By Faith Tomoe Maxwell

Alright, I've thought about this long and hard and decided before I continue my story I wanted to type up a definition of terms so that I don't have a repeating of words which can probably get annoying. I will return to some of the terms but I wanted this up for the people and myself. It can get a bit confusing using terms.

I've also added a time line at the bottom section of this to help/discuss if you want to. Enjoy.

I do not own Twelve Kingdoms or Harry Potter, but do own this crossover idea and creations it endures, including Kira and some others.

The Twelve Kingdoms—A world created by Tentei, a high god or the Emperor of the Heavens after he could no longer take the sins of man on Earth. There are twelve kingdoms and a single middle land under the care of the Dowager of the West. It is here that is supposedly the birthplace of Yokai, Nyokai and Kirin alike. The Twelve Kingdoms go as so; Ryuu, Tai, En, Kei, Kou, Shun, Sou, Sai, Ren, Han, Kyou and Hou.

Tentei—The High god or Emperor of Heavens. It is said in myth that he created the Twelve Kingdoms, Heaven and all surrounding bodies after becoming angry over the sins of man on Earth. He is merciful yet violent and the perfect ruler. He has never been rightly seen by any but the Dowager of the West and the others in Heaven.

The Dowager of the West/Seioubou—The anime hints that Lady Gyokuyo serves under or possibly is the Dowager of the West as she is an immortal of unknown history. However, the books does not support this. The Dowager lives in a special temple/castle near Mount Ho and oversees the livelihood of the Koukai and Mount Ho. She also sends her Nyosen when it is time to collect ladies who have earned the right to be Nyosen. Seioubou is also prayed to for compassion and wisdom.

Lady Gyokuyo/The Lady Genkun—The appointed leader of the Nyosen. It's unsure her role but she manages the care of Kirin and the Nyosen. She also probably appointed the hag who cares for nyokai. Lady Gyokuyo is very old and suggested to be the Dowager of the West in the anime.

Sennin—this is a designated term used to explain the immortals of the immortal registry and those with strange powers. They are normally nobles but counted among them are the Nyosen. Kirin and the Rulers of Kingdoms are sennin as well.

Nyosen—The caretakers of the Kirin brought from the Twelve Kingdoms up to Mount Ho after making a pact to serve heaven alone. All are supposedly women of great virtue who have succeeded in some great task that gains approval. One is known for holding a pillar up and chanting a thousand times, sacrificing herself to save her fellow villagers. Nyosen also always have one in main charge of caring for the Kirin.

Nyokai—also called Lamia, these are the closest figures kirin born on Mount Ho have to a true mother. They are the first of the youma like creatures that the kirin have and always born in female form, early teens and twenties as the norm. Nyokai have the surname Haku at all times, like all their others. There are always 12 Nyokai for the 12 kirin and are born under the tree that bares the Kirin. Kirin also normally suckle their first 5 years of life from the chest of the Nyokai to ensure that they are stronger than they would be as babies. Nyokai are very protective and strong. Their name, Lamia means "fairy-beasts" and they normally cross 2-3 animals inside of themselves. Most Lamia have the ability to fly, the only known exception I've seen is Sansi, the Lamia of Tai. The youngest of the Nyokai is in fact the guardian for Kou named Kouka.

Kirin—Directly translated by books/anime as "beast-gods/godly beasts", these are heavenly creatures born on Mount Ho in the form of something similar to a unicorn. Almost always born white or blonde, a black kirin (darker in color, is called a Koki). Kirin are born with the primary purpose of selecting a ruler for the twelve kingdoms and then guiding and providing light for the ruler. They abhor blood and violence of any kind and are very gentle creatures. Kirin are also usually born into kirin form and mature on Mount Ho. When they change shape, they are ready for Shozan. However, there are exceptions to this as Taika. They are protected by their Shirei and Nyokai and live until maturity or king selection on Mount Ho, normally. There are a few exceptions to this, being Enki and Taiki.

Ki—this is the suffix placed at the end of the name of a kirin designating that it is male. Hence the terms, Taiki, Enki and Keiki. The other male kirin known are Shunki, Kyouki and Ryuuki. It is not known yet if the new ranka born on Mount Ho is to be a female or male.

Rin—This is the suffix used to show a female kirin being born. The current female kirin are Renrin, Hanrin, Sairin and Sourin. Kourin and Hourin are recently deceased kirin who were female.

Shirei—These are youma that have been subjugated by the Kirin of Mount Ho in the Koukai. They pledge undying loyalty to the kirin and serve them to the best of their abilities. Shirei will die for their masters but if they outlive their master they are given the promise of their masters' corpse when they die. Kirin die without graves so their shirei devour them. It also seems that their Nyokai die with them.

