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"Sarah, is there some kind of festival or something going on near here?" A bobby asked his partner from where they had stopped to talk to a few workers who were busy repairing the damage from the terrorist attack some months back. Most of the damage had been repaired, but the roads had been low priority in comparison to the major buildings.
His partner, an older woman with a no nonsense attitude turned at her younger partner's question. "Why do you… good grief, that is the best costume I've seen in my entire life, a true barbarian Viking to the life, even if those horns on his helmet seem a little too long to be practicable. I don't know of any reenactment festival or anything, but that's not saying much in London you know? Still, I suppose we better stop and make sure that sword is plastic or something."
Ten yards further down the street was the sight that had prompted her partner's question. A tall man strode through the crowds of the city, which parted around him. On his head the man wore a massive horned helmet, while his body was clothed in what seemed to be a tabard and chain mail. At his side was what looked like a real sword, but as the crowds shifted the bobbies could see that the hilt of it was wrapped in red cloth ribbons of some kind.
Even with that however, and despite the large amount of leeway re-enactors got for moving around the city (anything to bolster commerce and this kind of thing worked) the bobbies had to make sure the sword was rubber or blunt at worst. As they strode up behind the man, who was at least seven and a half feet tall, the younger bobby, whose name was Timothy, frowned suddenly. "You don't suppose he's one of those costume hero types do you?"
Ahead of them, Balder frowned at the looks from the locals he was getting. It had taken him hours to get to the outskirts of this massive city, and more to get through them given the fact rough bravos had come out of nearly every alleyway to attempt to waylay him. Thankfully more than a third had thought better of it upon looking at him more closely, but he had still been forced to chastise several, including many who wielded the 'guns' that seemed to be in vogue here on Midgard.
Looking behind him Balder noticed two of the guardsmen of this odd city moving towards him. He had hoped to avoid attracting attention from the local authorities until he knew more about who or what he was searching for, but it appeared as if his looks were against him there. That and the fact that I have none of the local currency to buy new apparel, not that many of the locals seem to come in my size, he thought sardonically. This whole emissary mission is not going as smoothly as I could wish. Well, perhaps they'll be able to point me in the direction of this rising power.
He turned, smiling in welcome and holding his hands away from his blade. "Good eve, my friends…"
OOOOOOO
Ms. Brown's nature-walk had taken the children close to the edge of the area of the forest that was covered by the defensive wards of the castle. When they did, a house-elf had appeared in front of them warning them away. After thanking the little creature, they turned away, with Melody leading the way back through the woods on a diagonal down some new paths, pointing out various things to them as she did so with a happy smile on her face.
Melody had truly blossomed over the past few days with children her own age around her that did not look down on her for her looks or odd way of speaking/thinking. Illyana especially had become close to her, they were now certainly what was coming to be called BFFs. Now Ms. Brown smiled, watching the girl who would have been a special needs child in nearly any educational system leading the way with ease.
A growling noise deeper into the woods startled Ms. Brown out of her thoughts and she looked around wildly. "It's coming from over there." said Sergei, pointing the way unerringly thanks to his echolocation based powers.
Without any warning Melody turned and ran off in the direction Sergei was pointing. She was hearing some odd music coming from that direction. Illyana followed quickly, not about to let her friend find an adventure without her, despite Ms. Brown's shouted remonstrance.
OOOOOOO
Rahne Sinclair's thoughts were rather confused at present, not that this was anything new when in her werewolf form. Ever since she had begun to be able to change her form, once a month she would be forced into it come hell or high water. Most of that time, her human consciousness would be subsumed by her wolf instincts, only coming back gradually. Unlike in the movies though it had nothing to do with the movement of the moon, but her own menstrual cycle, something she was eternally embarrassed about.
Usually at times like this thoughts such as Och, I hope nae one sees me when I transform, and Ugh, what did I eat last night, Ahh hope it wasn't skunk, and the ever thankful, Thank god Ahh 'aven't run inta any of those furry lovers agin! That was one particular episode she never wanted to go through again, even if at the time it had started out as somewhat amusing. That was right up there with going back to the church where she had been raised. She never wanted to go back there, ever again!
Right now however, those were not the thoughts uppermost in her mind. No, what she was most worried about was two things. One was the child standing in front of her, looking for all the world like some kind of Fae come to life out of the forest around her, regardless of the two black children who were looking at her rather incredulously, gasping for air as if they had sprinted behind the girl. Ahh felt something odd niggling at mah senses late last night, but… did I enter the Fae-lands somehow? The thought was not a pleasant one. Whatever children's books said, if you looked at the original tales of fairies and elves you would find they were not the friendliest of creatures.
The next thing that worried her was the large snowy owl that was currently perched on her head, with one of her claws poised right over one of Rahne's eyeballs while the other dug into the fur on the back of Rahne's head to keep her stable. As fast as Rahne considered herself in her wolf form, there was no way she could dislodge the bird before she lost her eye. That was bad, considering she didn't know if her healing ability would be up to the task of regenerating it.
She thought about trying to throw the owl off somehow, but just as she thought that the owl leaned over, and Rahne found herself quailing under it's stern glare, even letting out a little whimper, her tail folding up between her legs. For a bird that was probably only about a tenth her wolf body's weight, if that, the snowy owl had the most intimidating stare Rahne had ever seen in man or beast.
Behind the girl appeared several others appeared running to catch up to her, including one other girl with long blond hair, and two black children. The others however caught Rahne's attention more. The boy with lizard scales, the boy with blank spaces where his eyes should be and overlarge ears, and the girl's whose long brown hair had suddenly transformed into hundreds of tiny blades upon sighting Rahne, all of them were obviously mutants. What are three mutant bairns doin' all together in the deep woods?
"Hello Ms. Rahne, how do you do?" The girl in the lead spoke up waving at her with a smile on her face, though it faded slightly as she looked at the wolf. "Oh, some of your songs are so sad, I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but don't worry, you're safe here. My father has made sure of that." The word father was said with a mix of pride and affection, and the chld's beaming smile widened noticeably when she said it. "Hedwig, you can let Ms. Rahne go, she doesn't want to hurt us, do you?"
The mention of songs, which Fae always liked in the stories, and a father making the land safe, didn't really make Rahne any calmer but the snowy owl, whose name appeared to be Hedwig, precked irritably, then flew off to land on the shoulder of the blond haired girl who had arrived after the first three. But from there she turned to glare at Rahne, making her understand without words or gesture that any aggressive action would result in eyeballs being gouged out.
The blond girl cooed at the avian, stroking her plumage gently. "Thank you Hedwig, you're so brave and strong, as well as kind for worrying about us like that. I think that deserves a few more bacon slices later."
The owl hooted complacently as her eyes partly closed in pleasure, but that golden hunter's gaze never wavered from Rahne.
Rahne's attention flicked beyond the gaggle of bairns when she saw a human woman coming out of the surrounding wood behind them, gasping as if she had been sprinting. "M, Melody, don't run off like that! That goes for the rest of you too!" She glared around at all the children, all of whom, save for the Fae girl Melody, nodded rapidly in agreement, quailing under her glare. The woman turned her school marm stare on the wolf and barked out. "Well, are you some kind of magic creature, or a mutant or what?"
Rahne hurriedly scratched at the ground, trying to make an 'M' in the loam there.
