant that Peeves was not able to give a proper goodbye when all the students left. Which annoyed him on several levels, especially as he now had three weeks before they returned. Granted, he still had the ones who were going to come and search the school from top to bottom. Aurors and such were so much fun to prank and torment. So serious! In a way, Peeves had been looking forward to it.

Had been... which brings it to this point in time.

It had started like any other day had. Peeves had been roaming and setting up various things. Part of his mind was focused on plans. Perhaps with the rest gone he would go and have another go at Myrtle. Show that crybaby her place in things, which was always good for a cruel laugh. However, very quickly Peeves had realized something.

What that something was though had bothered him for some time. The Sun was peaking over the horizon when Peeves realized what that something was. And when he did, he frowned and felt a chill.

The entire school was quiet, far too quiet.

Even during the holidays, when there were no students, there was noise. Paintings going from one portrait to another. Armor clanking as they moved from hallway to hallway. Various ghosts talking with each other. The owlry would have various school owls making noise as well. Even some staff could be heard, such as Flitch grumbling about one thing or another.

Much to Peeves unease though, there was none of that. No paintings made any noise, nor did the armors move. Sir Nick and the others were no where to be found, not even Myrtle could be heard in her washroom. Peeves even swung by the owlry to scare the birds there, but found no sign of them. And what staff had stayed had also seemingly disappeared. The poltergeist did not like it.

Not in the least.

As the minutes had ticked into hours, and there was no sign ogf anything, Peeves' unease grew. It grew and grew as time went on and he could swear that something was watching him. Waiting... Hunting. But that was silly, right?

Right?

However, no matter what he did, what he told himself, Peeves could not shake off the horrible feeling he had. A horrible feeling that something extremely bad was about to happen to him, but what? What could it be? It drove the spirit up the wall to the point where he was unable to place any tricks. And that only made it far worse in his view.

But nothing happened despite his unease. The castle was silent as a tomb and just as seemingly inhabited. It creeped out the poltergeist to no end And just as he was about to do something about it, Peeves sighted Queen Anne's Revenge walk into view. Said shipgirl also spotted him and grinned in a way that Peeves did not like in the slightest. Before Peeves could say anything though, she pulled out one of her guns and fired. "There ye are!"

Yelping, Peeves ducked with his hands over his head. "Peeves does not like this! Peeves does not like this at all! That nearly hit Peevsie, it did!"

All Blackbeard's infamous ship do though was grin as she pulled out another gun. "Aye, tis a real shame! After all, I missed! Now then, hold still you lily livered belshangle! That way next time I won't!"

Eyes widening as he realized why there was no one around, Peeves ducked under another bullet, this time from a different direction. Snarling, Revenge ran towards him while on her shoulders, the fairy forms of Anne Bonny and Mary Read fired their own guns. Moments later, Peeves took off as he glared at the two. It did not take him long before he ran into Golden Hind though, followed by Scuffles.

What ensued was nothing else then a war as Peeves used every method he could to attack the shipgirls hunting him through the castle. Sword lashing out and batting away a spear thrown at her, Revenge let out a loud whoop. "Is tha' the best that yeh can do? Come on then, you beastie! Do better!"

Flying out over a staircase, Peeves brought out crossbows and began to fire them. However, one of the suits of armor threw it's shield in time for Queen Anne's Revenge to grab it and then deflect the crossbow bolts. Eyes boggling, Peeves thrust one hand towards the suit of armor and sent it flying before he shot down the staircase with a scream. "HOGWARTS YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS!"

He just reached the bottom when he spotted a shadow and dodged. And just in time as Nagato slammed into the ground with her fists coming down in a hammer blow that shattered stone when they hit. Despite that, her blow just missed Peeves and to the spirit's terror, he could feel his clothes ruffle from where the hands passed. Looking at him, Nagato's eyes glowed in rage. "You dare harm my son!" Her fist then lashed out and Peeves yelped as he backed out of range. "You tried to kill him!"

There was a flash out of the corner of Peeves eye and he back flipped as Sir Nick nearly took off his head with a sword. On the normally jovial ghost's face was a grim smile. "You have gone too far this time, Peeves. Now then, for once be a proper spirit and face what you've done!"

Rolling beneath Nick, Peeves took off and soon found himself facing the Fat Friar. A shaky smile on his face, the poltergeist panted some. "F-Friar! You will help Peevsie, right? Forgive and such?"

If he had thought that he would find succor from the friendly ghost though, he was wrong as the Fat Friar had a stern look on his face. "There are many things that I can forgive, Peeves. And many things that God, Almighty can. But to try and bring harm to a child? That... I cannot forgive." He then gave a small bow to the stunned spirit. "But I shall pray for you nonetheless and neither will I help them nor you."

A screech ripping out of his throat, Peeves took off. "DAMN YOU FRIAR! DAMN YOU!"

For the next few hours, Peeves performed a running battle all through the halls of Hogwarts against his hunters. From the tops of the towers to the deepest parts of the basement, Peeves tried everything to throw off or even harm his pursuers. He would not be forced from the school! He would not!

Perhaps the worst things though were out of sight. More then once, Peeves had been about to take down one hallway, or hide in a passageway. But at the last moment had felt something was there and stopped. Peeves felt as if there was danger down in such places. Sometimes, he glanced into them quickly and saw a flash of teeth, other times there was fur or a tail moving out of sight.

Each time though dread filled him and he took off towards another direction.

Sadly for him, he was not given the time to think, only react. Peeves barely had the space of minutes before getting attacked. It did not take long for the poltergeist to realize that Hogwarts herself was helping in the hunt for him. Hallways shifted around and staircases moved, allowing for those pursuing him to rapidly catch up. Sometimes they managed to cut him off from one of his stashes. Needless to say, as the day went on, he found himself more and more enraged at the castle herself and tried to take it out on her walls and doors when he could.

There would be a number of suits of armor that would need repairs after this, same with portraits and doors. Some windows, too, were shattered by the angered spirit. Other times he would reach a stash of his only to nearly get shot or slashed as he found grim faced fairies waiting there for him. Something that only served to drive his anger to new heights.

However, eventually the Sun began to set on the area around the castle. And while outside shadows lengthened, the fighting continued on in the castle with Peeves screaming defiance and insults. At the moment though, he was dazed as he flew through a door after being struck in the head by none other then a madly grinning Myrtle using a sap given to her by one of the shipgirls. Noticing that he was in the Great Hall, Peeves shot towards the entrance for the owls, wanting to get out and then fly to one of the nearby towers.

Almost as soon as he reached though, he began to screech in pain as he was seemingly electrocuted. Pulling back, he took note of slips of paper stuck in the entry. Slips that looked similar to the ones that Harry had often used to freeze him. Slowly, Peeves realized that those were not the only ones.

In fact, the entire Great Hall had them plastered practically everywhere.

Meanwhile, Peeves realized that he had been driven towards this point and heard a growl behind him. "Abou' time. Give it up, Peeves. It's all over for you now."

Whipping around, Peeves spotted the shipgirls entering the Great Hall, which he noted was empty of tables or anything he could use as a weapon. Arms crossed, the shipgirl who had spoken watched him through narrowed eyes. Chuckles escaped from a purple haired shipgirl who walked up beside the first and jerked her thumb at the one who had spoken. "Like Ryuujou-San said, your finished."

Eyes bulging from his face, Peeves snarled and screeched as he tried to escape. The few times he went for the main doors to the Great Hall though, he was thrown back. Finaly, he let out a mad cackle. "You think that you won!? That you beat me!? NO! You cannot get rid of me, I am older then Hogwarts!"

There was a snort when what seemed like a student walked to the front of the group. More then one shipgirl widened their eyes at the young woman as they realized who it was. "Yes, Peeves, you were here before me. So what? I know exactly what you are." Glaring at him, Hogwarts took a small amount of pleasure as Peeves moved back. "Oh yes, I know the history of this place before I was made."

Frowning, Nagato narrowed her eyes as she remembered some letters that Harry had sent back. In particular the ones about a mysterious female student that appeared and vanished. "What do you mean?"

Hogwarts came to a stop and stared at Peeves. "A century before I was built, a Laird built a wooden castle and hamlet here. He had a rather... disturbing form of humor and found delight in tormenting others. And he was not alone as many of his court was much the same, they found humor in others pain and humiliation. Among them, was his jester who could be extremely mean. He liked to give directions at the nearby crossroads that lead people into dangerous spots. All because he found it funny... that was until one day they angered the wrong clan of wizards. He had become attracted to the daughter of the clan head, but she rejected him in favor of another. One day, the young man was at the court and got drunk... Last he was seen was being lead off by the jester to his sleeping quarters."

Not having known this, Hiyou turned towards her. "I take it that the young man was found dead then?"

Snorting, Hogwarts nodded. "His remains were found in the pig sty. The jester told some of the other servants that the young man had made such a pig of himself at the feast, that he thought he should stay with his relatives. His master had found it funny... the clan of the young woman and the young man's clan did not. One night they set upon the wooden castle and sealed the doors shut before setting it aflame with the Laird and his court, including his jester, inside. All of them died in the blaze, though the jester proclaimed that their touch would be felt forever more." She then waved towards Peeves. "Less then a century after I was built, Peeves appeared. Rowena figured out that he gained his form and charming personality from the imprint upon the land."

With his hands clenched at his side, Peeves shook in rage. "You have no right! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE PEEVES!"

Everyone took a step back as Hogwarts roared. "I HAVE EVERY DAMN RIGHT TO JUDGE YOU, PEEVES! AND JUDGED YOU I HAVE!" The entire castle shook as she took a step forward with Peeves stepping back. "YOU HAVE TORMENTED MANY OF MY CHILDREN, PEEVES! THOSE UNDER MY CARE! YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN DAMN AMUSEMENT!" Chest heaving, her eyes practically glowed with rage. "I remember, not two centuries past the last attempt to get rid of you. How you threatened my children with death! And for that, I have never and nor shall I ever forgive you!"

Laughing, Peeves threw back his head. "And? What have you done!? You, none of you can get rid of Peevsie! I will just come back!"

It was then that there was a dark chuckle and Peeves froze. "Is that so now?" Peeves was not the only one either, so did the Hogwarts ghosts and they turned to see Haru and Natsumi walk forward in their kitsune forms. But it was Hoshi that caught their attention. She looked like a horse sized fox with nine tails behind her. There was dark amusement in her eyes as she took several steps forward and flames appeared on her tail tips. "Well now, I suppose then that we'll just have to see how long it takes for you to pull yourself together..." Hoshi grinned with sharp teeth glistening in the light. "Now won't we?"

Behind her, Junyou sealed the doors and they all turned their attention to Peeves who tried to back up towards the wall and shaking his head. However, there was no help waiting for him as the group walked forwards...

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

I had a thought about Akebono. Then I was able to make this happen.
Late Show

-----

Whatever it was Akebono was expecting, it wasn't for the opening from Kaitou Saint Tail to start playing. She looked around the room, puzzled, before it clicked that one of her sisters had reset her ringtone when last they had been together, and she hadn't quite figured out how to fix it yet. When she asked her older brother, he had burst out laughing, and she had left in a huff before he could do anything. The only reason she hadn't looked it up herself and changed it back was because her niece…

Was nothing! There was no reason! Ahahaha! Oh right, phone call.

"Ushio," she said grudgingly, raising the phone to her ear. What was her sister doing calling her at this time of night? "There a problem?"

"I need you to see if you can find a Haneoka Yosuke," Ushio said, her voice strained. Akebono paused, running her words through her head again.

"I'm sorry, come again?" she asked.

"Haneoka. Yosuke. He got a friend of mine from school pregnant, and ran. The Tin Can Mafia tracked him to Hokkaido. I need to see if you can find him yourself, I need to be sure." Ushio explained. Akebono grit her teeth, shook her head.

"No, no, I mean—the Tin Can Mafia? Are you seriously going to so much trouble to get this—"

"This is serious, Akebono. Very serious. Serious enough for me to tell you that each of us has a secret file of photographs of you playing with Mai that we can send to your Admiral's e-mail at a moment's notice." Akebono raised her phone away from her ear to stare at the screen and the little counter ticking down the seconds of their conversation.

"That's not fair," she whimpered.

"That's how SERIOUS this is!" Ushio shrieked.

"Okay, okay, fine! I'll track the bastard down for you! Why are you so worried about this?" Akebono huffed, using every bit of her willpower not to smash her phone. Ushio went silent, and for a moment Akebono thought that maybe she had hung up.

"Her name's Ashida Yae, I guess… I guess you don't know her. She was one of the girls with me when I Awakened," she admitted. "She's… A bit of a headcase, but she's kind, and she tires to help people, and he just… he broke her. And I can't understand why he would do something so… So hurtful. I… I need to know, Akebono."

Akebono sighed. "I get it. I'll see what I can do for you. And… You're not serious, are you? About the pictures?"

"Sorry, it's been a long week or two, and I'm low on minutes. I'll leave it to your imagination."

"WHAT THE—"

"I'm kidding, it's an idea that Sazanami brought up a little while back."

Kasumi, just passing by, was almost literally blasted against the opposite wall by the sheer volume of Akebono's curses.
-----

Ushio lowered her phone from her ear. Then, suddenly, Saki's arms were wrapped around her, pulling her in tight. "Hey, Saki! What are you doing?" she squawked, wriggling and attempting to throw her off.

"You're not okay," Saki replied, refusing to relinquish her hold. "This is eating at you so badly, why didn't you say anything?" Ushio slumped, sighing.

"What was I supposed to say?" she asked despondently.

"I don't know," her friend said, "but if you had thought for a moment, I'm sure you could have thought of something."

"I doubt it," Ushio admitted flatly. "I don't know if you've noticed by now or not, but I'm not exactly a people person."

"Not true," Umi cut in. "You can be a real go-getter when you want to be—ah, this is our stop." As the train drew to a stop, and momentum tugged on the girls, Umi grabbed onto her armrest. Pushing off as it stopped completely, she bounced to her feet and spun on her heels to face Saki. "Now, then, a promise is a promise!" Saki paled, letting go of Ushio and plastering herself against her seat.

"No, no, Umi, no. I-I can walk on my own, you don't need to—no! Help! Namiko, help me! Namikooooo!" Ushio watched the comical picture before her, Umi standing tall, princely, with a roguish smile on her face, while Saki, secure in her arms, struggled and flailed.

Then she couldn't see it anymore because she was slumped over on the seat, laughing so hard that her lungs burned and she tried to wave them off, get them to stop, because she needed air desperately. Finally, Saki was able to get a hand against Umi's shoulder, and push herself out of her arms.

"Aren't we supposed to get off now?" she asked, face burning red with embarrassment. Now that the absurd tableau was no longer an issue, Ushio's laughter faded, letting her force air into her protesting lungs. She struggled to her own feet, supporting herself on the seats across from their own.

"Just a second," she said, pushing herself upright. "I need to catch my breath."
-----

Yae stood at the door to Mamiya's room. She shuffled nervously, looking down at her hands. On the one hand, she would be leaving for her parents' some time the following day, packing her affects left over in… the apartment, and moving over while they figured out how to deal with her new job, and how things were going to work out. Mamiya was going to help with that, she would have plenty of time to thank her. On the other hand, she wanted to thank her old friend. Even if there wasn't a time limit of any kind, it never hurt to say thank you any time you could.

"If you're going to just stand there and stare at the door," Mamiya said, and Yae started, spinning around to see her looking at her with an amused expression, "why don't I just let you in so you can talk about whatever you need to?"

"Yes," Yae replied, nodding, "That… That would be nice. Thanks."
-----

Tatsuya was not exactly a heavy sleeper. If you asked him, it was probably the result of running for his life from whatever supernatural creature decided that it wanted to kill him on that particular day since he was nine. Whatever the reason, it had saved his life on several occasions. Tonight, the sound of scrabbling at the windowsill dragged him from his dreams in the midst of a very nice, pastoral one where he and Benio were sitting together in the middle of a grassy field. Grumbling, he clambered out of bed and stambed over to the window, throwing the curtains open to reveal the startled face of—OH COME ON, THAT DIDN'T KILL HER?!?

He and the Jorogumo stared at each other. She pouted, and he slammed the window shut on her fingers.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Glancing out the window as she stroked Harry's hair, Hachi frowned some. The twelve year old had been dozed off once they lifted off with his head pillowed by the Submarine's chest. Not that Hachi had minded too much. However, that was not what was on her mind as she turned towards RO who was reading something. "You know, it's just not fair." Just humming, RO nodded though that was enough to let Hachi know that she was listening. "How is it that the European shipgirls get these jets to get them around while we got helicopters?"

A frown on her face, Akizuki looked away from where she was staring out the window and then nodded. "I know!" She then gestured around her. "Look at this place!"

Bemused, RO did look around the business jet that they were all in with her lips twitching. "Ja, it is a very nice way of getting around, isn't it?"

Hatsuzuki nodded some as she also looked around. Even now, it took a lot for her to not boggle at what they were traveling in. "Hai, you would think that they would limit it for Battleships and Carriers though."

Beside her, Teruzuki shook her head. "Or an Admiral!" Waving her hands around, she chewed her lip. "This... this is the sort of plane used for Admirals and Generals! Not... not Destroyers and Submarines!"

That caused RO to chuckle a bit. "If they did that, then they would hardly get any use, now would they? So they are available for any shipgirl when fast transport..." Her eyes then turned to another seat. "Or when privacy is needed."

Eyebrow raised, Hachi followed her gaze to where Regina was currently gazing out a window in pure wonder. 'Right... forgot about that.' The Submarine then began to muse to herself a bit. 'I wonder how she keeps fading into the background like that? Am I just that used to her?'

Only shaking her head, Shioi leaned forward in her own seat as she joined the conversation. "Okay, that's great and all, but still doesn't explain why the European Shipgirl Forces get these."

In reply just waving her hand, the Uboat shook her head. "Europe is much bigger then Japan and has more territory and coastline. All the various nations cooperate with each other as well. In Japan, a helicopter will get you most places on the coast pretty quickly. In Europe? You need something faster and longer ranged."

Thoughtful, Hachi shook her head. "I don't know if that is true anymore back home if what I heard through the grapevine is true." At the looks, she shrugged. "You didn't hear it from me, but they're apparently thinking of buying some Ospreys or perhaps Twin Otters for times the Pelicans aren't the right choice for transport."

Humming, RO gave a nod at that. "Either would be nice. The Pelicans are good and fast, but need large airstrips to operate. For islands and such they're not much use."

Movement just then caused Hachi to look down at Harry who had shifted a bit. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn. "Hmm? What?"

Lips twitching, the glasses wearing Submarine let out a small giggle at her sleepy friend. "Have a nice nap, Harry-Chan?"

All Harry did was nod as he stretched some before giving her a smile. "Yeah, it was really comfy, thanks." He did blink as Hachi flushed while Shioi fell off her chair laughing about how she was sure it was comfy. Meanwhile, RO snickered as Harry shrugged it off and turned to her. "What's going on?"

Getting her snickers under controls with some difficulty, RO gestured towards the three Destroyers. "We were just talking about why the European Navies have business jets for the transport of shipgirls, Harry-Chan. Akizuki-Chan was wondering that along with her Schwester."

For a moment, Harry blinked before nodding. "Oh! You mean you were talking about the Rapid Reaction Shipgirl Forces, right?"

Somewhat lost, Akizuki frowned a bit. "Rapid Reaction Shipgirl Forces?"

Turning towards her, Harry gave a nod. "Hai. Um, in the early days there were issues with the amount of shipgirls verses the size of the coastlines needing defending and other duties. One of the problems was that he Abyssals liked to send more then one wave after concentrating in one part of the coastline. So sometimes you had injured shipgirls needing to fight off two or more waves with them being sometimes just hours apart or in different spots of the same coastline."

RO gave him a nod before turning towards the Duckies. "He's right, so the various European Navies came up with the idea of shuttling shipgirls around quickly as needed between the various countries. It's from there the current treaties between the shipgirl Navies game about." She then made a motion with her hand. "But the problem came up of getting us shipgirls where we were needed the most quickly. When you just had hours to get reinforcements somewhere and usually they would be in small groups..."

Eyes widening as it clicked inside her head, Teruzuki smacked her fist into her palm. "I get it now! That's why they use jets!"

Slowly, the German Submarine gave her a smile. "Exactly." Then she shrugged. "They could use them to transport small groups of shipgirls very quickly as needed. The first ones were donated to the Navies and those European Union countries that are away from the coast help support them via maintenance and personnel to man them as well as funds for usage. Now? All European Navies have one or two ready for use as needed." Leaning back, RO smiled. "Very quick and efficient unlike using large aircraft for just small groups. But if we need to get somewhere slower, then we just use public airliners."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry nodded some as a memory bubbled up in his mind. "I think that the US and Canada have something similar and so does Russia. I know that Atago-Oba mentioned that her and Aunt Alaska used one to get from Texas to Florida once when there was an Abyssal Fleet in the area." Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Harry turned to find Maruyu there. "Maruyu-Chan? Is there something wrong?"

However, the small Submarine just smiled and shook her head. "No, just thought that I should let you know that we're about to land." Maruyu then gave a nod to the others. "So we should get ready."

Roughly about fifteen minutes later, the jet came to a stop at Wilhelmshaven Airport and, not long after that, they all got out. Nearly as soon as they did, a van with tinted windows pulled up and the door opened to reveal Hanna as she hopped out. At seeing Harry, her face split into a brilliant smile. "Guten Abend, Harry."

A similar grin was on Harry's face as he made his way over to her. "Guten Abend, Hanna!" Warmly, he hugged her. "I missed you."

Even though she was blushing slightly at the friendly affection, Hanna only nodded before hugging him back. Giving him a gentle squeeze as she lifted the black haired boy, careful not to hurt him, she laughed lightly. "And it is good to see you as well, Harry! It's been too long since last we saw each other in person." Once she set him down, she looked him over and felt her eyebrows raise a fraction in surprise at what she found. "You've grown some."

Quickly nodding, Harry chuckled a bit. "Yup! A whole two inches or so!" He looked up at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "Soon I'll be as tall as you are."

Wrapping one arm around her friend, Hanna just nodded as she let out a light laugh. "One day, perhaps you will, Harry. One day. Until then though, I'll just have to accept bending down some."

Harry then looked Hanna over and smiled a bit at what he found. If he was a year older, there was definitely parts of Harry who would take note of how she looked. In particular, how Hanna now resembled her sisters in body type. The corded, wiry muscles taunt under her skin and were obvious when she moved. What else was obvious was that like the rest of the Hippers, Hanna most definitely was not Treaty compliant in the least. "You're looking really good too, Hanna! A lot stronger and more pretty."

Needless to say, that brought a blush to Hanna's face. It was not to say that she was not unused to such compliments of course. In fact, she had gotten more than a few from her fellow teenagers. But they were usually boys trying to either cozy up to her to get closer to one of the other Hipper sisters, or to get into her own pants. Something that she was not interested in the least. However, Harry's compliment she could tell had nothing behind it. Indeed, she could tell that to him it was just a statement of fact. Something that made her chest warm as she nodded. "Danke."

Before Harry could say anything else though, an amused cough made him turn and his eyes widened at the German Officer that was there. Almost by reflex, he snapped to in a salute which seemed to amuse the man even more as he nodded and returned it. "Allow me to welcome all of you to Germany. I am Lieutenant Maier and it shall be my duty to take you to Wilhelmshaven Naval Base and the quarters where you'll be staying."

Having given her own salute and inteoduction, RO slipped back into her Yuu personality. "Danke, but before we settle in I must see Admiral Hartmann. I carry with me a package for him from Admiral Goto of the JMSDF in regards to the special ceremony tomorrow. It must be delivered direct to his hands and he is expecting it."

Somewhat confused as to what said package may be, the Lieutenant only nodded some before gesturing at the van. He did give a slightly nervous glance at Regina who cocked her head to the side as did her tail. But to his credit, he barely showed it. "Very well then, shall we be off?"

It took some work, especially with Regina's tail, but soon enough they were on their way heading toward the base. Hanna, of course, had taken the seat beside Harry to the amusement of the Submarines. As they left the airport, she turned towards him. "So then, are you excited Harry?"

There was a small grin on Harry's face as he looked up to her. "Well, it is my first time in Germany after all. And you did say that you and RO-Chan might be able to show me some of the sights." After she nodded, he continued. "Beside, I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow."

Chuckling, there was a twinkle in Hanna's eyes as she nodded. "Ja, and you're not the only one. Seydlitz is also excited and a little nervous. But then so are all of us including Hipper and Eugen. If it works out, then we'll have a new Schwester by this time tomorrow in the form of Weser. Eugen even came all the way from where she was staying with Bismarck just for this yesterday." Becoming thoughtful, she turned towards Harry with a frown. "This will work, right?"

All the black haired wizard did was nod. "It should." As her frown deepened, he patted her thigh. "Hey, I've been at a few summonings like this and they've all worked out pretty good."

Slowly relaxing, she sighed. "That's good to know." Her expression then shifted to one of interest. "What I am interested in is your thoughts about the home that belonged to the European Branch of your family. Are you excited to be able to go there?"

That brought a grin to Harry's face as he nodded some. "You bet! I actually can't wait to see it no matter what, this is my family after all!"

Reaching over, Hanna grasped his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I can imagine that you're nervous as well." Even when he sheepishly nodded, she just gave his hand another squeeze. "Though I must wonder myself what may be there as it does look intact."

Both of them shared a blush and a smile. Unknown to them, RO and Hachi shared a small grin of their own. Then Harry scratched his head some as a thought occurred to him and he turned towards Hanna and chuckled. "Um... by the way, Hanna? I've been wondering if you've ever been in the area where it is?"

Hanna blinked for a moment before she hummed in thought. "You mean the Spessart?" When Harry nodded, she shook her head. "I cannot say that I have. Maybe one of Mein Schwester have or one of their crew have been there. Possibly one of the other shipgirls. But I have not." Her lips then curled up a bit in amusement. "It did raise some eyebrows though that was where they had lived though."

Confused, Harry tilted his head as he sensed a story. "Really? Why?"

Extremely amused, all the girl beside him did was place an arm around his shoulder. "Well... there are many stories about that forest. Ghosts and darker things, such as a castle with a cursed treasure. The Spessart is also where the Brothers Grimm once lived and some as a few of their tales came from there."

Eyes widening, Harry stared at her in disbelief. "Wait, the Brothers Grimm? As in the ones who wrote the fairy tales? Those Brothers Grimm?"

Her smile widening, Hanna nodded and leaned in close to him, "Ja, those Brothers Grimm. So it was both surprising and not at the same time that there was magic there." A chuckle then escaped from her. "So it should be a bit of an adventure for us, hmm?"

In reply, Harry's own lips drew back in a smile and his eyes twinkled in excitement.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 100: S0ngD0g13

Kaylee stood outside Admiral Richardson's office in Sasebo and knocked. Upon hearing him tell her to enter, she stepped inside. She came to attention and saluted. "Sir, I... I would like to ask your help with something. I know it's unorthodox and I'm jumping chain-of-command, but I'm-" She paused as John raised a hand.

"You wanted to ask my discretion finding someone to see about your PTSD. I know. Nagato sent a detailed report, and Harry forwarded a report of his own along with a letter from a 'Professor Severus Snape' at his school that mentioned your intent to seek help. He spoke quite highly of you, in fact; Bravo Zulu on your professionalism, Lieutenant. As to finding the help you're seeking, I will do my best, but it may yet be a while. Can you work with that?"

"I can, Sir. Thank you for seeing me."

Richardson nodded. "Good. Oh, and Kaylee? For what it's worth, I'm sorry I let it get this bad for you; I'm an Admiral, and I've got a responsibility to look after my subordinates. Not getting someone on staff for this... It's a failure on my part."

"Permission to speak freely, Sir?" John nodded. "I got real good at swallowing my hurts a long time ago; how were you to know?"

Admiral Richardson dismissed her, and Kaylee walked out...

......................................

Monitor was waiting when Kaylee and Charlotte returned. "Welcome home, Gray-Back," the blue-coated ironclad said.

"Good to be home, Blue-Belly. Houshou and Uncle James ain't run off and eloped, have they?"

Monitor laughed. "Nope, not yet. You're still in the running to win the pool. I see Charlotte's got a new friend."

Charlotte giggled. "Meet Gosling, Auntie Blue-Belly! She's a Goshawk, and she hunts and I trained her..."

Kaylee left Charlotte to talk with Monitor, then followed her nose to the kitchen, where James and Houshou seemed to dance fluidly around one another as they both cooked. "I'm home," Kaylee said, entering the room. Before she knew it, her uncle and the carrier that Kaylee already thought of as 'Aunt Houshou' both had her wrapped up in hugs that made Kaylee absolutely certain that she actually was home.

James looked her up and down. "Yup, you're all in one piece... Though you look skinny enough to hide behind a cattail reed; weren't they feedin' you out in Scotland?" His smiling eyes gave away his jest. "At least you're home now, and we can feed you back up. It's good to have you back, Kaylee."

"I missed y'all. Was worried you might run off and elope to Vegas."

Houshou snorted and swatted James when he laughed. "What, Houshou? I think you'd look right nice in an Elvis costume." He yelped when the carrier flicked his ear with a dish-towel.

"Whaddaya know, they weren't just pulling my leg. How's it feel being in the World's Most-Badass Water-Taxi Service, Cousin?"

Kaylee wheeled to see her cousin Michael, dressed in his Marine-Corps PT sweats, grinning by the back door. "I'll have you know, Corporal McAmis, that the Army and Navy are the only two True US Military Services; the Air Farce-I mean Force, is a Corporation, and the Marine Corps is a Cult. Good to see you, Mike." She hugged Jaw's older brother with a smile...

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain Omake: "Haru is too damn tired for this shit"

One thing that might happen with Tatsuya:

With a sigh, Haru stopped at the top of the staircase. It was early in the morning, she had just gotten back, and she was ready to rush through her duties, crawl into bed, and sleep the morning away to compensate for the night that she hadn't been able to.

"Good morning, Miko-san," someone to her left said. She turned to look at a pair of familiar figures.

"Haneda-kun. What brings you and your girlfriend--ah, I'm sorry, your female companion here this early?" Haru asked. It wasn't as subtle as her usual taunts, but she was sleepy darn it! Tatsuya didn't even seem to notice.

"I need your help with a stalker," he said, pointing off to one side. Haru followed the line to one of the buildings, where--a figure dove out of sight. Well wasn't that interesting.

"Is it trying to cut out and eat your liver?" she asked.

"No, that was just the one time with the vampire--"

"Then could it please wait until after I've gotten some sleep?" Haru demanded. "If it can't, you can ask Natsumi to help you, it'll be good practice for her." She stalked away. Tatsuya watched her back, Benio eyed the storage shed discretely, watching as the Jorogumo poked her head around the side of the building again.

"Fox miko will be fox miko," she sighed, sending the stalker scurrying again.

"I'm still not going to try to figure out what you mean by that," Tatsuya shot back. "Let's come back later. If that doesn't work, we'll go by the Church."

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 101: S0ngD0g13

Jaw looked over the projects in front of him that morning and grinned. "This is gonna be Epic... I just wish Akizuki was here to help; I miss bendin' wrenches with my Lil' Sis. Oh well; maybe she'll come back with Autobahn stories to troll Shimmy with." He sipped from a bottle of Gatorade and started assembling the first; the second could wait...

He got the first project's frame welded, then started putting the suspension and wheels on it, checking the springs and the jack-bolts used to adjust how soft or hard the suspension was. Next came the drive-train, mounting not only the pedals but also the 40hp electric racing-kart motor and the transmission he'd 'modified'. "Once she's runnin' she'll run like a haint..."

