They were on another date, and by this time Harmony had given Dino full permission to use the term "girlfriend" when it came to her, when it happened.
A rival familigia decided that now was the perfect time to kill Dino when he had limited men around him and he would be protecting the woman with him. A woman who by all accounts was a mere civilian.
Ergo not important except as hostage material.
At least not important until Harmony got pissed off at them interrupting their date to deal with them.
The resulting beat down was short, brutal, and for the attacking idiots, painful as hell.
"...What style was that?" asked Dino.
"Tai Chi with several element of Qigong. Took me forever to find a master at the latter style who didn't openly dismiss me for being a woman who has zero martial arts training and was open to staying on a horse ranch."
Master Fon was odd, but a surprisingly good listener and a fellow tea addict. He still came to visit and last time he even brought his apprentice who fell in love with Harmony immediately. Especially the unicorns.
I-Pin was still very much a little girl, and thus loved unicorns and horses in general.
On an unrelated note, Fon had been visiting far more often with I-Pin when he could get away with it.
She suspected he was openly contemplating leaving I-Pin with her so she could get an actual childhood and making frequent visits for training. The girl had a natural knack toward martial arts, and there was no reason not to encourage it.
However making a child that young kill was another matter.
"Actually my teacher is about due for a visit with his current apprentice. She absolutely loves my ranch and I've almost got a special surprise ready for him. It just needs a few tweaks."
Harmony, in a fit of boredom, had begun to tweak the idea of a vanishing cabinet and a port key into something rather unique.
Basically she bought a set of keys from the goblins with no enchantments and paid for whatever spells they used to have the key determine if it was near the lock it belonged to, specifically the blood bound vaults.
Her idea was to make a set of keys that would allow you to teleport from anywhere in the world to a pre-set location like a magical hospital or a safe house simply by placing the key into a solid object that could open up...like a door or window for instance. The one that the key was bound to could then go through and be at the location without the nauseating feeling of a port key or the difficulty of knowing which cabinet you were walking through, as they were notorious for trapping you between locations until the other door was open.
She almost had the keys ready, but she needed a proper test subject and she didn't have anyone she trusted enough to use them.
The keys even had a 'memory' function, so long as the door wasn't shut. It would allow you to return to wherever you were previously simply by walking through the door you came out of. It only worked once though, and you had to reuse the key to return.
If the idea worked she was going to patent it with the Ministry. That would keep the vultures away from it, and it not she would happily ask Squalo if Mammon would mind acting as the one to go after anyone trying to steal the keys or their enchantments from her after they were patented.
Squalo bitched more than once (he found her a very easy person to talk to because she actually listened and let him vent) about the "miser brat" and their addiction to large amounts of money.
Dino grinned.
"I'd love to meet your teacher sometime. Though for now...how about we get back to our date?"
Harmony smiled at him, glad he didn't seem put off by the whole "I can kick a grown man's ass with ease" thing.
Dino stared at Harmony's martial arts teacher. He couldn't help it.
"So you're the reason she's been in a much better mood lately," said the obvious Arcobaleno. Red pacifier meant Storm, and Dino vaguely recalled Reborn mentioning the Storm Arcobaleno's name once.
"You're Fon, right?"
Fon smiled behind his sleeve.
"And you're Reborn's old student. I must admit I am surprised that you are the one who's put Harmony in a better state of mind. She was rather lonely save for our frequent visits," said Fon.
There was a squeal of girlish delight, and the two briefly looked outside to where I-Pin was running around one of the herds. This one seemed to have silver-white horses with the odd smaller (and clearly younger) colts and mares sticking nearby. They didn't seem to mind I-Pin at all, and in fact were almost protective of her.
Fon had a content smile on his face, seeing her run around like the little girl she actually was like that. Like Harmony, I-Pin was very mature for her age.
"You know if you come clean about being in the mafia, you'll get a few surprises of your own. What are your intentions with Harmony?"
