*Edited chapter/re-posted
Hi, Wingzrooke here again. :) I decided to write the second chapter because I was on a roll writing this story. Hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: See profile. Basically, I own nothing original or that is recognizable from elsewhere.
"The sun shines so bright outside my mind
I am left out one more time, one more time
I see them smiling as nothing's wrong
I'm sure they're bothered, but it don't show
No, it don't show
I feel helpless once again
It's an endless, unbreakable chain
And I need your help, so please
Is the weather nice, babe, in your soul?
I think I need some of that sun to shine on me
Is the weather nice, babe, in your soul?
I think I need some of that sun to shine on me" - Sun by Sigrid
Ch. 2 - Shine On My Soul
In the Vongola business room a meeting was, for once, going peacefully. Tsuna felt that little niggling in the back of his mind that meant his intuition sensed something he was missing. Tsuna held up a hand to quiet everyone just as his friend Dino opened his mouth to speak. Dino frowned but stayed silent. Quickly Tsuna ignited his flames and dropped into hyper dying will mode. Usually he wouldn't need to, but he felt the extra edge would help him to figure out what exactly was wrong. Xanxus, who had been scowling at all and generally putting down everyone elses' opinions, jumped to his feet with a snarl. Everyones' gaze snapped to the agitated man. Wrath flames covered Xanxus from head to foot, and Levi-A-Than seemed to just appear next to his boss.
"Boss?" He asked cautiously.
"My bond with Mammon has just shattered." He snarled. The silence gained a stunned quality. It was an open secret now that Mammon was also Viper, the ex-arcobaleno mist. Everyone in the room knew there were two times when a bond was felt most acutely. Those times were when it was formed, and when it was ended. And the end only came when the guardian or the Sky died. Among the Varia and the Cavallone, it was also known that Mammon died in the Future That Never Was.
"I apologize, but we will have to close this meeting early. Vongola has business to attend to. Please keep your ears open for who was bold enough to attack the Vongola Famiglia, the Varia, and the ex-arcobaleno." Tsuna declared. Instead of arguing, as most of the Dons and their attache usually would, they quickly filed out silently under Xanxus' glare. When everyone except the Cavallone, Tsuna, Mukuro, and Xanxus were gone, Tsuna spoke.
"Lead on, Xanxus. It is time to find your missing mist. Mukuro, have Chrome gather the others and meet us at the Varia Mansion." Tsuna ordered. Xanxus was moving before Tsuna stopped speaking, and Mukuro followed with them silently while communicating with Chrome via Telepathy. Outside the mansion they were joined by the rest of Tsunas' guardians. All of the guardians wore their battle gear, box animals activated, and looked grim. By the time they reached the Varia Xanxus' power output had tripled. A few assassins lingering by the front doors caught sight of Xanxus on his way up the hill and fled inside as though the hounds of hell were on their heels. Tsuna figured they were spreading the word, as all of Xanxus' guardians except Mammon and Mist were assembled in the entrance hall when the group finally made it through the front doors. More noticeably no assassins were visible on the main floor, but several indigo flames wandered around the ceiling conspicuously. Apparently the Varia wanted to be out of firing range, but in the loop.
"Boss." Squalo greeted tersely, looking tightly strung.
"Shark Trash," Xanxus greeted shortly "someone has killed Mammon. Where were they?!" Xanxus yelled. Squalo looked shocked. Xanxus snarled at him and Squalo composed himself. "Mammon was contacted by the ex-arcobaleno Colonello earlier today, using the ex-arcobaleno danger codes Mammon designated. Mammon commissioned Lussuria to go with them to help Colonello to save someone." Squalo reported quickly. Xanxus snarled louder.
"Where, trash?!" Xanxus demanded again.
"Mafia Island, boss." Squalo replied quickly. Xanxus whirled to face Tsuna to demand they go to Mafia Land, but Tsuna had turned to face Mukuro.
"Mafia Island, Mukuro." Tsuna ordered. Mukuro regarded Tsuna, face giving away nothing, and Tsuna feared he would have to repeat the order. Then a ring of mist flames formed and the group could see a hospital of some sort on the other side. The party stormed through. On the other side they found themselves in front of the reception desk, facing a stoick receptionist. Even in the face of the snarled
"Where is my mist and sun, trash?!" from Xanxus, the receptionist didn't so much as blink. Instead she looked down at the computer before her.
"Names?" She inquired calmly.