Once those, and the steering, were mounted Jaw started attaching the body-panels, running the wiring as he did. Interior panels were fitted and then the bench-style seat was installed, followed by the retro-style gauges and the AM/FM/CD/MP3 radio and the speakers.

Once everything was assembled and wired, Jaw opened the hood and installed the batteries, closed the hood, and made sure his second project was tucked out of sight, then climbed into his new ride. Whatever else might be said about the Lancer, that Mitsubishi was still a high-performance car and thus a gas-hog; Jaw had decided he needed a daily-driver, and took a page out of the Tin-Can Mafia's book with an electric-quad, though admittedly he went at it with his usual tendency to customize...

As the pedal/electric vehicle rolled out of the garage, the fading sunset light shone on the black-painted body, styled as a replica 1932 Ford Model B coupe. Jaw dialed his phone and waited for Zuikaku to pick up. "Hey, Turkey, you feel up for a drive tonight? I got me a new ride, figured you might like to see the town in style. Plan? I was thinkin' we could check out the theater, see a play or a movie. Supper afterward at a good restaurant. I'll be there. You'll know it's me, Zui; I'll be the one in the Little Deuce Coupe."

He hung up and backed out, then grabbed the eight-ball shift-knob and put the motor in gear, twisted the throttle built into the steering-wheel, and pressed 'play' on his phone.

"... She's a Little Deuce Coupe with a flathead mill, but she'll walk a Thunderbird like it's standin' still..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Waiting outside the door, the group waited until they were given the go ahead to head into Admiral Hartmann's office. However, when they walked in Harry had to blink as Hartmann was stroking the head of a rather odd creature that he recognized as one of the Wolpertingers. Before Hartmann could say anything, Harry's finger came up. "Blofeld!"

Utter silence met him before Hartmann sighed. "Why does that always happen?"

Eyebrow raising, RO gave a glance at the wolpertinger before shrugging. Before she could say anything though, Regina's eyes lit up. "Oh! You mean like James Bond! Um, Daniel Crieg is the human who plays him."

Hartmann gave her a frown and shook his head. "Timothy Dalton."

Shaking his head, Harry crossed his arms. "That's heresy, best Bond is-"

It was then that RO gave a cough and caused them all to stop. As they turned towards her, the Submarine's expression became serious and she came to a salute, followed by the others. Once that was done, she placed her hands behind her back and nodded. "Admiral Hartmann, U-511, RO-500 reporting."

The others each introduced themselves with Regina giving an unsure salute at the end. "Abyssal Aviation Battleship, Regina of the Timor Sea Fleet. Um, thank you for having me?"

For several moments, Hartmann looked at her before he glanced at the wolpertinger in his lap. Said animal just yawned and then relaxed a bit more which made him smile. "Welcome to Germany, all of you. And especially you, Frau Regina, hopefully you will have a good experience here."

Only nodding, Regina played some with her fingers. "Well, so far it's been, um, good?"

Reaching up, Hanna patted her shoulder. "Well, you've just arrived and we have a week. I think that it will only get better."

With a small smile for the awakening Natural Born, Hartmann turned towards RO who took a step forward. "Admiral Goto sent word that you have an important package for me? Direct from Yokosuka?"

Simply nodding, RO reached into her pocket and pulled out a lockbox. It was the work of moments for her to unlock the box and then open it before turning it so that the German Admiral could see what was nestled inside. "One shard of Magicite and a vial of the Liquid of Life."

Gently taking the box and sliding it closer to him, Hartmann ignored the meow of protest from the wolpertinger at the movement and then reached into the box. The first thing that he pulled out was a vial that contained a shard of red crystal that seemed to almost give off a light. Then placing it back, he pulled out another vial of glowing liquid and shook his head. "Incredible. And this will allow for us to have Weser be summoned?"

Hands behind her back, RO nodded and then gestured at Harry. "Ja, though it helps to have a catalyst in the form of a magical. Which is what Harry-Chan here is for."

When Hartmann glanced at him, Harry straightened just that bit more. But there was a small smile on the German's face as he gave a slight nod. "And I am most thankful that we have a magical willing to aid us in this. Germany could use another Carrier." Placing the vial back into the lockbox, he closed it before locking it. Then Hartmann got up and walked over to a nearby safe and opened it before placing the box inside of it. "However, that can wait until tomorrow for the ceremony..."

Several minutes found themselves outside the Admiral's Office and walking away as Harry stretched a bit. "So... what next?"

Patting her stomach, RO hummed a bit with a smile. "I think that we should all head to the mess. That way, you can all have some proper Germany cooking. From memory they have the Type XIVs doing rotations as cooks there."

With a glance at RO, Akizuki chewed her lip some. "Are... are you sure that's alright? I mean, we can wait for a bit and give others a turn at the food first. Like... like the Battleships and such. And then we can have what's left, if we can."

There was a look of disbelief on Hanna's face as she stared at the Destroyer before leaning down towards Harry. "Is she serious, Harry? Does she actually think that we do not have enough food for them?"

Sighing, Harry only nodded some. "Unfortunately, Hanna." A frown crossed his face some as Teruzuki nodded in agreement with her sister. "They came from when Japan was on near starvation rations at the end of the war."

On Hanna's face there was a frown as she glanced at the Destroyers before walking over and placing a hand on Teruzuki's shoulder. "Hey, look at me for a moment." When Teruzuki did so, along with her sisters, Hanna gave them a smile. "We have more than enough food for you, my friends. Now, just sit back and enjoy our hospitality."

Nervously glancing at Hanna, Teruzuki nodded some. "I... if you're sure..."

All Hanna did was nod and pat her on the shoulder. "Ja, I am sure mein Freund. Let us take care of you on your stay here."

Grinning, RO nodded. "Exactly, let them take care of you for now. Trust me, you will not regret it."

Even though they were still unsure, the three Destroyers shared a look and then nodded. After a few moments, Hanna looked at Harry and had a bit of a nervous look on her face. "Harry?" Once the black haired boy turned towards her, she continued. "I was wondering, what are your plans for after dinner?"

Confused, Harry considered the question before he finally shrugged. "Um... I don't think that I have much planned. Mainly just sort of relaxing and maybe logging onto the net, I think." At the look from the strawberry blonde, he shrugged. "Internet is a bit patchy up at Hogwarts, but Mum asked that I send her a PM once we're settled in and that she would check it once they were all done with whatever it was that they're doing there. Natsumi-Chan also mentioned it as she'll need to be doing something, though what... they wouldn't tell me."

Noticing the glances between the shipgirls, and the anger there, Hanna had to raise an eyebrow in confusion. However, she decided to let it lie for now. "I see... Well, I was thinking that maybe you might... want to spend some time with me?" Blushing as she found herself under his gaze, she shrugged. "Mein Schwester would not mind me having some company over at our quarters. And Eugen, she would like to see you again."

Harry frowned a bit in thought before he finally nodded. "Um... I don't really see an issue with that. Besides..." He then gave her a smile. "I don't mind spending more time with you."

That brought a smile to Hanna's face and she chuckled. "I do not mind spending time with you either, Harry." Moments later, she nodded. "Perhaps we can even talk some about where we might go while you are here some more."

With his smile becoming a grin, Harry nodded. "Great!" Turning, the wizard looked at the others. "What about you guys? Any ideas as to what you're going to do?"

Scratching her cheek, Maruyu frowned a bit and then shrugged. "Um, I don't know really. I was going to go and spend some time elsewhere on base." She then smiled and gestured at RO. "RO-Chan was going to take me to spend some time with the Uboats."

Unnoticed by them, Shioi paused and paled some as she remembered the only other time she had come to Germany. Where RO had invited her friends to go and stay with the Uboats and what had happened then. Meanwhile, Hachi was smiling and placing her arm around Maruyu's shoulder. "Hacchan thinks that you'll enjoy it, Maruyu-Chan."

Hands behind his head, Harry frowned a bit but then shrugged. "Huh... maybe I'll visit them as well. Never met most of RO-Chan's Schwester after all."

Even as she smiled at Harry using some German, something that made RO happy, the Uboat giggled some. "Maybe at a later time, Harry-Chan. But I would love to introduce you to them at some point, just not in their dorms..." At his confusion, she winked a bit. "It's a restricted area after all."

Just nodding, and not noticing that Hanna gave a sigh of relief, Harry soon turned to conversing with Regina. Eventually, they reached the mess hall and entered it with various conversations coming to a halt. Most were staring at the Re-Class that had entered with the shipgirls which made Regina gulp nervously and try and hide herself behind Harry. "Um... Harry? I... they're all staring at me..."

Glancing around, Harry nodded some as he looked over his shoulder as various shipgirls began to whisper. "Just follow my lead, okay?" When she nodded, the black haired boy gave a smile and waved. "Guten Abend! Mein name is Harry Potter and these are my friends."

Eyes peeking over Harry's shoulder from where she was crouched down, Regina swallowed down her nervousness as she gave a shy wave. "G-guten Abend... I'm Regina of the Timor Sea Fleet..."

Chuckles made them turn to find Graf Zepplin there along with Aquila. The German Carrier gave her a small smile. "Guten Abend, Mein Fruend. And welcome to Germany, it is nice to meet one of the Abyssals now on our side."

Looking at the hand held out, Regina glanced at Harry who nodded and motioned her on. Then she grasped the hand and shook it. "I-it's nice to meet you as well-Eep!"

All of a sudden, she found herself being tightly hugged by Aquila. "Buona sera! It's so good to meet you!"

Simply pulling down the brim of her hat, Graf sighed. "Sofia..."

Pulling back, Aquila just waved her off as Regina leapt behind Harry and tried to hide her massive form behind his much smaller one. "Ah! Scusa, scusa! I just could not help myself!"

If she had meant to break the tension in the room, it had worked as everyone relaxed. Everyone except the Duckies though. Said Destroyers tensed some as they sensed something in the air, something that they did not quite understand. A sort of six sense telling them that they were being hunted by their natural foes, Submarines. Needless to say, they were confused until they looked over at the food counter and spotted several women in their twenties there. Each of them were blonde and blue eyed, and looked like older versions of RO back when she was Yuu. But there was a motherly air among them as their eyes locked onto the three Destroyers.

For some odd reason though, those gazes made the Duckies tremble a bit in both fear and excitement.
_____________________________________________________________________

Watching as Fawkes vanished in a burst of flame, Natsumi smiled. Then she turned to Dumbledore who had a small smile on his face. "And there we go, Miss Ono. Fawkes will make sure that your message gets to this Tsuki."

Just bowing, Natsumi closed her eyes. "Thank you, Dumbledore-Sensei. Both for allowing me to ask Fawkes-Dono to transport my letter and for possibly bringing Tsuki-San here and allowing for her to stay for a day.'

Chuckling, Dumbledore shook his head and waved her off. "It's no problem, Miss Ono. After all, you and your aunt as well as Miss Maeda helped me quite a bit today." Looking out his window, he sighed a bit. "It does make me feel rather better that one issue has been taken care of."

For a moment, Natsumi scowled. "Hai, it's been taken care of and shouldn't bother anyone for a long time, if ever." Then she shook it off. "But still, you did not have to do this."

Dumbledore gave her a nod, but then shook her head. "Perhaps, but in the end it is not a bother." Stroking his beard, he gave the young kitsune a thoughtful look. "I must admit that I am curious as to why you wish to bring this Tsuki-San to Hogwarts."

Silent, Natsumi walked over to the window and looked out it at the grounds. "It... it is just an idea that I had. I want them here to give Tsuki-San and Hoshi-San a gift."

Raising an eyebrow, Dumbledore hummed a bit. "A gift, you say? And one that they need to come here to receive?"

Only nodding, Natsumi glanced over at him with a smile on her face "Hai, but I need to keep what it is a secret from them. Because it needs to be a surprise for both of them..." Her face then fell. "I need to prove to them that the shadow of another is not on them. And what I got planned out for a gift will do exactly that!"

If anything, that made Dumbledore's lips turn downward into a frown as he considered her words. There was a story there, he knew. But what sort of story it was though he did not know. However, he didn't ask her any further on it as it seemed to be private. "I see. Hopefully then Miss Maeda's sister comes here then."

There was a small twinkle of amusement in Natsumi's eyes as she grinned. "If I ask, then she'll come. Tsuki-San always comes when I ask her, like Hoshi-San." After a thoughtful silence, she shrugged. "Don't really know why though."

Moments later, she gave Dumbledore a confused look as he chuckled. "Oh, I think that I know. But I'll keep silent as it is not my secret to give if I am right. Though perhaps one day you'll figure it out."

Natsumi just blinked and gave him pout before she shrugged it off. She had a gift to plan out after all...

 

[darthcourt10]

taalismn

Abyssal Cults---The Enemy Within

"Life began in the depths of the oceans! The scientists even claim it! But life only arose because it was -allowed- to! And now the great will that allowed life to emerge from the waters has decided that life is flawed, and it has sent its judgment from the same depths to destroy the corrupt, flawed, sinful life! You cannot deny it! You cannot fight it! It is the divine order of things!"
---Anonymous Cultist, Ceylon

"I may not be able to fight Abyssals on the front lines; I can't swim and I get seasick just sitting in a bath tub. However, I CAN root out those...scum...who think to betray humanity by swearing service to the ocean monsters."
----Police Lieutenant Madeline Gonzalez, Panama

"F####ing damn -nazis-! What did they think, taking over an island at the mouth of the freaking -Baltic-?! Did they REALLY think waving the red and black and swastika gave them some sort of SUPERPOWERS?! Or that it instantly made one of -US- snap to attention and obey their commands like a zombie? I'm insulted, really I am! And this whole 'Abyssals are a secret weapon of the Fuhrer' nonsense! Icing on the cowpat strudel! It certainly doesn't give them any better tactical or strategic sense! Take over a Norwegian island?! Like every military force in EUROPE asn't going to surround and dislodge them? Honestly, the nazis of this age are no smarter than they were back in my day!"
---Shipgirl Scharnorst

"A barge full of refugees set adrift in the Java Straits and deliberately set afire...ferries deliberately bombed in mid-channel....ritualistic murders found along the waterfronts every other night....what kind of BEASTS are these people?!"
---Anonymous Malaysian coastguardsman

"Freak-seagoth worshipping bastards who wiped out our SWAT teams did so with guns handed out under the Federal Coastal Militia act! We relax the gun laws to allow the citizens to arm themselves and we end up arming the enemy's fifth column! Is there anything we can do that ISN'T going to end up biting us in the ass?"
---Sergeant Devin Miles, Georgia State Police

"I don't care if you ARE a veteran of the Battle of Tsushima, gospozha Shikishima; we've got recent intel the Word of the Depths is active in this area! They're the ones who attacked gospozha Navarin with a truck bomb and RPGs last year! You may be a battleship on the open seas, ma'am, but on dry land, you're -my- responsibility while you're in this city! You're just going to have to put up with the security escort when you're off-base, at least until we stomp out those damn fanatics once and for all!"
----Major Solomin Vitomir Makarovich, Port of Vladivostok


Calamity is known to bring out both the best and worst in Humanity. Just as Blood Week and all it portended brought out the best in the efforts of people to rescue their fellow human beings and unite nations in joint defense, it was no secret that there were also many who sought to ruthlessly exploit the opportunities presented in the chaos, or, in ignorance, to seek misguided solutions to it. The collectively-named Cults of the Abyss are cases in point. The appearance of demonic creatures from the oceans overthrew a great many preconceptions about reality, and threatened to overturn the perceived march of progress and scientific inquiry( a good number of people even predicted the arrival of the Abyssals and the Shpgirls would sound the 'death of science'). With rumor and uncertainty the order of the day, many people turned to older belief systems in search of answers. Some created their own belief systems from whole cloth, and it was from a mix of pagan beliefs, corrupted mainstream religion, and mass-hysteria that a multitude of Abyssal cults formed in the boiling turmoil of human society.

Some of these cults arose from misplaced and hip-shot efforts to placate the 'demons'', said to arise from human suffering and warfare on the waters, with obedience and sacrifice, in return for the mercy of the Abyssals, and a place in the 'new order' that was prophecized as coming in the wake of an Abyssal victory. The more nihilistic cults saw the Abyssals as the agents and vindication of the cultists's previously held apocalyptic imaginings, with the trappings of those beliefs simply redecorated with Abyssal iconography slapped on.

Regardless of their origins, the serious Abyssal cults quickly moved from 'goth'-style behavior and general civil disobedience and into more widespread vandalism, sabotage, terrorism, and murder. Believing that the 'rules of reality' had been overturned, the cults submerged themselves in the more bloodsoaked aspects of occult culture(the sudden new demand for which was gleefully fed by a number of fringe entrepreneurs, all too happy to hawk newly-penned 'authentic' copies of the Necronomicon and other occult documents).

Though few of these cults practiced true magic as known to the wizarding communities, enough of them stumbled on the principles of earlier, more primitive, disciplines, some of which operated on mystic bandwidths that the Abyssals seemed to tap into. At the very least. some of the more violent 'summoning' ceremonies contrived by the cults, with their outpourings of pain and rage, acted as beacons to the more blood-lusting Abyssals, like blood in water to sharks. To the cults, the quick arrival of an Abyssal on the scene of a blood sacrifice must have been taken as evidence that they had indeed summoned an entity from the Beyond.

Either by design or ignorant omission, the Abyssals' ignoring of a great number of transoceanic cables helped their cause. With the same maniacal deliberation that helped terrorist groups in the past create networks of operatives and even recruit agents-in-place, widely disparate Abyssal-cults found each other online and began to coordinate efforts. This allowed the cults to move to a higher threat level and better exploit the chaos of the Abyssal War as it unfolded.

In response to the hasty new ocean-ocultism, there was something of an equally hip-shot reaction on the part of society to the emergence of Abyssal cults, and many alt-religious groups suffered by association in the rampant 'witch hunts' that followed rumors of cult activity in any given area. This was exacerbated by many of the smarter cults hiding their activities by cozening up to more innocuous groups. The Library of Dagon Literary Society, for example, was a fringe internet group of HP Lovecraft fanfiction devotees that suffered hard when it was discovered that their websites were being used as bulletin boards by infiltrators of the Order of the Deep Spirits, an Abyssal appeasement group linked to attacks on Shipgirls on the American west coast. Further trouble was caused when word of Shipgirl summoning efforts became public, and a number of private groups, seeking to assist the governments, or to gather up their own regional defenders, tried their own summonings, and were mistaken for Abyssal cultists(a case in point being the attempt by an Alabama-based antigovernment survival group to call up a Confederate ironclad of their own, resulting in what was variously called a 'government massacre' by some, and a 'standoff gun battle' by others, when local police called in National Guard troops). Sorting between the well-meaning, but appearance-ignorant, amateur Shipgirl-summoners and the genuinely malicious Abyssal-worshippers was a task that many regional law enforcement agencies were initially ill-informed and poorly trained to handle, at least until more knowledgeable officials more familiar with Shipgirls could get information out. Still, in the panic of the early years of the War, 'witch-hunting' vigilante groups and 'friends of Shipgirls' societies often came to blows in the confusion.

The Shipgirls themselves did much to help calm tensions and deal with the worst of the Abyssal Cults, mainly by providing positive role models for people who might have fallen to the siren call of the cults. More direct action was occasionally called for, and the direct refusal of the Shipgirls Scharnorst and Bismarck to oblige the neo-nazi Iron Sons organization with recognition, and the Shipgirls' bombardment of the organization's headquarters on one of the islands off Norway, came as stark warning to other cultists that more than a little heavy firepower was against them. The more aggressive Shipgirl fan-groups, though sometimes accused of being cults themselves, became staunch and surprisingly effective hunters of cult activity, particularly online, as the pro-Shipgirl clubs encouraged members to 'root out the Abyssals among us'.

2010 saw the fall of the largest enclave of Abyssal cults in the western hemisphere, in the remains of Rio de Janeiro when the Brazilian Army finally did a full sweep of the area as part of their re-conquest of the coast(sanitizing the Amazon of Abyssal activity having consumed much of their time previously). Rumors of continued cult activity continued to plague the area for years to come, despite intensified efforts both domestic and international to root out Abyssal-related activities in the so-called 'forgotten front' of South America.

Interestingly enough, despite the greater stretches of undefended coastline, Africa possessed little cult activity...this has been ascribed to the lack of major target ports (the Abyssals seemed to most often target industrialized nations' sea ports and facilities, though Capetown was one of the bloody exceptions, along with the Siege of Madagascar) and a lower population density. Also, the mystic lure of the Abyssals didn't seem able to take hold amongst the myriad belief systems of Africa. Word either didn't spread fast enough to the susceptible portions opf the population, or else any cult activity was quickly squelched by the various secular and religious authorities in the region before it could become dangerously organized, as it did elsewhere.

By 2011 AD, the Abyssal cults had largely lost their power in most regions, thanks to the growing attention and confidence of global law enforcement. Special taskforces in both the military and law enforcement cracked down hard on suspected Abyssal cults. The online community saw a growing number of vigilante hacker actions tracking down cult behavior in the 'net, and denying the cultists that venue of communication and coordination, Ironically, many of these investigating groups were covertly assisted by elements of the Wizarding law enforcement, despite fears in some Ministry circles that such assistance skirted dangerously close to violating the SOS. Of course, in the Ministries it was known that the wizards had in some cases deployed their own special groups to recover magical items wrongfully acquired by the cults, and sanitize their hiding places in advance of muggle raids. However, the majority of wizard participation in cult-hunting was by individuals.

The Abyssals largely ignored the cults, except as more and obvious targets conveniently gathered on shore or foolishly venturing out on the waters. A few Abyssals did use the cults to acquire prisoners to torture, or contraband goods from the mainlands, but in general, those Abyssals seeking agents ashore found the majority of cultists too weak-willed, arrogant, or delusional to be reliable, or even tolerable. Most Abyssals simply found the cults tp be cheap entertainment at best, and used them as target practice. A great number of Abyssal Cult seaborne 'transmigrations' or 'ascensions' were simply acts of murder on the open seas at the hands of the cultists' Abyssal patrons. It's been estimated that actually more cultists were killed by their 'gods' than by government action.

Though many believe the Abyssal cult movement has run its course, through stronger law enforcement, better public education, and recent turnarounds in the course of the War(both victories at sea and the coming forth of Abyssals more sympathetic to humanity), government authorities still urge caution and heightened awareness, citing the dangers of both highly organized cult cells and deranged self-converted 'lone wolf' individuals carrying out attacks on Shipgirls and other targets of opportunity. Law enforcement, solitary Shipgirls, and passive Abyssals are considered the targets of choice for these cult actions, but just about anyone and anything is considered at risk.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking into the quarters given to the Hippers, Harry only had time for his eyes to widen before he felt himself being hugged and his face pressed into a chest that was not treaty compliant. "Harry! It's good to have you here!"

Rather amused, Hanna tapped her sister on the shoulder and pointed. "Schwester? I don't think that he can breath."

Just blinking, Eugen looked down and then jumped back a bit. "Ah, sorry about that Harry!"

All Harry did though was laugh it off and then hug her himself. "It's okay, Eugen. Besides..." He then grinned up at the Heavy Cruiser who was smiling down at her. "You got warm hugs."

That made Eugen laugh before she gave him a squeeze and pull back some. "So how are you enjoying Germany so far, Harry mein freund? Though I would say that you've seen nothing yet as the Americans say."

Harry snickered a bit before shaking his head. "It's been pretty good so far, though I think that I'll have to wait on that for a bit." At the curious look, he waved a hand. "The Duckies are still in the Mess Hall getting fed."

Confused, Eugen looked at her sister. "The Duckies? The Akizuki sisters?" Seeing the amusement in her sister's eyes as she nodded, Eugen raised an eyebrow. "Why are they..." Suddenly, they could all see that she had figured it out and she sighed. "The Type XIVs?"

Simply nodding, Hanna smiled. "The Type XIVs." With a small shrug, her smile grew a bit. "RO took Maruyu and the others to the Uboat dorms."

Frowning, Harry grumbled a bit at that. "Still don't see why I'm not allowed."

Both Hanna and Eugen shared a look at that. Then they turned to Harry and spoke at the same time. "You'll be able to when you're older."

If anything though, that made Harry sigh a bit more. "Everyone says that and won't explain why."

Shaking his head though, he decided to look around the quarters. It wasn't too different from the Heavy Cruiser dorms back home being something like a collage one. As he had expected, everything was neat and tidy including the bunk beds that were there. Above each bunk bed there was a shelf containing various odds and ends. In one corner of the room was a cage in which Harry could see Matilda giving him an bored look. There was even a small kitchenette in case one of the Hippers wanted something to eat or drink without going to the mess hall. In fact, there was what looked like a coffee bar there in miniature.

What really amused Harry was that there was an actual kotatsu in the middle of the room.

At his expression, Eugen blushed and looked away. "I... they were really comfy." Seeing his grin widen, her blush deepened as her sister snickered. "And really efficient at keeping one warm."

Leaning in, Hanna whispered a bit to Harry. "Bismarck has one as well. Drives Tirpitz up the wall at times, though I think that is part of why she even has it." At Harry's snicker, she stood up. "What do you think?"

Only nodding, Harry smiled a bit at a picture of Hanna and her sisters. "It's nice and... very warm actually."

That made Hanna beam a bit as she nodded. "Like a home." Feeling an arm around her shoulders, the Natural Born turned to Eugen and leaned into the embrace. "Or like how a home should feel."

Eugen gave her a small squeeze before chuckling. "Ja, and it will always be open for you." The brilliant smile she got let her know that she had said the right thing. After a few moments, she let go of Hanna and then walked over to the coffee bar. "Would you like anything, Harry? We have different drinks."

His eyebrows furrowing, Harry glanced at Hanna and then shrugged. "Um, maybe some hot chocolate?"

With a hum, Eugen nodded and began to make some as Harry looked around. Seeing the curious look, Hanna smiled at him. "Can you guess who's bunk is whose?"

After a few moments a grin split Harry's face and then he pointed at one. "Well, I know who's that is. It has to be Eugen's after all considering what's there after all!"

Blinking, Eugen paused where she was making some hot chocolate and looked. Sure enough Harry was pointing at her bunk. But what made her blush though was the fact that in particular Harry was pointed at the figurine of Bismarck that was on her shelf. Coughing, she turned back to the hot chocolate and pretended not to hear the snickers from Hanna as she answered. "Ja, that's my Schwester's bed."

However, Eugen did not mind too much. It was far better to hear her sister happy then she had been when she first came to live there. The fact that Hanna was smiling again for the first time since hearing what had happened to Harry was another reason to be happy. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled a bit as Harry identified Seydlitz bunk by the various aircraft models that there were. 'Hmm... I suppose that we shall need a six bunk soon...'

Meanwhile, Harry walked over to the bunk above Eugen's and smiled a bit. "And this must be yours, Hanna. After all, Hans is there."

Glancing at her loyal, though extremely worn teddy, Hanna nodded some. "Ja, this is mine." With gentleness, she took Hans and stroked his fur though part of her was frowning at the repaired tears. "Hans is getting a bit old though..."

A frown on his face, Harry looked down at the teddy bear and, sure enough, there were stitches everywhere on him. Despite the obvious love and care shown to him, it also seemed like he was likely on his last legs. Remembering how Hanna had told him that Hans was her only friend for all those years at her uncle's, Harry sighed before a thought occurred to him as he felt his wand hoster. "Um, Hanna?"

Due to the odd tone in Harry's voice, Hanna turned to him and blinked. "Ja? What is it?"

Chewing his lip for a few moments, the black haired boy took a deep breath before letting it out. "If you want... I can try to repair him." At her widening eyes, he waved his hands a bit. "There's a spell that I know, it repairs things really, really well. I've been using it a lot for the past few weeks so..."

Eyes wide, Hanna looked down at her faithful companion before becoming deep in thought. Then she turned to Harry and with shaking hands handed Hans over to him. "If... if you can, I would really appreciate it."

Unnoticed by Harry, Eugen's head whipped around to stare at them. After all, Hans was so precious to her younger sister that it took time for her to trust even her own sisters at first with her stuffed friend. Then, Eugen's expression softened as she realized what this meant in regards for how Hanna considered Harry. "Hmm..."

With extreme gentleness, Harry took the teddy and then walked over to the table and set him down before turning to Hanna. "First, I'm going to give him a quick cleaning, okay?" At her nod as she sat down beside him, Hanna watched as Harry removed his wand and waved it over Hans. She boggled a bit as all the small bits of dirt and stains he had gathered over the years vanished as if they were never there. "Okay, now for the repair spells..."

Several minutes later, Hanna reached out with shaking hands as she took the now fully repaired Hans. The teddy looked nearly as good as he had when she had received him so long ago from her parents when they were still alive. In the corners of her eyes, tears prickled a bit before she gave him a hug. "Hans..."

Blinking as Eugen set down a mug of hot chocolate, Harry looked up to see joy in the Cruiser's face before she hugged him. "Danke, Harry. Danke."

Then she pulled back in time for Hanna to grab Harry and tightly hug him. "Danke, danke! Hans is better now, danke!" Pulling away a bit, the Natural Born then moved her face and pressed her lips against Harry's cheeks. Unnoticed by her, Eugen quickly took a picture before Hanna had the chance to pull away. But when the fifteen year old did, it was with eyes wet with unshed tears. "Danke... You have no idea how much this means to me."

A blush on his face, Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... I think that I might, Hanna." He then turned to the teddy and smiled softly. "I still have my blanket from... from my parents that I was dropped off at the Dursleys with."

Upon Hanna's face was an expression of understanding, one that said she understood what he meant and what that blanket meant to him. "That's the one that you have your Mutsy and Naggy under, right?"

It went without saying that the reminder of the Mutslug and Torinagato plushies he had gotten from his mother and Aunt Mutsu made Harry smile. The two were among his most precious items he owned along with the baby blanket. "That's right, it's what they use to keep warm."

Eugen's lips twitched a bit at the reminder of the two stuffed toys. She could still remember how over a video chat the two had introduced their stuffed toys to the other's and came up with various things. At the time it had warmed Eugen's boilers to see her youngest sister (or that was how all the Hippers considered Hanna, much to her joy) be laughing and brightly smiling. Glancing at Hans, her smile widened a bit. 'That was a good decision to introduce the two of them.'

Several minutes later, the conversation turned to other topics and Harry glanced at Eugen with confused expression. "Um... where's Hipper, Seydlitz, and Blücher?"

All Eugen did though was sigh a bit as she sipped her coffee and took a bite of the cake that was there. "Ah, my Schwester? Seydlitz was a bit nervous, so they took her out for a bit to relax."

Hanna rolled her eyes at that, certain that they were heading to the nearby bars. But she did frown thoughtfully. 'I wonder if Hartmann's son is with them this time... hopefully, they don't get into as much trouble as they sometimes do with him.' Moments later, she heard Harry ask her a question which snapped her out of her thoughts. "Hmm, something wrong, Harry?"

The black haired wizard then raised a book that had been on the table. "I was just commenting on how I didn't know that they did a German translation of the 'Ship who Danced at the End of the World'."

Grimacing, Hanna leaned against one fist as she sipped her own coffee. "Ja, they did, Picked it up at the library here on base, Eugen and Hipper tried to read it. But..."

With a shrug, Eugen shook her head. "Not really our taste."

Eyebrow raising, Harry chuckled a bit. "Um... Hanna? I take it going by your expression that you didn't enjoy the twist at the end?"