The teacher saw this and nodded. "Alright, though I wonder how you got through the defenses around here, I suppose that is a question that wiser heads should answer. I'm Ms. Brown, and you are on what is currently being called Hogwarts property." Rahne couldn't suppress a very human sort of snort, which caused Ms. Brown to smile. "Yes, it is a rather silly name, that is under review at the moment. Still, it's a school and boarding house essentially for mutants. Can you change back, or are you stuck in this form?" That didn't seem unusual to Ms. Brown, considering the way Piotr could change forms.
Rahne whined a little looking pointedly at the boys, and the teacher understood. "Ah, clothing is an issue huh? Well, we can't have that." She looked around, asking the air, "Could I have a house-elf do something for me please?"
A tiny being popped out of the air to stand in front of the teacher. The children immediately noticed that this house-elf looked a little different from most of the ones they had seen so far. For one thing, instead of the small but otherwise normal clothing the other elves wore (not having decided on a uniform for themselves yet as Harry had asked) this one wore camo gear, complete with a makeshift gilly suit. His eyes were also squinting, but they were locked on Rahne rather than looking at Ms. Brown. And there was also the fact he was scowling, his fingers twitching.
His voice, when he spoke was also deeper, more gravely than any but the oldest male house-elves. "I's be Guffy miss. Do you want me to get rid of the nasty intruder? I's sorry, but Missy Hedwig beats me to it."
Hedwig turned her glare on the odd house-elf who flinched under her stare, and began to mumble an apology. If Harry had met this house-elf one on one, he would have been struck by how much like a mix of Moody and Mundungus Fletcher the elf seemed at that moment. Moody's watchful paranoia, coupled with a bit of the cowardly attitude of Mundungus. Of course that cowardice was only toward Hedwig, so any of the other house-elves simply put it down as common sense.
Ms. Brown merely blinked a little then shook it off as a house-elf thing. Even with barely a week of being around them, she could tell the little creatures were odd. "Could you bring out some of my clothing for our guest, then I think we all need to head back to the castle."
Shortly thereafter, Rahne was once more in her normal human body, scratching at her short red hair, but grateful for the clothing. "Thank ye missus, when Ah change Ah cannae be always removin' me clothin' first. Its… been a nervous few months since this first 'appened ta me, ya ken. Er, Ah'm Rahne Sinclair."
"I can ken that yes." Fay replied drolly. "Still, you've come to the right place Rahne Sinclair, this school is open to all, especially those who need a helping hand. Come now children, I think we should head back to the castle with our new friend, you can all introduce yourselves on the way."
With Jesse and Christopher, who both thought the idea of turning into an animal to be the coolest idea ever, taking her hands, Rahne had no choice but to move through the woods surrounded by the rest of the bairns. As they all introduced themselves and began to describe their powers, Rahne found herself smiling. Maybe, just this once, her lack of control over her powers had been a good thing.
OOOOOOO
After he dropped off Brian back at the Braddock Manor, Harry and the others came back apparating into the entrance hall of the castle. They arrived at the same time the youngsters came back from the forest, and were quickly informed of the young woman waiting outside with Ms. Brown. At the tale his daughter told Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise, the only sign of his extreme shock at anyone being able to enter the warded zone around the castle at all.
Naturally however, she wouldn't be able to enter the castle, since its defenses didn't allow anyone inside without his permission or that of his ladies. Harry smiled, lifting Melody up onto his shoudlers, smiling at the gurgle of laughter she let out at that, while he reached over and took Christopher and Jesse's hands. "Well, let's go and meet this new firend of your shall we?"
With the other team members following, with Illyana on her brother Piotr's shoulders, Harry went outside. Standing beside Rahne was a rail thin girl of medium height with a fuzz of red hair on her head, and a wary, watchful gaze about her. That wariness was more in keeping with the desire to flee than anything else however, so for the moment, Harry ignored it. "My daughter here says your name is Rahne Sinclair correct? And you turn into a wolf of some kind?"
Upon seeing the master of the castle for the first time, it was all Rahne could do to keep her wolf instincts at bay enough to stop from falling to the ground and rolling over to bare her belly. Something of this man's manner, even with a bairn on his shoulders playing with his hair and both hands holding those of two others, that screamed to her wolf senses of authority. She gulped, then nodded rapidly. "Er, aye lord, er sir, um, I can turn into a wolf, or um, a werewolf at need, but um, I can't control it once a month."
Harry froze for a moment at the word 'werewolf', but the feel of his daughter hugging his head from her position on his shoulders brought him out of his dark, angry memories. He turned his head to smile up at her, and she smiled back while he took on of her hands and kissed the back of it gently.
His voice was nonetheless dry and probing when he spoke. "I trust you don't feel an urge to bite anyone to spread your lycanthropy? Or use it as an excuse to run away from any responsibility, Harry carefully did not say. And it's just Mister Potter, if you must give me an honorific at all. No lord am I."
"Er, no, um, I don't think I can spread my mutation to others, it be mutation not magic, mil-Mister Potter." Whatever he said, Rahne knew a lord when she saw one, but neither would she argue about what the lord in question wanted to be called.
"But then whats up with the monthly loss of control?" Harry asked quizzically.
Rahne blushed hotly, looking away in embarrassment. "Um, it seems ta be connected ta another monthly issue, ya ken?"
Harry blinked but thankfully Ororo leaned over and whispered in his ear what that might mean. He nodded then, looking far more sympathetic, and welcomed her inside the castle, allowing her to pass the final war array.
After the explanation of Rahne's powers Harry took thirty minutes that evening to rework some of the wards to block any kind of shape changers that were not based around magic. He had thought that the current setup would have stopped such, but not if their minds also changed to beasts, which was a slightly more difficult distinction to work into the defensive array.
That evening, he met with Father Garnoff, Ms. Brown, and Dr. Druid before having family night. Despite his ongoing worries about Betsy, neither he nor his ladies were going to allow it to effect their interaction with the others, most particularly the children. This evening, Piotr and his sister were going to be indoctrinated into the wonderful world of Disney by watching the Aristocats, a movie Melody had picked out for them all. Even Nikolai and Laynia, who Jean had invited into the family gathering, were looking forward to it.
Right now however, Harry had something else on his mind. He had caught something in Rahne's body language, a stiffness whose reason he could not discern but was afraid he could guess at when she was around Father Garnoff. "So, what do you all think of young Rahne?"
"She's intelligent, well lettered and read despite her atrocious accent, English isn't her first language. Seems extremely shy, but whether that has anything to do with her mutant powers or her general nature I don't know yet." Ms. Brown shrugged. "I'll know more once we test her to see her educational level, or contact this orphanage she mentioned having lived at."
"Do not do that." Father Garnoff said grimly. Since he could speak English, the translation spell on the castle didn't affect him, which allowed his accent, which was now very noticeable, to be heard. "I believe that young girl has been abused, not sexually perhaps, but she has at least been beaten." He shook his head grimly, one hand touching the stark white collar of his cassock, while his other hand clenched at his side. "Furthermore, I think it was by a man of the cloth. You did not see her face when she first caught sight of me. There was fear there, a lot of fear and anger, and maybe even hate until she got a good glimpse of my face. It was the garb of a priest that caused the reaction, not me personally."
"I was afraid that was the case, though I didn't see the connection to your priest's garb, Alexi." Harry groaned, internally wondering if he could sneak off tonight to… visit this orphanage Rahne had mentioned. "So what can we do for her?"
"Be there, talk to her, convince her I personally am no threat, though I will keep my distance until she comes to me." Garnoff shrugged.