"Lussuria Varia and Mammon Varia." Xanxus snarled.
"There are no patients here under those names." The receptionist informed the irate wrath user. Xanxus wrath flames started to disintegrate the desk before him. Suddenly a trembling young man in green scrubs dashed towards the receptionists desk. He completely ignored the party of people in front of the desk and elbowed past a couple of Xanxus guardians to reach the woman.
"Call….Vongola…..Varia….." the young man gasped, clutching at his sides and panting heavily.
"No need." The receptionist responded dryly. "They are right before us, I think." The receptionist added. The young man turned, seeming to actually notice the people before him for the first time. He gulped slightly at the menacing looks being thrown his way, but straightened up determinedly.
"There was an accident with Mist ex-arcobaleno Mammon, but they are unharmed. I was asked to take the Sky Xanxus, with no more than one guardian and the Vongola boss if they wish to accompany him, to meet with Mammon. It is suggested that only Mist and rain guardians be brought in." The young man told the anxious Vongola party. Most of the assasins' glares upped in intensity.
"Why Mist and Rain?" Mukuro asked suspicously. The man looked even more nervous at this.
"Because…." and he paused, gulped once more than soldiered on. " Because the patient is a Sky that has already bonded to a Rain and Mist, and it is unlikely that they will disrupt anymore bonds with those type of flames. Oh! The Sun Lussuria is currently treating the patient, but is not able to be disturbed until they have finished. Also, any … hostile flames should be strictly controlled. Though unconscious, the young Sky is quite powerful and their flames may react unfavourably to any perceived attack." Several pairs of eyes looked at the young man incredulously, then moved to Xanxus and back. Tsuna, whose flames still burned brightly on his forehead nodded to Xanxus. Growling, Xanxus made a concerted effort to force his flames back into his body.
"Great. All other guardians can wait right outside the room." The young man said cheerfully, then proceeded to lead the group up to the room on the third floor. Silently Xanxus, Tsuna, Squalo, Mukuro, and Takashi Yamamoto followed the green-clad man into the room. Takashi closed the door quietly behind them, and turned around to face the room. He, like the others, found himself stunned by a sudden outpouring of the strongest Sky flames he'd ever felt. The flames surged over to them, surrounded them, and then passed through each of them.
"Stay calm!" Tsuna ordered loudly. The associated guardians and Assassins forced themselves to hold still, trusting in Tsunas' burning intuition. The flames passed harmlessly over everyone except Xanxus. The flames lingered on and around him, carressing up against his sides and twining around his limbs almost like an affectionate cat. Inexplicably, Xanxus felt himself calm down. His wrath flames retreated to deep inside him, content to coil and sleep there. Somehow, though, Xanxus knew he could still access them if he wanted to.
"Boss?" Squalo asked warily.
"I feel calm, Shark Trash." Xanxus replied somewhat lazily, aiming a slow joking punch at his rains' head. Squalo ducked back cautiously. When no other punches or flying items followed, Squalo looked to Xanxus warily.
"No need to be alarmed." a calm, familiar voice informed them wryly. The group turned to find Mammon was the one speaking to them. "Our Sky senses the broken bond and your agitation. We are not certain, but it seems my bond with Boss was not strong enough for Our new Sky to sense. It seems to be the flames remorse for causing you pain." Mammon stated, head tilted to the side. "They are granting you peace and control." Mammon added thoughtfully.
"Our?" Tsuna asked cautiously.
"Our Sky, Kora." Colonello replied somewhat sullenly from the chair he sat in. The others were somewhat startled to hear the sulky tone from the normally cheerful rain, excepting Mammon who had been dealing with the attitude for the past half hour.
"What happened, Trash?" Xanxus demanded of Mammon. Colonello snarled, half-rising from his chair. Mammon turned slightly and made a tutting noise Colonello nodded shortly and retook his seat, but his burning gaze fastened upon Xanxus. Xanxus felt a slight reproof from the flames still swirling around and through him for upsetting the rain. Xanxus rolled his eyes and waited.
"It was quite unexpected. We came to bring Lussuria to help heal Colonellos' Sky, in repayment for trying to save our life in the Future That Never Was. When Lussurias' flames touched the Sky, the Sky flames erupted and searched everyone. Much like the flames did when you entered the room. It seemed to find the others uninteresting, but formed a bond with us immediately. After the bond was formed, our bond with Boss flickered into view and dissolved. The Sky was unconscious, and we still do not yet know either why the Sky is dying, nor why both the rain and ourself bonded to the Sky spontaneously." Mammon reported. Xanxus felt a frission of alarm flash through him at the thought of the little Sky dying. He frowned.