Scowling, the Natural Born shook her head. "Nein, I did not. The whole book sounded interesting the whole time. How in the future there are two sides of humanity due to shipgirls having children. One are the descendants of shipgirls and the others are a branch created in response to shipgirls! One that became cybernetic and modified themselves organically! And then, at the end, the main character sends herself back in time due to everything that happened. Then she got fired on by some modern humans because of how she looked."

Harry then nodded. "Because it turns out that her branch of humanity had turned themselves into the Abyssals. And she breaks at the realization that she is the first Abyssal and wants to stop it from happening, causing the war in the first place."

A grimace on her face, Hanna nodded. "Ja, ruined the whole book in the end. Everything else was good, except for that which soured it."

In reply, Harry only nodded as Eugen sighed and sipped her coffee. The Heavy Cruiser happy that she did not bother finishing the book and having heard this rant from her sister many a time.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 102: S0ngD0g13

The Hot-Rod Race, Part One...
................................................

Jaw rolled up to the starting-line in his coupe, the 40-horse go-kart motor newly-replaced with a 300-horse motor from an electric car, and the Mad Mechanic of Kure had done such eldritch mechanical things to both the motor and transmission to boost the horsepower to 350hp, that during the pre-race inspection, Akashi had recoiled and crossed herself, murmuring about 'blasphemy', and Vestal had been so enthralled that she'd missed the bowl of her pipe with the match and lit her left eyebrow, and both repair-ships had stumbled away dazed and commenting on the plaid taste in their mouths...

Alongside him pulled Haruna and Rose in an electric copy of a '35 Austin 12/6 Eton, and Akagi and Kaga rolled up on his other side in an electric '39 Datsun Road Star coupe.

Live-streaming from a chartered helicopter, Naka grinned into the camera. "Welcome, Ladies, Gentlemen, and Naka-fans, to another sports episode! This time it's electric kit-car racing here in lovely Hokkaido, with a twist, but first, let's introduce our racers!"

The camera panned down to the starting line. "On the left in the red Datsun Road Star, the Incomparable Duo, the Pride of the Air Fleet, Kaga and Akagi, Team Red Rider! On the left in the tea-green Austin Twelve-Six, the fastest of her class, Haruna, and her partner, Rose Potter; I give you Team Steam-Punk! In the center, driving the black '32 Ford Model B, yes folks it's a little Deuce-Coupe, James A. W. McAmis, the Mad Mechanic of Kure Naval Base, with Zuikaku of CarDiv Five riding shotgun, I present Team Game-Bird!"

Naka smiled wider. "Now, the rules of this race are fairly simple; up the mountain on one side, down on the other, then turn around and come back, but that's where the twist comes in. Finishing first doesn't guarantee a win, because this is a bootlegger race; each car has thirty-six gallons of water in the trunk split between twelve flats of quart Mason jars to simulate a load of 'mountain dew', and each broken jar adds a half-second penalty to the racer's time. We go now to our reporter on the ground, the Littlest Ensign of Sasebo, Jane Richardson."

Jane grinned into the camera and flashed a thumbs-up. "Thanks, Naka! Now, as you can see, the racers are being loaded and getting ready. Let's get their thoughts." She came alongside Team Red Rider's car. "Akagi, Kaga, how do you feel? Nervous?"

Kaga gave her most-stoic look, and Akagi shook her head. "I'm confident of our chances, Jane; the other teams won't see anything but our tail-lights."

Jane went next to Team Steam-Punk's car. "Aunt Haruna, Miss Rose, how are you feeling tonight? Do you like your chances?"

Haruna nodded, bobbing her head to the Initial-D soundtrack playing from her speakers. "Very confident; they'll never see more than a blur."

Jane went to Team Game-Bird's car last. "So, James, how do you rate your chances in this race?"

Jaw smiled wide. "I'd rate our chances pretty high, Miss Jane, and please, my friends call me 'Jaw'. But, as I was sayin', Team Game-Bird has two big advantages here. One, I've got Lady Luck herself ridin' shotgun," and Zuikaku snorted a laugh, "and two, I'm originally from Greene County, Tennessee, and back there the Moon Shines over the Mountain in Quarts and Gallons."

Jane laughed. "Anything to say for the folks watching, Jaw?"

Jaw nodded. "This race is dedicated to my normal wrench-bending partner, Akizuki. Lil Sis, if you're watchin', this run's for you."

Jane stepped away from the cars and faced the camera again. "There you have it, Naka; lots of confidence from all three teams. Who will win it? Who knows?"

"Who knows, indeed, Jane? But it's time to race; Racers, Start! Your! Engines!"

...........................................

Jaw kissed Zui's cheek and pressed 'play', and heard his playlist start...

My pappy said, "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you stop drivin' that hot-rod Lincoln..."

Well have ya heard the story of the Hot-Rod Race when the Fords an' Lincolns were settin' the pace? That story's true, I'm here to say, cause I was drivin' that Model A...

Jaw was tapping his hands on the wheel in time to Big Bill Kirchen's guitar when the green flag dropped; he dumped the clutch and shot off the line like a fighter off the deck, the other cars right behind him.

Haruna came alongside and waved, just before Jaw waved back, caught a higher gear, and sailed around a curve on the outside. Jaw heard Zui singing along to the new song, and laughed joyously at the lyrics...

... Sometimes into Asheville, sometimes Memphis-town; the Revenuers chased him but they couldn't run him down;
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode, and he'd go by like they were standin' still on Thunder Road!

Akagi whipped past Jaw, and he grinned a wild-eyed grin as he reached for the shifter...

To be continued...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking beside Hanna, Harry had to raise an amused eyebrow at Hipper, Seydiltz, and Blücher. The three Heavy Cruisers all were nursing hangovers, though Eugen seemed unamused and according to Hanna had made sure that they felt even worse by sounding an airhorn to wake them. A glance at Eugen nearly made Harry laugh as she was rubbing the side of her head. "I suppose that I should be thankful."

Head tilted to the side, Harry raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Eugen gave him a look and then gestured at her sisters. "At least this time, I did not have need to go and pick up Mein Schwester from the brig along with the Admiral's son. Nor the local drunk tank."

Just wincing, Hipper let out a breath. "It is not that bad, Eugen. You're making it out to be worse then what it is."

All Eugen though was give them a look and a frown. "Nein, it does get that bad." She then turned to Harry and shook her head. "It is why I do not go with them when they go out to drink when they have the younger Hartmann. Because they always get into trouble."

Coughing, Hanna gave her sister an amused look. "At least this time it did not involve the Admiral's car ending up in North American. Or in the North Sea."

That brought a groan from Seydlitz as she rubbed her brow. "That was only one time, Hanna. Once, never again." She then winced a bit. "It took some time for the Admiral to forgive us."

Only rolling her eyes, Eugen muttered a bit to herself. "And I wonder why that was?" Softly though, she sighed a bit as she felt a headache of her own. "I wish though that you did not have a hangover for this though."

Blinking, Harry reached into his pocket and then pulled out three vials. "Well... I got some hangover cure potion here. It'll get rid of them right away."

Suspicious, Hipper took one of the vials and gave it a small glare. Then she uncorked it and swiftly swallowed it before there was an expression of disgust at the taste. Moments later though, the Heavy Cruiser blinked as her hangover vanished and looked at it. "Amazing, my hangover is gone, like that."

Quickly, the other two took a vial each and downed them. As her own hangover vanished, Blücher turned towards Hanna with a serious expression on her face. "Hanna?" When said girl nodded, she continued with a serious tone. "Marry him."

Moments later though, she winced as Eugen swatted her upside the head. "Enough!"

At the same time, Hanna had her red face in her hands. "Mein Gott..." Pulling her face out of her hands, she then turned to Harry and frowned. "You don't have any for their drinking partner, do you?"

In reply, Harry raised an eyebrow and held up another vial. "Of course I do." When Eugen gave him a frown, he shrugged. "RO-Chan and Hachi-Chan suggested that I make several batches before we came here. Then asked that I give them the hangover cure potions..." Frowning, Harry leaned towards Eugen and Hanna. "Um... did any of the Uboats need some? I mean, Hachi-Chan and the others did get back late last night."

Both Hanna and Eugen shared a look before they coughed. Hipper meanwhile raised an eyebrow. "Yes? I do suppose that they might find a need for some."

All Harry did at that though was nod in thought. "Huh, I wonder if that is why I keep getting looks from them..."

That caused all five Heavy Cruisers to blink and then turn towards where there were Uboats. Sure enough, they were all stealing glances at Harry before whispering to RO. Said Submarine had a rather large grin on her face at whatever her friends and sisters were saying as she whispered back to them. At seeing some of the looks, Hanna drifted a bit closer to Harry and shot them glares. However, that only seemed to amuse some of the Uboats.

Part of Harry though was a bit bemused at how Shioi seemed to be trying to stay away from the Uboats. Though Maruyu seemed to be at home really with the really small Uboats though. Ones that Harry recognized as being the Coastal Submarines. Moments later though, Harry's attention was grabbed as the Duckies appeared and tried to crouch down behind him. "Hide us, Harry-Chan!"

Confused, Harry turned his head and raised an eyebrow at the three of them. "Um... hide you from what?"

More then a little carefully, and nervously, Akizuki peeked out from her spot behind him. "Those... those Type XIVs... they're scary."

Burping a bit, Hatsuzuki nodded. "Hai... we can't eat anymore, Harry-Chan! B-but they keep giving us more food! And we can't stop when they do..."

Only nodding, Teruzuki was about to say something when she gasped and then ducked more behind Harry. "Eep! Here they come, Harry-Chan!"

Extremely amused, Harry just smiled a bit and waved at the Uboats in question who only nodded at them as they walked by. Once they were gone though, Harry handed a vial of the hangover cure potion to Hipper who jogged off to see the Admiral's son to give it to him. While she did that, Harry turned to Hanna with a small smile. "I forgot to ask you last night, Hanna, but how close are you to awakening? And what will happen then?"

Thinking it over, Hanna eventually nodded. "According to the scientists, I should be fully awoken sometime after a month. Of course, then comes training in being a shipgirl."

Harry just nodded at that. "Of course."

After a few seconds, Hanna continued. "That will take a few months, mainly in the Baltic. But it shouldn't be too long before I'm heading out. After that? I... I'm considering joining the exchange program. Which means that I might spend tours in Britain, such as Scapa Flow, for short periods of time."

Unsaid, of course, was that it was equally likely she would be spending time in Japan much as her own sister had done. After all, there was less need for a Heavy Cruiser like her in the North Sea and North Atlantic with the Royal Navy and both of Germany's former navies holding it dow among others. Especially as Eugen had passed on that through the grapevine that she had heard that there was a rumor that in a few years a Heavy Cruiser might be needed for Taigei's and Ryuuhou's group to provide some firepower just in case. Sure, it was just a rumor for now, but...

However, Harry was focused on something else. "Wait, Scapa Flow? Does that mean that you could visit me when you're on leave then?"

Even as Hanna 's cheeks reddened, Eugen nodded some. "Ja, that means that she might be able to visit you on her times of leave when in Britain." She ignored the betrayed expression on Hanna's face while tapping her chin as if in deep thought. "You have some days when you visit the local village, correct?"

Blinking. Harry nodded some in thought. "Hogsmeade weekends. And I have a few of those each year too." Suddenly brightening, Harry turned towards Hanna. "I can see if Professor Dumbledore could set something up."

Only ignoring the pleased smirk on Eugen's face, Hanna nodded some. "Yes, I suppose that something might be able to be arranged then."

As they entered the Summoning Chamber, Harry glanced around taking note of some of the differences between what they had in Japan and what was here. Besides the obvious ones of the artifacts, there was an different scent to the incense. "Um... what sort of incense is that?"

Glancing at Harry, Hipper chuckled a bit. "We use Oil of Amber in our ceremonies, Harry. It is perhaps a bit different from what you may be used to, but it works." Taking a deep breath, she then let it out. "I find it smells quite good."

Simply nodding, Harry was about to comment when he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked at Hatsuzuki who was motioning to someone. "Look at that, Harry-Chan, who Maruyu-San is talking to."

Interested, Harry turned and blinked at the girl that the small Submarine was now talking with. She was not much taller then a Destroyer, but there was something about her. And not just the rather incredible hips she had either. It took Harry a moment before he realized who she was. "Is that Gustav?"

Blücher gave a nod and a smile at him. "Ja, correct Harry, that would be Gustav. Her sisters are also here..." She then nodded towards another part of the room. "And over there are the Zeppelins."

And, sure enough, when Harry looked he could see wolf-girls floating around in the air. They were mostly talking among themselves where they did so, and all of them were avoiding the torches. Part of Harry remembered how he had heard that they were being used for anti-Submarine duties in the North Sea along with the British Airships, though according to SGO the two sides often had issues working alongside one another. Others though were down in North Africa and helping out with the issue there of tracking the various bandit groups that were preying on people. They also helped find refugees making their way across the desert. "Cool!"

Unable to help herself, Blücher gave a nod. "Very much so, my freund." It was then that she noticed something and nodded. "Ah, we're about to start it seems."

More then a little interested, Harry only smiled as the summoning began. As it went on and he could feel the buildup, the black haired boy became more excited to see what was going to happen. Eventually, the Magicite and Liquid of Life both glowed brightly though the Magicite's light pulsed in time to heartbeats in the room before they vanished. Once everyone's eyesight adjusted to how the lighting in the room was back to normal, they turned to the Summoning Pool and more then one stared.

As expected, Weser was standing there on the water of the Summoning Pool. Wearing a modified version of the same uniform as the other Hippers, she had a flight deck on one arm and in the other was a crossbow. The fact that she looked identical to Seydlitz was barely noted.

However, it was the other shipgirls standing there which caught the rest of the attention.

One of them looked similar enough to Graf that they could be sisters and caused quite a number of mutters. Along with her were several others that looked like they could be Battleships and such, which made even more mutters. Eyebrows furrowed, Hartmann strode forward and looked them over. "I am Admiral Hartman of the Deutsche Marine, may I welcome you all back. Though I am sure that introductions are in order."

Clearing her throat, Weser took a step forward and saluted. "Aircraft Carrier, Weser, reporting!"

Even though there was a look of confusion on her face, the one who looked like Graf also stepped forward. "I am Flugzeugträger B."

One by one they introduced themselves, though Hartmann pinched the bridge of his nose as four of them introduced themselves as U-112 to U-115. As another introduced themselves as Mackensen, Hartmann turned to look at Harry who gave a sheepish smile before giving a shrug. Already, the German Admiral could just feel the paperwork increasing on his desk as his headache increased...

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 103: S0ngD0g13

The Hot-Rod Race, Part Two...
....................................

Jaw gripped the wheel with one hand and reached down to his lap with the other, lifted the half-liter glass bottle of Coca-Cola from between his legs, and took a long pull before replacing it. He eyed the road signs, noting the warning of several impending switch-backs, and chuckled. He could see Haruna and Akagi jockeying for position behind him in his rear-view.

The Ford slid into and around the first curve as though it were on rails, and Zuikaku reached for Jaw's phone...

... Mama lock your daughters up; that wild bunch is back in town, and them little girls get frisky when the--

The song cut off as Zui started her own playlist.
Spoiler: Zui's Playlist Track One

Jaw shook his head. "Turkey, if you're gonna play Yoko Kanno tunes, at least play Tank! first..." He skipped songs twice without looking to find the song in question and accelerated into a straightaway...
Spoiler: Zui's Playlist Track Four

Haruna and Rose shot past on the inside of the next curve, and Jaw saw Akagi gaining ground. The Tennesseean saw the next curve ahead and roared into it on the outside, half his body hanging out the driver-side window like a yachtsman to keep it upright; as Team Game-Bird blew past Team Steam-Punk's Austin, Jaw's head was close enough to Rose's window to smell the Earl Grey.

The song changed and Zui gave Jaw a light swat for sneaking that song onto her playlist, though she smiled all the same.
Spoiler: Zui's Playlist Jaw's Bonus Track

The racers topped the mountain with Jaw and Akagi running side-by-side and Haruna just behind. Jaw looked up at the bright full moon above and grinned. "Hey, Zui, wanna see how a real bootlegger drives on a night this bright?"

Teams Red Rider and Steam-Punk goggled as Jaw accelerated, and turned off his headlights, running by moonlight alone down the mountain...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As they watched most of those who had come walk out, Harry scratched his head in utter confusion. Something about the whole thing did not make the slightest bit of sense after all. "What the heck happened?"

Glancing at his puzzled face, Eugen frowned a bit. "You don't know, Harry?"

Slowly, Harry shook his head still trying to work out what happened. "No... Even with what we had, we should not have gotten the number of unfinished ships." After a few more moments, Harry looked over at Hipper who walked up with a frown on her face. "Um... what's going to happen now?"

Hipper gave a sigh as she took off her hat and scratched her head. "Admiral Hartmann wants us to stay here for now. Not that we were going to leave without Weser, but he wants to talk with you." Seeing Harry flinch, she reached out and gently grasped his shoulder. "It is nothing bad, Harry. He only wishes to ask if you have some idea as to what happened here today."

With a frown on her face, Hanna nodded some as she watched the various shipgirls get pulled out of the Summoning Pool. More surprisingly was the amount of Uboats that were just under the water as well. "Is there anyway that this could have happened?"

Frowning thoughtfully, Harry hummed a bit before furrowing his eyebrows. "Not really? Not unless you have..."

As Harry trailed off, RO walked up and noticed Harry looking at something. "Something wrong, Harry-Chan?"

Voice low, Harry muttered some just enough for those shipgirls around him and Hanna to hear. "There might be one thing... Um, Eugen?" When said shipgirl nodded, Harry narrowed his eyes. "Who are they?"

Confused, Eugen frowned and turned towards where there were a group of older teens and young adults. With a quick glance through her logs, she hummed. "They're from a small seamanship school on the Baltic. It's small and relatively unknown, but some of their graduates do runs with the convoys between Germany and such. And they are very good at catching signs of impending Abyssal attack. Especially in the early days when they helped with the evacuation of some of the islands."

Beside her, Seydlitz nodded some. "Ja, in fact that's why they're here. The Summoning was planned months ago and the school was invited in thanks. Admiral Hartmann just decided to allow them to come even though the purpose changed."

It was Hachi though who caught the considering look in Harry's eyes as he watched the students chatting. "Harry-Chan? Is there something that you're not telling us?"

Glancing at her, Harry's frown deepened. "The school's name, it wouldn't happen to be Klabautermann, would it?"

Surprised at the guess, Eugen nodded some. "That's right, the Klabautermann School of Seamanship. How did you guess..." Then her eyes widened a fraction and she turned to the students before frowning in thought. "Wait... They're named after the mystical being that protects sailors..."

Harry slowly nodded some before noticing that one of the students were looking at them and brushed his hair away from his forehead. Sure enough, said student's eyes widened and they stumbled only to be caught. Then, excitedly, he gestured at Harry before freezing as they noticed the shipgirls were all looking at them. "There's a magical school on the Baltic called the Klabautermann School of Magical Seamanship. It's were magical sailors and such in Europe go to get trained, though others head to Merge School of Underwater Spellage in the Red Sea."

Blinking in surprise, Maruyu turned towards Harry in surprise. "Underwater Spellage?"

Just nodding, Harry kept an eye on the group of students who were now giving somewhat curious glances at him and nervous ones at the shipgirls. "Hai, it's a school that teaches various underwater magics located at the bottom of the Red Sea." More then one of the shipgirls gave him odd looks at that, though the Submarines became interested at his next words. "There's even a spell there that that allows for one to breath water without a diving aparatus and can last for hours."

Raising a finger, Hachi leaned in. "A spell that allows for you to breath water? And it lasts for hours?"

With a glance at her, Harry gave a nod. "Pretty much? It also allows for you to go pretty deep." Becoming thoughtful, he tilted his head back some. "They used to hold field trips to famous shipwrecks as a final test. According to the book, in 2001 they visited the Titanic and I think they did, um..." The black haired boy gave a glance to Eugen and flushed a bit. "Bismarck one year..."

That made Eugen's eyebrows raise in surprise before she frowned in thought. "I see..." She then glanced at Hartmann. "What can you tell us about the Klabautermann School?"

Simply shrugging, Harry shook his head. "For the most part? They train their students to be sailors and how to use specific magic that can help them out with that. Spells like ones to sense when storms are coming, dangerous water, that sort of thing. I think they even got some spells that can allow for sailors to find out when hostile intent is focused on them. But a lot of it is just normal seamanship." He then smiled a bit. "They got a two week summer program for students that aren't of age. Been thinking of going for it as they simply send out a small sailboat to the place... I think they've got a branch in Japan, though I'm not sure."

All Hipper did was slowly nod with a hum. "I see... That may help you out if you wish to join a navy."

In reply, Harry placed his hands behind his head and nodded. "Well, that was the idea I've been thinking of."

Out of nowhere, a voice spoke up behind them and made them turn to find Aquilla there sipping some coffee. "Wouldn't they get in trouble due to how magicals view things?" At their looks, she waved a hand in front of her. "Ah, Scusa, scusa, I walked over here because Henrietta is talking with her sister when I overheard your conversation."

Tapping his chin, Harry shook his head some. "Not that I know of? I mean, with the Abyssals there's a lot less reinforcement going on at sea. And I think that as long as they don't do something really magical, no one will really care much. They got other things to worry about after all."

With a slow blink, Aquilla turned to the group of students who were now walking out of the room a bit quicker. "Hmm... I wonder how many are serving in the convoys?"

Not having expected an answer, she was surprised when Harry shrugged. "A lot I think, there's not much magical trade going over the sea right now and there was an opinion piece in the Prophet that was deriding them for helping non-magicals." That got sour looks from all the shipgirls, though Harry continued. "Neville said though that most of them just see it as doing their part."

Crossing her arms, Hanna watched as the last of the students walked out before turning to Harry. "Think anything will come of it? I mean..."

Much to her relief, Harry shook his head. "I don't think so, after all they might get in trouble for being here and they would want to avoid that sort of attention. Being here with what happened? It's the sort of slapping the magical government and law enforcement in the face that they can't really ignore, so they'd keep quiet... I think." He then shrugged. "Might want to keep an look out though just in case..." The wizard then turned to Eugen with a frown. "You wouldn't happen to know how many were here, do you?"

Eugen frowned and then consulted her logs for what she did know, but it was RO who answered after glancing at one of her sisters. "There were fifty seven of them that were present." At Harry's surprise, she frowned. "What's the issue?"

Ruefully chuckling, Harry shook his head. "Because I think that we know why and how so many got summoned." At their looks, he gestured at himself. "I was here so that my magic would act as a catalyst, right? And all of them were magicals... more then fifty of us in one place. So there was a lot of magic which might explain things."

Only looking to where Hartmann was walking towards them with Weser, Hipper grimaced. "Even if that is so, then we must tell the Admiral. How he'll react though..."

To their surprise though, Hartmann barely gave a start when they explained some things. "A magical school, you say?" When they nodded, he only nodded slowly. "I see... that would explain a few things that has been noticed about them." Seeing that they were about to ask, the Admiral just waved them off with one hand. "No matter, it's a thought for a different time. But I would appreciate it if you could send me any information that you may have on them."

Scratching his head, Harry just nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

Now smiling, Hartmann clapped Weser on the shoulder and gently guided her to her sisters. "With that said, I must head back to my office and take care of the amount of paperwork this will give me. In the meantime, I would suggest that you all head to the celebration that will be occurring for this."

And with that, Hartmann walked off. Unknown to the others, he was looking forward to simply sitting down with a wolpertinger in his lap to stroke as he did paperwork. Somehow, it did wonders for the Admiral's stress levels...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

There was a small smile on Hoshi's face as she glanced towards Natsumi, the younger kitsune practically bouncing in place from excitement. Suddenly, there was a flash of fire and Hoshi smiled a bit at her twin sister who appeared in a swirl of flames. Walking over, Hoshi enveloped her in a hug and a bright smile. They may not have been identical twins, but that does not mean that they were not as close as ones. "Tsuki-Chan."

In reply, Tsuki smiled and then hugged her sister just as tightly. "Hoshi-Onee-Sama." Pulling away, she laughed some as Natsumi practically glomped her. "And here is little Natsumi-Chan! How have you been doing?"

A grin on her face, Natsumi looked up at her. "Pretty good, Oba-Chan has stated that I'm becoming a better Miko all the time. And she's been training me as well..." Then she shrugged a bit. "So how are things in Canada?"

Laughing a bit, Tsuki shook her head. "Extremely well, though I can only talk about British Columbia really." After a moment, the kitsune shook her head. "Especially in regards to my boyfriend."

Grin becoming sly, Natsumi hummed a bit. "Oh? And how close are you to marrying? Because it's been a bit so far and Hoshi-San said that you showed him who are."

On Tsuki's face was a blush as she shot her smirking sister a look. "I see..." Turning back to Natsumi, she sighed a bit and ruffled her hair. "As to that, we're pretty close to deciding to get married. Just... a few more issues to sort out first." A fond look crossed the kitsune's face at that as she sighed. "He has no issue with me being a kitsune, or a Kyuubi even."

Patting her on the shoulder, Hoshi only smiled. "That's some good news then, Tsuki-Chan. You deserve some happiness." Suddenly, both her and Hoshi stilled as a song that conveyed congratulations could be heard and they both turned to Fawkes. Said pheonix seemed inordinately amused as they remembered that he was there. Coughing, Hoshi bowed deeply to the pheonix. "Our apologies for forgetting to thank you, Fawkes-Dono."

Moments later, the Kyuubi actually blushed as Fawkes gave her a look. Then he gave a stunned Tsuki a nuzzle and then hopped over to give the same to Hoshi before letting out a short song that made both kitsune gasp in happiness. Head tilting to the side, he bobbed his head and then was off. Watching him, Natsumi turned to the two stunned kitsune. "Somehow, I don't think that he minds much."

Brightly blushing, Tsuki took a deep breath before turning towards Natsumi. "Right... Anyways, while I am not unthankful for seeing one of my favorite... kits." Even though the younger kitsune was confused at the pause, and the significant look given to her by Hoshi, Tsuki continued. "I must wonder why you went through all the trouble of setting this up. It had to have been some work to convince Dumbledore-Dono to allow for this and to transport me all this way."

However, Natsumi only shook her head and took the kitsune's hand. "It wasn't that hard actually. Besides, Dumbledore-Sensei knows how important family is and I thought that you might like to see some of the things that I've been working on and seeing here."

Eyebrow raising as while it was the truth, there was something hidden there. Allowing herself to be pulled along towards the castle, one that even with all the centuries she had was still rather impressive, Tsuki turned towards her sister. "What sort of things has she been working on?"

Lips twitching and ignoring how Natsumi had puffed out her cheeks, Hoshi hummed. "Something about a hidden room, I believe. Oh!" Leaning in towards her sister, she stage whispered in her ear. "Also working on winning the heart of a boy that she really, really likes."

Whining softly, Natsumi pouted some. "Hoshi-San..." When she only got laughs though, she huffed a bit. "I've also been training hard at stuff that Oba-Chan has been teaching Shiromizu-San and I! And Oba-Chan has said that I've been doing really good!"

At the interested look on her sister's face, Hoshi nodded some. "Haru-Chan has been teaching her the ways of the Onna-bugeisha. She even got that nice Samurai Yuurei at that tunnel nearby to help them."

Natsumi let out a grumble as she rubbed at a phantom pain in her shoulder. "Nice? I wouldn't say that, Hoshi-San. He's really, really tough."

Only raising her eyebrow, Hoshi chuckled some. "And yet, here you are Natsumi-Chan. You have not given up and given it your all instead. All so that you can stand at the side of your friends if they need you." Gently, she placed her hand on Natsumi's shoulder and made the younger one tail look up at her. "You've also been doing extremely well. For all the teasing that Haru-Chan gives you, she is quite proud and... I know that I am extremely happy and proud of you."

Her eyes lighting up, Natsumi gave a small bow. "Thank you, Hoshi-San." She then tilted her head back. "Do you think that Obaa-San and Ojii-San, Chichi-ue's parents would be happy and proud as well?"

Silence came from Hoshi and Tsuki for several seconds though the older of the two, Hoshi, had a far off look on her face before she answered. "I am certain that your Obaa-San through your Chichi-ue would be extremely proud and the same with your Ojii-San."

Unnoticed by Natsumi who was giving a sad smile towards Hoshi, Tsuki had a sympathetic one as she watched her sister. "Really?" When Hoshi nodded, Natsumi turned back towards Hogwarts. "That makes me really happy. I mean, Ojii-San wasn't a samurai or anything, but Chichi-ue said that he was something else and so was Obaa-San."

A small, sad smile came to Hoshi's face as she nodded. "Yes, though he was just a hunter who did his best, he was a great man. Your Obaa-San was honored to have met him and to have his love. I was close with both of them, so I would know." Moments later though, she shook off her thoughts and turned back to Natsumi. "Speaking of your training, perhaps I should teach you a few tricks that I know of as well?"

If her tail was out, Natsumi was sure that it would be wagging in excitement. "Really? You would teach me some of your awesome powerful tricks? Like... like the one where you destroyed an Abyssal fleet with!?"

Blushing at the obvious hero worship, Hoshi snickered some. "Well, it was not an Abyssal fleet... just a Battleship... some Cruisers... maybe a handful of Destroyers as well..." At Natsumi raising an eyebrow, her blush deepened a bit. "Not a fleet."

Voice coming out in a drawl, the youngest there made her feelings on the matter well known. "Riiiight. And the fact that it was a Battleship Demon that was leading them..."

The amused cough from her twin made Hoshi flush a bit deeper and shoot her a look. Looking away from Hoshi, Tsuki let out a innocent whistle. "Yes, not that big of a deal. Isn't that right, Onee-Sama?"

Suddenly gaining an evil expression on her face, Hoshi leaned own towards Natsumi and whispered to her. "You know, Tsuki-Chan here once killed an Installation that tried to set itself up in Okinawa in the aftermath of Blood Week. It was quite the battle between them before she slew it."

Needless to say, the snickers from Tsuki died a quick death as Natsumi rounded on her with sparkles in her eyes. "Really?! It was you who slew Okinawa Princess!?"

Despite the blush on her face, Tsuki shot her sister a dark look that promised revenge. Her sister meanwhile just smirked in a way that said to bring it on. Turning towards Natsumi, Tsuki let out a breath and softly smiled. "Well, yes, I suppose that I did though I did have help as the USN and JMSDF did weaken her with airstrikes just as I got there. However, enough about that as I believe that my Onee-Sama here was going to show you some of her wicked cool moves as the young ones say."

It was now Hoshi's turn to whimper a bit as Natsumi turned to her. "That's right! So what sort of thing are you going to teach me? Huh? Whip up a storm? Animate a forest?! Oh! Oh! I know! It's how to create an giant made out of earth!"

Both Hoshi and Tsuki were giving her disbelieving looks at this point as she came up with more and more unbelievable things that she could be taught. Glancing at her sister who seemed torn between unable to believe what was coming out of Natsumi's mouth and wanting to laugh her tails off, Hoshi sighed internally. 'What are they teaching kits nowadays?' Quickly shaking it off, Hoshi reached over and tapped Natsumi on the nose. As the twelve year old furiously rubbed her nose, Hoshi gave her a small smile. "Well, one thing that I can teach you is a small trick that we picked up. Now... how well can you manipulate your Kitsune-bi?"

Confused, Natsumi shrugged some. "Really well, why?" She then held out a hand with her palm up and created a colorful flame there. "See? It's not that hard."