Dr. Druid spoke up now. "Given her mutant power's ability to heal herself, I couldn't find any signs of physical abuse, though her shyness could be a sign of it. I would recommend integrating her slowly into the classes with the other teen's but also to warn Illyich away from her. I doubt she's his type, but still." He smiled wanly, the news of the girl having been abused having taken much of the amusement of the 'tomcats' attitude away. "But we should still be watchful."
"Alright." Harry sighed sadly. While he had been a victim of physical abuse, and had seen the aftermath of sexual abuse in the wake of numerous Death Eater attacks, he lacked the knowledge on how best to deal with another victim of abuse like this. "I'll contact Charles, see if he can recommend anything else, but for now, let's just provide what aid we can, without being too intrusive, and be here when she's ready to open up."
In the end, Charles did not have any more suggestions for them above and beyond what they were already doing, but this did not stop them from making Rahne feel as at home as they could.
OOOOOOO
Logan stood in civilian garb, leaning against his hog as it guzzled down gas right outside of Dawson, a city near the border between Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. He'd tracked his daughter's movements to here, after the trail had come back from sea on the other side of the continent, but he had lost it here. This had forced him to call upon an old friend for help, despite the danger even using a public phone could call down on him from the powers that be.
At first, he had been tempted to try and figure out where she came from first. With all the holes in his memory from what Weapon X did to him, there was no way to tell if he had ever had a legitimate child after all. But that had proven to be a dead end, and so he had turned to tracking her and her partner. Luckily the pairing was so striking that people remembered them, and people were always willing to answer question posed by the man buying the beer.
"Yah know, me old mate, there are easier ways to commit suicide then y'er tryin' to pass through Canadian territory." At the sound of the heavy accent, Logan turned, a smile on his face as the speaker strode around from the other side of the pump. The speaker was a dwarf, whose squat body was heavy with muscle, yet for all that the man moved lightly on his feet, like the best martial artists or gymnasts could. His face, which was split by a wide grin at the moment, was bearded, and his eyes, deep-set into his face, were bright with humor. "You didn't exactly leave much in the way of bridges still intact when ya ran off with the bald one."
"Sometimes a man finds a cause worth fighting for Puck." Logan held out his hand, his own smile widening into a grin as the other man shook it. "Damn, but it's good to see yer short ass. Always nice to be around someone smaller than me."
"Hah, and that doesn't happen all that often I know! Still." Puck's voice and face became much more sober as he went on. "Why in the names of the saints did you chance crossing Canada? Weapon X may be defunct, but there are still agents that have a grudge against you with a lot of power in the government, and that doesn't consider our mutual friends. Hudson still calls you a traitor ya know. If not for the fact he's busy doing something or other down in Ontario I have no doubt he'd come after you."
"Christopher thinks only as far as Canadian interests, and prefers to play the government lapdog than be his own man." Logan growled one hand clenching. "I'm not sorry I left, and I wouldn't have come back to Canada at all if it weren't important." He scowled, memories both mood and bad surfacing in his pockmarked memory.
Puck, who had been born Eugene Judd in 1919 and owed his longevity and short stature to a misadventure of his adventurous youth, looked up at his old friend. Oldest, actually, when you got down to it. They had met during World War 2, when Puck was working with the French resistance, and Logan for the Canadian intelligence. They had lost track of one another dozens of times most particularly after weapon X got its claws in Wolverine, but had always been friends whenever they met up. Thus Puck could tell something was working at his old friend. "Personal or professional reasons mon ami?"
"Personal. I… I might have a daughter Puck." Logan had become convinced before he left this was the case. What little the cameras could tell them of the assault on the mansion showed this girl moved just like he did, had the same kind of claws, even looked like him a bit in the eyes and facial structure. "I got to find her, need to know where she came from. And… and she might've taken up with Magneto. I can't let that stand. What would you do in my place?"
The dwarf's eyes had widened at the news of Logan having a child. Still, he understood where the other man was coming from. And as a friend, he couldn't turn aside. "Well then, it's a good thing my visa is up to date, yes? So let us see what we can do to pick up her trail."
OOOOOOO
Despite Rahne's unexpected arrival, life continued apace in the castle. Outside of class hers was a shy personality, but Rahne got on well enough with all the other girls and the teen boys, and in particular Dani for some reason on Dani's very infrequent sojourns out of the confines of her room. Rahne also easily slipped into the class structure, and was actually at the appropriate educational level in comparison to her age, something that made it much easier for Ms. Brown to prepare some lessons for her. When asked about whether she wanted to go to a regular high school however, Rahne had to think about it, unlike Laynia, who had already decided she wanted to go to Bayville.
Being around other mutants was calming, but Laynia was unwilling to join the team or use her powers except in self-defense, she wanted as much of a regular life as she could get. Rahne on the other hand, was uncertain what normal was, and didn't know how she would deal with being around large amounts of people again, especially people she would have to hide her mutation from.
With the rescue of Betsy once more on hold until Reed could supply them with more information on Mojoworld, while Ororo went back to her lessons with Gaia, and Jean spent time with Dani, Harry spent the majority of the next two days finishing the magical defenses for his company's headquarters. This alas pushed other projects and even his time with his family on the back burner, but after talking about it with Emma and Ororo, Harry had decided it was important to get his company up and running quickly.
The use of a hearthstone let him do this much more easily, but it was still a lot of work. Not hard at this point Harry had more power than he knew what to do with, but time consuming to carve out the runes and place the ward stones around the property.
The construction on the building itself was well on its way to completion. The house-elf in charge, whose name was Hessy, said that it was only the wiring, heating and other fiddly bits that were slowing it down. Hessy, the first seemingly overweight house-elf Harry had ever seen, and his team had no knowledge of modern methods in that area, and it was a learning experience from the get go, but one Harry had seen coming, and had planned for ever since he began to rewire Hogwarts. It was also costing more than Harry had expected, but nowhere near enough to worry about.
Still, Hessy was certain they would be able to finish up what they could in another two days. Harry would however have to get a crew of human workers to go over everything however. But with the work mostly already done, Harry could bring in a large enough company to do that in a day.
Vetting them too would only take a few minutes, since every doorway in the building had a runic array designed much like the trust me, trust me not array. Much like the array Harry had been using to vet possible workers, it had a crystal set into it, this time right above the mantle of the door. It glow red if anyone passed through the doorway that had duplicitous reasons to be there.
Despite this ongoing work, Harry was able to spend time exercising with the teams in the morning. On the third day after their meeting with the Fantastic Four, Harry and the other 'senior members' became aware of the rivalry growing between Magma and Paige. "Um…" he began hesitantly after the training session ended, looking down the corridor where are the younger two girls had just disappeared. "What exactly sparked bad blood between those two? I'll admit that I've been busy with all my own projects and haven't, you know, taken much time to get to know them out side of the team exercises, but it's come at me out of the blue."
Jean and Ororo laughed quietly shaking their heads. "It's nothing unusual Harry, if anything the opposite is true. In any group there is a sort of hierarchy. Teenage girls and boys in particular are extremely hierarchical in nature, and the two of them are simply uncertain where they stand in relation to one another." Ororo said.
"It is further compounded by the fact they are both semi-interested in Piotr." Jean added, shaking her head with a faint smile.
That at least Harry had noticed, and was concerned about whether or not that rivalry for Piotr's attention would spoil their ability to work together. He said as much, but Jean shook her head. "Neither of them are too serious about it I don't think. In fact I predict Paige's interest will switch over to Vanguard at some point. Amara might be somewhat more interested in him, given their connection as artists but that's about it."