Dino blinked, before something fell out of his pocket. He had only recently found the thing, though he had taken to carrying it around for good luck when he came to visit.
Fon took one look at the ring in the box and smiled.
Dino was good for Harmony, and considering his teacher would likely take the news of the magical society better than some.
"I see."
"Why are you here anyway? I thought you operated out of China."
Fon blinked for a moment, before a slow smile came upon his face. There was a reason he got along with Reborn so well.
"You mean you haven't noticed what she is yet?" he said with open humor.
"She's Active?" said Dino with surprise. He hadn't noticed...he had assumed she was Latent at the least.
"Oh she's Active alright. It surprised me quite a bit, especially when my yearly check up revealed something rather surprising," said Fon with humor.
Harmony was a name that was both fitting and slightly ironic considering what her Flame type was.
Harmony walked in with a happy smile on her face.
"I take it you two had fun talking?"
"It was quite amusing," said Fon.
"I made some of those dishes you like and there's a pot of fresh tea I know you enjoy on the table."
Fon had a genuine smile on his face as he went to the kitchen.
She took one look at Dino and hid a laugh.
"You know my teacher, don't you?"
"Only vaguely. He's a colleague of Reborn's," admitted Dino. He looked at I-Pin. "Is it safe for her to be playing with the herd like that?"
"The Pure herd is safer than the one I keep up front, though she knows not to go near the others without an adult present. They like kids, especially little ones like her and the herd will protect small children from harm."
Dino watched as one of the mares gently coaxed I-Pin away from the sharp hooves and onto the back of one of the older stallions. The little girl hugged the horse's mane and looked very much her age, rather than an almost trained assassin.
Seeing them lay down with the younger ones in the center and I-Pin happily napping against one of the mares set most his worries aside.
"I'm surprised they aren't among the main herd."
"Quest is the lead stallion, and he's the only one who can tolerate most humans for long periods of time. Most of the time they're in the forest and they're one of two herds that are never for sale. This is more of a sanctuary for them than anything. Though the younger ones might tolerate you, the older ones are very picky about who they allow near them."
Until Dino came clean about being in the mafia, she wouldn't let him see the reason why they weren't for sale. Unicorns were a protected species and the Italian Ministry knew that her forest was a sanctuary for them and a full centaur herd. And one of the only herds of pegasus and thestrals that were trained in the entire country.
As it was, Dino decided to use Fon's visit as an excuse to tell her the truth.
"So you already know about the mafia."
"And Flames, though I never messed with it. I have enough problems without being dragged in."
"Which I am glad for, in a way," Fon piped up. I-Pin was curled against Harmony in her lap, almost like a kitten.
Dino thought about how to say this, but decided he might as well be blunt.
"I'm the Decimo of the Cavallone familigia," he said. He was glad to get it off his chest.
"And?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "I already knew you were mafia by the third time you visited and I saw your driver with a gun. Never mind that the background check I did on you came up with a few red flags I have for that sort of thing, though at least your family has a better reputation than the Vongola."
Dino sputtered at that. That was the first time someone had compared his smaller family to the Vongola and his came out as better.
"So... you're okay with this?"
"Fon told me about the Cosa Nostra the day he figured out I was Active. So far it's never come up because I never leave the ranch much, and it's not like I'm going to condemn you or your ancestors for doing what you needed to in order to survive. Sometimes the justice means doing what you believe is right, rather than relying on the same interpretation the so called 'government' has of it. I have a lot of respect for the Vongola's Primo, but none at all for those who came after save for the Ottavio. And the current leader is so full of shit that I doubt I could work with him. Being civil is the best I could do," said Harmony bluntly. Seeing his look, she sighed. "I don't care about the fact you're mafia or that you occasionally have to kill people who probably deserve it. So long as you never target innocents or civilians, we'll never have a problem."
"Actually the Cavallone has a bit of a reputation for going out of it's way to keep the civilians in their territory safe from all mafia activity if possible," said Fon.
Seeing Harmony's expression, Dino winced.