Watching as she had the flame roll around her hand, up one sleeve and then across her shoulders before going down the other arm, the two older kitsune blinked. When she created a second flame and had it to what the first did, but with the first also retracing it's steps, Hoshi and Tsuki raised their eyebrows in surprise. Finger against her chin, Tsuki shared a look with her sister. "That... is impressive for one of your age. Most would just be starting out with their Kitsune-bi..."

Natsumi only shrugged some as she created a third flame and began to bounce it on her nose. "I've always been pretty good at stuff like this. After all, I was five when I learned to make it from watching Onii-San's training."

Slowly, Hoshi gave a nod at that. "Yes, that is true enough I suppose..." Clearing her throat as Natsumi had her flames shift between different colors, the Kyuubi began. "There is more then just creating a number of them though and moving them. A kitsune who trains at it can also manipulate their flames in different ways as well. For example..." Holding out her hand, Hoshi created a blue flame and held it at the tip of her finger. Then the flame began to rotate until it formed a ring of rapidly spinning flame around her hand which then expanded until it was a hoop that she leapt through. "One can manipulate the shape of the Kitsune-bi as well."

It was then that Tsuki took over and created small kitsune out of her Kitsune-bi that danced around her. Eyes wide, Natsumi just boggled at them before giggling as they ran up her body and danced on her shoulders. "Okay, this is pretty cool."

With a snap of Tsuki's fingers, they vanished while Hoshi took over. "Kitsune-bi can be used for other things then just lighting the way. A truly exceptional kitsune can change the temperature. Normally, our flames do not warm nor chill. But!" She raised a finger. "Due to what some of us have learned from magic, we can instead allow for our flames to burn as if real. Some kitsune can create Minobi for example, flames that burn brighter and more furiously when water is added to them. Trying to pat them out makes them multiply. Others... have studied such flames as Onibi and replicated their effects. As you are friends with an Onmyouji, if he allows for you to observe his flames, then you can create similar ones."

Frowning thoughtfully, Natsumi furrowed her eyebrows. "Harry-Chan would definitely let me learn from that..." She then looked at Hoshi. "And... you'll teach me?"

Very slowly, Hoshi nodded some. "Hai, I will teach you what I can. You have certainly proven yourself responsible enough to do so."

Even though internally she was extremely curious, Natsumi decided to focus on the here and now and guided Hoshi and Tsuki around. Both Kyuubi were very interested in the castle around them, especially as they had not been in a magical school for a very long time. Not that they would tell Natsumi much about that no matter how much she asked. Hoshi did reveal though that she did learn magic from a European wizard several decades before in exchange for showing him around places where wild, magical beasts in Asia were. She had also kept up on the matter over the years.

And to prove it, a wand appeared in her hand and she gave a flick and a swish that caused some armor to raise upwards.

More then a little in awe, Natsumi soon grumbled as she realized that she wouldn't be able to. Though she did wonder if she could convince Harry to teach her. Not likely he would mind after all...

Walking into the Room of Hidden Things, both older yokai felt their eyebrows raise as they looked around. Tsuki was the one who spoke up though. "Well now, isn't this a surprise."

Slowly making her way through the part of the room that they were in, Hoshi nodded some. "Very surprising, especially how some of these are quite old." Eyebrows raising, Hoshi grabbed some manacles. Ones that moments later she turned to a puddle of melted metal. Seeing the surprise on Natsumi's face, she gave a very thin smile. "Those were created to bind one with magic. And they were used on children from what I could tell."

Just wincing, Natsumi glanced at the now cooling puddle and grimaced. "Um... the Caretaker mentioned that stuff like that was used..." At their looks, she shrugged. "Apparently the Hogwarts Caretaker has traditionally been a Squib, so..."

Only sighing, Tsuki shook her head. "So of course some would use such methods. All because of jealousy for what they were not born with."

After a moment, Natsumi shrugged some as she walked over to where there were still some cauldrons and picked one up. "There's some other neat stuff here though. Like this cauldron right here." Flicking a finger at it, she nodded at the sound. "Solid gold. Harry-Chan's going to gather them up and then sell them to some vampire in Diagon. He thinks that he can use them for an idea that Niiyodo-Chan had and needs funds for."

Looking at the cauldron, Hoshi only nodded some in thought. "Well, that would gain them quite a bit of funds for whatever they may use it for."

Then Natsumi lit up a bit. "Oh! And we also found a lot of broomsticks in here and flying carpets. The broomsticks we donated to the school, Hooch-Sensei was very happy and is going to credit me with it along with Harry-Chan. The flying carpets though are being stored back at Yokosuka."

Bemused, Tsuki looked at her. "Flying carpets? Really?"

All Natsumi did was shrug a bit. "Yeah, I was surprised as well. Apparently they're illegal to use in Britain, not to own... or something like that. Dumbledore-Sensei suggested that we keep them somewhere as they might be worth it when the Statute falls."

With a hum and a shared look, both elder kitsunes had their own thoughts on the matter. Thoughts involving a scene from an animated movie that they would deny. Especially as it involved Natsumi.

It was several hours that they were finished with the interior tour which also included them meeting some of the ghosts. Natsumi didn't ask what Hoshi spoke about to Myrtle, but it left the young spirit somewhat thoughtful. After a late lunch, they all went out onto the grounds and Tsuki took a deep breath as they walked into a glade. "Ah... it has been some time since last I was out in such a wild place." Turning, she gave her sister a look as they both allowed their tails and ears out. "What say you, Onee-Sama?"

Hoshi let out a sigh as she closed her eyes and simply listened, though she noted that the place looked familiar somehow. "It has been a while for myself as well. Far too long, I think." Opening them, she turned her gaze to Natsumi and smiled. "Thank you for spending the time with two old Baa-Chans like us."

Sputtering, Natsumi waved her hands around. "I don't mind, you're both really cool! Besides, you know all sorts of stuff and I've liked it." With a glance around, she nodded at a log. "Right, can you both sit down there? I promise that you'll like this."

Despite their amusement and curiosity, both kitsune did as asked though Hoshi did raise an eyebrow at the blindfolds that Natsumi pulled out. "Ara~ What are these now, Natsumi-Chan? Trying to pull a trick on us?"

Just grinning at them, Natsumi shook her head. "No trick. It's a surprise though, one that I think that you'll like."

Now really curious, both kitsune allowed for Natsumi to blindfold them. Much to their surprise though, their hearing also cut out and left them in silence and darkness. Which was not to say that they could not still smell or feel. Sitting their, they enjoyed the feeling of the cool breeze drifting across their skin and the smell of the glade. Both of them could sense Natsumi moving across the glade and smelt hay much to their confusion, though Hoshi felt an inkling at the back of her mind. After some time though, another smell drifted into their noses. One unfamiliar to them, but it smelled... pure. It was unidentifiable, but carried with it the sensation of cool, spring water. Of fresh falling snow on mountaintops or a how life returned in spring.

It was just... pure.

Neither of Tamamo's daughters quite knew how to take it, but they still stayed there. They trusted Natsumi after all for many, many reasons. Even as the smell got stronger, and the feeling of purity washed over them, they did not do anything but sit there and bask in it. Natsumi did eventually walk behind them and then they felt their blindfolds come off. For several seconds, the two were blinded and assaulted with sound. But they still heard Natsumi clear as day. "I told you that you did not have bad karma due to who gave birth to you."

When their vision cleared, both kitsune gasped as they looked around them. Hands on her hips, Natsumi also looked at the unicorn herd that had settled in around them, just eating the hay she had put out. A number of them were close enough for the kitsune to touch, but they did not seem in the least bit nervous. However, she caught the odd twinge of a scent of salt water and blinked. Then she heard Hoshi's voice crack. "O-oh my Kami..."

Looking towards them, Natsumi was stunned as both elder kitsune were openly crying, Tsuki letting out soft sobs. Unable to help herself, Hoshi put her hand to her mouth in pure shock as tears continued to pour out of her. Blinking, Natsumi looked first at the two and then at the unicorns. Their crying only increased as one of the expectant mothers walked over and nuzzled their tears away, with them now openly sobbing. "Hoshi-San? Tsuki-San? I... are you okay...?"

Both of them didn't answer for more then a minute before shakenly stroking the unicorn's muzzle. Then they turned to her with faces glowing with both wonder and joy and it struck Natsumi that they were crying tears of pure joy. Just as she was about to say that, the two older kitsune stood up and wrapped her tightly in a hug while they thanked her and cried all the harder. When their knees gave out while various other Unicorns stood close or lightly nuzzled them with their sobs becoming wails, Natsumi just stood there and supported them with a smile while hugging them back.

Unseen by either, up in one of the nearby trees sat Haru with a smile on her face as tears ran down her own cheeks. 'Congratulations, Natsumi-Chan. Maybe this will get through their heads finally.'

None of the three said anything when Haru joined them, except for Hoshi and Tsuki to grab hold of her just as tightly as they had Natsumi as they felt all the darkness being washed gently away...

 

[darthcourt10]

Cyberbeta

Harry Leferts said:
Despite their amusement and curiosity, both kitsune did as asked though Hoshi did raise an eyebrow at the blindfolds that Natsumi pulled out. "Ara~ What are these now, Natsumi-Chan? Trying to pull a trick on us?"

Just grinning at them, Natsumi shook her head. "No trick. It's a surprise though, one that I think that you'll like."

Now really curious, both kitsune allowed for Natsumi to blindfold them. Much to their surprise though, their hearing also cut out and left them in silence and darkness. Which was not to say that they could not still smell or feel. Sitting their, they enjoyed the feeling of the cool breeze drifting across their skin and the smell of the glade. Both of them could sense Natsumi moving across the glade and smelt hay much to their confusion, though Hoshi felt an inkling at the back of her mind. After some time though, another smell drifted into their noses. One unfamiliar to them, but it smelled... pure. It was unidentifiable, but carried with it the sensation of cool, spring water. Of fresh falling snow on mountaintops or a how life returned in spring.

It was just... pure.

Neither of Tamamo's daughters quite knew how to take it, but they still stayed there. They trusted Natsumi after all for many, many reasons. Even as the smell got stronger, and the feeling of purity washed over them, they did not do anything but sit there and bask in it. Natsumi did eventually walk behind them and then they felt their blindfolds come off. For several seconds, the two were blinded and assaulted with sound. But they still heard Natsumi clear as day. "I told you that you did not have bad karma due to who gave birth to you."

When their vision cleared, both kitsune gasped as they looked around them. Hands on her hips, Natsumi also looked at the unicorn herd that had settled in around them, just eating the hay she had put out. A number of them were close enough for the kitsune to touch, but they did not seem in the least bit nervous. However, she caught the odd twinge of a scent of salt water and blinked. Then she heard Hoshi's voice crack. "O-oh my Kami..."

Looking towards them, Natsumi was stunned as both elder kitsune were openly crying, Tsuki letting out soft sobs. Unable to help herself, Hoshi put her hand to her mouth in pure shock as tears continued to pour out of her. Blinking, Natsumi looked first at the two and then at the unicorns. Their crying only increased as one of the expectant mothers walked over and nuzzled their tears away, with them now openly sobbing. "Hoshi-San? Tsuki-San? I... are you okay...?"

Both of them didn't answer for more then a minute before shakenly stroking the unicorn's muzzle. Then they turned to her with faces glowing with both wonder and joy and it struck Natsumi that they were crying tears of pure joy. Just as she was about to say that, the two older kitsune stood up and wrapped her tightly in a hug while they thanked her and cried all the harder. When their knees gave out while various other Unicorns stood close or lightly nuzzled them with their sobs becoming wails, Natsumi just stood there and supported them with a smile while hugging them back.

Unseen by either, up in one of the nearby trees sat Haru with a smile on her face as tears ran down her own cheeks. 'Congratulations, Natsumi-Chan. Maybe this will get through their heads finally.'

None of the three said anything when Haru joined them, except for Hoshi and Tsuki to grab hold of her just as tightly as they had Natsumi as they felt all the darkness being washed gently away...​

*-*-*-*-*

Not too far away from the glade, Hogwarts and Forbidden stood looking at the scene. Hogwarts turned her head to say something only to stop.

Forbidden had a look of contentment on his face. He almost seemed like he would break out in a smile. Noticing Hogwarts giving him a now questioning look he spoke. "Those two, were they not so wound up in business away from me would make better Guardians than the Centaur tribe...with the possibility of that Firenze, the one smart member of the tribe learning from them."

He turned to walk a distance from the glade signaling the younger spirit to follow. "Your having them come here, I have not had such respectful, powerful beings that needed that sort of help come by since well before you were born."

Hogwarts raised her eyebrows hearing that. "I know that Boneheaded Laird and his court caused the mess that was Peeves befouled this land. But you had ones such as those Kitsune sisters come by?"

"Not exactly. You know the Fair folk still cause some mischief from time to time?" Hogwarts nodded in reply to the question. "Well, myself and one or two other Forests, depending on the time of year, would have members of either court come and rest for a time just like those two. We were Neutral Grounds to the Courts, and just gave them peace they needed.

"Forbidden turned to walk back into his domain seemingly ending the conversation. He paused before passing an old Oak. "Fair warning, depending on how the future unfolds, they might start coming by again within the next Century. Especially a young page who is well known. He certainly was such a Goodfellow"

Forbidden stepped past the tree and vanished leaving a stunned Hogwarts to head back towards the glade her visitors were pulling themselves back together in.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

There was an amused air to Hiei as she waited outside the living room for the others. As Mutsu and John came into view, she raised an eyebrow at her fellow Japanese Battleship and the man she had decided a while back was her Admiral. "So then, any idea what Jane wanted us here for?"

It wasn't either of the two though that answered her, but rather a somewhat grumpy Arizona. "No. But Jane wanted all of us here for it."

A frown on his face, John looked over at Arizona with a concerned expression. "Are you sure that you're feeling alright, Arizona? You've been... out of sorts for some time now. If you need a break-"

However, Arizona just waved him off with a small smile. "No, John, I'm alright actually. Just feeling a bit odd recently. And before you asked, I got checked out by Dewey and she confirmed there was nothing wrong with me."

Gently, Mutsu placed her hand onto Arizona's shoulder with a small frown. "Just remember, we're here for you if you need it."

Ignoring the grumbling from her sister, the American Battleship patted her friend's hand before nodding. "That I do know." She then turned towards Albie and Archie who were talking to each other. "Neither of you would happen to know what Jane has planned, would you?"

Only sharing a look with Archie, Albie shook her head in some confusion. "Your guess would be as good as ours." Adjusting the pants she had stolen, she frowned some. "All I know is that Jane as for us to find her a really big cardboard box."

More then one of those blinked and shared a look. Cardboard box? Jane? Now what was that girl up to?

They didn't need to wait long as it turned out as Jane poked her head out of the living room and grinned. "Great! You guys are right on time so come on in!"

When they walked in though, John raised an eyebrow at the object in the middle of the room. The fact that even though it was draped in a blanket did not hide the fact that it was tall and rectangular. 'Well... that explains where the box is...'

Meanwhile as they all filed in, Jane was working on some computers before they turned on. On one screen, a somewhat tired looking Jinstuu could be seen along with Naka and Harder. The other screen showed an excited Kiyoshimo sitting in Musashi's lap, the Yamato watching with a bemused expression. Grinning, Kiyoshimo let out a squee. "{It's all done, Jane!? Really!?}"

Proud, Jane nodded as she held her head up high. "Yup!" Coughing into one hand, the nearly thirteen year old grinned. "Now, I am certain that most of you are wondering what I called you all here for?"

Leaning against the arm of the couch, Hiei chuckled a bit. "Well, it did cross our minds..."

Jane only nodded some as she began to pace in front of them. "Well, wonder no more! As many of you know, Kiyoshimo and I have been hard at work at a project. One that is near and dear to our hearts! But, until this point we have failed! However!" Coming to a stop in front of the object, Jane held up one hand. "We have solved that issue! And with the might of MAD SCIENCE! we have done what others considered the impossible! Drumroll please!"

Much to their amusement, Minimu and Smolzona were performing a drumroll. Sighing, John held back from pinching his nose. 'I wonder if other fathers need to deal with this?'

At the same time, Jane grabbed the sheet. "And now, without further ado! I, Jane Richardson hereby present the great success that will allow for girls everywhere to live their dreams of becoming Battleships! Presenting!" She yanked off the blanket and John facepalmed at what was revealed as Naka fell back laughing. "THE TRANSMOGRIFIER!"

Blinking, Pennsy stared at what had been just a normal cardboard box. Now though was the word "Transmogrifier" written on one side with what looked like a dial made out of cardboard. At one end was "Little Girl" and the other was "Battleship". There was also some LED lights here and there. "... What?"

Naka only nodded on the other side of their connection in Hawaii as both Jintsuu and Harder stared in other confusion at what they were seeing. "{Ah, I see.}" She then turned to Jinstuu. "{It's amazing the things that they do with corrugated cardboard these days.}"

Still confused, Jintsuu turned to her sister and frowned some. "{Um... right...}"

Only pinching his nose, Richardson sighed. "Naka, don't encourage her." Looking up at the box, he internally groaned. 'Who let her read Calvin and Hobbes?'

However, Jane only motioned to the Smols. "Now, with the help of my two assistants, Smolzona and Minimu, I, Jane Richardson, shall engage the machine! And so live my dream of becoming a Battleship..." She then paused. "It might take a few minutes though for the transformation to be complete, so please wait!"

Quickly, she ducked in as Naka watched with a grin. 'Okay, this should be good.' Then she had a thought that she shook off. 'No, that's impossible...'

Suddenly, Jane shouted from inside the box. "PULL THE LEVER!"

Walking up, Smolzona nodded. "ZONA!"

Just reaching up, she pulled the lever down and people could see flashing lights inside as Jane shouted. "RIGHT LEVER! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

All John did was facepalm as Mutsu patted him on the back. "Oh for... I do not believe this..."

Several minutes later, the box was still rocking back and forth as Naka explained the comics and Harder frowned. "{Wait, so in these comics you got this boy named Calvin, who's sort of a brat. And he's always causing trouble and such with a stuffed tiger, who he imagines is real? Mad science and everything, though it's all in his head?"

Nodding, Naka chuckled some. "{Yes? Though it's a pretty good comic strip really.}" At the looks she was getting from not only her sister and Harder, but also Nevada who had joined them, she shrugged. "{I'll get you a copy of some.}"

Only nodding, Jinstuu frowned. "{Sure, I guess?}" It was then that the Light Cruiser noticed that the box had stopped rocking so much and frowned. "{I think that she's done?}"

There was a loud "BOINK!" and Naka was unable to help herself as she fell back in laughter. "{OH MY KAMI! SHE DID IT! THAT MADWOMAN DID IT! SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS GOES BOINK!}"

It went without saying that practically everyone was not staring at her as if she was crazy. Meanwhile, Hiei was still leaning against the couch arm in amusement and cleared her throat as the box lifted up. "So, how did it go..." Then she blinked as the box lifted up entirely and Naka's laughter died. "... Jane?"

Almost as one, everyone turned and looked at Arizona who was frozen and then to the box where an exact duplicate of the American now stood. Even the same uniform was on her. Then they turned back to Arizona who twitched a bit. Meanwhile, internally, Jane was grinning. 'Success!'

From the corner of her eye, Jane could see Kiyoshimo give her a thumbs up. Sure, it took some of the Polyjuice that Harry had, but the Destroyer went along with the prank easily. And with Kongou still over in the US visiting Kirishima for a bit, the Battleship was still able to be pranked. Opening his mouth, John could hear an odd keening coming from his wife. "Jane... is that you?"

Hands on her hips, Jane gave a sharp nod before speaking in Arizona's voice. "Yup! It's me, Daddy! And now I am a Battleship just like Ari-Mama!"

John could hear a loud pop and blinked at the small amount of smoke now drifting out of Ari's ear. "Um... right... Oh, and Jane?"

Eyebrow raising, Jane smiled a bit. "Yes, Daddy? What is it?"

Wincing as he heard another pop, John grimaced. 'And that was Hiei I think having one of her fuses blow...' Just clearing his throat, he paused for a moment before closing his eyes. "Jane, just... stop, don't say that?"

Only tilting her head, Jane blinked innocently which somehow looked wrong on Arizona's face. "Say what, Daddy?" Now Jinstuu had small streams of smoke coming from their ears as Jane patted her stomach. "Hmm... I'm hungry for some donuts." Skipping up, she gave John a kiss on the cheek and then was gone. "Bye, Daddy, I'm going to get some donuts."

At that, there was several pops as the other shipgirls all had fuses blow as they bluescreened. That is, except for Naka who was humming in thought. "{Not bad... not bad at all. Wonder if she would let me know how she pulled that one?}"

She got no answer though as even John was twitching at what happened, trying to figure out what it was. Finally, Arizona shook it off and got to her feet. "I'm... going somewhere. For some time..."

Hiei just nodded and got up with her, soon joined by Albie and Pennsy as well as Archie. Only shaking her head, Hiei sighed. "I'm coming with you, there's no where near enough alcohol in the world for this, but I'm going to give it my best shot."

All Mutsu did though was tilt to the side until she was laying there, still staring ahead. None of them noticing Smallbacore on a nearby bookshelf recording the whole thing with a grin.

 

[darthcourt10]

Azzaciel

First off, sorry for taking such a long time to write again.
Second, sorry J.R.S. ,but I just have to include funny bits.

The Once and Future Ship, Part 17
__________

"...And now we come to one of my favourites, 'Truths hidden over centuries' written by Fioro Fiacili in 1709, and translated by his friend Melloi Velvet in 1713, where he claims to have found a centuries long conspiracy hidden by the time frame it covers. It supposedly started as early as the 6th century and continues well into the 12th and possibly beyond, but he was unable to look up pertaining texts on the assumed time, since he had no reliable contacts in Asia.

Even assuming the stated times are correct and nobody in the know leaked any information to the outside, take a moment to imagine the security and personnel needed to perform any large scale operation running for that long. Now imagine having effectively perfect information control for this theoretical operation. On these accounts alone you may see how a conspiracy on this scale is simply unfeasible, and yet you do not even know what he accuses this particular conspiracy of doing.

Stealing material wealth and magical or historical artifacts and funneling them out of Europe, into Asia, and possibly beyond.

And we aren't talking about chump change or some everyday trinkets here, no, Fioro claims that this conspiracy has stolen, at his best estimate, somewhere in the range of 200 million Galleons in material goods, and an 'effectively unmeasurable' amount in heirlooms and or national treasures.

Dear readers, I cannot possibly recommend a better book to read if you wish to see the greatest crackpot theories ever imagined by conspiracy nuts for a good laugh.

Fioro goes as far as providing citations of reports on thefts various magical governments have compiled. His book follows the supposed trail of the 'Siphoners', as he calls them, starting from our very own homeland, to our neighbours to the west, over Scandinavia, down to the southern tip of Portugal and then through Italy to the middle east, where he loses the trail.

Here is the halfway point of the book, where he begins theorising who might be the masterminds, what they mean to do with their ill gotten gains, and where you could look to take up the trail, provided you are versed in foreign languages.

And the entire time it is possible to see that the way he picks his evidence is clearly biased, like when he considers thefts of, admittedly old, weaponry, while dismissing thefts of such things as the newly commissioned crown of magical Castille in 1098.

Next we have…"

- Argenea Fulovitt, 'Greatest comedians who thought they were serious', 1897
__________

Walking a coastal road from northern Italy towards the east, Prydwen glanced to the sun in order to estimate the time until she would need to camp for the night. She'd arrive in Maghera a week from now, where she would restock on spices and salt, before moving on through Greece and Constantinople to lands yet unsearched. She had a few more hours of light, and could leisurely walk a few more miles today.

That expectation was betrayed when she heard the sound of hoofs coming up behind her, five riders, no clattering iron, light equipment, presumably scouts or an advance party of some sort.

She turned her head and had her assumptions validated when she saw that one of the riders carried a banner of a red cross on white. Prydwen noted that all riders had the same coloring going wherever they used cloth on their and their horse's equipment.

Turning to face them, she shifted her cloak slightly to have better access to her current sword incase this encounter turned hostile, you never knew on the road. As the riders approached, they slowed until they stopped a dozen feet or so away from her.

"Greetings, sir knight.". said the leading rider in a friendly but subtly tense manner.
"Greetings to you as well, warriors of…", Prydwen inclined her head.
"Ah. We are soldiers of his majesty, Richard I. of England, leader of the current crusade. We were tasked to make sure the road ahead is secure and as such I must ask of the destination of your journey.", an awkward smile on his face.
"The east."
"'The east.'is it? To find another, who wishes to reclaim the holy land from the heathens, it is not the first since we set out from France.",he straightened up,"Just wait here for the rest of the army to catch up and join with them instead of traveling alone, it'll be safer."
He said to her with a nod and then urged his horse to get going again.

Prydwen didn't bother to correct his assumptions and turned to look in the direction they had come from. Reaching with her right into her satchel, she started petting Fou's fur and waited.
Not long after she could see a large number of people on the horizon.
Her mood increased further when Merlin told her, that this close some of the more accurate, but far less ranged, talismans attuned to some of her knights were reacting.

Well, traveling with an army for some time might be interesting.
__________

AN: The plot thickens. Some Kaijus among you may even be able to guess the plot.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Stretching with a sigh, Jersey chuckled a bit as she walked along with a smirk on her face. Despite the time of year, the night's temperature was not too bad though it had gotten chilly. However, that was more due to the time of night that it was more then anything else. Even then though, the Battleship didn't really feel it. Her scarf kept her nice and toasty after all.

Well, that and the belly full of Sasebo burgers and Japanese beer.

Just patting her stomach, Jersey hummed a bit before shaking her head. "You know, Hyuuga, I'll give you guys one thing. You make some damn good burgers here, not as good as American burgers mind you. But still fucking good."

Crossing her arms under her breasts, Hyuuga narrowed her eyes at Jersey and let out a scoff. "As far as this Aviation Battleship is concerned, Sasebo burgers are far superior compared to American. I have tasted the difference after all."

Metal toothpick working at some meat stuck between two of her teeth, Jersey snorted some. "Bull. Fucking. Shit, you wannabe Carrier. American burgers are a hell of a lot better. Sasebo burgers are good, but nothing on a good American burger."

Eyes narrowing at Jersey, Hyuuga got right up in the American's face and frowned. "No, Sasebo burgers are the superior ones." Then she smirked a bit. "And our beer is better compared to the piss that you seem to like."

Now growling, Jersey's face was inches from Hyuuga's as she glared. "Want to say that again? Because those are fighting words."

Her eyebrow raising, Hyuuga grinned a bit. "Sasebo Burger, Superior. American burger, inferior. Also, Japanese beer is far better then American piss water."

Both Battleships looked like they were about to come to blows when a voice rang out. "Heeeeey! Hyu-uga! Jersey! Hey... are you going to kiss?"

The sound of steel straining could be heard as Jersey's and Hyuuga's heads snapped around to boggle at a drunk Hiei. Also spotting Pennsy walking somewhat unsteadily behind the Japanese Battleship, Jersey blinked. "The fuck? And hell no!" She then jerked her thumb at Hyuuga. "Like the fucking hell I would kiss her. 'Sides, Crowning is a fucking damn sight better in bed."

Rolling her eyes, Hyuuga shook her head as Hiei blinked. "Oh... Does that mean that you two are going to be in a threesome? Hiiieeeee!"

In reply to that, Jersey just facepalmed and sighed. "Oh fuck off, Hiei." Looking up, she frowned a bit. "Just how many drinks have you fucking had tonight anyways?"

Hiei blinked for several moments in deep thought as she stumbled into Hyuuga who easily held her up. "Um... three..." At their disbelieving stares, Hiei smiled some. "Three bars?"

Now pinching her nose, Jersey shook her head. "Right, three bars." Glancing at Pennsy, she frowned a bit. "Wait, you're getting drunk with Hiei? The shit?"

Giving her an even look, Pennsylvania glared at her. "We had our reasons and they were good ones."

Softly snorting, Hyuuga gave her a look. "Really? Somehow, I really doubt that."

All Pennsy did was turn to her as Hiei blinked. Then the two Battleships of the Richardson household shared a look before turning back to Hyuuga and speaking as one. Something rather incredible, not just because of how the two did not exactly get along, but also due to how drunk they were. Their answer though caused Jersey and Hyuuga to stare at them. "Jane turned into Arizona's clone and then called John 'Daddy' while kissing him on the cheek."

Utter silence enveloped them for several moments as Jersey tried, and failed to come up with a response. Eventually, she shook her head rapidly to reset herself. "I, wat."

Only nodding, Hyuuga jerked her thumb at the Iowa class. "What she said."

Taking a deep breath, Pennsy let it out. "Jane created this thing with a cardboard box, she called it a trans... transmogrifier, I think." Then she shook her head. "She then went inside and somehow transformed into Ari..."

Before she could continue, Hiei then took over. "And then she walked over to John and called him 'Daddy' still, in Ari's voice. Mutsu I think nearly popped her turret when she kissed his cheek and once again called him Daddy. Really, really disturbing..." A full body shudder went through her. "We're trying to drink the images away. Still not enough alcohol..."

Jersey slowly blinked and then looked from one to the other. After a few moments, she took off her cap and scratched her head. "Uh, look... drugs and alcohol really don't mix." Feeling the stares, she scowled. "Firstly, fuck you all. Secondly, I was around for Vietnam and shit. You would not believe what sort of things my crew got into. Thirdly, fuck you all."

Raising a finger, Hyuuga smirked. "You said fuck you all twice."

With a scowl, Jersey growled at the Aviation Battleship. "Yes, and? Once more, fuck you all. Especially you, big breasted Carrier-wannabe."

Instead of getting mad though, Hyuuga only shrugged. "jealousy of my fuel tanks? Or is it how Musashi-San blew you off." All Jersey did though was give her a gesture that was near universal which made her snort. But then, Hyuuga realized something and turned to look at the two drunk shipgirls. "Wait... you said that you went out... Did Arizona-San also..."

Expression becoming one of horror, Jersey looked around before whipping towards Pennsy and Hiei who shuffled around a bit. "Oh... fuck. Please do not tell me that you lost her. That there is not a drunk Arizona wandering around..."

Sharing a look with Pennsy, Hiei then gave her a smile. "Then we won't!" As it turned out, that was the wrong response as Jersey began to shake her around. "Hiiiieeeeee!"

Thankfully for Hiei though, Hyuuga pulled Jersey off Hiei though the Kongou kept whipping her head back and forth until Pennsylvania whacked her upside it. Facepalming, Jersey let out a hiss before turning to Hyuuga. "Okay, we need to track down one drunk Battleship before she gets up to trouble."

Now serious, Hyuuga turned to Pennsy and frowned a bit. "Is there anyone with her? And where was the last place that either of you saw her at?"

It took a few seconds, but Hiei then snapped her fingers. "Albie and Archie are with her and..." She then pointed. "We last saw her way over there."

Both Jersey and Hyuuga turned in the direction given and felt a headache come on. Mainly because it was not a spot as much as a direction. Hyuuga summed up both their thoughts as she pinched her nose. "Oh boy... this is going to suck."

Much to their surprise, it was far harder to find Arizona or either of the Submarines. In fact, by the time that they managed to find them, Hiei was sobering up much to her regret. She was not the only one as Pennsy was also becoming sober by the time that they found her sister and the others. Something that they regretted soon after.

No, not because of the person who could have been mistaken for a Buddhist monk if not for the fact that he was now twenty feet tall looming above the two Submarines with an expression that did not bode well.