"Wait, if this is all about establishing a hierarchy among the girls, why aren't the two of you involved? Or Kitty or Rahne, or, come to think of it, Laynia?"
"Rahne is too new and too shy to be a danger to either of them, she's a follower by nature. Kitty isn't on the team nor does she actually live here, and the same goes for Laynia vis a vi the team. Watch out for when Dani starts to train with the rest of us, I predict she'll have to run the gauntlet too. And as for Jean and myself, our places in the hierarchy are already established." Ororo replied laughing quietly. "We're at the top. As Jean said, the two of them are just trying to find where they are in relation to one another, that's all."
"I feel as if I'm missing something here." He muttered but shrugged his shoulders before motioning Shiang Chi over to them from where he had been talking quietly to Nikolai. "Not important right now I guess. Listen, with us unable to take action against Betsy's kidnappers I was hoping to get the team some real life experience in a semi-controlled environment. I'd also like to see what our current equipment can do in the field. With the number of us on the team, if we run into the same sort of magical defenses as had been it at the previous sites, we should be able to roll over Selene's last cache easily."
"I have meetings the rest of the day, including meeting with Emma to hammer out our initial PR stance, our marketing blitz is ready to go thankfully, the men we hired to do that have performed admirably I think. Tomorrow though is free. So do you think Paige and Amara are ready to join the rest of us?"
Shiang Chi shrugged. "In terms of training, they are where they should be after only a week, take that how you will. Paige is taking to boxing and kickboxing in particular very well, though I doubt that her balance will ever be the equal of Piotr's, despite training her in Penckat Silat. Magma has all the balance of a premier swordswoman however, and he has taken to the armed and unarmed training like a duck to water. There is no physical reason that they both could not join you on this little escapade, since I assume you would be along to aid them if they got into trouble."
Ororo frowned thoughtfully then gestured for Jean to speak. "I'm afraid I haven't spent much time with either girl's socially, so their ability to work together is a mystery to me. I've spent most of my free time with Emma in the evenings, as well as helping Ms. Brown with the teenagers. In fact, I have a meeting with Charles this afternoon local time to discuss Laynia transferring over to Bayville High."
Jean shrugged. "Amara's fiery, no pun intended. She's eager to prove herself, eager to make her mark and has performed admirably in all the exercises I've seen. She's also a team player."
She paused a moment to let Harry nod before going on. "Paige however could be a problem. She is just as eager to prove herself, but also reckless, and hasn't gotten over the typical teenage delusion that she's immortal just yet. Her powers however are very good from a defensive perspective, and Paige hasn't shown any sign of ignoring orders during our team exercises. But has her mother even given the okay for her to join us?"
They all looked at one another and shook their heads. Harry had been so busy with his other projects he hadn't even talked to the woman outside of preparing to send Sam to Bayville, plus paying for Sam's education and talking to the two of them about what he would have to do to gain a scholarship.
"In that case Paige has to get her mother's okay before anything else happens." Harry said firmly. "I'll speak to Paige over lunch later. But on the subject of battle rattle, I'm almost finished modifying my sniper rifle to take advantage of Kitty's suggestions, and a few other things too. So does that mean we should contact Wyatt to join us on this expedition?"
Wyatt had stopped by the other day, having called ahead for transportation, and he and Shiang Chi had gotten on splendidly. He was already a black belt in judo and kendo, as well as a boxer. His body control was simply phenomenal, and he was a slightly better shot than Nikolai.
"I'd like him to train with the team for a few days before we throw him out into the wild." Harry replied rather drolly. "I'm a firm believer in training to know one another's strengths before having to work with one another in the field. And with that ladies, gentlemen, I have to end this impromptu planning session. I have previous engagements down in London." He kissed Ororo and Jean tenderly, then left, popping almost immediately to the empty car lot in London they had been using for such.
OOOOOOO
It had taken quite a while for Balder to convince the odd guardsmen of this city to allow him to speak to someone in charge, and he had to give up his blade to do it. Still, since one of the magics on the blade would allow him to summon it from anywhere nearby, and it had spells on it that would keep anyone else form using it, that wasn't so much of a wrench as it would have been for most Asgardians.
After proving that he was indeed an Asgardian through various feats of strength and knowledge, Balder had been handed over to Jack Harper. Learning however that he would have to wait for Guardian, which was the name the wizard who was the most likely person to be this rising power he was here to see, to contact the government in turn was irritating. Still, his accommodations were pleasant enough. He looked up from his book, a history text covering the Thirty Years War, as his door opened.
For all his weight Jack moved lightly on his feet, making nary a sound on the wooden floor of the well-appointed guest room that was set aside for those individuals MI5 took in who they had to treat as actual guests for various reasons. He smiled, seeing the book in Balder's large, heavily calloused hands. The man had turned out to be a bit of a scholar, which had astonished Jack when he found out about it.
And, despite his natural and trained paranoia Jack had found himself liking Balder. He was genuine in a way very few men Jack had met were, he cared not at all for lying or dissembling. "I see you've found my collection of history books, it is one of my vices I will admit. My other main vice hardly needs to be stated." Jack laughed, patting his stomach.
Balder laughed as well, standing up politely as the other man came in. Whatever else came of this trip, Balder had begun to see what Thor saw in these mortals. They were an intensely… alive bunch, always inquisitive, always striving. Their history since Asgard had last had ties with them was fascinating, their progress since astonishing. Indeed, if they but had a single government to speak truly for all, Balder might well have pushed for an alliance between all of Midgard and Asgard. "Do not let it get you down my friend, so long as you can wield a pen as well as you do you may never need to wield any other weapon. Is something going on? You normally don't stop by until dinner time."
"We have a sighting downtown of Guardian in his civilian guise. He's openly rented out a meeting room in one of the hotels downtown, and is meeting there with several worthies." The fact we've been able to find out about it means it probably has to do with his businesses rather than his extralegal activities, but I doubt that will matter in any event for this. "I'm going to arrange a meeting between you if I can, but you have to realize that myself or someone else will need to sit in?"
"Of course, having the neutral party on whose land the meeting takes place as witness is the norm in any event. I don't suppose I could convince you to let me have my arms and armor back?" Balder asked, putting the book back after placing a bookmark in it. The book was excellent, covering the tactics, strategies and weaponry used during the Thirty Years War, and Balder was greatly enjoying it.
"Afraid not bucko, not the done thing around here to go armed like that. Sorry." Jack smirked. "Besides, my seamstress has greatly enjoyed preparing some formal dress for you. It would be a pity to waste her efforts don't you think?" Balder smirked slightly, remembering the young woman's blushing attempts to fit him. Those were the kinds of women he liked, the ones who weren't so worldly but mature enough to know what they wanted and were eager for new experiences.
Jack laughed again before motioning the much larger man to follow him.
OOOOOOO
Harry walked into the Marriot London Park Lane where he had booked a small meeting room for today's dealings, chosen because Emma and his Personnel Director had recommended it. The small-scale meeting room he had chosen was small, done in wood for the most part, with none of the modern touch to the furniture that was in vogue now. It was dominated by a table that could comfortably sit four people, two to a side.
At the moment it was further dominated by Emma's presence, who came to her feet with a bland 'for public consumption' smile on her face. Next to her, her lawyer and chief accountant stood up as well, holding a folder in one hand. "Mr. Potter. How are you today? I trust you are ready to finalize the agreements we've discussed over the phone?"
