Next Generation
Author: Darcy Black-Valentine
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh, Mobile Suit Gundam or Harry Potter.
~Chapter One~
Young Nadir never knew why he could do certain things. Like, levitating things without touching them…make things explode when he was angry…things like that. That is, not until he received a letter inviting him to a school. A school of magic. This, above all else, excited him to no end. At last he had a reason for being able to do all of those unexpected things.
Today, he stood on the platform, looking at the scarlet train in awe and wonder. His mother stood next to him, a hand resting on her young son's shoulder. His father was watching the scene unfold right next to his wife, looking around at the kids who were boarding the train. Nadir finally snapped out of his trance and turned to his mother.
"I've only got 15 minutes, so I'd better go and find a seat."
"Okay, we'll be right here waiting for you."
Nadir lifted his trunk easily and boarded the train. He saw that there weren't individual seats like on the bus ride here, but whole compartments. He set his trunk in the luggage rack above the seat and went back out to his parents, accidentally bumping into a boy with a long braid.
"Oh, sorry," he said.
The boy smiled and said,
"It's alright."
Nadir passed him and went out onto the platform, looking at the big clock over his head. He only had five minutes before the train left. He was already feeling a lonesome feeling in the pit of his stomach at the thought of leaving his parents, but there was also a thrill of excitement as he thought about learning magic.
He approached his mother and said,
"I promise I'll write once a week to let you know how things are going."
Darcy hugged Nadir close to her and said,
"And I promise to write back whenever we get a letter."
Nadir turned to his father and saw that he looked as anxious as Nadir felt. He hugged his father too and said,
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Marik smiled at his son and ruffled his streaked hair.
"You'd better. I don't want any letters saying that you're getting into trouble."
Nadir grinned and said,
"Can't make any promises!"
The train whistle blew and the doors started to close. Nadir hurriedly kissed his mother and boarded the train. When he got to his compartment, he opened the window and leaned out to say good-bye.
"Ma'as salaama!" he shouted over the noise of the whistle.
His parents yelled back in their native tongues and he grinned at them. He watched them as the train gathered speed and eventually, they were out of his line of vision. He leaned back into the compartment and closed the big window.
He sat back in his seat just as the door opened and the boy he bumped into earlier entered. The boy smiled when he saw who it was and asked,
"Mind if I sit here?"
Nadir smiled too at having company and said,
"No, go ahead."
The boy easily tossed his trunk up onto the luggage rack and sat opposite Nadir. He was unmistakably American, but with a light tan that complimented his blue eyes and long chocolate brown braid. He reached a hand out and said,
"My name's Ace Abraham. What's yours?"
Nadir shook his hand and said,
"I'm Nadir Ishtar."
As they shook hands, Nadir noticed that Ace's hands were callused and rough, exactly the way a man's hands should feel. This surprised him slightly since this boy looked no older than 11 at the most. As they parted hands, he found himself asking,
"How come you've got blisters and things on your hands?"
Ace looked faintly surprised and looked down at his hands. There were calluses and blisters as well as some scars that he'd received at an early age.
"Well, I work on cars with my godfather and do a lot of manual labor over the summer. It's how I earn my keep, you know?"
Nadir looked confused. Ace grinned and chuckled at this and said,
"Your parents pamper you, don't they? I could tell because your hands are so smooth."
Nadir flushed faintly and looked out the window. Ace seemed to realize that he said something wrong and immediately added,
"But that's okay. Lots of single children are pampered…especially by their mothers if they're boys."
Nadir looked at him with a grin and said,
"Too true."
Ace leaned back in his seat and threw his arms up to rest on the back of it. Nadir thought that he looked really majestic like that, sprawled out without a care in the world. Ace, meanwhile had taken in Nadir's natural tan and his clothing as well as his golden arm bands and choker.
"So, where are you from?" he asked.
"Well, I was born in Cairo when my mother moved there to be with my father, but we just recently moved to London when I got my letter. Luckily, my mother had already bought a summer house here a few years ago."
Ace looked out the window thoughtfully and said,
"So, that makes you Egyptian? That explains your tan."
Nadir nodded but quickly added,
"But my mother's Romanian, straight from Transylvania…so I'm half Egyptian and half Romanian."
Ace's eyes widened slightly and said,
"Man, I wish I was something besides American."
Nadir was confused by this. For the longest time, he had wanted to be American just so he could fit in with the people that his aunt and uncle met with on a daily basis and therefore couldn't understand why Ace would want to be something other than American. He blinked and asked,
"Why would you want to be like me? It's no big deal really."
Ace looked at him and said,
"I don't know, I guess I've always wanted to be something like you…something… exotic."
Nadir didn't think of himself as exotic. Whenever he heard that word, he thought of a male lion with a full mane and golden eyes, roaring for the whole savannah to hear… he didn't see how this applied to him, but at the same time was flattered that someone other than his mother thought he was good-looking.
Ace stretched his arms toward the ceiling and Nadir heard a crack. Ace groaned in an appreciative sort of way and leaned back to sprawl over his seat again. Ace, Nadir noticed, was very fit…even at this young age. He was definitely handsome and the young Egyptian guessed that Ace must be what Americans call a 'ladies' man.'
The door to their compartment opened again and a girl with two black pigtails entered. She smiled at the two of them and said,
"There's nowhere else to sit, so I'm gonna sit here with you guys. That okay?"
Nadir nodded and said,
"It's okay with me."
Ace looked at her indifferently and shrugged as he looked back out the window. The girl, Nadir was surprised to see, lifted her trunk with little effort and heaved it up onto the luggage rack. She sat next to him and said,
"I'm Aika Uchiha. Who're you?"