The reason that they soon regretted finding them was the Arizona. Said Battleship had gotten on top of a car and began to twirl around as sparkles gathered there. "DONUT! FAIRY! TRANSFORMATION! MAGIC!"

As they watched in disbelief, Arizona's usual uniform disappeared into light as she twirled. Even the Yokai stopped to stare as her clothes became a bright pink ballroom like dress, though the skirt only reached her knees. It also had a heart-shaped keyhole. A golden tiara appeared on Ari's forehead as two fairy wings appeared from her back and the final bit was a wand with a donut at the end. Hyuuga rubbed her eyes as the Battleship stopped with the glow dissipating around her. "I... wha..."

Having not noticed her audience, Arizona went into a pose. "You! Evil giant! You dare interrupt our drinking! In the name of fried pastries, I, Magical Battleship Girl Ari-Chan, First Magical Girl of the Fleet will defeat you, Desu!"

Eyebrow twitching, Jersey just stared while Pennsy stared completely stone faced. The yokai though just threw a garbage can at the transformed Arizona, who leapt into the air. "GO AWAY!"

It turned out, oddly, her wings actually worked and then she pointed her wand at the yokai as she hovered. "ENOUGH! Lyrical! BuOrd, Vickers, Skoda, Bofors, Orkellion, General Motors, Rolls Royce, Blast Them All!"

Cellphone held up and recording the fight, if such a beatdown could be called such, Hiei heard something crack and turned. Moments later, she blinked as she realized that one of the lens for Jersey's sunglasses had cracked. Then the American said the words that were on her mind. "What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do. To. Her."

With a nervous chuckle, Hiei shrugged. Meanwhile, with the attack on it finished, the yokai whimpered as it looked up at Arizona floating above him, her wand glowing threateningly. "M-mercy?"

Tilting her head to the side, Arizona blinked and then smiled. "Mercy? What's mercy? Is it tasty?"

Hyuuga glanced at Pennsy and winced as the Battleship was staring at her sister who was now continuing her beat down, completely expressionless. 'Uh... I think that she broke her...'

Unknown to her, inside Pennsylvania's bridge, her crew were boggling at the sight of the Battleship rolling around in laughter, tears coming from her eyes. And every time she stopped, she looked at the windows to see Arizona continuing only to laugh even more.

When John later saw the video, he only sighed and went straight for the alcohol. He was far too damn sober to deal with that bullshit and he could already hear Goto laughing at him. This despite Goto being in Yokosuka.

That asshole.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As per usual for the mornings after a celebration, Harry woke up in a cuddlepile with an odd taste in his mouth. Frowning, he blinked for several moments and then grimaced. 'I forgot to brush my teeth after having all kinds of sugar... again. I've got to stop doing this.' Slowly, the night before came back and he smiled a bit. Due to the summoning, everyone had decided to have a party. Those of his age and below were not allowed near the alcohol, and had to make due with the punch.

Very good, heavily sugared punch as it turned out.

Needless to say, as the night wore on, the party got somewhat crazy. The fact that it was crazy was hammered home by the sight that met Harry as he looked at the ceiling for several moments. 'Huh... wonder how the heck that she got onto that ceiling fan...' Narrowing his eyes as he watched her go around as the fan rotated, he then mentally shook it off. 'Never mind, it's a Coastal Submarine.'

Mutters and a shifting made him turn and blink a bit at a squish before he realized what had happened. Tilting his head back and to the side. Harry could only smile at the sight of Regina cuddled up to him, his head right beside her chest. A glance to his other side showed a happily smiling Hachi there with her eyes cracked open a bit. "Guten morgen, Harry-Chan."

Smiling right back, Harry nodded slightly. "Guten morgen, Hachi-Chan. Pretty awesome party last night..." For a moment he trailed off and then shrugged. "And it got better when the Uboats showed up."

Hachi giggled some at that. "Hai, it did at that. Those girls know how to throw a party, trust me."

Even though he was somewhat curious, Harry only shrugged as he felt Regina's tail shift from it's position on his legs. Judging by what he could feel, RO was holding one of his legs like a teddy bear, squeezed in between Regina and him. Maruyu meanwhile was snoozing on his chest with the Duckies and Shioi fitting in where they could. "I wonder what would happen if I invited them to Hogwarts for a Gryffindor party..."

Blinking, Hachi considered the question for several seconds before she grinned and began to snicker. "Harry-Chan? If you ever do that, make sure that I get invited, okay?"

All Harry did was nod at that before he tilted his head back and noticed that he was laying on top of Hanna. In fact, his head was pillowed right on her chest with her arms wrapped around him like he was a teddy. However, it was the peaceful look on her face which made him smile a bit. Due to not seeing her that often, he spent a lot of time with her the previous day and night. It was then that he felt her breathing change and watched as her eyes flickered open. "Guten morgen, Hanna."

Sleepily smiling down at him, she nodded some. "Guten morgen, Harry." Leaning forward, she kissed him on the top of the head and then laid back. Moments later though, her eyes snapped open as her cheeks went utterly red. "Um..."

Confused, Harry tilted his head the best that he could to the side. "Something wrong?"

Even as she tried, and failed to fight her blush down, Hanna shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong, Harry. Just, uh, remembered something is all." Slowly, she glanced around and her eyes widened a bit as she found herself looking into Regina's sleeping face. 'Huh... Never expected to see a peaceful expression on an Abyssal face like that... Makes her look like any other girl.'

Then Regina's own eyes opened and they glanced first at her and then at Harry. A small blush sprang up on her cheeks but then she smiled brightly at Harry. "Good morning, Harry."

Brightly smiling back, Harry nodded. "Good morning, Regina." Roughly fifteen minutes later, they were all up and helping to clean up the room along with other shipgirls slowly waking up. It took a bit, but they got down the Type XXIII on the ceiling fan. It turned out that she was not the only Uboat in an odd place. At least one was snuggled in a nearby laundry bin.

However, the one in the bathtub with the stuffed boar was just plain wierd... especially when it turned out not to be stuffed.

It took some time, but eventually the whole thing was cleaned up. And Harry also became rather popular as he handed out hangover cure potions. With that, the whole group set off to get some breakfast, though Harry paused and then blinked at one sight. "Um, Hanna?"

With a hum as she imagined the breakfast waiting for them, Hanna nodded some. "Ja, Harry? What is it?"

She then turned in the direction that Harry was pointing in and blinked. "Um... Isn't that Admiral Hartmann's car? On top of the crane?"

And, sure enough, at the top of the crane Hanna could just see the Admiral's car. Several hundred feet up. Pinching her nose, she let out a small sigh and shook her head. "Mein Schwester must have went drinking with his son again. He is not going to be happy." Then she shrugged and continued walking. "Not Mein problem though, I was with you and have an alibi."

For a brief moment, Harry wondered about her words. But then he shrugged it off and continued to follow her to their temporary quarters. It was no worse then what sometimes happened at Yokosuka after all. Leaving the where they were staying after freshening up, the group entered the mess hall and were soon eating a late breakfast. As he swallowed the food, Harry smiled over at Hanna. "So... what are we going to do today?"

Humming as she sipped her coffee, Hanna considered the question before shrugging slightly. "Well, we were going to show you around Wilhelmshaven. There's various sights to see after all." Her phone then beeped and she glanced at it before smiling. "It seems that Natsumi has appeared at the gate and they're escorting her in."

Thoughtful, glanced at his German friend with a small frown. "You don't mind her spending time with us, do you?"

Much to his relief, Hanna laughed and gave him a one armed hug. "Nein, I don't mind at all, Harry. In fact, the more the merrier! She is a friend as well, after all." Several minutes later, she stood up and waved at Natsumi who walked over and sat down. "Guten morgen, Natsumi."

Eyebrows furrowing, Natsumi nodded some. "Gu-ten morgen, Hanna-San." She then glanced up and noticed the smiles before scratching her cheek. "I'm trying to pick up some languages besides English and Japanese."

Just nodding, Harry chuckled a bit though he missed the knowing look that RO gave Natsumi. "I remember when you barely knew much English at all. So you're actually doing pretty good."

Blushing, Natsumi huffed a bit. "Well..." Turning, the kitsune gave Harry a small smile. "I did have a pretty good teacher after all." At Harry's blush, Natsumi snickered before gesturing at him. "Harry-Chan here helped out a lot when I was first learning English. Not once did he get mad at me and thanks to him, I got the best scores in English back home when it comes to a second language."

Slowly, Hanna smiled a bit at Harry. "Ja, I can imagine it. Myself, I know German, English, and Russian." At the looks of awe, she flushed. "I'm working on Mein Japanese though."

Only shaking his head, Harry gave her an amazed stare. "That's amazing, Hanna! I mean, I know some German, and Italian, but not that much."

Thoughtful, Hanna tapped one cheek of hers before smiling. "Not that much, it seems that shipgirls know any languages that members of their crew might have. Mein crew knew English and such, so as I awaken, I find it easier to learn and speak it." She then shook her head. "The scientists and such are amazed by it."

About to comment, Natsumi was cut off as one of the Type XIVs, who Harry recognized as U-463, set down some food in front of his Japanese friend. "Guten morgen, Frau. Here, have some food." Gently, she patted the blushing kitsune on the head with a smile before wagging a finger. "You are too thin! Now, have a traditional German breakfast, we'll put some meat on those bones!"

With that, she walked off as Natsumi boggled at the amount of food in front of her before turning to a smirking Harry and Hanna. "Um... She does know that I'm a normal girl, right? Not a shipgirl?"

That got her a laugh from RO who was working her way through her own breakfast. "Ja, she knows that Natsumi-Chan. But she's acting like a German mother should." She then smiled a bit. "And she's right, you are too thin."

Leaning against her fist as she examined the food in front of her to decide what to eat first, Natsumi glanced at the Submarine and then Hanna. "So does that mean that you'll treat any children of yours much the same way?" Not being blind, she didn't miss how Hanna blushed and glanced at Harry. Nor did she miss RO simply smiling and doing the same. 'Oh for...'

Just shaking her head, Hanna took another bite of food and shrugged. "Perhaps, if I ever have some." She then sipped her coffee in thought and ignored her other sisters outside of Eugen as they ducked into the mess hall dragging along a hung over son of a certain Admiral. "Now, I was just discussing some items with Harry regarding what we'll do..."

After finishing his own breakfast, Harry brought out his phone and began to go through various pages until he came to one thread set up by, of all people, Pennsylvania. Frowning as he knew what sort of stuff she sometimes posted, Harry opened it. Very first page he noted that it was a video link and scrolled down to read the reactions to it. The more he read, while he sipped his tea, the more his eyebrows raised. Finally, he plugged in some earphones and listened as he watched the video.

Pretty much everyone in the room turned to see Harry nearly fall out of his seat from laughing so hard. Quickly grabbing him to keep him from falling, Hanna raised an eyebrow. "What seems to be so funny?"

Between laughter, Harry managed to get it out. "Aunt Arizona... Magical Girl.... drunk... Shipgirls Online... Pennsy!"

Sharing a look with the others, Natsumi brought out her phone at the same time and quickly logged onto the site in question. It did not take them long to reach the video in question. Slowly, Natsumi blinked as Arizona's voice came through the speaker at the same time as it did with other phones. "DONUT! FAIRY! TRANSFORMATION! MAGIC!"

Once the video was done, Natsumi blinked, rubbed her eyes before wiggling one finger in her ear. Then she replayed it and boggled. "Did... did Arizona-San actually become a magical girl... Complete with the magical transformation?"

Very slowly, Hanna turned and nodded at Natsumi. "Ja... she did."

None of them noticed how various shipgirls turned from their phones, then to RO, and back to their phones with uneasy expressions.
_____________________________________________________________________

Lips pursed, Naka sighed as the hot, thick sludge ran down her throat. Eyes closed in bliss, as it hit her fuel tanks, she let out a low moan through the darkened room before pulling away and smiling. Meanwhile, Harder blushed down at Naka before glancing at what was in her hand. "Naka?"

Humming as she licked her lips, Naka raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Harder-Chan? What is it?"

The Submarine gave her a very weird look. "I know that the coffee that I make is good, but it's not that good. Seriously, you sounded lewd as fuck just then, Traffic Cone."

All Naka did was do another shrug as she sipped her coffee, a moan escaping her and making the Submarine blush even more. "What can I say? It's good coffee." Glancing to the side to her sister, she frowned some as the Light Cruiser continued to sleep. "And I really need it."

Settling down beside her, Harder threw an arm around her friend and nodded. "No worries, Naka. Just ask, and you will receive." A beep sound made them both turn to Naka's phone with the Light Cruiser raising an eyebrow as she fished it out. "Who's that now?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Naka shook her head with a small frown. "It's from Harry-Chan. Something about a thread on SGO that I need to see?" Curious, she clicked the link and then read through the thread before clicking the video. Moments later, she was sharing a look with Harder whose eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. "That's..."

Holding her face in her hands, Harder shook as she shook her head. "Oh my fucking God... Did... Was that actually Arizona? Please tell me it was."

Once more glancing at the video, Naka grinned. "It is, Pennsy confirmed that it's her." Sipping her coffee again, Naka hummed. "And I do believe that she is enjoying this far too much."

Now pulling her hand away from her face, Harder replayed the video and shook her head in pure awe. "Okay, that's hilarious. But won't it be taken down?"

Snorting, the Light Cruiser shook her head. "No, it's on the internet. Nothing ever disappears from there..." Frowning as she took another sip, she hummed a bit and shot off a PM. "Hopefully South Dakota can handle the strain that the servers must be under. There's at least nine hundred people viewing it, let along the guests."

Harder tilted her head to the side and frowned. "Aren't you the slightest bit jealous?"

Much to her surprise, Naka shook her head. "Not really. A bit annoyed that she was first? Sure. But now that I know it's possible..."

It went without saying that Harder was somewhat frightened by the expression on Naka's face. But then she imagined Naka in some of the magical girl outfits and found her cheeks heating up. 'Huh... She could pull it off.'

The sound of a door opening caused them to look up to see Jintsuu walk in with a coffee of her own. After all, it was pretty late, or early depending on how one saw things. Quickly shooting Harder a look, Naka waved her sister over. "Jintsuu-Nee! Over here, I got something to show you!"

Raising an eyebrow, Jintsuu walked over and gave Naka a look. "Quiet down a bit, Naka. We're in the docks." Once she was sitting down, she sighed at the large grin on Naka's face. "Okay, what is it?"

Her grin widening, Naka snickered as she noted Harder pulling out her own phone. "Oh, just something that Pennsy-San posted involving Ari-Chan. You should probably see this~"

Jintsuu narrowed her eyes some due to an internal alarm. But then she shrugged and leaned in as Naka played a video. 'Ari's drunk? Again? But what's the big deal-' She was just taking a gulp of coffee when she reached Arizona's transformation. Naka considered the coffee sprayed into her face more then worth it for the expression she got. "THE FUCK!?"

As Jintsuu turned toward Naka for an explanation, one that would not blow a bunch of fuses, Harder laughed. "And done! Posted on SGO, what a wonderful reaction!" Spotting Jintsuu's expression when she turned to her, Harder only shrugged with a grin.

Even Jintsuu trying to choke her was worth it.

Though Naka could have helped rather then laughing... right before Jintsuu tried to choke her as well with her other hand while muttering about not being able to use the Force.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Groaning at her hangover, Arizona stumbled into the kitchen of the Richardson household only to stop. Sure, it might have been lunch, but she was surprised that everyone was there. At one part of the table, Mutsu was staring at something on a laptop with a very interesting expression. One that looked like it was struggling between laughing until she fell out of her chair, concern for someone, and complete bluescreen. More ominous to Arizona though was how everyone turned to stare at her. 'Why do I have a bad feeling...'

Moments later, Jane, now back to being a little girl, practically threw herself into Arizona's arms. "Oh my gosh, Ari-Mama! That was so cool! Why didn't you tell me that you could do something like that! Can you teach me or is it something that only shipgirls can do!?"

Confused, Arizona blinked and looked down at her. "I... do? Do what?"

Before Jane could answer though, Mutsu motioned for the American Battleship to come over. Feeling as if she was walking to an execution, her own, Arizona did so and came to a stop behind Mutsu. On the screen she could see a thread and her eyebrows furrowed at the fact that it was her sister who posted it. If anything though, the feeling of doom increased. Coughing, Mutsu brought up the video. "You... might want to see this."

Frowning, Arizona focused on the video and, as it played, her expression became more and more horrified. "I... that... Oh God..."

Sympathetic, Mutsu, patted her on the shoulder. "Are you okay, Ari?"

Much to her surprise, Arizona nodded and gave her a smile that made her shiver. "Yes, I am. First, I am going to find out how and what happened. And then... Then I am going to hunt down my sister and sink her."

With a blink, every one realized that while Arizona was watching the video, her sister disappeared. However, there was the sound of cackling fading into the distance which let them know what happened. Sharing a nervous look with Archie, Albie shifted away from Arizona several inches... or feet. 'Scary...'

Closing her eyes, Arizona was storming through her corridors towards the bridge. As she entered it, she roared while the various hungover fairies winced. "WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED LAST NIGHT, SAILORS!" Nursing their heads, her Captain and Admiral Kidd both shrugged. But Arizona could see some nervousness from both which told her that they knew something. And then it hit her.

Ever since Hogwarts, she had been having an odd feeling.

A growl tore from her throat as she glare at her Officers. "I know that you Sailors went on liberty at Hogwarts. That must have been where this came from." At their flinches, she held out a hand. "Logbook and crew roster now!" Once they were in her hands, she flipped through them and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. 'Everything looks correct... Everyone who went out came back and... wait...' Every fairy on her fairy flinched as her head slowly raised. "We had one extra who came onboard, and I know that I never had a T. Bell in my crew!"

Outside, Mutsu leaned away as Arizona went red and steam came out of her ears. "Um... Ari-"

She was cut off as Arizona roared. "IT HAPPENED AGAIN!? ARE YOU JOKING!?"

From where he was sitting, Richardson put down his coffee. Oddly, he just knew that his headache in regards to this mess was about to increase. And by a large amount. "Happened... again?"

Eyes nearly glowing, Arizona turned to him. "A stowaway that some of my sailors brought onboard when they returned from liberty. One like the last one!"

Trying, and failing, to respond to that, Mutsu finally shook her head. "I... how? We're girls!"

Arizona just looked at her. "Magical fairy like out of a storybook. They signed her in as T. Bell. T. BELL!"

Simply setting down his coffee, John raised an eyebrow. "They were not even trying, were they?"

In return, the Battleship grumbled. "Not surprised in the slightest." Then she was in her corridors once more storming along them. Ignoring Blair's fairy following behind her, Arizona made her way to the engine room where T. Bell was supposedly assigned and walked in before blinking. Sure enough, there was a woman who looked like a blonde woman with fairy wings. But she was dressed like the rest of the engineering crew and had grease and oil smeared in various places. Despite that, even Arizona had to admit that with her hourglass shape that visible even with her clothes, she was a real looker. With a deep breath, partially due to the surprise that said fairy was actually doing work, and Arizona let out a sigh. "Ensign T. Bell, I assume..."

Everything stopped and Bell turned and gave Arizona a salute. "Yes, Ma'am! Ensign T. Bell reporting and at her station!"

For several minutes outside, everyone watched as Arizona's expressions shifted between various emotions. Finally, she let out a sigh and then came back to reality. "She... can stay." At the surprise, she grimaced. "Miss Bell, it seems, is very... knowledgeable about things." Seeing the looks, Arizona grumbled. "Her grandfather was a Gremlin and her great-great grandmother was a Brownie. She knows her stuff..." Turning, she stomped out. "Now if you excuse me, there is a Standard for me to hunt down and sink to the bottom of the sea."

There was quiet in the room after the door slammed and then they just shrugged and went back to whatever they were doing before Arizona arrived. Just another day in the mad house that was Sasebo.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hanna walked along as she gave those who had not been at Wilhelmshaven Base a tour and answered some questions. After all, with the summoning the day before they had not really given them a guide around. That said, due to Regina she did not take them everywhere. Something that they understood, even the Re-Class who oddly approved. Glancing around though, Harry frowned a bit as he realized something. "Um, Hanna? Where are your sisters?"

Sighing, the Natural Born shook her head with a small grimace before finally shrugging. "Meine Schwester are probably around some place, Harry. Where? I do not know, but they will turn up at some point once they think that Admiral Hartmann will not notice with his son in tow."

That made Natsumi blink before looking between Harry and Hanna. "His... son? What does his son have to do with anything?"

Only chuckling, Hanna smiled at the kitsune a bit. "Everything, meine freundin. Outside of Eugen, the other Hippers are close with him and often end up going out for drinks... Which end up with issues as they get into trouble." She then gestured to where there was a helicopter over a crane. "Such as getting the Admiral's car up on top of a crane."

Blinking, Natsumi turned and had to do a double take at the fact that there was a car up there. "What in the... How?"

Snorting, the Natural Born shook her head. "If you could answer that, I would love it. For some odd reason though that always happens. And it usually involves Admiral Hartmann's car..."

Eyebrow raised, Harry hummed a bit before placing his hands behind his head. "By the way, what is their relationship with the Admiral's son?" When Hanna looked at him, he shrugged a bit. "Not judging or anything, but... From what you say they must be pretty close with each other."

Now thoughtful, Hanna considered the question for several moments before shaking her head. "You know? I am not sure of the exact relationship that meine Schwester have with him. They are close and there are rumors, but who knows?" She then shrugged a bit. "It is none of meine business what it is. As long as they are happy with whatever way it is? Then I am happy."

All Harry did was nod at that as it did make sense. With that, the tour then continued through the base with Hanna guiding them. Natsumi in particular was looking around in interest, though she did do a double take when noticing some of the Wolpertingers and had to have them explained to her. One of them even took up residence on her head, much to the others amusement and her exasperation.

Eventually though, their tour took them to one of the more important parts of a shipgirl base...

The Repair Docks.

Before they entered though, Harry tapped Regina on the arm which made the Abyssal blink and turn towards him. "Um, yes? Is there something wrong, Harry?"

Shaking his head, Harry gestured a short distance away. "Not really? But I want to talk to you for a bit."

Confused, Reginal glanced at Hanna who only shrugged and waved her on. "Go ahead, we're in no rush. They are not going to be going anywhere after all."

Once they were a distance away, Harry frowned and placed a hand on Regina's arm. "Regina? Are you sure that you're okay with this? Being examined by the Repair Ship that they have here? Because you don't have to if you don't want to."

Blinking, Regina looked down at the two green eyes looking up at her and blushed a bit. She was also internally warmed by the care being shown to her and crouched down to his level. "Um, I don't mind really. And I'm not really scared..."

However, Harry shook his head and gave her a look. "I don't mean just scared, Regina. I also mean if you're uncomfortable." Shifting a bit, he nodded. "I am acting as your Flagship, so it's my duty to make sure that you are not forced to do something that you are uncomfortable with."

Eyes flying open, Regina stared at him for several seconds before she looked away and poked her fingers together. "I..." Adjusting her scarf to cover her face a bit more, she glanced back at him. "You really mean that, Harry?"

Somewhat confused, Harry only nodded at that. "Um, yes? That's what I have always been taught anyways. And besides!" He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're my friend, Regina. I will always take care of my friends."

If anything, that made Regina's blush deepen. "O-oh... I see." Gently, the Abyssal then pulled Harry into a hug and looked down at him. "Thank you, Harry." Then Regina leaned down and kissed him on the cheek even as she felt like her face was on fire. Pulling away, she gave him a soft smile. "Thank you. I really do like having you as my Flagship."

Chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head with a blush of his own, Harry glanced to the others and blinked as they were looking at him with various degrees of amusement, confusion, and exasperation. Looking back at Regina though, he took her hand in his. "You still haven't answered the question though."

Regina gave a small giggle as she looked down at the hand holding hers. It was so small, and yet she could feel the strength and warmth there. Looking up into Harry's eyes, she let out a sigh. "Yes, I am sure that I am okay with this, Harry. Lady Wanko wishes that we, um, help out as much as possible. And if letting them examine me does that? Then I don't mind at all. And Hanna did say that Tirpitz has some Abyssal Destroyers with her, so... Them looking at me might help."

Head tilting to the side cutely, Harry blinked. "So you don't think that she'll be able to hand them over to Big Sis then?"

All Regina did was give him a look and then shake her head. "Um, no. I know that Lady Wanko will not accept them and will tell her that they must stay with her." Giggling a bit, she smiled. "She did feed them after all. And save them from being sunk or... worse."

For a moment, Harry felt a flash of anger and scowled. "I hope that they find whatever Princess they were running from and sink her. Eating other Abyssals..."

Much to his surprise, Regina's eyes darkened some and she nodded, though there was something in her expression that told him she was pleased with his reaction. "Do not worry about that, Harry. I know that they will and Lady Wanko would help if asked. Even among Abyssals, doing such a thing is... frowned upon." Shaking off her feelings, Regina then smiled. "But, um, like I said? If I can help them by letting them examine me to prepare for the Destroyers? Then I don't mind and would gladly help. Especially as it shows trust, I think?"

Harry slowly nodded at that. "Yeah, it would show trust. After all, you're letting them examine you and find out things."

Thoughtful, Regina considered it before nodding, "Then that makes it more important. As I do trust them and I am acting as a representative for my fleet." Internally, she had a frown. 'I hope that this makes a difference...' With a sigh, the Re-Class then gave Harry another hug and before standing up and taking his hand in hers. "Um, anyways, I'm fine with it, Harry."

Smiling up at her, Harry only nodded. "As long as you are okay with it then, I guess that's alright." As they began to walk back to the others, the black haired boy frowned. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

About to say something, Regina paused then thought it over. Shyly smiling at him, she chewed her lip some before she answered. "Well... I wouldn't mind having you there with me? J-just to keep me company?"
With a smile, Harry looked up at her and squeezed her hand. "Sure, I don't mind." Upon reaching the others, he gave them all a nod. "Sorry about the wait."

If anything though, Hanna seemed amused by the whole thing as she waved him off. "As I said, Harry, it's no trouble. Now then, to show you the docks..."

Natsumi blinked a bit as she looked over the currently empty Repair Baths and then tilted her head to the side. "Huh... They don't really look all that different from the ones back in Yokosuka."

A voice right behind her caused her to jump though. "Of course not, there wouldn't be that much difference. Why? Did you think that there would be?"

Hand against her chest to calm her beating heart, Natsumi turned around and blinked at the seemingly seventeen year old there. She wore a shirt with rolled up sleeves and a stained apron. The shipgirl, because that is what she must have been, also had some goggles perched on her head, which had brown hair tied back in a bun. "I... um..."

Chuckling, the shipgirl held out a hand. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to frighten you."

On the kitsune's face was a fierce blush as she looked away before huffing a bit. "I wasn't scared or anything. Just... a bit surprised." Turning back, she took the offered hand. "Natsumi Ono."

Just shaking it, the shipgirl smiled a bit. "Nice to meet you, Miss Natsumi. Name's Odin, originally Ulysses of the United States Navy." At the look, she shook her head. "I'm a Aristaeus class Repair Ship. Served two years starting in May, 1945 in the USN. Was sent to the West German Navy in 1960 after being in the Reserve Fleet until they scrapped me in 1991. So I came back for them and so did my sister."

Blinking, Harry tilted his head to the side. "Sister?"

Lightly laughing, Odin nodded. "Ja, my sister. Diomedes, or as the Germans know her, Wotan. Served just a bit longer in the West German Fleet then I did." She then tilted her head towards the east. "She's stationed up in the Baltic as their Repair Ship."

With a slow blink, Harry nodded. 'Huh...'

Meanwhile, Odin turned to Regina and looked her over before tilting her head back to look the Abyssal in the eyes. Holding out a hand, she waited until the shy Re-Class shook it before nodding. "And you must be Miss Regina. Very pleased to meet you and thank you for letting me examine you. It's going to be a lot of help."

There was a small smile on Regina's face as she shook the offered hand. "Um, you're very welcome. I don't mind helping out where I can."

Chuckling, Odin nodded. "Glad to hear it. If you'll follow me to the examination room, we'll get right on it." When she spotted Regina glance at Harry, she smiled a bit. "If you want, you can bring someone."

Regina almost immediately took Harry's hand and hummed happily as he shook Odin's hand with his free one. "I'm Harry Potter."

Greeting him, Odin invited him along and a few minutes later found the three in a small examination room. Seeing them glance at the man who had a laptop out, the Repair Ship shook her head. "The Captain here is simply to help me take some notes, nothing more and nothing less. I hope that you don't mind?" When Regina and Harry shook their heads, she patted the examination table. "Now then, if you'll get up here?"

With a hop, Regina sat on the table and looked around interested. Here and there were various diagrams of ship parts which made her tilt her head. There was even a skeletal ship model on a table. Internally shrugging, she then remembered a show and shrugged off her poncho which made the Captain do a double take as everyone could see that she actually did wear a bikini. One that she most definitely did fill out. Giving Odin a sideways look, the Captain coughed. "Um..."

All the Repair Ship did though was shrug and bring out a clipboard. "Well, you didn't have to do that, ma'am. But it'll help. Now..." Putting on a stethoscope, she placed it on Regina's chest as her fairies entered the Abyssal. "Just breath in and out slowly now..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

His hair everywhere due to the wind, Ron walked into the Burrow with a grin. "Hello, Mum."

On Molly's face was a bemused look as she shook her head. A glance outside at the clouds going by made her sigh even as Ron put up his jacket. "Where is Fred and George, Ron? They are coming in, right?"

All the twelve year old did was nod some as he looked over his shoulder. "They're just putting away some stuff. They said that it should only be a few minutes."

Just humming, Molly continued to finish up lunch with a sigh. "Well, they should be here soon. The food is nearly done and it'll be too cold if they leave it for too long." Then with a frown, she looked over at the table. "Speaking of... Bill, put away those things right this moment. They do not belong on the kitchen table!"

Rolling his eyes, Bill shook his head and glanced at Ginny who was looking in the silver box he had set up and opened on the table. A small grin on his face, he gave her a shake of the head. "Sure, Mum, I'll put them away soon. Just showing Ginny them is all."

Molly pointedly ignored the wink he gave Ginny. "I do wish that you would not show Ginny those items. They obviously have dark magic tainting them! And after what happened, the last thing she needs is exposure to such things!" Yet again, Bill rolled his eyes only for his mother to huff. "And don't be rolling those eyes at me, young man!"

Simply glancing at Ginny who giggled and went back to examining what was in the box, Bill shook his head. "Yes, Mum. But trust me, there's no danger to Ginny from what I brought. Any dark magic faded from it a long time ago." Seeing his mother was still not convinced, he shook his head. "I found these myself, Mum. And I am a fully qualified Curse Breaker, so trust me when I say that there is no danger at all."

Now curious himself, Ron looked over at his brother. "You brought something from one of your expeditions, Bill?"

Amused at the reaction, Bill only nodded. He had never told Ron this, but he was proud of his little brother. Sure, Bill was unsure about the whole shipgirl business himself, and for his own personal reasons. That said? He thought that anything which pushed Ron to do his best and work for it was a good thing and something he supported. And if it made sure that his youngest brother was safe? All the better. "Yeah, as a matter of fact it's from my last one to Egypt."

Eyes widening, Ron stared at him for a bit before speaking. "Wait, your last one to Egypt? You mean the one when the Sunshipgirls..."

Bill grimaced some, but nodded. "Wiped out most of the Gringotts group that was there? Yeah, the same one." Turning a fond look onto the box, he patted it. "As a matter of fact, in an odd way these saved my life."