Emma was publicly in the UK for several reasons, which had forced her to take her private jet out rather than the runic doorway, which was still working. One was to check up on the London Branch of the Hellfire Club. This was the main one from the perspective of any of her enemies in the New York branch, and one none of them had a problem with, since they had their own contacts there to keep an eye on her. Both Kings also knew that at present there was no one of sufficient power in the London Branch to be any threat. They thought she was using the need to meet and finalize legally the agreements that had already been made between Harry and Emma to cover her looking for said, but knew that would fail.
For the first twenty minutes of the meeting, the presence of Emma's two underlings there made both of them simply act as if they were business partners who didn't know very much about one another. Emma seemingly took the lead in discussions, which is what her men expected, but the end result was the same as they had agreed about weeks ago.
Magical Minds would use Frost Pharmaceutical's distribution network in the United Kingdom and in Europe for its potions until the end of this year, by which time Harry would have his own distribution network in place. Five percent of the profits MM took in would exchange hands. This money Emma would turn to adding to her family's already formidable intelligence apparatus, which Harry and his spymaster could access. Emma would also set up a way to get high tech medical and scientific gear to Harry.
After everything had been signed and dated, Emma ordered the men out, after pulling out a bottle of champagne to show that they were going to take a few minutes to celebrate.
The moment he was out the door and the door closed she sighed and looked at Harry sharply who nodded, waggling his fingers. "No listening devices or anything, and if there was, I sent out a magic pulse the moment I got here that would've fried them in any event, and I just covered us with a mufilatio, a spell that make it impossible for anyone else to listen in on us."
"Oh thank goodness," Emma muttered sitting down next to him and pulling him into a hug. The more she was around people who she didn't have to wear a mask for, the worse it felt putting it back on, especially when they were around like just now. "While I have mostly cleared out my father's supporters among the higher-ups, I haven't gotten down to the regular pencil pusher level just yet. A lot of the older ones seem to be of the opinion that women should stay home and cook or some such stupidity." She murmured into his shoulder, refusing to back away for a moment.
Harry merely held her, for several minutes then watched as Emma shook herself, and moved back. Standing up she poured some of the champagne, just for the look of the thing, before turning back to Harry, one eyebrow quirked. "You mentioned a few nights ago that you had decided to move Sebastian Shaw up on your list of priorities. This is the first time I've seen you in person since then however, so perhaps you could tell me what brought that on?"
Harry filled her in on the X-men's encounter with the Hellions, watching Emma's frown deepen with every sentence. "I don't like that." she muttered when he finished. "I don't like the fact Shaw was willing to cut his losses like that. I don't like the fact he had that many regular troops to call upon for what was really just a recruitment drive. My agents and my cybernetic spies have found what amounts to a private army working for the Hellfire Club, but there would be repercussions if that amount of troops disappeared, and there hasn't been such an uproar from that I've seen, which means Shaw has forces like that on call of his own. Damn it, where has he been hiding it? I thought I knew all the monetary resources Shaw could call on."
"Jean was unable to find anything on the cyborg body we absconded with that could give us a target alas, and from what you've just said I assume you haven't been able to either?" Emma shook her head and Harry shrugged. "In any event, we've got another problem that is more important right at this moment. I believe Jean mentioned a friend of ours named Betsy that went missing, we found where she is, but going after her is going to prove problematic, and we're waiting for more information to be available for going, after that, we can move on Shaw if we can."
"That's a good idea on many fronts." Emma replied. "Primarily because Shaw is getting ready to move against Pierce soon. He and I have been working together to find all the possible bolt holes Pierce could use, both financial and physical, and we're almost ready to fill them in. I imagine he'll use these Hellions of his in the actual attack, which should happen sometime in the next two weeks. We're putting together a profile of Pierce's movements, so we can catch him as well as this group he's put together, he calls them his reapers."
"From what I can gather from my spies, these reapers are cybernetically altered humans, many levels above and beyond what the cyborg soldiers you called the bruisers could claim, though I've not been able to find anything beyond that, and even that little bit was more because of chance and the fact my cybernetic worms are better than his defenses. Or were for just that brief moment where an email sent form one of his company's computer's to another mentioned 'Augmentation Zeta being completed on subject reaper seven'. My spies gave me enough information to decide these reapers are cyborgs thanks to the place the e-mail came from, but I was forced to remove them before they could be discovered."
"I'm not sure who to root for there." Harry murmured then laughed quietly. "I don't suppose Shaw will personally be involved in that battle? If he is, we can simply find out where it will take place, then take both factions out once they've weakened one another."
"That would indeed be magnificent." Emma said smiling happily at that image, but shook her head. "I don't think it's possible however. For one thing, while he's been preparing to move against Pierce, Shaw is also the counter-balancing point against Edward Buckman's influence in the Hellfire Club. If they didn't have each other to concentrate on, either king might become more aware of my own plans and machinations."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "When do you think I should make my debut in the London Hellfire Club? I was thinking of after I get the PHPRA's official go ahead to sell to the civilian sector."
"That will work excellently actually. Indeed, I think you'll be invited in, rather than you going to them." Emma smiled thinly. "I've already primed the club members for that." The London Branch members were still in disarray from what had occurred with Selene, and no one had stepped forward to take command of the club or its resources.
Emma couldn't just let that be, and had swept through it like a juggernaut, shaping and changing it to her satisfaction. Several deals for her corporations UK and European branches had come out of it, but Harry would be able to tie up even more.
"Once you have money coming in, it will skyrocket you into the position of at least a bishop right off the bat. Once you branch out you'll become a king soon enough." She frowned a little. "The only thing that concerns me there is Emma Steed's holdings. They are still being administered by the crown, for some reason. They've had a lot of time to decide how to distribute them, but haven't. I don't think the government is doing a bad job running them, but its odd."
That caused Harry to frown for a moment then he shrugged and changed the subject to what they were going to be talking about during the unveiling of his company's headquarters. News had already begun to filter about major deals in the offing for some new miracle 'drugs' on the medical side. The government's PR people had subtly hinted that Magical Minds was responsible for the goods that had saved so many lives of the Gurkhas involved in the terrorist attack on London. This, along with the news that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had already stated they would allowing sale to the civilian sector after merely another month's study had heightened interest in Harry's company.
That discussion went on for some time, with Emma grilling Harry sharply on what he was going to let out at the speech when the building opened as well as what he was going to keep hidden, and the fact that he wasn't going to come out as pro-mutant just yet. That would wait until the efficacy of his potions had been improving in the military market for all to see, and he began to sell them to the civilian market began. That would allow him to use the support garnered from that for his own purposes.
Even after they finished hammering that out however, there was one thing still bothering Emma. "I'm still of two minds about you coming clean about magic being the source of your potions. I know I suggested it, but it really could bite us on the ass if we don't get at least two of the four major religions on our side."
"I have it on good authority that the Dalai Lama won't care one way or the other, so going by the numbers that's number five taken care of." Harry said smiling faintly. "Apparently certain Buddhist sects has known about magic for millennia now, and the former Sorcerer Supreme was a personal friend of the current Dalai Lama. I'm not even going to try to get Islam on my side, that's just not going to happen in the main. Some groups I could be open to business with though."
Harry had taken a long hard look at religion in this world and had decided that the teachings of Islam, at least as practiced by the majority of Muslims, was something he really did not want to touch. The number of terrorist groups associated with Islamic belief was simply appalling. And while the majority of Muslims were not terrorists, they weren't exactly going out of their way to denounce said terrorists either, which was just as bad in his opinion, reminding him too much of the magical world's idea of simply ignoring the problem because it didn't affect them personally.