"Why do I feel alarmed at the thought of the trash dying?!" He demanded. Mammon cocked their head to the side.
"We are unsure." Mammon tilted their head to the side. "That is possible. Certainly our Sky does not follow normal conventions…" Mammon mused aloud.
"What is possible?" Tsuna asked gently upon seeing Xanxus' agitation.
"Sorry." Colonello grumbled. "Still getting used to talking aloud with others present." He added.
"Talking aloud?" Xanxus asked suspiciously.
"Yes, we seem to have gained a bond to each other at the same time as our sky, facilitated by our Skys' flames." Mammon agreed.
"What I said, was that it is possible that either your are resonating with each other, one sky to another, or that maybe our sky is so powerful that she is drawing you in as a possible bond, with you as the guardian." Colonello finished.
"That's not possible." Squalo said flatly. Mammon and Colonello shrugged at the same time.
"Neither are instant bonds, or bonding with someone elses' guardian and dissolving the original bond." Mammon pointed out sensibly. Xanxus found it hard to be angry with the thought of bonding to the girl in the bed. Until he thought about the fact that she might be dying.
"Still, we were bonded instantly, so it seems less likely…" Colonello said thoughtfully. Tsuna opened his mouth to ask another question when Lussuria surfaced with a plethora of curse words, turned and punched the wall. The sheetrock covered steel wall shattered under the impact.
"Trash?" Xanxus demanded. Lussuria turned, obviously startled to find his boss there.
"I finally figured out what is killing her….and although it is fixable, it isn't something I myself can fix" He admitted.
"What is wrong." Colonello asked flatly.
"Your sky has a lot of broken bonds. I am not certain I can even count all of them. Usually in cases like this one of two things happen: either the flames seal themselves away and have to be forcibly unsealed in order to survive, or their flames desperately seek out new bonds. Any bonds at all. As usual, your Sky has done the unprecedented." Lussuria sighed. "The flames are reaching out for bonds, but it doesn't seem to have been able to find any elements it will accept until you two. This has caused the flames and body to turn against each other. She was already almost gone by the time Colonello bonded with her. Quite frankly it's a miracle you found her and were accepted by her flames." At Lussurias' words Colonello, Mammon, Xanxus, and Tsuna all shuddered visibly.
"What can be done to save her, then?" Tsuna asked, anxious to help a fellow Sky.
"Her guardians will have to search for other compatible elements. A few injections of compatible Sky flames to help her body re-harmonize with her flames should help stabilize her enough to regain consciousness. But I'm not certain how to find compatible Skies, as any conflicting flames could very well push her the other way entirely...and beyond help." Lussuria answered.
"Well, I'm obviously compatible, so we only need to find the other Skies." Xanxus mused thoughtfully. "Mist-trash. You said you are mentally connected to your sky?" Xanxus asked, turning to Mammon once more. Mammon and Colonello both nodded, while Lussuria looked startled at this new information. "Why don't you see if the Sky will accept the Decimos' flames? Is that enough skies?" Xanxus demanded. Colonello closed his eyes and cautiously sent the idea to his Sky while Mammon, who had more experience in the mind arts sent the same inquiry while watching and listening to the answer.
"It could be. We can only try it and see." Lussuria replied. "There is no precedent for this, and it could be one of those things that changes from person to person." Everyone waited to hear back from one of the new guardians about possibly using Tsunas' flames. As they waited, no one noticed the Sky flames that danced around the room start to drift closer to Tsuna once more. When Tsuna noticed it, he held absolutely still, allowing the flames to enter and gently nudge against his own flames. After a moment he felt a sort of gentle acceptance, although he didn't feel any more connected to the young woman than before.
"I think that's a yes." Tsuna remarked quietly. His guardians whipped around to see the Womans' Sky flames flowing around and through him much like they were to Xanxus. Lussuria clapped his hands together.
"Right, let's start this. If you will gently spin out small strands of your flames, I will use my flames to guide them to where they need to be." Lussuria instructed. With a little concentration and a lot of effort both Xanxus and Tsuna managed to spin out only a small thread of their Sky flames. Xanxus frowned as the girls' sky flames nudged anxiously at his wrath flames, which uncoiled a little at the persistent bothering.