If anything, that only made Ron more interested and amazed. "Seriously? They saved your life?" At Bill's nod, he frowned some. "Huh..." Then Ron furrowed his eyebrows some. "Wait, but Mum just said that they had dark magic and you said the same thing. So how could they save your life?"

Lips twitching, Bill nodded at that. "And you would be right, they do have traces of dark magic on them. In fact, at one point they had a whole lot of dark magic in them. They're mostly arrowheads and spearheads that must have been enchanted by some dark wizard or witch way back in Ancient Egyptian times."

Walking over to the ice box, Ron opened it up and frowned as he began to look for something to drink. "Arrow and spearheads? Enchanted by an ancient dark witch or wizard?" At his brother's nod, he frowned. "Huh... but that still doesn't answer how you said they saved your life."

A sigh escaped from Bill as he leaned against one fist. "Well, they didn't, save my life really. Rather the tomb that I found them in did." Seeing the interest, he continued as he gestured with one hand. "See, the tomb that I was working on was my first one with a team under my command all alone. We were all the less experienced Curse Breakers. One of the reasons was that it was an isolated tomb which meant that we were a lot further away from the others. Because of that, when the Sunshipgirls all woke up and went on their rampage, we had more time compared to the others. Don't get me wrong, we still got our arses kicked, but we still got out. Probably helped that the owner of the tomb likely did not have a Sunship of their own."

From her spot at the stove, Molly gave a sniff. "Yes, well, you were extremely lucky, Bill. I still say that you should leave Gringotts."

Sighing at the old argument, Bill frowned. "And I already told you, Mum, I like what I do. There's plenty of travel and excitement for me. Besides, I've stayed away from Egypt since then. Heck, my job means that I've gotten some freelance work since people like hiring Gringotts Curse Breakers for work off to the side. And Gringotts doesn't care as long as it's not illegal, or rather that it does not reflect badly on them."

Bottle of pumpkin juice in his hand, Ron opened it and took a sip. That done, he changed the subject back to where it was. "So... it was a wizard's tomb? And because you were there you didn't get killed?"

There was a small frown on Bill's face, but he nodded. "That's... pretty correct, yes. Like I said, the tomb was isolated from the others being opened, well out of the way. And it seems that he wasn't important enough for a Sunship of his own, so that was a plus in our survival. Took them some time to reach us. Still... it was a pretty nice tomb for someone who was only probably medium rank. Might have been due to what he did when he was younger though more then anything else."

Even more interested, Ron began to walk over. "What he did?"

Now there was a look of remembrance on Bill's face. "Yeah, it was right there on the walls of his tomb. He served and fought for the Pharaoh Ramses III. In particular against the Sea People when they had attacked. In fact, he helped sink some of the ships."

Pausing in drinking his pumpkin juice, Ron gave his brother an odd look. "Sea People? Wait, was that their name?"

Bill only shrugged some. "No clue, it's more that they were claimed to come from the sea, hence why they're called that. There was a bunch of names and they were supposed to be some sort of confederation." Scratching his chin, Bill hummed. "Anyways, they were the scourge of the Eastern Med back then. Where they came from, no one knows except from the sea. Though they were said to come from islands. Maybe some volcanic ones out at sea which sank."

Having been silent up to this point, Ginny spoke up. "Wouldn't the mermaids and such know? I think that one of the history books said that they know a lot about the history of the sea."

Much to her surprise though, Bill snorted and shook his head. "No, if they know something they're not telling. Every time they got asked, they go silent and don't say anything." Waving a hand in the air, Bill then continued. "As to the Sea People? They ranged all up and down the coast at time. They attacked pretty much everyone, pillaging as they went. Entire towns and cities were razed by them as they went. Some tombs even mentions that they were extremely hard to defeat. The only nation that really managed to defeat them were the Ancient Egyptians. And even then, the last time under Ramses III reign was pyrrhic as it drained the treasury so much that they basically ran out of money."

Intrigued by what he was hearing, Ron sat down. "So what happens to them? The Sea People I mean."

Sipping his own drink, Bill frowned in thought. "Now that is the question, and pretty good one. The answer is that no one really knows, it's one big mystery though there was mention on the tomb that they might have started fighting among each other. But one day, they just sort of vanished from history." Moments later, he set down his glass onto the table and stretched some. "Maybe they settled in Libya, they did work alongside them at times to attack Ancient Egypt. Or maybe they settled in Egypt after their last defeat. After all, each time the Egyptians defeated then they took in the survivors as either prisoners or used them as mercenaries. There's even records of them having children with Egyptians. Ones that were said to be powerful magically... But in the end, whatever happened, they vanished from history with little trace left behind. Almost as if they disappeared into thin air." Leaning back some, Bill tapped the silver box. "There's some signs though outside of what was on tomb walls. Like these arrowheads and spearheads. The wizard apparently took them as trophies from Dead Sea People."

Eyebrows raised, Ron walked over and took a look inside the box. Puzzlement turned to shock and his eyes widened at what he was seeing before he turned to a confused Bill. Then he reached in and took one to more closely examine. "Uh, Bill? You said that you found these in a tomb? An Ancient Egyptian tomb at that?" Getting a nod, Ron continued. "Out of curiosity... could freelance work include guiding people to tombs?"

Chuckling, Bill watched as his brother examined the arrowhead. "Sure, that's not a problem at all really. Most are empty of anything valuable anyways, so no one would care. And as long as Gringotts is not actually working them, they wouldn't care what I did with them. Why? You interested?"

Very slowly, Ron held up the arrowhead to the light, the way it looked being very familiar. "Um, yes?" Then he turned his full attention to Bill. "Or... I might know someone who would be willing to pay?"

As Bill only shrugged and told him that he would be willing, Ron turned back to the arrowhead. It seemed to eat at the light with the metal cold to the touch.

Blackened, Abyssal metal...
____________________________________________________________________________

As Odin shone a light and peered inside Regina's mouth, Harry kept holding Regina's hand as the Re-Class blinked. "Ahhhh!"

Pulling out the tongue depressor, the Repair Ship just smiled and nodded. "And... we're all done!" While Regina worked her jaw some, Odin hummed and made some notes as her fairies started coming out of the Abyssal. "Thank you very much, Regina for your cooperation."

Only blinking, Regina nodded some as she tilted her head to the side. "Um, you're welcome? It wasn't that bad."

Where he sat, the Captain, who had kept silent, raised an eyebrow. Odin had given Regina full work over complete with taking her behind a curtain at one point for a closer physical examination. When the Re-Class had come out and sat back down on the bed, her face had been covered in a blush and she grabbed Harry's hand. Not that the boy really minded much as he smiled up at her. Turning back to his laptop, he typed several observations from Odin. 'Not that bad she says... Better her then me, in that case.'

Meanwhile, Harry gave Regina's hand a small squeeze which made her look down at him. Patting her muscled thigh, Harry nodded some. "There we go, Regina. You okay?"

All Regina did was nod some as her tail moved behind her. "Oh yes, I'm okay. It was a lot better then I expected." Head tilting to the side as she listened to some of her fairies, she gave a smile to Odin. "Um, thank you by the way. Your fairies did some minor repairs..."

Chuckling as she made a few notes herself, Odin shook her head. "No worries about that, meine freundin. I am after all a Repair Ship, it is what I do and was built for." She then frowned and shook her head. "How long has it been since you last got some repairs?"

Regina tilted her head as she internally went over the amount of time and raised several fingers. "Roughly four weeks, I think? Or about that amount anyways..."

That answer made Odin's eyebrows raise in some surprise and she frowned. "And you've been active since then? A lot of activity though no actual battles?"

Head tilted to one side, Regina nodded some. "Yes? I've been very active though I haven't gotten into any fights, so no battle damage. Why?"

Still frowning, the Repair Ship made some more notes. "It's nothing, just that is actually a bit interesting." Out loud, she didn't say anything else. However, her internal thoughts were another matter entirely. 'Mein Gott... So little wear and tear despite not even seeing a Repair Bath, or their equivalent for more then three weeks cruising? Most of what my fairies had to repair was minor things like replacing a fuse from her internal stores... Still, got a lot of information.'

While Odin was consumed in her own thoughts and was writing notes, Harry took a moment to look over Regina and had to blink. After all, this was the first time that he had ever seen so much of the Re-Class. Even to bed she had a habit of wearing her poncho. Right now Harry was able to see her without it. The Re-Class' silver hair was a somewhat messy mop that fell to about shoulder height on her, except for one bit kept out of her eyes by the hairclip he had gotten her. Harry could also see that like a lot of Battleships, she was muscled and toned. Not like a body builder, but like a soldier or perhaps a warrior. Every time she moved, he could see her muscles shift under her pale skin.

Continuing his examination, Harry had to blink as he reached where her tail attached to the rest of her. Right above where the tail bone would be in a normal human was a ring of segmented Abyssal metal about as thick around as his own knee. But it only extended maybe five or so inches from the base of her spine to where her tail really began. At the top of it was a bulge and he could see where her planes shot out from to use the runway on her tail. The fleshy part of the tail though seemed as if it was squeezed into the metal ring. From there is continued on and Harry could tell, and knew from personal experience, that said tail was just as muscular and powerful as the rest of Regina. Difference being it was muscled more like a snake then what one would think was a normal mammal.

Of course, examining her tail also brought his attention to one other fact. Mainly that Regina wore what many would count as a very small bikini bottom. A glance to her torso was more then enough to confirm that like the top, she definitely filled it out. Except with a stern that an Iowa would be proud of. Quickly shaking off the thoughts that briefly went through his mind, along with the small blush, Harry turned his attention towards her legs that kicked back and forth. Said legs were powerful and muscled like a runner's, or perhaps either an Iowa or Montana class.

In other words, they looked like they could crush someone between them with ease.

Not that the fact really occurred to the twelve year old yet, maybe in a few years. But with his hand still on her thigh, Harry could feel the muscles flex underneath the skin each time she moved her leg. Said leg continued down until it terminated at where a normal person's leg would in an ankle. With Regina though, it stopped at what looked more like a hoof then anything else composed of black, Abyssal metal.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a drawer closed and looked up to see Odin closing a filing cabinet and then reaching into a jar. Turning, she held up one of those large lollipops with a smile. "Since you've been such a good patient, here you go."

Expression brightening, Regina took it with a smile and widened eyes. Then she gave Odin a smile. "Oh! Thank you!"

As the Abyssal unwrapped the lollipop and happily licked it, Harry noticed something and raised his hand. "Um, Frau Odin? May I have one?"

Blinking, the Repair Ship soon gave him a smile. "I suppose that you could." After reaching into a drawer, she pulled another one out and handed it to him. "Here you go."

With a smile on his face, Harry nodded at her. "Thank you!" Unwrapping it, he didn't lick it though. Much to the Repair Ship's surprise, he held it out to Regina's tail. "Here you go, I'll hold it for you."

Said tail seemed bashful for several moments as Regina watched happily. Then it gave Harry a quick nuzzled that got chuckles from the boy before licking said lollipop. Eyebrows raising, Odin internally raised the amount of autonomy that they now knew a Re-Class' tail had. Something that she knew that the Navies would be very interested in knowing. Externally, she just gave the two a small nod as Regina put on her poncho again. "Once more, thank you, Frau Regina for allowing us to give you an examination. I cannot tell you how much this helps us, especially once Tipitz gets back with her tagalongs."

Eyes closed in happiness, Regina mumbled past her lollipop which made Harry grin and Odin giggle. Soon after, they were back in the docks to where Hanna and the others were talking. The conversation stopped as the two got close and Hanna turned to them with a small smile. "So, how did it go?"

Once more, Regina muttered around her lollipop which made Natsumi mutter about adorableness. Harry then answered for her. "It went pretty well actually. Odin seemed happy about it anyways and Regina didn't have any problems."

The Re-Class nodded as did her tail which was still licking at the lollipop being held by Harry. Something that made Akizuki tilt her head to the side before she shrugged it off, after all everyone got lollipops after checkups so why shouldn't her tail? Maruyu meanwhile gave them both a thumb's up. "That's good to hear."

Just smiling, Harry then frowned somewhat. "By the way... um, what were you talking about?"

Natsumi gave a small shrug before chuckling. "The newest Sea Queens novel actually. Just came out a little bit ago and Hanna here got a copy through Eugen since she picked it up in Britain."

At the playful glare directed at the Natural Born, Harry blinked. "Sea Queens? You mean that alternate history where ship's were known to have spirits and such that the crew could see and interact with? And who could act on their own as well?"

Chuckling, Hanna nodded. "Ja, the very same. I enjoy them after all, they're interesting reads."

For a moment, Harry was silent and then looked one way and then the other. "You know... speaking of, I heard a rumor." Eyebrows raising, everyone leaned in as he continued. "I heard that he might be dating at least one of the Olympic Sisters."

Jaw dropping, Teruzuki shook her head. "Really? He's dating one of them?" At Harry's nod, she stared at him. "Oh wow... which one?"

All the black haired boy did was shrug. "No clue, no one really knows if he's dating one of the three or more of them. But I do know that when she was asked, Olympic and Britannic both blushed when they showed up at Yokosuka last time I saw them. And Titanic apparently was giggling when she was asked with a blush and a smirk."

Unseen by Harry, the Captain was walking past and overheard before stumbling a bit. For a moment, he remembered what the three Ocean Liners looked like and then walked off with a grumble, still unnoticed. "Lucky bastard..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Two days after arriving in Germany found Natsumi hiking along a path through the Spessart. Awoken in the pre-dawn hours, she had joined the others in getting ready and now was looking around. Off to one side, she could see Eugen talking with RO and Hachi in German. At the front, Graf and Aquila were also conversing with each other. Well... mostly Aquila as Graf simply seemed to be letting the Italian Carrier talk. A glance to the back showed the three Duckies pulling up the rear with Regina before Natsumi took another look around.

Between most of the trees, one could see patches of snow still visible and there was a small amount of mist.

All in all, it was like the setting right out of a story. Suddenly though, Natsumi's attention was grabbed by Hanna who was walking beside Harry. "Enjoying yourself, Natsumi?"

With a chuckle, the kitsune nodded some. "I am." Taking a deep breath, she then let it out. "I love spending time in nature."

Lips twitching, Hanna only nodded some. "Ja, it's much the same for myself. There is nothing better then a hike through the woods." A small snicker then escaped her. "Though it is a bit earlier in the year then I am used to."

Brightly smiling, Natsumi shook her head. "Not to me." Spreading her arms out as if to grasp the forest, she closed her eyes for several moments before opening them. "Nature is wonderful no matter the time of year. And it's nearly spring... if you open yourself, you can feel the world preparing to wake up."

Only tilting her head some, Hanna hummed. "I suppose so, though I am afraid that I am less sensitive to such things then you might be." Glancing around herself, and becoming thoughtful, she gave Natsumi a look. "Do you hike often, Natsumi?"

Natsumi blinked at the question but then gave a nod. "Actually, I have done some hiking. Not super often, but more then some." Shifting the backpack she had, she frowned. "My family has gone various places, though one of my favorites is the Izu Peninsula back in Japan." Glancing at Harry, Natsumi gave a small smile. "Oba-Chan knows some hot springs there that are out of the way as Harry-Chan can tell you."

Grinning a bit, Harry nodded. "Yeah, Haru-San's taken me there to gather thing for Onmyoudo training. And for potions and stuff... Usually we stop at some of the hot springs there to relax."

For a moment, Hanna considered what she had been told before nodding. "I have been various places as well. Meine Schwester took me once up to the Alps for a holiday. The beauty of nature is always something to behold."

Eyes widening, Natsumi rapidly shook her head. "I know! You would not believe how many back home give me odd looks when I say that. Harry-Chan is one of those who don't though."

When they turned to him, Harry only shrugged. "Um, well... I like nature too." His voice then lowered some. "Back with the Dursleys, the park and some places away from the houses were the only ones that I could get away from them. Especially after Dudley tried stopping me from going to the library."

Both girls on either side of him reached out and took a hand before giving it a squeeze. For a moment, Natsumi chewed her lip as they lapsed into silence before perking up some. "So, um... you ever climb any mountains?"

Understanding what Natsumi was doing, Hanna nodded some. "A few, meine Freudin. One day though, I want to take a mountaineering tour in Switzerland and climb the Dom. It is taller then the Matterhorn, but easier."

Slowly nodding, Natsumi gave her a somewhat bigger smile. "Huh, that sounds interesting... What sort of tour is it and how tall is that mountain?"

Hanna grinned at her. "Apparently some of the tours have you climb one four thousand foot mountain every two days. You must acclimate yourself first though to the altitude. But I want to challenge myself."

There was a twinkle in Natsumi's eyes as she nodded. "Maybe when you do, you can contact me. I would be up for it." She then leaned towards the German with a small grin. "One day, I want to be wise and climb Fuji-Yama. Just the once."

Eyebrow raising, Hanna frowned. "Why only the once?"

Snickers caused her to look over at Harry who shrugged. Moments later, he cleared his throat some. "A wise man will climb Fuji-Yama once. A fool will climb Fuji-Yama twice."

Nodding, Natsumi jerked her thumb at him. "What Harry-Chan just said. Still, it's sort of a dream of mine and I know that Oba-Chan as well as Haha-ue and Chichi-ue have climbed the mountain."

As Hanna commented that if she invited Natsumi to climb with her, and then Natsumi must do the same, Harry shook his head. "And here the biggest mountain that I ever climbed when I was younger was Leith Hill."

Head tilting to the side, Natsumi blinked. "Leith Hill? Never heard of it, Harry-Chan, where is it?"

Only shaking his head, Harry shrugged. "It's back in Surrey and isn't that tall. Went to it for a school trip and there's a tower on it that makes it a thousand feet tall or something." He then blinked. "Maybe one day I might climb Ben Navis, that's the tallest mountain in Britain."

Interested, Natsumi gave a small nod and made a note in her mind to look up some information. As time went on, the conversation drifted to other matters until the kitsune finally decided to ask about something that had been bothering her. "Harry-Chan?"

Looking over at her, Harry nodded. "Yeah? What is it, Natsumi-Chan?"

Briefly, Natsumi frowned before scratching the back of her head. "Um, well... what do you know about this branch of your family? I mean... there had to be something, right?"

Harry considered the question before grimacing. "Not as much as I like, but I know a bit." Knowing that the others were listening, the black haired wizard took a deep breath. "Well, one of the members of my family joined the Knights Templar during the Crusades and pensioned off. Not wanting to go back to Britain, Alfred Potter settled here in Germany and married a daughter of a minor noble. Eventually, the family settled here in the Spessart as Forsthuben, people who took care of forestry and hunting. They mostly took care of things on the magical side such as magical animals and plants. Or fighting any bandits using magic... that sort of thing." Eyes closed, the black haired wizard hummed a bit before shrugging. "They settled where they did specifically because they found a mineral spring there. The water was useful for potions and such."

Now intrigued, Eugen looked over from where she was talking with RO. "A mineral spring, Harry? How large of one?"

All Harry did was frown some. "I'm... not sure, it didn't really go much into it. But it was enough that there was a few dozen settlers that also lived there. Mostly magicals and it mentioned some Veela and something about swans, but nothing else." Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. "There was a chapel built there though. And there was mentioned that there was a relic there from a Martyr."

It went without saying that Aquila stumbled a bit and then turned to stare at Harry. "A relic? Of a Martyr? You are sure of this, Harry?"

Slowly, Harry nodded though Natsumi seemed confused. "A... relic? Martyr?" Then she remembered a lesson regarding ancient history and blinked. "Um, you mean those guys who died because they were Christian?"

Hands behind his head, Harry nodded. "Yeah, in this case one of the Continental Branch knew someone in Rome and it was sent here after the Reformation. Because they were still Catholic and a number joined the Priesthood." Chuckling weakly, he scratched his cheek. "Um, apparently after the whole Anglican split, that meant that family gatherings and meetings could get... interesting."

Voice flat, Graf gave him a look. "Yes, I am sure that is one way of putting it, Harry."

Thoughtful, Aqulia frowned some. "You know, if the relic is still there, we might want to let someone know. Roma would be interested in it, she might know something about it or who to talk to."

With a frown of his own, Harry shook his head. "Maybe? I mean, it was mentioned that after getting it the family made really good sure that it was heavily protected and only certain people could remove it. So it should still be there." Harry smiled and walked forward. "There! That's the marker that we were looking for!"

Confused, Natsumi followed him and came to a stop beside him. She stared at the stone in front of them, which was marked by a swan and what looked like a flowing stream beneath it, and then looked around. In front of them, a steep hill rose upwards and on the other side of the path, the forest continued. "Um, Harry-Chan? Where is it?"

However, Harry just took her hand and stepped to one side of the marker and pulled her along. Much to the astonishment of the shipgirls and one Abyssal, Harry vanished into the hill. Moments later, his head reappeared with a grin on it. "Coming?"

Once it vanished, the others followed and could only blink as they found that they had a cobblestone path that lead through a small furrow in the hill. And when they were past that, they could see what looked like an overgrown village with a small road alongside a stream. Eyes wide as she took it in, Regina stared. "Is this the place?"

Taking note of how a number of the buildings were either falling apart, or looked damaged, Harry nodded. "Yeah..." His expression became a bit saddened. "This is the place."

A hand then grasped his and Harry turned to find RO there with a small, sad smile. Then she gave the black haired boy a understanding nod before they began to walk forward. "Where do you want to look first, Harry-Chan? There is not much here left."

His head turning first in one direction and then another, Harry was about to say something when out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move. But when he turned in that direction, there was nothing but trees. "Um, did anything see something?"

Eyes narrowing, Graf looked around and then shook her head. "Nein, I did not see anything. Did you?"

For a moment, Harry's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I... thought that I saw something move, but... there's nothing there."

If anything though, that only made Graf and the others more suspicious, but the Carrier shook her head. "Then we shall keep an eye out just in case. In the meantime though, perhaps we should check out some of the intact buildings?" Getting nods, she began walking and chose the first intact one there and opened the door. Walking inside though, she frowned some. "Harry, what happened here?"

Looking past Graf, Harry could only blink as besides a thick coating of dust, and some cobwebs, everything looked normal. "Well... back in the 1930s when Grindlewald launched his war, he sent a bunch of his followers here and attacked one night. Those who didn't run were killed or captured, why?"

Her eyes scanning the room, Graf took one step inside and then another. "There's no sign of a fight in this place." Coming to a stop though, she bent down and rubbed at the dust to reveal a scorch mark. "Or so it would appear at first..."
__________________________________________________________________________

Slowly, the group made their way along the only street of the small group of buildings. With each building, they checked, they found few signs of a fight having happened. However, what ones there were told of just how quick and brutal the attack must have been. Sadly looking around, Hachi gave a small sigh. "I think that Hacchan would have liked to see this place when there were people here. It would have been nice. And less sad..."

From where she was standing beside the stream with her hand in the water, Eugen nodded some. "Ja, it would have been the perfect place for relaxation." Pulling her hand from the water, she gave a small shake. "This water though... it must be from the mineral spring!"

Glancing over at her, Hatsuzuki blinked for a moment. "Is it any good?"

Eugen gave the Destroyer a small smile as she nodded. "Very good! I sort of want to go and take a bath in it right now!" Standing up, she hummed as she looked the bubbling stream over. "It would not even need much work to make some pools here to relax in."

As he needed a distraction, Harry walked over and looked down into the water. "Really? Think that anyone would be interested in coming here for it? I mean... if it's here and stuff..."

Only looking at him out of the corner of her eye, Eugen smiled a bit. "Ja, I know that I would be. Would such a thing be possible, do you think?"

The black haired wizard gave it some thought before eventually nodding, "Maybe? I... don't know how that would work though. I mean, who would I talk to and such?"

Chuckles made him look over at Graf who gave him a small smile. "Well, such a thing might be. It's private enough, though the area needs a much more through search before hand. But it would be nice to bring some life back to this place." She then gestured at where the path split. "Now, we got a choice. We could continue to where your relatives lived, or..."

Following the other path, Harry blinked at what he saw. "Or... we could check the chapel?" Head tilted to the side, Harry looked first in one direction and then the other thoughtfully. "Hmm... well, the Potter residence will still be around so... we can check the chapel?"

Aquila smiled at that and began to walk around. "Ah! That sounds wonderful." However, after they reached the chapel and opened the doors, she stopped and stared. "Henrietta..."

Eyes narrowed, Graf nodded. "I see it... there's no dust. Someone has been taking care of this place. Only question... is who?"

Needless to say, everyone looked around the area, but there was nothing but the usual woodland sounds. Slowly, Graf motioned them inside the chapel and shut the door. A distance away, a pair of eyes were gazing thoughtfully at the chapel door from within the shade of a tree. Inside the chapel, Harry walked along in some awe. He could see painted glass windows as he passed the pews. "Oh wow..."

Behind him, Hanna nodded. "What you said, meine Freund." Then she blinked. "I wonder where the relic might be stored though-"

She was suddenly cut off by a short scream from Natsumi and everyone turned to see her staring into an alcove. As they rushed over, the kitsune pointed. "W-what in the world is that!?"

Coming to a stop beside her, Harry could only boggle at what they were looking at and heard gasps and mutters from behind him. "Um... I think that's the relic? Maybe?"

Only blinking, Aquila looked from him to the alcove before shaking her head in disbelief. "That is a bit more then a relic..."

Her gaze then turned back to the alcove and she crossed herself a bit. Because there, set into it's own little Alcove in the wall behind a plane of crystal, was a skeleton. It sat on a throne like chair and was clad in what looked like expensive fabrics that had cuts in them to reveal the bones beneath. However, that wasn't what truly shocked the the group, for every visible bone had what looked like gold and gemstones weaved around them while a wax mask sat on it's face. The skeleton's hands each had large amounts of rings on each finger and around the visible ribs it looked like someone had taken gold and silver necklaces and threaded them around each bone as well as other bits of jewelry. Slowly, Natsumi turned and stared at Harry. "Um... is that... normal?"

The only thing that Harry could do was shrug and shake his head. "I... don't know? Maybe Aunt Roma would know more..."

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Was working on paper need done yesterday had creative here you go

.....

"I think she's got a crush on you," Haru said, leaning against the window frame and looking the jorogumo in the eye. Still confined to the outside, the spider-woman glared back at her. Tatsuya gave her his 'that isn't funny' look.

"What," he said flatly. Haru shrugged.

"Well," she explained, "You've got to remember that these girls are kind of like black widows. You know, killing their mates and stuff like that?"

"But... I didn't... that wasn't something that happened," Tatsuya sputtered. Beside him, Benio flushed red. Haru had set up fans and air conditioning, but the "han'you" was still resorting to taping ice packs to her arms and head. Haru wondered if blushing like that was healthy for her.

"Doesn't matter. She was planning on it," Haru shrugged, stepping away from the window. Tatsuya and Benio squawked indignantly. "And then, you blew her up and ran for it. You survived. That's like a two-time catch for her... I mean, they do--"

"Gonna stop you right there," Benio said, raising her hands. "We get the idea. So... how do we make it stop?"

"Not sure yet," Haru admitted, scratching the back of her head. "I've got to admit, this one's new even for me." Which was true. In all her years, she'd never seen anything quite like this--which was why it promised to be fun.

"You may want to compromise, though," she continued, looking back out the window. "Because if I'm not missing my guess, that's your uniform jacket she's wearing." Tatsuya blinked. He patted his arms, as if expecting to feel the jacket. He stared at Benio, who gave him her own flat 'you mean you didn't notice?' look.

"Oh that little--"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Glancing over his shoulder as Aquila closed the door to the chapel, Harry heard a mutter and turned to find Natsumi giving said building an odd look. "Natsumi-Chan? Is something wrong?"

With a look at him, she grimaced a bit. "Well... it's just that, no offense to anyone but that was creepy. You have a skeleton in there! A skeleton!"

Softly chuckling, Aquila jogged up and shook her head. "Ah, it's no offense at all." Turning to Graf, she gave a small smirk. "Though I suppose that this means that you will never go to the Sedlec Ossuary."

Unable to help herself, Graf chuckled some. "Ja, Sophia, I think that would be one place that we could mark off for any trips with Fräulein Natsumi here. Considering what happened, I do not expect that she would like to be there."

That made Natsumi blink, though she noticed that Harry looked away which made her suspicious. "The... Sedlec Ossuary? Um..."

Coughing into his hand, Harry rubbed the back of his head as Natsumi and the others turned to him. "It's... known by another name. The Church of Bones." At the wide eyed looks from the Japanese shipgirls, he shrugged. "It's a wedding chapel made from human skeletons."

For several moments there was utter silence before an odd sound came from Natsumi. "A wedding chapel... made from human skeletons?!" When Harry nodded, she started shuddering and rubbing her arms. "Harry-Chan? That is beyond creepy and I would never step foot in such a place! It... it would be unclean! And to marry there..."

Meanwhile, Graf had gotten a cup of coffee from somewhere and was now sipping it. "Perhaps to you, Fräulein, but not to others. I will admit that it is creepy, but! But... it is simply a different culture. Sophia and I made a trip there before the war as we had heard about it."

An unsure look on her face, Teruzuki raised her hand. "I-if it's made from skeletons... How may people...?"

With a look at her, Aquila patted her on the shoulder. "No one was killed for it, Teruzuki." She frowned for a moment before looking around the area of the church before nodding at the graveyard there. "There are times when a graveyard sometimes has too many buried in them. In such a case , to make room, the older graves may be dug up and the skeletal remains stored elsewhere. Such a place is an Ossuary, or perhaps a Catacomb. Such a thing happened at Sedlec, where thousands were buried. It is said that the ossuary has the remains of over forty thousand making it up."

Taking over, Graf nodded some as they walked though she kept an eye out. "Over a century ago, a woodcarver was put in charge of sorting the remains as they were everywhere and turned it into... Well, a sort of work of art." She then waved a hand at their disbelief. "As I said, different beliefs. There are those who do make for a new life there with each other."

Only grimacing, Maruyu shook her head. "Work of art or not, I don't think that I will ever go there..."

Both Graf and Aquila shared amused looks before the German checked her watch and hummed. "We still got several hours of daylight, meine freunde. Perhaps a small meal before we continue on to Harry's family home?" Natsumi was about to answer when her stomach grumbled and she blushed. If she had her ears out, she was sure that they would be flattened against her face as Graf gave a chuckle. "Ja, I think that is all the answer that we need."

Softly snickering some, Harry slowed down enough that he was now between Hanna and Regina. Glancing at them both, he tilted his head some. "How are you both doing? It's been a long hike and you both have a lot."

Hanna answered the first out of the two as she shook her head. "I'm fine, Harry. And I have been on longer hikes then this before, but I appreciate you asking." She then shifted her backpack some. "Besides, I'm enjoying myself."

On Harry's other side, Regina nodded some as she looked around her in some awe. "Um, I'm fine too. It's not that heavy after all." Eyebrows raised, both Harry and Hanna looked at the massive backpack that Regina was carrying. More then that, her tail was carrying the tent itself in a much smaller backpack. At first, Graf had asked her if she was alright with what she was carrying, only for the Abyssal to assure her that she was fine. Closing her eyes, Regina took a deep breath and then let it out. "And I'm enjoying myself. This is... a very peaceful place. I like it."

Blinking, Harry tilted his head to the side. "You do?"

A bright smile visible even beneath her scarf, Regina nodded some. "I do, it's not just the peace and quiet, it's... something more. The Sea calls, but I would like to stay in a place like this for a time." Turning, she regarded Hanna for a few moments and then Harry. "Do humans have many places like this?"