"I've looked at the Pope." Emma shook her head, worried. "I honestly… I don't think we can get him on our side. While he has tried to reach out to other religions, Jon Paul is considered a conservative in terms of doctrine, and magic, like it or not, is seen as something from Satan in the Christian religion." She didn't mention the popes position on abortion or contraception, since while Emma found them personally repugnant they did not matter in this conversation. "I have no idea about his position on the mutant issue, since the catholic church has been very careful about keeping silent on that issue."
Harry frowned thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the table. "There's no single person I can talk to try to get Hinduism on his side, but from what I can remember, they have a place for magic built into 'sanatana dharma'. Despite what most people think, Hinduism is more about intellectual and philosophical points of view than about Belief, so it is somewhat more flexible, and far more diverse than other major religions."
Padma and Parvati had both been Hindus, though neither had made any big deal about it. Harry had talked about it with them both at one point, and he had been astonished by the sheer breadth of differing sects that was encompassed by the term Hinduism. But that conversation had been many years ago, and he hadn't had time to devote to researching India or its major belief system in this world, so he was racking his brain for details. "The text from… Athar something, covers medicine and black and white magic. So we should be fine there."
"And despite what a lot of people think, Jews, despite having their own nation, really are not one of the most numerous religions. So long as we don't threaten them, I don't think they will have an issue with us. Christians though could be a problem. How likely is it that the pope will take a stance against me when my magic use comes out?"
"I don't know. I think he would personally wait and see what you say and what your potions do before making a ruling. But if he does make a ruling ex cathedra, that will be disastrous in many ways."
"All right, we need to get a handle on that aspect before I come clean with my own magical abilities and the fact that my medicines are actually potions. We also need to know the church's stance on mutants."
"There we might be better off, the church position has always been that all human life is sacred. So long as they don't see mutants as a sub species we should be good." Emma broke in.
"Well that's nice and all, but I'd like to know for certain." Harry mused for a moment then looked at her with his head cocked to one side. "Tell me, how far can you detect a single mind in a city?"
"A mile or so depending on various factors. If you're asking me what I think you're asking me, I can do that yes." Emma laughed quietly. I would love to see Rome, it is one of the most magnificent cities in the world. We could make a day trip of it." She went on more hesitantly, watching Harry carefully. "And if Jon Paul's opinion isn't to our liking, I could… modify it…"
"No." Harry replied firmly, but he smiled at her. "Understand me Emma, while I didn't have an issue with you doing such things to protect yourself, or even trolling for information in other people's minds, there is a vast difference between that and manipulating the mind of someone who hasn't proven to be a threat. It's the slippery slope you know, if you can moralize such a thing now, it will become easier overtime, and that is a dangerous road to go down. Trust me, I've been there too, and seen where always assuming you know the best leads to."
Emma smiled and nodded. "I didn't think it was a good idea myself, but I wanted to see your reaction to it. Oh, by the way, I haven't made any progress in getting Sandman released. I'm being blocked by some very odd costumers. But my other plan to bring in the girl I mentioned, the one whose chosen moniker is Firestar, has worked out well. Angelica, that is her real name, will be moving into my mansion a week from now. Her parents were stalling things, but I was able to get them to agree eventually, full medical and some other incentives were enough to break them down. Could we set up a time for you to stop by and analyze her powers?"
"Not a problem. I'll have to wait until Magical Minds officially opens then see about my schedule but other than that, I don't see why not." Harry replied, nodding his head.
Emma smiled. "Excellent. In that case, I think we're done, since you have another meeting soon. I'll see you all tomorrow evening for dinner?"
"Yep." Harry said sitting up and leaning over to her to kiss Emma gently on the cheek pulling away before she could turn her head to capture Harry's lips with her own. She pouted outrageously at him, and he merely chuckled and shook his head. "My next business meeting here is in about…" he glanced at the wall clock. "Ten minutes, so I don't want lipstick on my mouth, sorry. I'll see you tomorrow evening, it'll be Ororo's turn to cook again, and she's very good."
Emma smiled eagerly, as they both stood up pulled him into a hug, letting one hand drop down to his rear to squeeze it lightly before pulling away with a laugh heading out the door. Harry shook his head with a chuckle as he watched her go, his eyes sliding to Emma's own rear for a moment as she walked off with a swish in her step. He then sat down with a sigh to await his next meeting.
Elsewhere Ororo was just showing up for her one meeting for the day.
OOOOOOO
Cyclops looked up as he was leading the team down to the black jet as Ororo and someone else, a teenage girl with long wavy blond hair and dark black eyes, popped in with the aid of one of the house-elves. "Hello Ororo." he said calmly, rolling his chair over to shake her hand. "Is this is Laynia? Vanguard mentioned her."
Laynia sized up the young man before her smiling slightly until she flicked her eyes over to where Rouge was standing close by and saw the possessive way she was standing. Pity, I wish to try this dating thing, but the pool of available boys is sadly lacking. Piotr wasn't exactly her type, a little too muscular for her tastes, nor did the other teen boys interest her. And of course before that, having any kind of relationship with any of the soldiers on the base would've been a massive issue.
Beside her Ororo hadn't noticed the younger woman's glances, simply smiling at Cyclops, who had come so far since his days as a rather arrogant and entitled stiff-necked young man. "Yes she is, I made an appointment with Charles to talk about letting her stay with you today, as well as helping him finally okay his search for a language teacher."
Charles wheeled up then and smiled at them all. "I would've liked Scott to be part of that conversation as well, but unfortunately he and the team are heading out on a mission right now. There is a young mutant down in South Carolina him that has just activated his powers. Alas they are not of the variety that would be able to aid him in defending himself and a local hate group is about to move in on his location. Their hate and anger was easy to feel through Cerebro despite the effect of drunkenness on their mental faculties."
"Then what are you waiting around here for?" Ororo asked archly waving her hands at the team who grinned at her before racing off down towards the black jet.
Even Kurt, despite still working through his issues with what had occurred on their last issue, was eager to aid a fellow mutant like this. The young Germanic born teleporter had been having nightmares of the battle against the pirates in the China sea, but it wasn't what he found that was disturbing his sleep, he could have lived with that. Such horror should haunt you after all.
No, what bothered him was the fact his dreams were dominated by the actual battle, only his feelings during these dreams were very different from what he had felt at the time. Instead of feeling horror and grim determination, he felt only anger and a rising enjoyment of the slaughter. That bothered him, it bothered him deeply. There was a difference between doing what you had to in the name of justice, and enjoying such butchery for its own sake, and the idea he had secretly enjoyed it was deeply disturbing to the fun loving youth. Kurt had talked about it to Father Garnoff, but it hadn't helped him as much as he had hoped.
As soon as the team was gone Ororo turned to Charles asking solicitously. "Has that young woman who you rescued recovered?"
"Ms. Xian is still trapped in her own mind I'm afraid." Charles shook his head. "I led her psyche back to her mind, but it is up to her to actually come out of it. If I go in now, I could do more damage than good, but if she doesn't come out of it on her own within the next few days, I'll be forced to anyway. Despite our keeping her body alive via medical means, there is only so long the human body can go without truly having a mind in charge of it. Her mother however has woken up, and has agreed to work here as a cook and general house servant."
In point of fact the woman, Can Tho Manh, was incredibly grateful for the rescue, knowing that the initial assault on her child and her could have only been the beginning of a life of servitude and degradation, if the pirates didn't simply kill them out of hand. With the aid of Clare, who had taken over as Kitty's primary house-elf, she handled anything that needed doing around the house.