"Are you certain, little sky?" He wondered aloud, looking doubtful.
"What was that, Boss?" Lussuria asked, a thread of Sky fire now held in each glowing hand.
"I think the little Skys' flames want my wrath flames as well...her flames keep nudging them." He replied uneasily.
"Boss, wrath flames disintegrate…" Lussuria said uncertainly. Xanxus frowned but shrugged. "Well...we can try it." Lussuria decided.
"Is that the best idea?" Colonello asked anxiously.
"Her flames probably know better than us what they need." Tsuna said, his intuition pinging. Colonello looked decidedly unhappy, but Lussuria and Shamal looked reassured. Carefully Xanxus let out the tiniest thread of Wrath flame. It twined up and around his Sky flames into Lussurias' right hand. Gently Lussuria lowered his hands onto the young womans' stomach once more. His flames gently took the other two mens flames and led them into the Young Sky. All the visible flames in the room not connected to Xanxus and Tsuna, not including the guardian bonds which were invisible once more, withdrew into the girls' body and the three men gasped as they felt her flames gently grip theirs and direct them. Xanxus wrath flames split from his sky flames and went to the ends of all her nerves. The three men felt more than saw darkened nerves being dissolved. Then Lussurias' sun flames were brought to bear. Although Lussuria himself had never before been able to heal nerves, the nerves seemed to soak up the yellow flames and the nerves that had been dead regenerated. Although the three men didn't see it, in the outside world the girls' body arched up into the air, a pained cry ripping from her throat and both of her guardians.
Next the wrath flames were brought to bear on the broken bonds, dissolving away the ragged and tattered remainders that seemed to drift listly into the ether. When the bonds were removed, both Lussuria and the Sky flames were brought to bear. The Sky flames of the two men strangely seemed to cauterize the wounds where the bonds once were, and the Sun flames healed the scars left behind until they were gone. In the outside world Shamal and the other Skies guardians were quickly strapping the young woman down to the bed. The screams gradually trailed off into restless whimpers while the body twisted as much as it could beneath the bindings. While that was going on, the wrath flames were brought to bear on the brain and behind the eyes. Damaged cells, vessels, and numerous other parts of the head were burned away. Once more the sun flames were soaked up to regrow the now missing parts. Unlike times past, however, each of the three men felt a sort of pattern flowing down their flames and into the healing. They each privately had the feeling that her brain and much of her internal head was going to be a mix of the three of their own minds and heads. In the real world the young Sky sagged for a moment and the heart monitor flatlined. Colonello and Mammon keened, clinging to eachother. Just as quickly, however, the heart monitor started back up before any of the nurses could so much as reach for the paddles to restart her heart.
The three men thought they were done with the mind when suddenly the wrath flames were drawn to a huge gaping, bleeding hole in the mind. Darkness lurked here, untethered and unchecked. Xanxus didn't know why, but that blackness and the bleeding hole infuriated him beyond anything he had ever seen or felt before. His flames surged beyond his control and flew forward faster than the young Skys' flames led. His wrath flames didn't hurt her, though. Instead they attacked the darkness and even the hole itself. The darkness seemed to give off a silent shriek and tried to flee. Quickly the girls' sky flames surrounded the other sides of the darkness. Her flames soaked up a ton of yellow sun flames and Lussuria felt himself start to flag. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder in the real world, and an infusion of Sun flames surged into him. Lussuria absorbed the energy gratefully, his body quickly converting the energy into his own flames. He felt that the new Sun had joined them, and somehow Shamal seemed to be present now as well.
As soon as Lussuria had recharged, more flames were pulled from him and then some of the girls Sky flames started to merge with Xanxus' flames. They also began to take on the same color. When the two flames separated once more, it was clear that the girl had somehow managed to harmonize enough with Xanxus to gain the wrath flame attribute. Her wrath flames then surged up to replace the sky flames behind the darkness. Both flames surged forward, over, and under the darkness and the hole. They then burned both out of existence. An even bigger hole was left behind this time. When the sun flames began to be soaked into the area that had been left behind, starting from the outer edges, the indigo and blue flames of her guardians were there as well. Even Shamals' flames and the flames of the unknown sun now contributing to Lussurias' energy were utilized. The patterns for the mind seemed to come from all of them this time, until everything was fixed. Once that was done, the yellow flames were brought to bear on all the organs and bones. The yellow flames were soaked into each and every one of them, and the once more exhausted Lussuria felt several more Suns join in giving him energy, and becoming present in the healing. The girl kept drawing on the sun flames until her bones and organs seemed to be made of sun flames and shone in the sight of those involved with healing her. Gradually the absorption and shine began to dim until it was just the girl once more.