Shoku—the storm that occurs and allows for the ranka to be blown back and forth between the two worlds as well as travelers and other such things. They are thought to bring great misfortune and calamity but nothing is really proven by such. All that is known is that only gods, kirin and certain individuals can create them. Renrin has a bracelet that works like one but it needs specific locations and is very sacred to her.

Taika-This is the term used to explain ranka that are blown to the regular Earth and thus come to land in the wombs of women. Taika are hard to identify and often are very rare. They too have a hard time adjusting to life in the Twelve Kingdoms if they are not born in noble lines.

Kaiyaku—this is the name given to humans blown between the two worlds during a special storm. They have hard times adjusting to either side and often go mad or insane in pain. En has the best set up for these types of people currently because of Enki's constant travel between the two worlds.

Riboku—This is a tree that gives births to humans and half-humans called Hanjyuu.

Shashiboku—the name of the tree that bears Kirin and the roots of which bear nyokai/lamia.

Shiboku—the tree that bares fruit that gives life to trees and animals, including youma.

Ranka—This is the term used to identify a humanoid fruit upon which babies grow in the world of the twelve kingdoms. When a human/humanoid wants a child (normally this is done by a couple) they write out what they would like in a child and post it on a special tree called a Riboku Tree. If heaven hears their prays a fruit grows from the tree branch and a baby is born when the mother plucks the ripe fruit.

T'ai Tetsu—The strongest type of youma there is. A shapeshifter of great power that devours other youma and lives in dark places of the world or within the yellow sea which covers the water between the twelve kingdoms and the koukai. Only one has ever been subjugated and his name is Gohran. He belongs to Taiki, the kirin of Tai.

Shitsuedo—this is the illness kirin receive when their king goes against the will of the heaven. Once started it can rarely stop and if the kirin dies, so too does the ruler—normally within a year of the death of their kirin.

Rakan Gate—The very special gate which parts the worlds of Mount Hou and the rest of the world. Normally, if you travel through it you must register with the sennin there so they know you are present. If you don't it's not only impolite but possibly implies misdeeds coming.

Kenro Shikun/Kouya—This is the names that belong to the god that protects those who journey through the Koukai. Though in the books Kouya is never called a god and only appears in the 3rd volume, he is more important to the protection of the kirin as the anime shows you can't steal a kirin and him not know about it. He travels with a youma who goes by the name of "Big One" or "Rokuta" out of respect for a long time old friend. Kouya is the first human to ever subjugate a youju or a riding demon.

Youma—these are the demons that roam in all the world of Twelve Kingdoms save the portions of Mount Ho. Some can be subjugated like the Shirei by kirin while others are more animalistic. The easiest going of these is the tenba and the meanest/hardest is the t'ai t'etsu. Suigu are famous rides as well as Tenba, both are used in battle and trade. En is the one that started the tradition of capturing young youma to ride upon.

Youju—this is the name for those youma which cannot become Shirei and normally aren't used for much save the ones captured for riding. Some Youju are said to shapeshift but they are very prone to causing mischief and problems.

Nicknames in the realm of Twelve kingdoms—within the world of Twelve Kingdoms, the Kings and Queens of each kingdom have a particular habit of giving people around them nicknames. It's sometimes a problem and you will definetly hear more about it in En because of the age of the country and the people around the king. The En-O calls his main ministers by such titles as "Reckless" and even "Baka" for his kirin. Kouri is a nickname that the Tai-O gave Taiki.

Timeline

Yoko ascends the throne of Kei at the age of 15-16. In the anime her friend returns to the world of Earth and less than a year later discovers a boy from the world of the same schooling age, perhaps a little older named Kaname Takasato.

According to both book and anime, Kaname Takasato also called Kouri and Taiki arrived upon the land of Mount Hou at the age of 10. The book states he was on Mount Ho for no more than 4 months because his arrival is just after the spring equinox and the summer gate opens when he finds Gyoso. His departure from Tai again is within another 8 months, thus he arrives almost a year after missing on Earth, placing him at 11. Because he's in Yoko's school, I'm guessing he's been missing for 5-7 years. I'm going with 5 because of the cohesiveness to my story.

It appears no one counts time after 100+ years so I'm just going to put Enki and the other kirin at a round about age and just say they are really old/ancient. Sourin is the oldest of all kirin by the way, if you wanted to know **winkwink**!

Harry does get the Voldie attack and survives. He's now 6ish in this story and will remain so until I say. He's been living with the Dursley's for around 4-5 years now.

If you want to have more added, just review and state the word and I'll put it in another chapter. This will get longer as long as the story continues. Ciao!