After spending a few minutes talking to Laynia, Charles set her up in one of the solar to work on a few tests to get into Bayville. Once completed, they would be easily able to place Laynia there as a senior.
After that, Ororo met the woman who had been brought in to replace her as foreign language teacher. "She is not as accomplished in languages as she is in the sciences." Charles said. "But she can double as a doctor for us as well as a science teacher, which I think we can both agree is a excellent idea." Ororo nodded and he went on. "She has majors in medicine, biology and computers. Kitty has evidenced a desire to head into computer programming, did you know that?"
"Among other things yes." Ororo said with a smile. She hadn't yet broken the news to Kitty about her magical power, since Kitty's birthday was coming up in a few weeks, which would allow them all to sit down with her parents and explain everything to all three at once, which would go nicely with the gift that Harry was preparing, a runic doorway to her parent's home.
That method of transportation had now been proven conclusively thanks to the doorway at Emma's mansion. So long as one end of the doorway was in a magical area, two runic doorways could draw power from one another. This also opened up a lot of tactical opportunities as Harry put it, which he was eager to get to in the future.
Ororo shrugged. "In all honesty Charles, Scott and the others already have enough linguistic ability to get by in most of the world, even if you don't go with them on their missions. I will be available if any of them wish to continue their language education, and I hope some choose to do so, but a better idea would be to have the new students you're going to bring in next month rotate with the others to learn a new language before moving onto the next. For example I think Kitty could easily teach Vietnamese, and needless to say Kurt could teach German. Scott could do French for certain, and I think they could work together to teach Chinese."
"That's actually a very good idea!" Charles said enthusiastically. "Thank you for that, I don't suppose they could use the lessons you initially used?"
"I could modify them easily enough for one-on-one instruction yes." Ororo nodded as they continued into the sitting area, where the teacher was already waiting for them.
The new teacher was a middle aged woman around Charles' age, with brown hair down to her neck and brown eyes, wearing a conservative skirt, with a rolling suitcase next to her on the sofa and some papers in her hand. She was watching the TV when they came in, a news program reporting the apparent suicide of a woman in France, some kind of industrialist who was big in the train business.
Charles smiled slightly waving one hand at the woman. "Ororo, this is Moira McTaggart, an old friend of mine."
OOOOOOO
After a rather lonely and very quick lunch Harry was once more back in the meeting room he had booked for the day, with two of his three meetings of the day under his belt. The second had moved with glacial slowness in comparison to the meeting with Emma, but had been very informative nonetheless. The publicity department was now good to go, and the first few advertisements for Magical Minds were ready to coincide with the Drug Administration's acceptance of it, so sales to the civilian sector would begin immediately. They were actually already ready to declare his potions safe to use, but they had to wait until the official trial period assigned initially was over.
He stood up as two men entered the room. One was a tallish man dressed in a tweed sweater of all things, with a pipe stuck in his teeth and one of those beret hats (which Harry thought looked idiotic) on his head over ginger hair. Strangely enough however he made the sweater work for him, though the pipe was a bit much in Harry's opinion.
The man next to him however did not even try to appear casual. He was dressed in a suit, much like the one Harry was wearing except his was transfigured. He also moved like an old-time soldier who had never gotten used to civilian life, marching in and reaching out with a strong hand to grip Harry's hand. "Harry Potter, or do you go by Mr. Guardian?"
For business, I am Mr. Potter, for extralegal activities I'll go by Guardian." Harry said simply, unsurprised that the man had heard about his real name or his new call sign. "You would be the Director General of Interpol?"
"David Tedrow at your service." The man said nodding formally. "You know Sean Cassidy of course, one of your people apparently tried to recruit him several weeks back?"
"We did, but only if he was willing to leave his former job. I take it you have decided to use him as your liaison with us, or minder or whatever the term you wish to use?" Harry gestured both men into seats and was not surprised to see the director general sitting up as if he was trying to stand at attention despite sitting down. The man had a reputation of being rigid like that in his personal dealing. But despite being a-by-the-books character knew when to throw the book out to get things done.
"Yes, so long as we understand one another and your objectives for this group you're putting together. Pro-mutant rights are all well and good, but not when they take away the rights of the normal individual."
"That's the last thing I want." Harry replied honestly. "I want humans and mutants to stand together united. I think we've got a lot of other problems coming our way, not just homegrown either."
When both of them looked at him quizzically he shrugged. "I'm a friend of the Fantastic Four. You're free to put that in my file if you want, but please don't bruit it about just yet, at least not in connection to my Mr. Potter name. And the number of alien species they've run into that could be a threat to humanity is not pleasant to imagine."
Both her eyes widened at that, then almost visibly they put it aside. After all, the Fantastic Four had proven themselves able to handle such threats before, and it was certainly out of Interpol's remit. "In that case," Sean said. "I'll be happy to work with you Mr. Potter, I'll be free to move into wherever you all are based in a few more days, as soon as I finish up one or two more case files."
Harry nodded but cautioned that Banshee would have to pass a certain few tests of his teamwork ability and hand-to-hand skills as well as trustworthiness before Harry allowed him to be on the team in an actual combat situation. Banshee simply nodded, since that was much the same as he would have to face if he was to join any of the strike units Interpol had.
After that the Inspector General and Harry got down to brass tacks in terms of his potions and information sharing. Harry went through his sales pitch for the Big Four as he was calling them, with David offering an almost laughable price to begin with. Then he allowed himself to be talked up to the price which was where Harry had sold to Britain.
Harry kept on forcing his price upwards, until finally they reached the price the other two delegates had finally decided on for much the same amount. This was a good price, Harry felt, since part of the deal would be Interpol letting them access some of their intelligence apparatus after they took possession of the first shipment of potions.
It was about two-thirds what Harry would sell his potions for in the future. Harry estimated the price for British sales would actually go down, once he started to buy things in bulk from the industrial side of things, especially when the 'most favored nation' status William had oh so casually tossed out came into effect. But the rest of his sales would certainly not reflect that.
After that they signed some paperwork, which Harry read very carefully indeed, then both of them signed it, each of them taking a copy.
Harry once more shook hands with both men as the meeting broke up. "Pleasure doing business with you both, and I hope to talk to you further when you're ready to start training with us Banshee. Here is my number, call when you're ready to go, and I'll provide transportation."
Banshee nodded and pocketed the card, and left with his boss quickly afterwards.
Harry sighed and allowed himself to collapse back into his chair for a moment shaking his head. It was nearly seven o'clock now local time and he had put in one hell of the day, and he had one more discussion he wanted to have today. Gods I hate all this business stuff, I know it's important, both in the long and short term, but I long for the day I can leave meetings and stuff like that to other people and simply putter around with Jean and Kitty, only occasionally looking over their shoulders.
Glancing at the clock he saw he had an hour to kill before having to make his way to California for his next meeting, which had thankfully been rather easy to set up. He looked up however as the door to the meeting room opened, one hand readying a spell just in case at the sudden intrusion. He paused however as he recognized the somewhat obese elderly gentlemen who entered, hands outstretched in token of peace. "Pax, Mr. Potter. I believe we were rather quickly introduced after that horrible set to with the terrorist Selene?"
"MI5 director right? Sorry, I can't remember your name." Harry relaxed marginally, head cocked to one side. "To what do I owe this intrusion?"