The healing party all thought their job was done, but found themselves drawn up towards the head once more. When they got there, it was as though they passed through a bubble. Suddenly they were no longer in the girls body. They didn't know where they were, but they did know they could see themselves as people, and not just flames. They stood in a darkened tiny room, cramped beyond belief. They would have been uncomfortably cramped with just the three original men, but with the extra added suns who were still supplying energy to Lussuria, it was ridiculously cramped. From a corner of the darkened room a tiny voice timidly spoke up.
"Who?" a small girl, probably no older than a toddler asked tearfully.
"I am Xanxus, Head of the Varia, of the Vongola Famiglia." Xanxus replied, the first to gain his bearings.
"I am Tsunayoshi Vongola, Tenth Head of the Vongola Famiglia, you can call me Tsuna." Tsuna quickly added.
"I am Lussuria, Honey. Do you know where we are?" Lussuria cooed. The others remained silent.
"Mine or Bads Manses?" The little girl asked.
"We aren't very nice people, kid, but we aren't here to hurt you. We were trying to help a young girl heal, and we somehow ended up here." Xanxus replied, having an idea of what might have happened. The others nodded cautiously. Shamal stayed quiet, because he already knew what was going on, but Xanxus seemed to be handling things just fine. The other suns stayed quiet because they were really only there to provide support for the original healing party. That, and they had no idea what was happening.
"You won't let the Bads Manses get me?" the little girl asked again.
"While you are with us, we won't let any bad men hurt you." Tsuna promised seriously.
"Okay. Thanks yous." The little girl said quietly, sniffling a bit. "Dobby be showing you the way." the little girl murmured. Lussuria opened his mouth to ask who she was talking about, but a door suddenly opened and a small….creature stood before them silhouetted in the light. None of them were certain what the creature was. It stood about as tall as a five year old, but had ears like a Chihuahua, and giant glowing green eyes.
"Dobby bes here to lead the great Sirina Potters' guests to the lounge." the creature announced, with a bow. Bemused, Lussuria turned to ask the little girl once more what was going on, but to his shock found the girl was gone. Feeling somewhat spooked, the group filed out of the tiny room they were in. Looking back at the room, they saw it was actually a cupboard under a staircase. The bad feeling they felt increased, as did their worry. The little creature, apparently named 'Dobby,' led them down a stone corridor, and onto a staircase.
"Holds on." Dobby warned them when they were about halfway up the staircase. The group quickly grabbed hold of a banister on either side just as the staircase began to move. When the staircase settled, Dobby hurried them up and onto another staircase. A few more staircases later, having gone up about seven floors, they found a ladder leading up to a trap door. Warily Xanxus went first. Dobby appeared inside the room once the entire party arrived.
"The great Sirina Potter bes needing you here." The creature informed them, turning away to look off into the middle of the area. The group found themselves on a roof facing a night-time sky. Up above a couple of star formations gleamed brighter than the rest. Half of the Gemini constellation glowed fiercely, while the other half was mostly muted. A wolf, stag, and the Dog Star seemed to dance around each other, all muted but closer than other stars. The dog star seemed to almost beckon to them. In the stars up above, they also found a picture of Colonello and one of Mammon. The men very resolutely did not look at each other, fearing what they might see. Instead they looked down to the floor of the roof, where a dark silhouette lay. With a bad feeling Xansus, Tsuna, and Lussuria moved silently over to the silhouette to see the girl from the hospital lying there silently, hands crossed over her chest and breathing shallowly as though ready to become a corpse. Lussuria was the first to act. He quickly knelt next to the young sky and scooped her up to set her head in his lap. His sun flame covered hands gently cradled the girls' head as he cooed to her gently. The girls' sky flames danced around them in the room, but didn't touch the girl, nor did they seem to come from her. They seemed to emanate from the castle they were in, strangely.