"I didn't even want to be Decimo, but when a teacher like Reborn is sent to teach you how, it's either do it or be blown up," said Dino.
"I can confirm that bit. Reborn is almost impossible to say no to for various reasons," said Fon.
Dino didn't flinch when Harmony touched his face. Though he had thought about it.
"Besides, it's not like the whole secret society thing is new to me after all. It just added another secret to the one I've been keeping since I was eleven."
"What?"
Harmony had an impish smile on her face. The fact Fon did as well said volumes and Dino wasn't sure he liked it.
She carefully picked up I-Pin who snuggled against her, without waking up.
"You think the Cosa Nostra is a big shock? I can top that and deal with others like it before breakfast and still go to work," she said, leading Dino to the paddocks.
She took him straight to the one barn Dino never went into. Or if he did, then the stables were usually empty by the time he reached them.
They weren't empty now, and Dino was openly gaping at the sight before him.
There were pegasus in the stables.
"I'm a witch and I raise magical breeds on top of the normal ones I sold to you," said Harmony smiling.
Dino reached out to touch one of the wings along the side of a large auburn stallion. Feeling the feathers under his hand was a major shock and he almost felt faint.
"Magic is real?"
"Quest and his herd are actually unicorns, though I have a blanket spell on their horns so that they can come out in public. Not that they do it often, mind you, but at least they have the option," said Harmony smiling.
Dino was looking at all the pegasi in the stables, and noticed some odd ones near the back.
"What are these?" he asked, honestly curious. It was almost like Christmas morning when he was a kid, back when he still had that sort of excitement and wonder about the holiday.
Sure it was a big shock, but once you got over the surprise factor it was amazing!
Besides, it was hard to hate magic or be afraid of it when you had a pet like Enzo and lived with Reborn for several years.
"Thestrals. They're considered unlucky because only those who have seen death can actually see them, but they're very useful. They can take you almost anywhere you want to go in half the time and they're quite loyal once you have them trained. Though they are strictly carnivorous and prefer fresh meat. The pegasus tolerate them because I feed them separately...most of the meat I buy goes to them."
Dino reached out to touch one, and it bumped it's odd fanged mouth against his hand. It seemed to like him a lot, despite how weird they looked.
He noticed a freezer nearby and picked out a steak, which had the one he was petting in love with him once he fed it.
"It's a little odd looking, but it's still a beautiful animal," said Dino honestly. Harmony beamed at him.
"I know, right? Just because it looks scary doesn't mean it's evil! I'm the only one who actually breeds them in Italy, let alone has a tame herd like this!" she said happily.
"Wait... didn't you say there were four herds?"
"The main one are the normal horses, the second one is the pegasus/thestral herd, the third one is the unicorn herd, but the fourth is one I don't really have control over. I mostly gave them a place to live and let them guard the unicorn and the abused animal herds on top of the forest area. I leave them alone and they don't attack me on sight if I happen to go into the forest. I could introduce you to the one that usually comes out to talk tomorrow morning."
"Talk?"
"The fourth herd is made up of centaurs," said Harmony.
"Wait, you mean the half-human, half-horse creature like the one that supposedly taught Herakles in the Greek myths? They're real?" said Dino excitedly.
He loved horses, so the idea of a centaur had always appealed to him.
"The ones I brought had a rough time with humans in England, mostly because they were treated like beasts and it pissed them off. They tolerate me because I let them control the forests and stay out of their business unless I have to. Sure their territory is a lot smaller than they had before, but it's a lot less aggravating since they don't have to deal with giant spiders on top of being so close to a magical school," said Harmony. "I'm sure Firenze wouldn't mind answering your questions, though be warned they are rather cryptic and tend to follow the guidance of the stars and planets a lot."
Dino looked excited at the idea and kissed Harmony on the cheek for showing him all this. He had to chuckle at the sleepy grumble of I-Pin who was still curled up against Harmony's neck.
Firenze found Dino's questions rather amusing, and openly approved of him.