"Quite all right lad. The name's Jack Harper, and I am here acting as a sort of go between, though not the normal sort." The older man's lips quirked as he shook his head. "I wouldn't normally be doing this in person, but given your status and the nature of the individual involved, I felt it best to handle this myself. You see, we think you might be the individual this person is looking for, and seeing as he was searching for you on British soil, we were forced to step in."
Harry's eyebrows went up in surprise then his eyes narrowed. "Exactly who is this individual?"
Without answering Jack turned to the door behind him. "You can come in now."
At those words a large man, possibly the same height as Colossus in his armored form, came through the door, dressed in a very nicely tailored suit, though that wasn't what Harry concentrated on. What he concentrated on was the size of the man's shoulders, the way he stood lightly on his feet. There was also a sense of power in the man, not magic, this was a purely physical sort of power. Harry also took in the intelligent and watchful eyes, which at present were crinkled with humor, which matched the wry twist to the other man's mouth.
That last actually caused Harry to relax again, and he smirked back at the man as Jack intoned, his own sense of the absurd evident in his tone. "Mr. Potter, be known to Balder, emissary of Odin Borson, king of the Asgardians."
For his part, Balder was slightly in awe of the human in front of him. The sight of Asgardians could see much more than human senses could discern, and the sheer presence of the man in front of him was amazing. It was like standing in front of Odin when he was feasting, the knowledge that, right below the boisterous surface, there was a volcano of power, leashed yet ready to be released. Balder could tell much of it was magical in nature, but not all of it, and the magic in question was tied to his body, immutable from the human's physical form.
At the name Asgardians, Harry suddenly knew the reason behind an old mystery he had been wondering about: the lack of Norse runes in this world. If the Asgardians here were real rather than an esoteric group of wizards, that makes sense, though how real and in what way remains to be seen. It never occurred to him to doubt the man was something more than human, the physical power of the man told him that at least. Nor could he think of any reason why someone would go to the trouble of using such a lie to get close to him, even if they could fool Jack Harper into bedeviling it. But what the hell does their king want from me? Harry racked his brain, trying to remember all he could of Norse Mythology, and coming up nearly empty.
Still, he decided to go with formal yet polite for now."Be welcome, Balder of Asgard. Though, I am at a loss as to what you want with me. I confess to having a lot of questions about Asgard, but at present I don't have time to ask them all. Can I ask instead what you wanted to meet with me about? Or, given the fact Jack introduced you as an emissary, what your king wants with me?"
"Odin-father sees much from Asgard, Mr. Potter, and he has seen your power rising, primarily in conjunction with the weakening of an Elder God and death of a Demon Lord. Great feats, not just of strength but of heart." Balder replied as he took the seat across from Harry. "He has sent me to find out what I can of you, your origins in particular, and whether your goals long term may aid or hinder Asgard."
Harry frowned, trying again remember all he could about Norse mythology, but all he could come up with was a memory of Neville of all people talking about Valkyries who came to take the spirits of the brave away. He could not remember why, but he thought that in most of the myths Norse gods were more like their worshippers, and didn't tend to lord over them like other pantheons did. Still best to be certain. "Can I ask in turn what Asgard's position in regards to Earth is?"
"Neutrality, rather patronizing neutrality it must be said." Balder replied bluntly, shooting an apologetic glance at Jack, who had taken another chair and were watching both of them closely. "That is an unfortunate holdover from the time when we had more to do with the lives on those who worshipped us here on Midgard, before we retreated to our own lands like most of the other pantheons when Christianity began to spread."
"From what I have seen since my arrival however, humans have come a long way, in many ways much farther than we ourselves. Certainly your technology is beyond what we can do save with runic arrays. Though individually you are still weak in comparison to even the least Asgardian. To put it simply, we have no plans to have much of anything to do with Earth as a whole, not until Earth has a single unified government, and even then, a distant sort of alliance would be the best outcome on our side"
"I see. So no wishes to return to power or convert all of humanity to your worship?" Harry asked, keeping his tone bland but his eyes were alert and watchful, searching for any deceit in the otherworldly persona before him.
Balder shook his head, looking mildly disgusted by the idea. The average Asgardian received no power at all from worship, and for most, save Loki perhaps, being worshipped was seen as a chore. Oh, the Valkyries had once been mortal, and they Hela and Odin both still had something to do with the few worshippers that were still around, but it had been a long time since anyone else had much to do with such.
"In that case, I will tell you about my origins so long as you reciprocate about your own people. But in regards to my long term goals, I don't think you have enough local knowledge to understand most of them. I will say however that my long term goals will benefit all of humanity, nor am I interested in conquest or anything like that." Harry said, leaning back and looking at the clock worriedly. It never paid to keep a lady waiting after all.
Balder frowned but nodded, and Harry went on to summarize his time in his home dimension, causing Badler's eyes to widen when he heard about the prophecy and its outcome. All of Asgard knew of the power of prophecy, yet to meet a Fate-Touched was still surprising.
During his recitation Harry's eyes twitched to Jack who was taking it all in without surprise. It appeared as if William had shared something of his origins with his most loyal people, which Harry was ambivalent about. He trusted William's judgment to a degree, and it was a done deal in any event, but he didn't trust all the people they trusted so to speak. Still, in the main he felt it was out of his control for now, and any attempt to redress that would only make it worse in the long run.
After he finished, Balder asked a few questions, mainly about Dumbledore and his actions, as well as how the Voldemort person had survived, which Harry answered in a roundabout way. The tightening of Balder's face however told him he had understood the thrust of what Harry was saying.
"I think you have led a most eventful life Mr. Potter. Even for an Asgardian of the royal house that would be true. And your actions, and the fact I can sense no lie in what you have said, tells me much about your character. It behooves me to reciprocate."
Balder did so for a time, after which Harry was glancing at the clock with far more concern. Still, it opened up several questions about the Asgardians, and their histories, as well as this 'Ragnarock' that he seemed to remember, something about a disaster that wiped them all out, though even that Harry wasn't certain about.
Still, right now he had more important things on his schedule than satisfying his curiosity, or even adding to his magical knowledge. "That is fascinating Balder, and I would be interested in setting up some sort of information exchange, you mentioned runic arrays, and I am a master in using several runic languages so a give or take there would be interesting. Anything formal however would have to wait for another time. I have an appointment I have to get to in ten minutes, so we have to cut this short here."
"I understand, and indeed you have already satisfied the initial instructions I was given by Odin-father. I will need to return to him to see if he would be amenable to anything formal. I think trade relations would be possible, indeed I could see us using you as a bridge between us and the rest of humanity. I in particular will be sad to leave the books and histories I have been reading the past few days behind." Balder sighed dramatically causing Harry and Jack to chuckle.
Jack's eyes glittered at the idea of what he and his could get from the Asgardians. No weapons possibly, but new metallurgy techniques, new knowledge, or even just raw goods would be excellent, and cheap for the price perhaps. Harry saw this, and smirked, knowing what the man was thinking, but also knowing as go-between, he would be the one controlling that trade.
That was for another time however, and he stood up, causing both of the other men to stand as well. "In that case, I need to check out at the front desk, and hurry to my next appointment. I look forward to talking to you again Balder, regardless of what your kind decides." He actually meant it too. Balder was intelligent, affable, and likable.
They shook hands, and Harry hurried out to his next meeting. In his rush, Harry never noticed a small calico cat that had been watching the meeting room doorway from the doorway to another room. Nor did Balder or Jack see anything out of place when they too left the Marriot. A moment later, the cat ambled out of the hotel's service entrance, then disappeared with a pop.