His intuition leading him, Tsuna was the next to move. He allowed a million tiny strands of his Sky flames to reach out and snare strands of the girls' sky flames. He then directed his flames to the girl Lussuria was holding. The flames seemed to hum happily as they were connected to the body before them. Xanxus quickly caught on and began to do the same. While he was at it, Xanxus also drew the wrath flames to the girl, pleased with the idea that something of his might remain with her. Soon the girl glowed brilliantly with Sky and Wrath flames which now emanated both from the castle and the girls' body. A beautiful, haunting green, silver, gold, and blue energy unlike anything they'd ever seen before began to build in the area between the castle and the sky, and then expand until everywhere was filled with it. Then the energy and the flames seemed to meld into the castle and the girl. When both were gone, the girls' eyes opened slowly. The men held their breath as large, beautiful green eyes looked up at them.
"Hello. Who are you, and what are you doing in my mind?" The girl asked. There was a long awkward pause while the girl looked expectantly at them. The men looked at eachother and then back at the girl.
"We're healers, sweetie, and we came to help fix you up so you can rejoin us in the waking world." Lussuria finally cooed to the little lady. The girl, who seemed to gain a more natural color as they watched, sat up slowly.
"You fixed me? But….the other healers said nothing could be done…." The girl said suspicously. Tsunas' intuition saved the day once more.
"They were not the same kind of healers we are, little one. And your friend Dobby led us here." Tsuna said gently. The girl smiled then, the suspicion leaving her eyes.
"You must have taken an oath not to harm me, then. Dobby only appears for those who swear to protect or stand by me no matter what, and sincerely mean it." the girl said shyly, blushing. "No one has ever seen Dobby before except me." She added somewhat sadly.
"Well now someone has. At least Four someones." Xanxus replied gruffly.
"Thank you for saving me." She said softly, looking away and blushing again.
"You are most welcome, honey. Can you tell us what caused all that damage so we can make sure we didn't miss anything?" Lussuria asked calmly. The girl started and stared at them incredulously.
"You mean...you don't know?" She asked, as though she couldn't comprehend the idea. "But...I thought you were healers…." She trailed off.
"Lussuria here is a sun healer, using the flames of the sun to help encourage the body to heal itself. As are the others beside myself and Xanxus. Xanxus is the angry looking guy with the scars on his face. He and I use what are called Sky flames, and we are here to help your Sky flames harmonize with you once more. Xanxus also has wrath flames. We weren't going to use them, but your Sky flames insisted and pulled his flames to disintigrate many of the damaged areas. You also used the Sun flames from Lussuria to heal yourself in a way we've never seen before." Tsuna explained gently, after seeing on her face the confusion he often felt when faced with new things from the Mafia and flames. Lussuria and Xanxus stared at Tsuna incredulously, wondering why he was explaining all this.
"Flames….like Soul Fire?" She asked cautiously. "That would make Sky flames like the Amber Aspect?" The girl asked cautiously. Tsuna shrugged.
"I am not sure. I have never heard the term Amber Aspect before. I suspect the Soul Fire you speak of is the same thing. We call them Dying Will Flames, or Flames of the Dying Will." Tsuna replied calmly.
"You're a civillian?" one of the Suns asked, shocked, in the background.
"I don't like you." The girl said flatly to the outspoken sun. Suddenly the man vanished.
"What just happened?!" Shamal demanded.
"He is not welcome in my mind. He has been ejected back to his own mind and body." The girl replied calmly. Shamal hesitated, then nodded sharply. "I am sending most of you back." She added, and then everyone except Shamal, Lussuria, Xanxus, and Tsuna was gone. "You wanted to know what happened...I can't talk about it, but I can show you. It is...not pretty." She said at last, hesitantly. Xanxus folded his arms across his chest and stood with his legs spread apart in a firm stance.
"We're not running away." He said firmly. The girl shrugged and suddenly the world spun around them until they were back in a small house, watching a dark haired man and a red haired woman with the girls eyes playing with a girl toddler. They watched snippets of the girls' life from then on, past the death of her parents and her almost death by Voldemort where her Sky flames activated and saved her. They watched past the schooling and some of its' trials. They saw Sirina be hit by the killing curse during the final battle, and they saw her get up again. They saw a memory of the day when she stood in a magical healing ward in St. Mungos and was told that someone must have cursed her. She had activated her soulfire unintentionally somehow, though she did not tell the healer that she had been able to use her soulfire since she was an infant. Sirina did not want to stand out or be anymore odd in others peoples' sight than she already was. Somehow both her soulfire and her magic had been disconnected from her, the healer told her. She would never use either ever again. Stone-faced, the girl whom they now knew for certain was named Sirina Lilly Potter-Black accepted the news stoically. She then left St. Mungos and went to the ministry. At the ministry she turned in her resignation to the Aurors, and returned home.