Ace looked over at her and said,
"Ace Abraham."
She looked at Nadir and he introduced himself.
"Nadir Ishtar."
Ace looked at Aika thoughtfully before saying,
"Uchiha…as in, Sasuke Uchiha? Head of Chidori Industries?"
Aika nodded with a grin, apparently proud of her heritage. Nadir looked from Ace to Aika in apparent confusion. Ace saw Nadir's look and said,
"Chidori Industries makes and sells the latest sports gear like scooters, roller blades, bikes, motorcycles…"
"Motorcycles?" Nadir asked, perking up at once.
Aika noticed this and said,
"Yeah. Now that I think about it, your last name is Ishtar right? Yeah I remember now! When I visited Cairo last year, my parents and I went to a museum and the lady in charge said that her name was Ishizu Ishtar. Is she your mom?"
She said all this very fast without drawing breath. Nadir laughed a little and said,
"No, she's my aunt. Her brother is my father…Marik Ishtar."
Aika looked thoughtful and said,
"Yeah, didn't he buy one of my father's best motorcycles? The Stealth Shadow?"
Nadir nodded.
"My father's crazy about motorcycles. That's where I get it from."
The three of them talked about various things as the train sped further north, passing rolling green hills and pastures with black and white cows and various horses as well as an occasional farm house.
As they sky turned darker, their talk was interrupted by a rattling sound outside their compartment. Nadir stood and opened the door, seeing a plump little witch pushing a cart with various treats. She smiled at the three of them and asked,
"Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Ace stood up and went over to the trolley to look. Aika followed close behind, but Nadir shook his head and said,
"My mother packed my favorite food in a container in my trunk."
He pulled his trunk down carefully and opened it, immediately seeing a medium-sized Styrofoam cup and plastic spoon. He licked his lips and pulled it out, replacing his trunk up on the luggage rack.
Ace entered with various candies while Aika only had a small stack of what looked like little cakes. They sat in silence for a few minutes, opening their various packages and almost drooling at the contents. Aika looked over at Nadir's food and asked,
"What is that?"
Nadir looked at her in surprise and said,
"Only the best food in the world!"
Aika looked at the contents and said,
"It doesn't look like ramen to me."
"What's ramen?" Nadir asked.
Now it was Aika's turn to look surprised.
"It's noodles that sit in a heavenly flavored broth and has various ingredients of varying tastiness!"
Ace looked up as he bit into a Chocolate Frog and said,
"They have that in the states, except it's not authentic. It comes in a small package that you boil or add boiling water to."
Aika nodded and said,
"Yep! Seafood ramen is my favorite…well, except for naruto ramen."
As they ate, they talked about all of their favorites from food, to songs, to colors and even animals. They deposited of their trash (except Ace who had bought enough candy to feed a small platoon) and Aika pulled her black robes out of her trunk.
She pulled them on and fastened them while Ace and Nadir pulled theirs on. Nadir looked at Ace and saw that he looked even more handsome in his black Hogwarts robes. He flushed slightly and sat back down, hiding his face by looking out the window.
The lights flickered on and an announcement came over the loudspeaker.
"Attention passengers…we will be reaching the station in ten minutes' time. Leave your luggage on the train as it will be brought to the castle separately. Please be changed into your robes and be ready to go when the train stops."
Ace looked alarmed and immediately dug into his trunk, searching frantically for something.
"What's up?" Nadir asked.
Ace straightened up and closed his trunk, hauling it back up onto the luggage rack. He turned and Nadir and Aika saw a small metal scythe on a thick platinum band. Ace put it on his ring finger on his right hand and kissed the cold metal. When he looked up and saw the confused looks on the faces of his companions, he said,
"This is my lucky charm. I couldn't just leave it unprotected in my trunk where someone could rifle through and take it."
Nadir nodded in recognition and pulled a small golden ring out of his pocket. On it was an inscription written in Egyptian hieroglyphs that neither Aika nor Ace could read. Nadir slipped the ring onto the same finger on his right hand as Ace and said,
"This is my charm…I didn't trust myself to remember to take it out of my trunk before I got here, so I kept it in my pocket."
Aika looked at the hieroglyphs in awe and asked,
"What does it say?"
Ace looked at the gold bracelet with wide eyes, having never before seen real gold this close up before. Nadir looked at the hieroglyphs and read aloud,
"May the Sun God Ra bless thee and give protection to all those you deem friends."
Ace looked up at Nadir and asked quietly,
"Do you deem us friends?"
Nadir looked around at the both of them and smiled.
"Of course."
The three of them grinned and Aika pulled a small silver ring out of her pants pocket. It was a silver fox that was sitting elegantly with one of nine tails wrapping around to form the band.
Aika put it on the same finger on the same hand as Nadir and Ace and said,
"My papa gave me this on my last birthday. It's my prized possession."
The three of them put their right hands in front of them and placed them gently over one another, Ace's on top, then Nadir's then Aika's.
Ace and Aika felt a warm feeling envelop them almost like a giant bird had wrapped its wings around them. Nadir looked up at Ace's face and their eyes met. He didn't know why, but he felt a certain kinship with this boy…almost as if he had known him all his life.
The train stopped and the three of them lurched forward. Ace fell back into his seat, Aika fell forward but caught herself on the red leather that made up the seat, and Nadir fell into Ace's lap. The two boys blushed but didn't move until Aika cleared her throat. The stood and filed out of the compartment. When they reached the outside, they felt the crisp night air on their faces and grinned at each other.
"Firs' year this way please! Firs' years come along now!"
They followed the voice and were soon sitting in a small boat that drifted by itself toward the castle. They approached the castle doors and the giant of a man knocked on the door three times.