Slowly, Hanna nodded some with a soft smile. "Ja, there are many places like this around. And not just here in Germany as I am sure that there are parks that Harry knows in Japan." Head turning to take in their surroundings, Hanna smiled a bit more. "But I agree with you, this is a place where one could stay for a time. And let the world just pass them by."

Chewing her lip, Regina looked from Harry to Hanna. "Do... do you think that I might be allowed back? To be at this peace again?"

More then a little surprised, Harry quickly nodded. "I don't see a problem with that, Regina. You know, my family residence when it gets rebuilt is also in a peaceful place, so you could stay there whenever you want."

Eyes watering, Regina bent down some. "You... you mean that, Harry? That you would allow for me to be there?"

Reaching up, Harry ruffled her hair best that he could which brought a blush to Regina's face. "Yup! I wouldn't mind it in the slightest, all you got to do is ask." He then pulled her into the best hug that he could. "Heck, you don't even really need to ask."

Practically melting from both happiness and embarrassment, Regina only nodded. Chuckles made Harry glance at Hanna who was giving him a smile of her own. What she said though made him blink in confusion. "You've got a big heart, Harry."

Just shrugging, Harry smiled at them both. "Um, thanks?"

Several minutes later found them all having set up for a meal with Harry placing a cauldron in the middle of a ring of stones. Soon after, there was fire in said cauldron with Graf placing a grill on top as they got ready to cook their meal.
______________________________________________________________

Glancing at Regina's tail, from which crunching sounds could be heard as it chewed something, Harry turned back to the blushing Regina. "You really liked the can fruit salad, didn't you?"

A blush on her face, Regina nodded some. "I-I did. It's really tasty..." Another crunch came from her tail and she giggled some. "And the cans are good as well."

Beside her, Akizuki nodded as she finished off a can herself, the metal vanishing into her mouth. "Hai! Fruit salad is really, really good! And they last a while too!"

With a bounce in her step, Teruzuki smiled brightly. "Can food is so wonderful! It can last a long time." She then wagged her fingers a bit. "And you can get a lot too!"

Natsumi only shrugged a bit as she looked to where stone walls rose up as they got closer. "Fruit salad is okay... but I like peanut butter better." Her expression shifted to one of bliss which made Hachi giggle. "Peanut butter is just wonderful and a gift from the Kami."

Considering that, Hatsuzuki nodded and turned to her sisters. "Natsumi-San is right, peanut butter is good too."

Now thoughtful herself, Akizuki hummed before she smiled. "That is true, peanut butter is good too. Filling and lasts a while. You don't even need to keep it cold!" Tapping her finger against her chin, she looked at Hatsuzuki and then Teruzuki. "Which is better? Canned meat? Peanut butter? Dried fruits? Or something else?"

The two Destroyers tilted their heads in thought and hummed. There was a part of Natsumi that was highly amused by their antics. Another though also felt sorry for them that they had to actually think about how long food was able to last. When she had asked Haru, all the older kitsune told her was to give them time. But also that very likely they would always be affected by what had happened in the 1940s and so would want to make sure that any food was eaten.

It did sadden Natsumi.

As Harry turned from his friend's discussion, he blinked as he found Graf stopped in front of the gate. The closed gate at that in the wall. "What in the world...?"

Deeply frowning, Graf glared at it as if it was insulting her just by being there. "It was closed when I got here." Raising her fist, she smacked it into the gate. It shuddered as did the wall, but held. "For some reason, it won't open."

Walking up, RO considered the gate before narrowing her eyes and planting her hands on either side. Bracing herself, she began to push against the gate which groaned as it tried to hold her back. It was not until she began hearing the wall crack though that she stopped. "It's stuck fast and unless we want to bring the wall down..."

Behind her, Harry looked the gate over until he spotted a metal part. Quickly pulling out some notes, he flipped through it until he reached the section he needed and read through it. "Um, there is a way of opening it without needing to destroy the wall... But only a Potter can do it."

Eyebrow raising, Maruyu then glared at the gate. "Harry-Chan, remember what we talked about over lunch?"

Harry blinked and was about to say something when he remembered the conversation. "Wait, you mean about someone living here?" At the nod, he frowned and looked at the gate more thoughtfully. "It kind of makes sense... maybe..."

Curious, Hachi walked up beside him as everyone else took up positons around them. Natsumi in particular was looking at slits in the wall. "Maybe what, Harry-Chan? You thought of something?"

Slowly, the black haired wizard scanned their surroundings. As he did so, he had the comfortable feeling that they were being watched, but couldn't see by whom or what. "There was mention of some servants of the European Branch, but not much about them. But they were supposed to have been working for the family for a very long time. If one of their relatives came here after the war, it could be a test?" Harry then turned back to the doors and walked closer. "Maybe... maybe they want to see if I am a Potter."

All that got him was narrowed eyes as Graf continued to look around. "I see... Then let us prove such to them if it is that. Regina! Akizuki! Teruzuki! Close formation around Harry. Hanna, be prepared just in case."

Now serious herself, Hanna pulled out a gun and kept an eye out as she glanced at Harry. "Be ready for anything. If we tell you to duck..."

With a nod, Harry took a deep breath. "I'll duck." After a moment, he glanced at her. "Okay... I'm going to be opening the door."

The black haired boy then walked over to the door and pulled his knife out before slashing his hand. Eyes wide, Natsumi was the first to react as she hissed at him. "Harry-Chan! What are you doing?!"

Gritting his teeth a bit, Harry clinched his fist before releasing it. "The only way to open the gate once closed from this side..." Reaching out, he placed it against the metal. "Is with Potter blood." Seconds later, he pulled back his hand and left the metal circle smeared in blood as he performed a quick healing spell. To the surprise of not just Natsumi, but also the shipgirls, the blood on the metal did not drip off. In fact, it began to move until it was fully in the groves. Then it began to glow a dull red that spread from what they could tell was a family crest and the glow spread from the disk along the crack of the door.

Once it reached the top, the glow, and what they could tell was blood, now spread along the edges of the gate until it connected with the disk from the bottom. Slowly, with a loud groan, the gate opened revealing the inner courtyard. At the end of a path there was a stone, fortified house that rose upwards. From on side of the building, there was a low stone building that lead to a strong tower with what looked liked slit windows. And on one side of the gate, the group could see there was a gatehouse.

But all that was secondary to the real surprise.

In the middle of the path was a ghost who was staring at them in disbelief. That soon changed as he gave a bright laugh and held his hands to the sky. "One is left! There is still one left!" Laughing and crying, he turned and rushed through the door of the house. "Marie! Marie! It is safe! The family, they are safe!"

Blinking, Harry turned from looking forward and then to the others who appeared just as stunned. "Well... That happened?"

Simply giving him a look, Graf was about to say something when she heard a thump nearby and could see a man stand up from where he had leapt from the tree. Said man was wearing what looked like an old fashioned German hunter's outfit as his face had an expression stuck between disbelief as he placed a bow onto his back. While she would not admit it, seeing how close he was the whole time sent a shudder down Graf's back. 'How did he hide that well? And for how long has he been watching us?'

Then the doors to the house opened and a woman in a German servant woman's clothing walked out. As soon as she laid eyes on them, she began to cry tears as she quickly made her way over. Coming to a stop, she let out sobs. "Mein Gott in Himmel... You came... you came back..."

Glancing from one to the other, Harry could feel the stares of disbelief. They were not only due to how there was still two people here. But rather how they looked.

After all, both the man and the woman had what looked like the legs of goats rather then normal human ones...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Slowly taking a step forward, though he noted that the others were ready to react at a moment's notice, Harry cleared his throat. "I'm sorry... but, I don't know your name."

The woman blinked before blushing as her eyes widened. "Oh, forgive me." She then grasped her skirts and did a curtsy. "I am Marie and the kammerfrau of this household. The Jäger is meine Bruder, Johann." Only tipping his hat, said man gave them a small smile. Meanwhile, Marie gestured to the ghost from before. "And this is Bartholomew. We are the servants of the household."

A smile on his face, Harry nodded at them. "I'm Harry Potter and with me are some of my friends. Natsumi Ono, Regina, Hachi, RO, Akizuki, Teruzuki, Hatsuzuki, Graf Zeppelin, Aquila, and Hanna Hipper with her sister, Prinz Eugen."

Rather bemused at some of the odd, to her, names, Marie smiled back. "Well then, allow me to welcome you to Bronnen, young Junger Herr."

Blinking, Harry pointed at himself in confusion. "Junger Herr? Me?"

Humming, Marie nodded. "Yes, you. After all, as a Potter, you are the Head of the Household..." Then she frowned some in thought. "Well, currently. If you have an older sibling or father, then they would be the Head."

Despite himself, Harry still had a grimace on his face. "I'm sorry but..."

Features softening and her eyes closing, Marie shook her head. "We were afraid of such." Then she opened them and more then one of the shipgirls realized that they were a golden brown with a horizontal pupil. "But you and you freundinnen are more then welcome here and safe."

Glancing back and forth, Eugen frowned a bit before nodding. "Danke, meine Dame. But we are still..."

Rough chuckles made them turn to find Johann humming as he sat on a stump. "They are worried, Marie. They do not know yet whether to trust us with the Junger Herr."

Scandalized, Marie hissed at him. "Johann!"

However, he just hummed a bit. "Marie, they would be fools to trust us right away. Especially with how I have been trailing them." He then tipped his hat some to them. "But you still were able tell that I was around. And you also obviously care for the young Junger Herr Harry here. Both are good I think."

Briefly, Marie closed her eyes and tried to ignore her brother's chuckles before opening them again with a sigh. "You must excuse meinen Bruder. He sometimes does not think before speaking."

Looking back and forth, Harry finally spoke up. "Just a question... But I am assuming that you were the ones who closed the gates?"

There was a sparkle in Johann's eyes as he nodded. "We did, young Junger Herr. After all, it was the easiest way to tell if one of you was in fact a Potter." Bowing some from where he sat, he sighed. "Our apologies, but we wanted to be sure."

From where she stood beside Harry, Natsumi shook her head some. "You got nothing to be sorry about. After all, you were taking care of where your family lived."

Suddenly, Harry snapped his fingers. "That's right! Marie and Johann! Those were the names in the family history book who were the servants of the Continental Branch!" Then he winced some. "But, um... I'm of the English Branch, so..."

Only shaking his head, Bartholomew chuckled some. "Perhaps, but you are by blood still of our family. In you flows the blood of the Potters from here in Germany."

Confused, Harry looked from one to the other before frowning. "I, uh... do? How so?"

Blinking, Marie took a few steps forward, but stopped out of her own reach so to not spook her visitors. "I assume that you know about the split? How the two branches separated after English Reformation?" When Harry nodded, she continued. "In 1809, it was decided to unite the two Branches once more. Else Potter, daughter of the then Herr Hans Potter, married Hadrian Potter, heir to the British Branch. Thus, they brought the two back together."

For several minutes there was silence before Hanna turned to Harry. "Uh, Harry? Your ancestors married each other?"

Harry was about to answer when Bartholomew did. "They were not that close as it had been almost three hundred years apart. They were not even Second Cousins. But it did what it meant and united the families once more." He then gestured at the door. "If you did not have the German blood, the gate would not have opened for you."

Giving another curtsy, Marie waited some. "Please, come in and we'll give you a small tour."

When Harry glanced at Graf, said Carrier gave a small nod. It helped that there was no doubt in the wizard's mind that the shipgirls were probably already in contact with others via the radio. "Sure, I think that I would like that."

A smile on her face, Marie gestured for them to follow which they did so. Now somewhat curious, Hanna frowned. "Meine Dame, may I ask you a question?"

Slightly blushing at the honorific, Marie nonetheless nodded. "Of course, I have no issues with answering any question. So please, ask away."

With a slow nod, Hanna gestured at Regina. "No offense to you, Regina, but you have not asked about her."

Coming to a stop, there was silence. Glancing first at the curious Abyssal and then at the others, Marie coughed into one hand. "Well, it is not my place to ask you understand. The Potter family has been known for... not caring about certain things when it comes to love. And while circumstances like yours are usually not open and nor are they usually so exotic..."

It took several moments before it clicked in their heads. Their reactions would have made Harry laugh if he was not so embarrassed himself. 'She... they... And then...'

The other reactions were about as hilarious as Harry's. Natsumi blushed deeply with Hanna's jaw dropping at the insinuation. All three Duckies flushed and couldn't look at Harry while Eugen snorted. Aquila choked a bit though as Graf just pulled down the brim of her hat. "Mein Gott..."

Regina though just blinked and looked around. "Um... I don't get it." Gesturing for her to lean down, Harry whispered into her ear and she frowned before letting out a squeak and blushing. 'I-I-I...'

Noting that Marie was now blushing and Johann was chuckling, Harry knew that she had heard what he had whispered to Regina. Weakly chuckling, he rubbed the back of his head. "Um... actually, we're just friends. Not... not like that."

Bemused, Johann nodded some though more then one person heard his next word. "Yet."

Almost hissing, Marie turned to her brother and fixed him with a glare. "Johann!" As the man was utterly unrepentant, she turned back and bowed to Harry. "My apologies, Junger Herr. It was just seeing you with several young women, I just assumed..."

Waving her off, Harry shrugged. "Um, it's not an issue. But... we're just friends and Eugen, Graf, and Aquila have their own others..."

The two Carriers gave each other a glance, one that made Bartholomew and Marie raise their eyebrows. Other then that, there was no reaction to what was being said, though the three Submarines kept giving looks to Harry. Natsumi was well, which made Marie give her a searching look. 'Hmm... Well, they do look healthy and if things do change with young Harry, then one of them would make for a good mother.'

Needless to say, Aquila wanted to get away from this subject as soon as possible and looked around for something else. Then her eye caught sight of a building that seemed to have been built into the wall at the corner of the walls. Above it was a symbol of a triangle with a line that split it and a circle in half. "May I ask what that place is?"

Looking, Marie's expression shifted into a scowl. "That would belong to the monsters who followed Grindlewald. They built it there while they occupied this place and mein Bruder and I were holed up in the Bergfried. Unfortunately, they spelled it so that no one could enter or get close."

Now perking up, Graf looked at her. "They spelled it, you say? So there could be some items left behind there?" At the nods, she looked back at the building. "There... may be a way to enter. After all, I know of someone who could undo such things I suspect and could ask for him to come. It may be a few hours or perhaps more."

Eyes wide, Marie gave a quick nod. "Please! If you know of someone then that would be helpful as we could finally get rid of the last of those awful symbols."

For several seconds, Graf was silent as she stared into the distance and then nodded. "The message is now off and with some luck it should reach him soon."

Confused, Marie just tilted her head to the side before frowning. "May I ask how? Because you didn't use any magic..."

Softly smiling, Graf shook her head while Aquila spoke up. "Ah, well, for that we need to explain a few things..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Pensively frowning, Marie stared down at the ground in deep thought. "So... there is yet another war going on? And one which Fräulein Regina's people were on the side of those fighting humans, but now she's fighting on our side?"

Slowly, Regina nodded some. "Um, well... yes?"

Beside his sister, Johann only hummed in thought before turning toward Marie. "It would not be the first time, Marie. We have both seen such things before."

Even as Marie nodded, Harry looked between them curiously. "You have? You've met shipgirls and Abyssals before?"

After blinking, Marie gave him a small smile and shook her head. "Nein, what mein Bruder means, Meister, is that we have lived a very long time. I remember the Thirty Years War and the Seven Years War." She then gestured at her brother. "We were here when Napoleon brought his armies through Germany. And we were here when what those without magic called the World War happened. As well, we were here when this Second World War occurred, though we were holed up in the Bergfried at the time."

Placing a pipe between his lips though it was not lit, Johann nodded. "What meine Schwester is trying to say, is that we have seen the back and forth many times. We have seen allies turn against each other and enemies become allies. When this land was part of the Holy Roman Empire, it happened often enough. Such things as this?" He waved a hand at Regina. "It does not bother us. Eventually this war too, will pass and those who fought will need to learn how to live with one another. It is the way of the world and it speaks well of you that you have already begun."

With that said, Johann fell silent as he observed the reactions of those around them. Eyebrow raised, RO looked at him before smiling. "Well, that is good to hear! There's some out there who would have a lot more trouble with it after all.

While Johann chuckled, Bartholomew sighed and shook his head. "While I may not be as old as either Johann nor Marie, I, too, have seen such things. It will take time for the wounds of the past to heal, but they will."

Only shaking her head, Marie smiled a bit. "I will admit that I am surprised that such things as these... shipgirls, exist. There were stories of Sea Nymphs of course and one of the more distant Ancestors spoke of one he met within during the Crusades. A wandering knight of sorts..."

Perking up, Graf frowned thoughtfully. "Meine Dame Marie, Herr Johann, would it be possible for us to see these writings? Just to copy them and nothing else." At their confusion, she shook her head. "Any information regarding those like us in the past would be appreciated."

Marie frowned some in thought as she watched Harry nod. Not due to the writings themselves, there were no family secrets in them. After several moments, she slowly nodded. "I believe that they were copied three centuries ago and placed into the family archives in the main home. But it will take some time to find them I'm afraid."

Just tipping the brim of her hat, Graf nodded. "Any such assistance would be well thought of." Both Marie and Johann nodded at that as neither saw much issue with it. Of course, that was when Graf blinked and looked to the Northwest with a small smile. "Ah! It seems that they have gotten in contact with Albus. And he will be on his way in a few hours, that's good."

Eyes widening some, Marie stared at her. "Albus Dumbledore?" At their nods, she smiled brightly. "I remember Grindlewald's troops muttering about how much they feared him. Good! I want to meet the man who could place the fear of Gott into such beasts, especially that Arsch mit Ohren Grindlewald." Then the maid frowned. "If he is on his way, then perhaps we shall tour the outside buildings? So we do not need to rush down staircases."

Clapping her hands together, Aquila nodded some. "That sounds wonderful, grazie."

Soon after, the group was walking around with Marie when they turned a corner and all of them stopped and blinked. Slowly, Harry turned to Marie who had a small smile on her face. "There's actual greenhouses here?"

Bartholomew nodded some and smiled as he preened. "Oh yes, Junger Herr. As a matter of fact these ones were built in the Seventeenth century to help grow some more exotic potions ingredients." Briefly, he scowled though. "But when Grindlewald's forces took over, they used them for rather nasty specimens of plants. It took poor Marie and Johann some time to clear them out! One of them was a man eating tree that they were taking sap from."

With a blink, Hachi looked at them. "Man eating tree? Those exist?"

His expression darkening, Johann nodded with a soft growl. "Ja, they exist. It uses tendrils to grab it's prey and then wraps the poor victim in them as it lifts them above the center trunk before crushing them as one does a fruit. The sap and nectar were quite powerful for several dark potions." Sighing, his lips pressed together in a thin line. "It was not easy dealing with it and if we were less powerful then we were.."

Leaving the rest unsaid, Johann chomped the end of his pipe again while Marie shook her head. "But we came out victorious and cleared the greenhouses of such nastiness. Though there was not much left of the original plants, some we recovered as well. As for the rest..." Her shoulders shrugged. "We have used it to grow vegetables in over the winter months. Some we plant in the vegetable garden beside it... I hope that you do not mind much, Junger Herr?"

Much to her amusement, Harry rapidly shook his head. "I don't mind! Not at all, keep doing it." Relief was obvious on his face as he looked first from Marie to Johann. "I'm just glad that you both have enough to eat, though if you need more just ask."

Both of them blinked in some surprise before Johann chuckled and shook his head. Giving her brother a look, Marie curtsied a bit once more. "Thank you, Junger Herr. It has been some time since we were able to go to the nearest village... We attempted to head to the next nearest village, but it was also gone. And with the Statute, we could not take the risk of heading to a non-magical market." She then pointed towards the west wall with a chuckle. "Over there some distance there are chestnut trees which we gather each year and make flour with. There are also plenty of berries if one knows where to look for them and fruit in a nearby orchard."

Pulling the pipe from his mouth, Johann nodded. "There is also plenty to hunt and fish as well if one knows how. And we do have some trade, though not too much."

Curious, Harry looked between them as they continued to walk. "I thought that no one had come by since..."

With a glance at his sister, Johann hummed. "That would not be exactly true, Junger Herr. Oh, they do not stay in one place, but that is mainly due to fear. From what I am to understand, after Grindlewald fell, they cracked down on many things here in Germany. And they much prefer to not allow for certain people to know of them. But I think that they would allow you due to their relationship with the family." Eyes sparkling, he leaned down towards Harry. "Junger Herr, do you know of the legend of the Swanmaidens?"

Eyes wide, Eugen and Hanna boggled at him before glancing back at Harry. Natsumi though also had wide eyes as she remembered a conversation. "There are swanmaidens? Here?"

Johann nodded some as he straightened up. "Ja, they come by once in a while and trade with us. Either with us giving them food or shelter in the village, though one or two have been considering settling back down. They are far easier to catch by some wizard then a Veela would be after all and they are considered Magical Beings, not quite human. So they prefer not to let themselves be known for what they are out of that fear." Somewhat to his bemusement, Graf's and Eugen's eyebrows twitched at that and they muttered a bit. Deciding to turn the pot, something his sister could tell if her glare was enough proof, Johann hummed. "Though I do give you some warning, young Junger Herr. If they are here when you are then they may give you some attention. It would not be the first time."

Blinking, Harry tilted his head to the side. "Poi?" He then noticed that Natsumi and some of the others had twitching eyebrows. 'Wonder what is with them?'

Due to looking at Natsumi, Harry missed Marie reach out and jab her brother in the side which made him grunt. By the time he turned back though, the maid was simply smiling. "Don't worry about such things, Junger Herr. They are a rather friendly group." Then she walked past her bother who gave another grunt. "Shall we continue the tour?"

As they walked along, Marie explained various bits and pieces of history regarding them. Such as the garden shed which had been built in 1902 for the lady of the household. Eventually though, Akizuki held up a hand which the amused maid nodded at. "Um, Marie-San... How did you and your brother come to serve Harry-Chan's family? I mean..."

Simply smiling, Marie shook her head with a small sigh. "That is a bit of a tale. You see, Fräulein, our Vater, was born into the household to a family who often were servants. He grew up alongside the future Herr of the House, but despite their future positions, they treated the other to be their Bruder. They were very close to one another as they grew and, when they were both young men, they journeyed to the South of Europe for a hunting trip. But then... our Vater disappeared."

Taking up the story, Johann had a serious expression on his face. "The future Meister searched high and low for his friend, but there was no sign. Broken hearted at the loss of his close friend, he returned to Germany, though he still held hope for our Vater. Thus, years later when he learned he had been sighted over the Alps, he made haste and arrived in time to see our Vater collapse. Within his arms he had two bundles wrapped in blankets."

It did not take long for Hachi to realize what was going on. "It was you! Both of you were in those blankets!"

Lips pursed together in a thin line, Marie nodded. "Ja, it was us. Our Vater only spoke that he had escaped from danger with us. Perhaps it was our Mutter, or a something else. But... we will never know. What we do know is that he asked for the Herr to protect us and take us into the household as he had been and others of his family. The Herr nodded and promised his friend, his Bruder in all but blood that he would do so and they would be treated as family. Our Vater passed away and lies buried in the Potter family cemetery not far from where we stand."

With a soft snort, Johann shook his head. "It was not all lovely though. While the Herr, Johannes Potter who I am named after, did take us in there were those against it. Due to how we look, some thought that perhaps we were Devilspawn. But the Potters persevered and we grew in the household. The two of us grew up happy, and strong, loved by the family. I became a Jäger, the best that was here in the household. The forest, I can hear her." He then gestured at Marie who curtsied. "And meine Schwester rose through the household staff until she became the head. Even those who were above her still listened when she spoke. That was five hundred years ago and not once have we regretted giving the family our loyalty."

All of them now looked at Marie and Johann with new gazes with Natsumi giving them both a smile as she bowed to them much to their confusion. Internally shrugging it off, they continued to show off the house, though more then just Harry was excited by how there was a sunroom. By the time they reached the gate though, they spotted Dumbledore walking up the path and examining the surroundings. On his shoulder, Fawkes sat also watching in interest. Upon seeing them, he smiled and quickened his pace. He did raise an eyebrow at Johann and Marie though before nodding at them both. "I am Albus Dumbledore and I am quite pleased to meet you."

Johann gave a small nod while Marie curtsied and answered for them both. "I am Marie and this is mein Bruder, Johann. We are the servants of the Potter family here in Europe. Welcome to our home."

Smiling, Dumbledore just chuckled. "Thank you, it does look like a rather lovely home." He then frowned some and sighed. "I'm afraid though that I can not stay long, Harry. Some items came up and I have need to head back to handle them."

On Harry's face was a frown his eyes widened a fraction. "What sort of problem, Professor?"

Instead of letting his actual feelings be known, Dumbledore instead gave a smile. "Oh, just some issues. Nothing too much though." He then gestured at the gate. "Now, I am told that you have an issue regarding something left behind that needs my assistance." Upon finding what they needed him for though, he sighed and shook his head. "Alas, it does seem like Gellert had a hand in this. It may take some time to bring it all down safely."

Watching as he worked, Marie frowned some before giving a sharp nod. "That is no problem, Headmaster. After all, we have waited this long to cleanse this... taint... from this place. A few more minutes or hours will not make much of a difference."

Just humming, Dumbledore continued his work as he nodded. "I would suppose so. Ah, Miss Zeppelin?" Getting a nod from the Carrier, he shook his head. "You were quite right in your caution. There is a spell that if tripped would burn everything inside the building to ash. One moment and... there we go. No more danger from that trap thankfully."

Finally, an hour later, the elderly wizard was done and nodded. "There, the spells have been brought down and now there should be no more issues." Glancing at the symbol in the stone, he glanced towards Marie and Johann. "If you would like, I could get rid of Gellert's symbol. Or replace it with another?"

Grunting, Johann shook his head. "Just get rid of it."

Moments later, the symbol was gone and they stepped inside the building. It took a few minutes, but the Headmaster nodded as he finally got rid of any protections that were left behind. "All done. There should be no further issue, Miss Zeppelin, Harry."

Once he was gone, headed back to Britain, Harry poked his head into the main room to find Graf and Eugen looking over some papers. Glancing up, Graf gave him a nod before turning to Johann and tapping a spot on a map. "Herr Johann? You would not happen to know what was here, would you?"

Walking over, the woodsman frowned as he looked at the map and compared to what he had mentally. "Ja, I know where that is. It's two hours hike from here as a matter of fact and a few centuries ago there was a mine there once, it goes deep into the hill there. Why?"

Slowly standing up, Graf frowned. "Because according to some of these notes, it was a 'Production Facility' for weapons. Near the end of the war, Grindlewald attempted to produce something there... And I think that we should know what."

Head tilted to the side, Johann considered this and then nodded. "Ja, that perhaps would be a good idea. I shall guide you there tomorrow, will it be just us?"

Leaning over the map, Graf chewed her lip before sighing. "Nein, I think that the others should also come along. The more we have to search, the better though Harry and Natsumi shall stay near the entrance. It may be nothing, but better safe then sorry."

All she got was nods from the two there before Marie poked her head in with a small frown. "What are you all doing in here? Come, come! I've made a meal for all of us and if you do not hurry then it will get cold. And Johann! Bring some of your Kirschwasser! I know that you have some laying around somewhere. We have guests!"

While she sped off, her brother sided and slid his cap lower to cover her eyes as the two shipgirls looked at him in amusement. "Meine Schwester seems excited for the first time in a long time. Though I suppose that she is right..." With that, he walked out followed by Graf and Eugen who shut the door behind them.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Having woken up along with Natsumi and the Destroyers, Harry went through the normal morning routine. As he did so, he looked around the Master Bedroom that they were all using and could only shake his head. The walls were done in expensive woods with various decorations. Running water made Harry look towards the bathroom where Natsumi had gone to freshen up. Snickers escaped him as he remembered the previous night when they had taken some baths. His friend, and the various shipgirls, were excited to learn that the bathwater came directly from the mineral spring.

It went without saying that Harry could still hear the squee from Natsumi.

Only shaking his head, the black haired boy went back to what he was doing. A short time later, the group was heading down the staircase and looking around as they did so. Once more, the main staircase was done in warm, dark woods and ended at the entrance hall. From what Marie had told him, once a long time ago there were pictures and portraits there. But they had been taken by Grindlewald's forces and there was no clue where they might have gone. Thankfully, a lot of the wall mountings were left though Harry was making plans to see what may be at the Potter properties in Britain that could belong to the German home. Besides that, there was home made furniture which Johann had made.

Apparently, over his lifetime he not only learned the ways of the woodsman, but also of woodworking. And brewing, something that he was good at if Graf's, Aquila's, and Eugen's comments the previous night were anything to go by. Harry pretended not to notice Eugen get a bottle of something from Johann in exchange for what looked like coffee. Entering the dining area though, Harry had to raise an eyebrow at the sight that met him. Johann was sipping something from a steel cup while Graf was giving her own a suspicious look. "Um, what is going on?"

Johann looked at him and smirked. "Fräulein Zeppelin is somewhat suspicious of the drink I made. I have no idea why though..."

Eyebrow raised, Harry turned to Graf who narrowed her eyes and then took a sip. Putting the cup down, she frowned down at it before looking at Johann. Then Graf put it down and looked at him. "It's... an interesting drink, I suppose." Still frowning, she stared down at the drink. "How?"

Simply shrugging his shoulders, Johann leaned back. "When one has needs, they find ways around it. I have not had coffee since just before Grindlewald, so I created the best I could." At her look, he smiled a bit and took a sip of what Harry recognized as coffee. "Not the same, but good enough."

Looking back at the hot drink in her hands, Graf frowned but then sighed as she drained it. "Ja, I suppose that it true. And it is better then other examples that mein crew have had."

That got her a chuckle from Johann as he nodded. "Oh, no doubt! I have had over seventy years to work on such. But now! Now I have some coffee."

Aquila reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "You poor man, to go through such. But no worries, even if we must make air drops, you will get some."

For her part, Eugen only shrugged. "It is still good though." She then turned and looked at Harry with a nod. "Guten Morgen, Harry."

Giving her a greeting as well, Harry pulled out the chairs for the others as they followed him in. Minutes later, they found a breakfast in front of them which raised eyebrows. "Oh wow..."

Besides the pastries that there were there, which Harry had guessed were made with chestnut flour, there was also sausage as well. Poking one, Akizuki raised an eyebrow at them. "Um, what sort of sausage are these?"

With a smile on her face, Marie chuckled a bit. "Rabbit." At the looks, she shrugged. "As we have said, we know how to live off the land. It has been some time since we have cooked for so many though."

Hanna cut a slice of one and chewed it before she smiled. "I do not think that you have much to worry about, meine Dame. These are delicious!"

It went without saying that Natsumi dug in as polite as was possible. While they were finishing up, Marie smiled over at Harry. "Junger Herr, mein Bruder stated that you were going out on a hike with him?"

Just placing the cup of the hot drink he was given, and wondering if he could find out the recipe, Harry nodded. "Well, yes? I think that we'll be gone for some time though..."

While Johann nodded, Marie gave a small nod. "Then I shall pack some food for you. But before you do, there is two places left to show you."

That raised Harry's eyebrows and he slowly nodded some. "Sure! I don't mind seeing what you have to show me."

Once breakfast was all done and cleaned, Marie lead them through the small corridor to the Bergfried. As they did so, the rest of the group looked around. The end of the tour the previous night had taken them through the house, but they had not yet entered the tour. Now curious, they followed along and some of them noted the scorch marks and cracks near a door at the end of the hall. Seeing that, Johann gave a very thin, dangerous smile. "Grindlewald's forces did not like that we were in the Bergfried. It did not help that I made sure that they knew that they were not wanted. But they were unable to reach us despite what they have tried."