She stewed in the bleak, dark house that was Grimmauld place for a long time until the remaining twin showed up. The boy told her he was adding sailing cruises as a line to their business, and he wanted her to test out the newest ship. It was mostly self-controlling, all she had to do was travel on it and report any errors via the owl he'd purchased for that purpose. Having nothing better to do, Sirina agreed. The boat was self-directing, and enchanted to stay away from any land masses, rocks, or reefs. That was why she was so surprised to wake from a nap on the deck hammock to find a large island cliff and a whirlpool looming. She wrenched the wheel to the side, attempting to avoid both whirlpool and cliff, but only partially succeeded. The little boat didn't get caught in the whirlpool, but it did hit the edge of the cliff. Sirina was catapulted into the cliff, hit her head and fell into the tossing waves. Underwater she was confused, and lost her wand. She couldn't remember which way was up, and struggled as she ran out of air. She passed out as sea water poured into her open mouth, and knew no more. The last scene faded and they found themselves back on the roof with the stars above once more.
"That's the last thing I remember before waking up here." Sirina explained.
"Well, the torture curses certainly explain why you had all the nerve damage, and being starved for most of your life certainly explains the state of your organs and bones…"Lussuria mused, patting his Sky on the shoulder gently. Xanxus was currently in the process of turning himself into a very large bonfire of wrath flame.
"If those …." Xanxus started to say, before realizing he was in the young ladys' mind and altering his choice of words. "If those….trash, weren't already dead I'd kill them myself. How dare they harm you like that?!" Xanxus snarled. The girl blushed again and looked at the stones of the floors.
"You don't have to be upset about it." She murmured. "It's already over and done with." She added quietly. Tsuna snorted.
"No, it isn't okay. But it will be." Tsuna reproved gently. Sirina just continued blushing.
"Well Honey, I think it's about time we leave your mind and go back to the real world. Your new guardians are very worried about you. Come join us out there, won't you sweetling?" Lussuria announced into the silence. The girl nodded shyly once more, looking up through her eyelashes. The next thing the four men knew, they were gently being ushered through a strange tunnel, into their flames once more, and then into their bodies. They blinked gritty eyes and looked around.
"Well?!" Colonello pounced. "We felt her becoming more stable, but the suns said something strange was going on, what happened?!" Colonello demanded.
"They saved my life, and something tells me you helped." A soft female voice replied. Colonello whipped around to stare at his sky, who had just spoken. The girl smiled at him gently, and Colonello suddenly knew everything was going to be alright. Now if they could just figure out what was going on, and he could learn her name….but these thoughts were interrupted by Lussuria and Shamal who shewed the other healers away and began fussing over the girl.
"Good to see you up and about, Sirina. I wasn't certain if you would wake right away." Lussuria said briskly as he flitted about her.
"So, you are Sirina Potter-Black. I thought you looked familiar. Must have been the shock preventing me from realizing it." Mammon said blandly, talking right overtop of Shamal, who had just started to say
"I am worried…"
Everyone else looked startled at the pronouncement.
"You know who she is?" Colonello asked incredulously.
"I should certainly hope so." Mammon replied, and lowered his hood for the first time that any of them knew of. Sirina gaped at him right along with the rest of them for a moment. Then with a cry of "We thought you were dead, you idiot!" the girl hurled her pillow at him and promptly burst into a huge pile of wrath flame which promptly dissolved the bed under her, and then started to dissolve the floor until Xanxus calmly reached down and picker her up. He shifted her in his arms until one arm curled underneath her legs like a seat and her back was against his chest. She seemed soothed by his presence and touch, and leaned back against him gratefully as her wrath flames retreated back inside of her.
"What was that?" She demanded. "I didn't have those flames before." She added.
"We're not certain, the current theory is that some of your flames harmonized to his wrath flames so closely they learned how to become wrath flames and your gained that soul fire." Shamal replied calmly, scribbling away notes on his clipboard once more. The others were too busy staring from Sirina to Mammon, who looked like a male clone of Sirina except taller and with Silver-grey eyes. He also looked a lot more beautiful than many of them privately thought a man should be.
"I apologize for upsetting you, Sirina. But being dead to the family was the idea of disappearing. If I hadn't, I would certainly be truly dead by now. Besides, I am certain you make an excellent head of the family." Mammon replied calmly.
"What are you talking about, Uncle Regulus? Aren't you the head of the family?" She asked, head tilted to the side. Mammon frowned as everyone else watched on in confusion.
"Uncle?" Regulus choked, seemingly partially shocked and partially amused.
"Well, Sirius was really the only father-figure I ever had, and he was really upset about you dying 'for the cause.' I think he was mostly upset that he'd lost his baby brother. He cried a lot when he thought no one was around. Mostly when he was drinking. He told me a lot of stories about you, too. And Aunt Walburga and Kreacher both treated me a lot nicer when I accidentally called you 'Uncle' one time...so it kind of stuck." Sirina explained, blushing once more. Regulus managed to calm himself and decided to ignore the strange title. He kind of liked it, anyways.
"You have not yet taken up the mantle for head of the family?" He asked instead.
"There's a process? I thought it was just whoever was the eldest, surviving member of the family, or the eldest surviving male of the family, if there is more than one." Sirina confessed, confusion etched into every feature. Mammon, now revealed to be named 'Regulus,' felt his face smooth into the 'pureblood mask' that had been beaten into him as a child. Sirina automatically straightened up, her chin coming level in an instinctive response. Regulus nodded in approval.
"I will ensure that whatever fool hid your proper heritage from you is a dead fool, Lady Black. You may not have gone through the proper traditions and paperwork, but you are nonetheless head of the family. The family gifts have decided. " He informed her, voice flat. "As for developing wrath flames, it is not so surprising in the head of our family. After all, one of the requirements to become head of the family is the family gift of ...adaptability." He mused thoughtfully, looking sidelong at her to see if she understood the subtle reference.
"Like Nymphadora?" Sirina asked hesitantly. Regulus felt an involuntary twitch of the lips at the mention of Andromedas' clumsy daughter. He nodded in approval once more.
"Just like." He agreed. Colonello, Xanxus and Shamal all seemed to be getting irritated by being left out of the loop.
"What family gifts?!" Colonello finally asked, almost exploding in his impatience.
"Family gifts that are not to be shared with outsiders. As Sirinas' knight, you will be told when others are not present." Mammon stated, giving Colonello a warning look.
"Xanxus, Tsuna, and Lussuria are okay. They swore an oath on the mental plain with their souls present." Sirina told Mammon shyly. Regulus could not stop his eyebrows as they rose up and almost disappeared into his hairline.
"They swore an oath to you?" He demanded. She nodded shyly. Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose. "This complicates things." He grumbled.
"Why is their promising to protect me bad?" Sirina asked quietly, looking and feeling very hurt. Regulus sighed as he felt the hurt through their bond.
"Oh, Nia. It's not bad that they will protect you." He sighed softly, striding over to where Xanxus held her and gently running a hand through her hair. "It's complicated because Tsunayoshi there is the Tenth head of the Vongola famiglia, and Xanxus is the Boss of the Varia. They have just sworn the Vongola famiglia and the varia to the Potter-Black family. I do not think, little niece, that they intended to become servants of our family." He told her gently.
"Oh." She said, looking startled. "Is that ….I didn't know that could be done." She admitted sheepishly. Tsunayoshi was concentrating fiercely, his flames flickering upon his forehead and searching his intuition. When he felt nothing but peace, Tsuna shrugged.
"There doesn't seem to be a problem, so far as my Intuition can tell." Xanxus, who had been cradling Sirina to him slightly more protectively and watching Tsuna, relaxed.
"Varia is mine, and always will be. I don't care if we're all sworn to your family, that just means you're mine too, little Sky." Xanxus informed her with a smirk. She smiled up at him tentatively.
"You all make me feel safe. I like that feeling." She admitted to him shyly. "Make the others go away so we can figure out where we need to go?" She asked Xanxus. His smirk broadened, and his wrath flames built up to massive proportions once more. He turned that smirk and cruel eyes upon the nurses and healers that were not sworn to Sirina. They fled.
"Now, my little Sky, time for more stories." Xanxus purred.
So, I actually intended this chapter to go somewhat differently, but Xanxus, Tsuna, and Lussuria kind of hijacked it and ran off with it. I think I actually like this a little bit better. Reborn was supposed to make his appearance in this chapter, but he'll have to scold Lussuria for taking over. Hopefully he'll actually show up next chapter. :)
As always, please leave a review. It feeds my muse, and when my muse is fed he poops out plot bunnies. ;)
Till next time:
Wingzrooke.