Meanwhile, Marie opened the large door at the end and they walked in to find themselves in a empty room. Above them, they could see the next floor more then fifteen feet above. Other then that, there was a stone floor which made Harry look around. "Huh... so this is where you were?"

Softly chuckling, Marie shook her head. "Nein, we were above as a matter of fact." Seeing his confusion, she walked around and tapped various stones, which lit up. Then, Marie reached out and twisted one stone and there was a sound as a rope ladder descended from above. At their wide eyes, her eyes sparkled as she gestured. "Up here."

Quickly, she grasped hold of the ladder and in a flash was up it. Only shaking her head, Graf headed up first and the others followed her, with Johann being the last one. Upon entering the next floor though, Harry could only look around in awe. It must have at once time been an empty, stone room, but at sometime in the past it was transformed into a much warmer one. A room that one could live in, especially with the temperature being just right. A chuckle made him turn and find Bartholomew there. "I take it that you approve?"

Nodding, Harry took several steps around. "I do! This place is amazing..."

Bemused as he watched, Johann hummed. "Well, in the Eighteenth Century, the family decided that if they ever needed to hole up here, it should be comfortable. Something that they worked at and made work, as you can see." Walking forward, he ran a hand along the fireplace that was there. There was a saddened look in his eyes. "I hate that we were the only ones who made it here in the attack. That night, his forces got between here and the rest of the family..."

Harry walked over and then placed his hand on the saddened hunter's shoulder. "I don't think that they would want you to be beating yourself up. In fact, from what I heard they would be happy that you survived and consider it as serving its purpose."

That got him a smile from Johann and Marie both. Some time later after going through the entire place, they were on the ground floor once more and Marie went through another process of tapping stones. This time, there was a grinding noise and the floor opened up to reveal a staircase. Lighting a candle, Marie gestured for them to follow and when they got to the bottom, there was a large room with a well in the middle. But around the well, there was what really caught their attention.

Mainly chests and various items that were obviously valuable.

Walking over and opening one, Natsumi boggled at the gold that was there before frowning as she picked up one of the heavy bars. "Uh, Harry-Chan? Why do these have 'CSA' on them?"

Also walking over, Harry frowned and then looked at Marie who shrugged. "One of the family, Friedrich Potter, went over to America to observe the magical side of the Civil War they had. Mainly so that magical Germany could learn from it. He came back with a chest of that gold for the family treasury."

Suddenly it clicked in Natsumi's head and she groaned. "Of course... Because why not?"

Harry just sheepishly shrugged while Akizuki was examining what looked like a gold sceptre with a bird on the end. Beside it, there was a bronze statue of a man with a foot upon a head. "Well... maybe we shouldn't mention it to Kaylee just yet until we figure out something?" At the looks he got, he coughed and turned to Marie. "Has my family always done this sort of thing?"

In reply, Marie hummed a bit. "Well, the Potters have fought in various European Wars, especially the younger members. At times, they found themselves on both sides of the conflict, especially during the Thirty Years War as British Potters fought German and other Continental Branches. And one of the ways that one got payment was through looting and such."

Just as Harry was about to say something, he blinked. "Wait, there was other continental branches?"

Chuckling, Marie nodded. "Oh yes. There used to be Branches in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and I believe that there was one group in Switzerland and perhaps Italy. But over the centuries, they slowly died off. The French Branch mostly died on the magical side of the French Revolution and almost all those who were left died during the Napoleonic Wars. Come the time that Grindlewald rose to power, outside of small families the only ones left with any numbers were the German Branch. Much of what they had were either split between us and the British Branch..."

A strangled sound made them all turn to where Aquila was examining some tapestries. It was soon followed by quick pronounced Italian swears which made Graf boggle for a moment. "Sofia? What seems to be the problem?"

Moments later, Aquila stomped over grabbed Graf and then pulled her over before pointing at them and hissing. "Look at these Henrietta! Do they not look familiar to you?"

Frowning, the German Carrier nodded and leaned in. "Ja, they do. I think that I've seen them somewhere before... but as paintings?" Eyebrows furrowing, she ran a finger along her chin. "I think it was in Italy?"

The smile that Aquila had was not nice in the slightest, but she nodded. "Oh yes! In fact, during a Christmas visit to the Sistine Chapel and were created by Raphael... or at least the ones they still had as a few were thought to be burnt during the Sack of Rome. The ones here."

Slowly, everyone turned to Harry who scratched the back of his head and then turned to Marie who shrugged. "Some Potters were in the employ of the Holy Roman Empire at the time and I believe they brought several items back. But I never knew their significance."

Everyone could hear the clash of steel against steel as Graf slapped one hand over Aquila's face while she cursed in rapid fire Italian. All Graf did in reply to the muffled shouts though was sip a coffee.
___________________________________________________________________

It was two hours later and they were walking along a badly overgrown trail as Graf ignored the mutters from Aquila. Looking over her shoulder, the German raised an eyebrow while glancing at the others. "What seems to be the problem, Sofia? Harry did say that he no issue with returning them and Marie did explain that the family did not find them until after the Statute and were afraid as to how the Church would take magicals returning what seemed to be lost."

With a deep breath, Aquila let it out before waving it off. "It's not just that, Henrietta. Do you have any idea how many problems could come of this? Harry could return even some and... And just the fact..."

Graf tilted her head to the side before nodding. "Ja, I can see the issues. I noticed at least one or two other items thought lost there." For several moments she was silent before shaking her head. "But this could help him as well. Him asking for help speaks well for what may happen and in time..." Shrugging, Graf smiled a bit. "Who knows?"

The smile only grew as Aquila muttered behind her. "Roma is going to blow some boilers, just you see." Seeing the smile widen, the Italian punched her girlfriend. "Stop that! It's not funny!"

Now Graf had a twinkle in her eye. "Oh, Ja, you're right that it is not funny." Leaning in, she continued. "It is hilarious."

Hearing a grunt, Harry turned to see Graf with an odd smile and grimace on her face before Aquila hit her arm again. A chuckle made him turn to find Johann with a smirk on his face. "You have such interesting Gespielinnen, Junger Herr."

Even though he was not quite sure what was just said, and resolving to ask Hanna later on, Harry only smiled back. "Yeah, they're actually pretty cool. And really fun to be around too."

As he nodded with a serious expression, Johann hummed. "Oh yes, I can imagine that they would be most fun to be around." Suddenly, he turned and looked at a stream and held up one hand. "This is the ford to get across. Wait here."

Nearly silently, he ran for the stream and then leapt to one stone and then to the opposite shore before vanishing into the underbrush. Coming to stand beside Harry, Teruzuki stared after him. "Oh wow... That was really impressive!"

Simply nodding, Harry only continued to watch. Five minutes later, Johann reappeared and gestured for them to come over. While Harry, Natsumi, and Hanna needed to be carried over, none of the shipgirls and one Abyssal needed help. Even swollen as it was with melting snow and ice, the stream was unable to push them. Once they were across, Eugen frowned and looked at them. "How does it look?"

Crouching down, Johann frowned. "I found where the mines were, it is only five minutes away. There are also remains of what looks like a road leading from it, but disguised... or was until it became overgrown. But there is two entrances to it, one man sized and one much larger. Also signs that there was an encampment nearby for giants."

Eyebrows raised, Graf frowned. "Giants? Why would you have them around?"

Johann scowled as he looked down at the dirt. "Giants grow quite large and there used to be some in the lower areas of the Alps. I overheard Grindlewald's troops speaking about how they could be used as beasts of burden and carry large amounts of weight." Gesturing for them to follow, they did so and he soon pointed at one spot. "There is one sign."

All of them paused at the sight of the giant, bleached skull that laid there with a tree growing out of one of the eye sockets. Walking up to it, Eugen swallowed as she took it in as it was nearly as tall as she was. And behind it, within the brush, she could see giant ribs rising up. "Mein Gott..."

From where he stood, Johann nodded some. "Ja, and they are very dangerous. That one shows a blow to the back of the head and so was likely killed by one of it's fellows." Head turning back and forth, he continued as everyone looked at him. "Giants are violent beings and often kill each other over the smallest slight. It is why the ones in the Black Forest are there no longer, they fought among themselves until the three were killed by wizards."

There was a frown on Harry's face as he remembered something. "I remember reading in a book that they are nearly extinct. There's something like less then a hundred left in the world as a whole and mainly in one spot."

Grunting, Johann shook his head. "I am not surprised at all." Crossing himself and muttering a prayer for the dead giant, he turned and began to walk onwards. It did not take long for the group to reach the entrance and he pointed at what looked like a wheel. "I suspect that the giants used that to open the main door from outside."

Head craning back, Natsumi boggled at the sight of the door. "What sort of thing did they use this for? It's huge!"

Eyes narrowed, Graf looked at the smaller door, though it was still tall and wide enough for two Wankos to walk through side by side. "Let us find out then." Walking up to the door, she opened it easily which made her raise an eyebrow. Stepping inside, she came to a stop as lights flickered on with a thump. When nothing else happened, she scanned the room and her eyes widened some. "Eugen... you may wish to see this..."

Walking in, Eugen was followed by the others but the Heavy Cruiser's jaw dropped as she saw what was lining the sides in various stages of completion. "I do not believe it. Maus! Maus tanks!" Then Graf's hand came down on Eugen's head and twisted it to look way down at the end of the massive cavern. "What in the World..."

As they gathered behind her, Harry boggled at what they were looking at. "Those... are big tanks."

Softly snorting, Hanna glanced at him before turning back. "That is putting it mildly, Harry. The Ratte is not a small tank and there's two of them. Two!" Shaking her head, she stared in amazement. "But why would they build them? They wouldn't even be able to move across a bridge or road!"

Frowning, Johann stared at said vehicles and frowned. "Not exactly true. With magic, Fräulein Hipper, it would not be much issue. One could lighten them enough, I believe that Beauxbatons has massive carriages that they have enchanted to be light enough to be pulled by winged horses."

Natsumi shivered a bit at the feeling in the air as Graf muttered about flying tanks. "Harry-Chan? Do you think that this place is like with the island?"

Only swallowing, Harry nodded some. "Maybe?" At the looks, he shook his head. "The Japanese magicals there forced captive magicals to transfigure steel into what they needed. It let them make a bunch of ships... and then used slave labor to put it together.

Just taking that in, Graf frowned a bit before shaking her head. "Yet, was that how they-" She cut herself off as she heard a shuffling sound. "Who is there! Show yourself!"

What did show itself though caused them all to take a step back. Mainly because of all the things that they expected, a badly decayed corpse in rotting fabric was not what they expected. Said corpse continued to one of the tanks and Harry blinked. "Is that... a tool case?"

They watched as the corpse began to work on the tank with rusted tools, Eugen slowly nodding as she tried not to puke. "J-ja, it's working on the tank..." Looking at the two giant vehicles, Eugen pulled out a spotlight and shone it at them. On both, they could see similar corpses working at them, maintaining them until they received the next amount of materials to add.

Materials that would never be coming.

Crossing herself, Aquila began to mutter various prayers quickly and Hanna went to a corner and emptied her stomach. Slowly, Graf looked at the floor and could see, through the dust, two symbols which were familiar to her. Then she turned back to the corpses and clenched her fists hard enough for the others to hear steel strain. "Those... beasts... Was not killing them enough!?"

Slowly, they walked further into the room only to stop as they heard another sound. Looking around, Harry blinked. "Uh, did someone hear that?"

Eyes widening, Johann's head snapped up and he shouted a warning. "ABOVE!"

Graf only had the time to turn in time for something to slam into the ground next to her before a fist backhanded her. Her flight came to a stop several seconds later as her body was partially embedded into the reinforced concrete wall as Aquila shouted. "HENRIETTA!"

At the same time, Regina reacted and grabbed Harry and Natsumi while her tail wrapped around Hanna. With a leap, she was on top one of the Maus and soon joined by Johann. All Harry could do though was stare at the massive creature that was at least as tall as Wanko. But it was muscled to a nearly grotesque degree and had metal armor grafted to it's body in places. What skin could be seen was pale and stitched together, though as it moved. It's face as invisible though as there was a metal plate with eyeholes covering most of it.for the mouth which opened with a roar that shook the cavern as an arrow pierced where one of it's eyes were. "WHAT THE BLOOD HECK IS THAT THING!?"

Nocking another arrow and taking aim, Johann let out a growl as he answered and let the arrow fly while his eyes took note of the metal collar it wore with Grindlewald's symbol and what looked like stylized lightning bolts. "Grendel..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Blinking, both Harry and Natsumi turned to look at Johann and said the same thing. "A Grendel!?"

Only grimacing as he saw it rip the arrow from the eyehole with a growl, Johann nodded as he nocked another arrow. This one made it stumble as it literally rammed through the back of the creature's neck through it's mouth. "Ja, that was what they called it. Some sort of creation of Grindlewald's wizards."

A scowl on her face, Hanna pulled out her gun and took aim, each bullet she shot hitting it neatly in either the bulging neck or the chest. "And the SS from the other symbol." With a glance at Johann, she frowned. "From what you say there are others?"

Johann swallowed as he remembered back to when Grindlewald presented two in the village to a group of men in uniform. Each one wore had worn an armband and one of them had glasses and seemed pleased. And was even more so when creatures had torn apart a vehicle. "Unfortunately. But this place may be where they created them... which means that we may have other problems."

Looking at him as Teruzuki tried to punch the creature, only for it to move far faster then it should have been able to and throw her, Harry winced as she landed and skidded along the floor. "Um, right... How so."

With a glance at him, Johann continued to track the fight. "There may be other monstrosities here. Such as the Vargr as they called them."

That made Harry look at him. "Vargr?"

Slowly, the hunter nodded some as he watched the other shipgirls dance in and out of the fight. He could also see an annoyed Graf pull herself from the wall. "Ja, a word of Old Norse. Wolves... Destroyers. Creatures who I suspect were werewolves at sometime, twisted by Grindlewald's magic into berserk beasts with claws that could rend armor and who's speed was second to none. One of the family was talking about reports from Poland before he attacked us."

Wincing at that, Harry slowly nodded. "Right... That sounds nasty."

Beside him, Natsumi frowned some at him. "So... what is the big deal about the name?"

Glancing at her, Harry turned back and thought about it for a moment. "Um... Basically? Grendel was a giant who for twelve years attacked a Mead-Hall and killing those inside. One day, the Hero Beowulf arrived and stated he would defeat Grendel. That night they held a feast and while they were asleep, Grendel attacked. Killing and eating the first man, he went for the second, who turned out to be Beowulf. The two fought until Beowulf won by ripping off his arm, mortally wounding him."

Natsumi blinked and then shrugged it off. "Right, so basically a big, powerful Oni out of legend. And we're dealing with something they named after him."

Still firing at the monster, Hanna stopped as she ran out of ammunition. Trying to put more in, her eyes widened as the monster turned and was about to leap at her... Only for Eugen to be there and grabbed it. Yanking it downwards, she slammed her own head into the metal faceplate, denting it. "STAY WAY FROM MEIN SCHWESTER!"

Hearing something, Eugen watched as the Grendel pulled a chain out of it's back and tossed it. The chain then hooked around a turret and moments later, the Heavy Cruiser went skidding as said turret impacted with her head. Wincing as the chain then wrapped around Maruyu who had been trying to sneak up, Harry could only stare as the small Submarine was bodily thrown into Hachi, sending them both flying across the floor. "Um, right... Wait... Regina!"

With a blink, said Abyssal turned towards Harry and tilted her head to the side. "Yes?"

Before Harry could say anything else, Regina pushed them to the ground as Hatsuzuki went flying where they had been moments earlier. "Right, the girls can't fire their weapons or else they might bring down the entire place. And we don't really have many heavy weapons, so..." The black haired boy smiled. "As your flagship, I am telling you to go and have some fun."

On the floor, Akizuki dodged another thrown piece of rubble at her head, only to see the chain heading for her. Before it could hit though, something blurred in front of her and a pale hand grabbed said chain. All Regina did was narrow her eyes as the chain wrapped tightly around her arm in tightly enough to break a normal human's bone.

It was a good thing then that Regina wasn't a human.

Roaring, Grendel tried to yank her back, only for the floor under Regina's hooves to brake and shatter as she pulled back. "You have hurt my friends... Threatened my Flagship." Flames began to leak from the Abyssal's eyes and the mouth of her tail as she roared back. "FOR THAT, TODAY IS YOUR LAST!"

Hand twisted to grab the chain better, Regina snarled as she pulled back and yanked the monster from its feet. It's flight came to an abrupt stop as the Re-Class' fist slammed into it's stomach and sent it flying across the cavern. Even as it landed on it's feet though, Regina was already rocketing toward it with the concrete that had beneath her hooves shattering from the force. Rather then dodging though, the monster rushed towards her.

From where he was on the tank, Harry winced as he watched the fist impact Regina's head, only for her to answer back with a blow of her own. "Um, wow... I didn't expect that."

All Natsumi could do though was nod even as her jaw dropped in pure shock as the two traded blows with each other. However, she did see RO from where she was pull out a phone and start recording the fight. 'You have got to be kidding...'

Ducking under a blow that would have taken off a person's head, Regina responded with a snap kick that sent the Grendel back. 'Hmm... it's tough. Much tougher then normal humans.' It then dodged her tail, before grabbing it and picking Regina up. Moments later, she slammed into the concrete hard enough to send a spiderweb of cracks out. However, that only made her grin. 'Good!'

Then her tail pulled forward and over her head, slamming the Grendel into the ground in front of her.

In return for that, Regina got a metal cladded boot to the head and making it snap back before she returned to trading blow after blow. Eventually, the two separated with them circling each other. The Grendel roared some as Regina narrowed her eyes into a glare before spitting out some bloody oil. "You made me bite my tongue." A roar coming from it, the Grendel slammed it's fists together and they were engulfed in greenish flames. But all Regina did though was tilt her head with a hum. "Haven't seen that one before."

And then they returned to their slugging match as the Re-Class plowed her fists into the monster again and again, only to get fists full of flame that caused her to hiss in pain. Neither one though was any close to giving up. Until, that is, Regina grabbed the Grendel's arm in a move that Maruyu recognized as being the one that the Submarine had taught her for a throw. Right up to the point that Regina slammed the Grendel into the shattered concrete and pulled as hard as she could.

Harry and Natsumi both turned and closed their eyes at the sound of bone splitting and flesh tearing. Meanwhile, Regina grunted as the creature flipped around and punched her in the face making her let go of the torn off arm she held. The follow up punch though was dodged by the Abyssal who flipped over her foe and put him in a headlock. Her tail wrapping around the Grendel's middle, and her hand digging in just below it's jaw, Regina roared as she pulled as hard as she could with one leg against it;s back. Blood leaking out from the armor plates, the Grendel tried to roar one last time before it was interrupted as the creature's head and neck were nearly torn from it's body as Regina twisted. Lifeless, the monster then dropped to the ground as Regina looked back.

Looking down at it, Regina blinked. "Um, it's over already?" A second later, she nudged it with her hoof and got no response before turning to the others. "I think that I broke it..."

Somewhat disgusted at what remained of the Grendel, Harry only nodded as he swallowed down his gorge. "I don't think that will be a problem..." With a deep breath, he gestured for her to come over as he climbed down the tank. Once Regina reached him though, Harry began to look her over. "You're not hurt or anything, are you?" Turning, he looked at the others. "Any of you?"

Maruyu just let out a sigh and shook her head. "Nothing but our pride, Harry-Chan." Chuckling as others nodded in agreement, she turned to Regina. "You were really great, Regina-San!"

Blushing some, Regina shuffled. "O-oh, thank you." She then turned towards Harry and shook her head. "And I'm not really hurt. I just bit my tongue is all, and that's not, um, really that bad."

For several moments, Harry looked to where the fight had been and then back at Regina before tugging on her coat. She crouched down some and was about to ask when Harry pushed back her hood and started to pat her head. "You did really, really great there, Regina! It was awesome, just like you."

Deeply flushing, Regina stared at him with wide eyes before relaxing. 'Shinano was right... Headpats are the very best.'

While she shook her own head, Graf surveyed the entire place before grimacing. "We're heading back." At the looks, she picked up her hat from where it laid and put it on her head. "That was far too close and who knows what else may be waiting elsewhere in this complex? Nein, I am calling in Admiral Hartmann and reporting on this."

Teruzuki was dusting herself off when she looked up. "Do you think that they will bomb this place? I mean... I can sort of see it?"

Almost a minute passed as Graf gave it some thought and then shook her head. "While it is possible for the Admiral, I think that they might not. There is information here that could fill in some holes and so is important. They might decide to secure the site instead." Keeping an eye on the rest of the cavern, the German Carrier gestured at the door. "In any case, I think that we shall wait outside."

Even as she walked out, Graf was not looking forward to reporting what happened. While the finding of the tanks were surprising, the rest was bad. She just knew that the reaction to what they found was not going to be good.

Needless to say, she was right.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Outside, night had fallen over Spessart. But inside the sitting room of the Fortified House that belonged to the Potters, Harry had barely noticed. At the moment, he was too busy examining his surroundings as a flames crackled in the fireplace. Here and there were touches that lent a homeliness to the room. The furniture, though old fashioned, was comfortable to sit in while on the mantle a beautifully carved clock ticked. It was the sort of room that a person would like to sit in and read a book while soaking in the atmosphere.

A small chuckle though brought Harry back to the present and he turned to where Marie, Johann, and Bartholomew were. The two living members of the trio were sitting in their own seats while the ghost floated around with a bemused look. "It is a rather nice room, is it not?"

Blushing some, Harry nodded with a sheepish grin. "Yeah, it really is. I like it a lot actually."

Simply tilting her head, Marie smiled as she looked around. "Ja, it is a nice room. It was a good thing that it was untouched when Grindlewald's men left." Turning back to Harry, she hummed a bit. "But I think that is not what you wish to speak to us about, is it Junger Herr?"

With a sigh, Harry frowned a little bit, but did nod. "Well, yes, that is not what I asked for you to meet with me here about. It's about the future of the property and since it is your home too, I wanted some input."

There was a small stiffening to the three, but they did not show their inner thoughts. All Johann did though was pull out his pipe and place it between his lips. "Ah, I see. And what are your thoughts on the matter?"

Giving him a look, Harry frowned deeper. "I'm not going to get rid of the property if that is what you think. It's part of my heritage and I will never let it go if I have the choice."

Relaxing, the three nodded at that while Marie glanced at her brother. "That is good to hear, Junger Herr. Very good to hear as is the fact that you wish to include us." At Harry's surprised look at the last bit, she smiled. "It speaks well of you that you are willing to take advice."

Johann hummed at that and gave a small smile. "Ja, meine Schwester is correct in this. Though it does beg the question of what you want to do."

Thoughtful, Harry looked out the window towards the darkened grounds. "I've been giving it a lot of thought. While I love it here, I'll be spending most of my time either in my home in Japan, or in Britain. One day though, I can see one of my family settling here, if I don't spend some of my older days here."

Much to his confusion, none of the three looked surprised with that. Marie gave a small chuckle at the look on his face. "Ah, we understood that as soon as you arrived, Junger Herr. That you were very unlikely to stay here or come back that often, your home is elsewhere. But that you speak of your future kin living here! That, we do look forward to." She then gestured around them. "But this place, it will always be open to you."

Brightly smiling, Harry bowed a little to them. "Danke." If anything, him speaking to them in German made them smile all the more. His expression then shifted to a more serious one. "Now, we did tell you about the war and how the Statute is falling apart and will do so soon. And... what I have been thinking has to do with that."

Eyebrow raised, Bartholomew frowned. "Yes, this was is a rather nasty thing to go along. But... If I may ask, how does that involve us?" Then he blushed a bit and coughed. "Not that we would not help out if we could, mind you."

Chuckling, the black haired boy shook his head. "Well, it has to do with exactly that, helping." At their curious looks, Harry then continued. "Um, from personal experience the fighting is really, really stressful. Even for shipgirls. Which means that they need some place to unwind and such. To just relax and allow for it to, well, wash away."

Already understanding where this was going, Marie smiled a bit. "And you wish to have them come here? To use this place to relax so that when they fight next, they will do so with vigor?"

Slowly, Harry nodded. "Pretty much? I mean, shipgirls go places to relax anyways after all. But with how well known they are? It can be hard for them to unwind without someone bothering them. And here, they don't need to worry, they can just relax in peace. Especially for some of the German shipgirls."

With a thoughtful look, Johann hummed some. Head tilting to the side, he considered Harry for a few moments. "And so you wish to know our thoughts on the matter then? About whether we would have issue with them coming here and staying for a time?" At the black haired wizard's nod, he gave a small smile. "I do not think that it would be as much a problem as you think. Nein, I believe that we would instead enjoy it."

The others nodded in agreement which made Harry give them a relieved look. "So you wouldn't mind me allowing for that to happen? To let them stay here for a time?"

Bemused, Marie shook her head with a chuckle. "I believe that is what mein Bruder just said, Junger Herr." On her face was a far off look she continued. "I think... I think that your ancestors would be pleased with such. To help out in what way we can in a case such as this."

Looking down, Harry had a sad smile on his face. "Yeah... that's what I want to do, you know? To do things that would make my family proud."

A hand on his shoulder caused him to look up and find Marie's kind eyes looking into his own. "And trust me, Junger Herr, Harry. From the short time that we have known you, I can tell such things. Your family, both sides, would be proud of you. Do not doubt that."

Moments later, she felt Harry wrap his arms around her. "Danke..."

For a second, she froze before she placed her own arms around him and hugged him back as memories went through her head of similar actions done many times over the centuries. Many young Potters had needed some comfort in the same way that she was now giving after all. And, she suspected, there would be many more in the years, decades, and centuries to come. Patting him on the back, Marie smiled. "You are very welcome, Junger Herr."

Once he pulled away and wiped at his eyes, Harry returned the smiles that were being given him. "Still, thanks to you I've learned a lot more about my family then I did before. Reading it from a book is not the same as hearing about it from someone who knows."

Briefly, there was a frown on Johann's face at that before he smiled again. "Nein, I would think not. Still, for what time you are here for we will tell you all that you wish to know. It is the least that we can do."

Frowning, Harry glanced around before furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Eventually, he turned back to them. "Um, you know... I might be able to manage an owl box here."

That caused all three servants to blink before Bartholomew answered the question on their minds. "An owl box? And what is that now?"

Lips twitching, Harry explained it and their eyes got a bit wider. When he was done, Marie turned to her brother and nodded. "That would be... very useful actually. Very useful indeed..."
________________________________________________________________________

Flipping the sign in their store window to close, Abeona sighed some as she smiled. 'Another day, another order. Not bad business lately.' Making her way to the back workroom, she smiled as she considered their changed fortunes. Not even two years ago, her sister and herself had been wondering how they could continue to run their shop. While they made some money from their Owl Boxes and repairing Vanishing Cabinets, it was only enough to just keep them afloat. Something that made her sigh as she remembered how it was back in their grandfather's day.

Back then, their shop sold all sorts of ways of magical travel. Their grandfather actually being one of the major importers of flying carpets from the Middle East. Same with their father as well until the sale of such was banned in Britain recently, which meant a drop in what they made. It was something that Abeona and her twin were still rather annoyed at. But they blamed the broom manufacturers for it.

They were not fools in regards to who was ultimately responsible for that fiasco, and it was not the Ministry workers involved.

Other then their Owl Boxes, they made some money working on enchanting various vehicles and the like. Cars were especially popular, though every once in a while you had some muggleborn want a charm on their bike to prevent the chain from slipping off, or to prevent the wheels from going flat. Not that often though for any of that and the families of the Death Eaters they stayed away from. It galled them that their father was murdered by them and his murderers got off free.

Due to that, their business slowly decreased over time. And they had feared that the shop passed down to them would need to be sold. Rent was not cheap in the area of Diagon after all! However, their fortunes changed the year before when Harry Potter wandered into their shop with a number of others. He had bought an Owl Box from them which would have cost them to keep. More then that though, his adoptive mother had then placed an order for three pairs of Vanishing Cabinets with the longest range possible for them.

Just that alone meant that they were no longer in the red for at least four years.

And then what happened just an hour before meant that she was smiling all the more as she walked into the back room where her sister was supervising her daughter. "And how has Rihannon been doing, Adiona? Hopefully well?"

With a glance at her sister, Adiona smiled a bit. "She has actually been doing very well. Extremely so as a matter of fact." Simply nodding at the bicycle there, the woman gave her niece a nod. "She's managed to complete all the enchanting in record time."

Blushing, Rihannon pushed some hair behind her ear. "Thanks, Auntie."

Even as her sister ruffled her daughter's hair, Abeona smiled. "Good to hear, then again she did get high marks on the NEWTs! All Os on her Charms and Enchanting as well! So it is to be expected."

Amused as her niece blushed even more, Adiona turned to her sister who sat down and began to pour some of the Builder's Tea they had around. "And what about you? You certainly do seem rather happy about something."

Unable to help herself, Abeona grinned. "Oh, certainly something at that! You would not believe who just came in with an order." At their confused looks, she grinned even wider. "Percy Weasley."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Adiona frowned a bit. "Arthur Weasley's son? He came in and placed an order?" At the nod, she grimaced a bit. "I see..."

Only sighing, Abeona shook her head. "Oh, relax. We've talked about this before. Arthur may have been one of those pushing for the ban, but he had his reasons. Both of us know that if he had not, then he likely would not have gotten support for the rest of the bill he pushed through because it had protections for Muggles in it as the Broom makers would not have bribed enough officials otherwise to allow it. Yes, I don't like it the same as you. But I will not hold that against the man's family."

Slowly, her twin nodded with a sigh. "Yes, I suppose so. It is still vexing though that he even had to do that!" Then she poured herself a cup of the tea and grumbled. "Still, an order is an order."

Rihannon turned on her stool and looked over at her mother. She never knew who her father was, her mother never told her. Just the same though, Rihannon was pleased to see how happy her mother had been over the past two years. Where before, Rihannon had been considering looking elsewhere for work, the orders given to her mother and aunt meant that she had plenty of work in the family shop. And even now, she was doing quite a bit of work alongside them and learning as she went. "What sort of order?"

Looking up, Abeona blinked for a moment before smiling. "He wanted one of the long range Vanishing Cabinets and mentioned he might want a second pair. In the meantime though, he asked if we had two pairs of long range Owl Boxes. I told him that if he gives us two months, we can finish some off."

Eyebrows raising, Adiona boggled at her for a moment. "That's... but then... how? Doesn't he understand the cost? Arthur is better off now then he was a few years back, yes, but not that well off."

For a moment, Rihannon chewed her lip. "You don't think that he may be up to no good, do you? Something illegal?" At the looks, she shrugged. "Money like that does not just come out of nowhere after all."

Humming as she sipped her tea, Abeona nodded. "Yes, I suppose that it is odd. But! I have my suspicions as to who is the real reason."

It took a few seconds, but Rihannon remembered what she had been told. "Wait, you think that more shipgirls want to buy them? But... why? What possible use could they be? And even then, it will be at least a year if he goes for both."

Just chuckling, Abeona smirked. "I know. However, the shipgirls are magical and it is not our place to ask them why they want them. There is no reason to do so after all, and they are within their right. Let the Ministry deal with it, I say. If they would even bother in the first place.

With a shake of her head as her neice stared, Adiona began walking over to some sheets of parchment. "Well, we should at least get started then. We'll be burning the midnight oil soon enough..."