Stray by InsaneScriptist
Beta'd by the industrious Umei no Mai
Summary: Ottava was the one who picked up Xanxus and his mother. He gets known as Ottava's Stray and becomes head of the Varia anyway. Enter Sawada Tsunayoshi, Nono's heir and prospective Decima. Fem!Tsuna.
After her son and his only two guardians brave enough to come with him to see his mother left, Daniela sighed.
"Stupid boy, trying to chastise his mother? Surely I raised him to be more respectful than that! Nebbia!" She summoned her Mist Guardian and oldest friend. They knew each other so well that they didn't even have to talk. "How is she?"
Fedele's lips twitched.
"Not good is it? At least they hadn't started drugging you. There's more to just cutting the dose to medicating kids, so it really could have screwed you up." Daniela mentioned as she corrected Xanxus' posture again.
"It was in the damn drinks." Xanxus countered, reluctantly straightening his spine once more.
"Now, that's a waste of alcohol." Adriana muttered. This comment only made sense when you knew that the Visconti family had been managing vineyards for the Vongola for centuries; wasting alcohol then, was something they considered a heinous crime. Planning revenge for such activity would probably be discussed over the family's dinner table.
"Good boy for noticing that." Daniela patted his head again, not commenting on his poor language yet. One step at a time. "Such damage though, that Mist had no idea what he was doing."
"How do you know it's a he?" Adriana asked.
Daniela gestured at Fedele. He then smirked and disappeared in a flash of Mist Flames.
"Can I kill whoever fucked with my mother's head?"
"You can kill the person who messed with your mother's mind, and the ones who gave the order and plotted it out too; once we find out who they are and get you trained well enough to do it. Breaking into a base isn't that easy, you know."
"Oh, so can you find out who my actual father is while you're at it?"
"That's actually easy enough, although the accuracy is less than desired." Daniela replied. "Science would be more accurate, but more mystical means are pretty easy, especially since I have only a vague idea how science would do that."
Daniela was of course lying about the last. Being the Vongola Boss that had formalized the Vongola's Research and Development Division meant she was very well informed about the latest breakthroughs in weaponry, medicine and research. In numerous ways, mafia styled research was well ahead of its civilian counterparts as concerns about ethical treatment were often ignored which allowed them to pioneer the medical technology and sell it to the civilian masses later. While Genetics was still a young field, she did know that determining paternity was possible just from comparing the Y-chromosomes of the suspected father and the child in question, provided the child was a boy.
It could easily be done but giving the researchers a sample of her son's genes and Xanxus' to compare would be risking the information getting out. Plus, using the more 'mystical' means would give her more information to work with.
Fedele reappeared, holding a quill and paper. Using a hidden knife, he quickly made an incision on Xanxus' hand and let the blood pool on the paper. Then he tapped the quill with Mist Flames and it drew out a family tree, complete with birth and death dates.
"Wow." Xanxus admitted, as he stared at the piece of paper.
"It's not a perfectly accurate technique, so it's not acceptable as proof but it is a start." Adriana explained. "It gets more inaccurate the further you reach back, names spelled wrong or put in the wrong generation. See here on your mother's side, three generations back, these names aren't spelled right, while these two generations back on your father's side are completely mangled. The dates are also backwards there, see?"
"It also has other flaws, as it isn't very helpful if no one knows who it is that's mentioned and written records only go so far and aren't the most accurate, for all the talk about storing them electronically nowadays. People being adopted and not being told about it really wreaks havoc with this process, especially if it happened a few generations back when taking in extended family, even those by marriage, due to death or whatever reason was more common. That's one of the reasons the technique fell out of fashion and has become obscure since it works purely on what the blood is, not what you think it is." Daniela further expounded. "See, here, this is your actual name, and your birthday is accurate, October Tenth, Nineteen Seventy Seven."
Xanxus clearly knew how to read already, since he could comprehend what he saw. His eyes traced over the paper with intent, not just wonderment.
"I keeping Xanxus anyway."
"Good choice. I recommend it actually. Better if everyone thinks you and your mother are just strays I took in on one of my whims, so be a good kitty."
"Those are your terms?"
"Oh, there are others, but you won't find them too arduous. They can even benefit you more than you could expect. Education, training, connections and the like will do all that. The Vongola is the best for a reason." Daniela replied, smoothly.
"You have a deal, old hag."
"Call me Grandma, little kitty."
After putting her new charge to bed and making sure he stayed asleep -Rain Flames were a mother's dearest friend when they wanted to make sure their kids would sleep through the night. Admittedly, her first Rain Guardian had discovered the trick back when her son was tiny and colicky and none of them were getting enough sleep, but it really helped in both getting a kid or others to sleep and making sure they stayed there. It also helped those with shell-shock mellow out and not act up from flashbacks.
"I clearly struck gold! He's a bright boy and understands reality!" Daniela cackled, content to know that the sound wouldn't be heard beyond them. They were in her chambers, a barrier of Mist Flames surrounding them to prevent any unwanted transmission of knowledge.
"How's his mother?"
Xanxus's mother, no, Marcella's less than legal medications had all been identified; it was a mess for all that most of them weren't addictive. They were however mentally destabilizing especially when taken over a long time. All of the higher-class crime families -especially those that had flame capable people- did not dabble in drugs for a reason; the effect of most illegal drugs hit the body and brain hard.
Smoking and alcohol were allowed because the effects were minimal and could be done for years with little issue; other drugs like crack, heroin or ecstasy were avoided. Long term ecstasy use actually caused holes in the brain tissue, while crack and heroin ruined clear thought processes. There was the occasional addict to opiates or other pain medications but good doctors and Sun Flames made such cases minimal in any proper famiglia. Those that favored smoking pot, well the effects of pot could last for hours so any sudden attack could see them dead, so most decent mafioso either never went into drugs or found themselves dead in short order. It didn't help that narcotics like pot wrecked judgement in a dangerous situation; people died when they didn't react to danger properly.
Most of those who were Flame capable never went into the heavier substances after finding out what the lesser drugs like alcohol and nicotine did to their control unless they knew how to mitigate any issues; alcoholics were very good at covering for any issues they might have due to drinking which did translate over some to other issues that might have caused the alcoholism in the first place. So smoking and drinking were allowed, everything else was frowned upon, possibly to their death or destruction.
Thankfully, except for some minor damage, everything else was fixable with enough imagination and knowledge. Date-rape drugs, mild sedatives and the like were easy enough fixes; some of the things she had probably been fed while under them were less easy fixes.
"I used an Anchored Illusion."
"That bad?"
"Just as a precaution until she can do it herself."
"What did she test as?"
"She probably was a Sky herself, if an unaware one, but the drugs and mind screws likely damaged the balance of Flames and wrecked whatever harmony she might have had. Now she's reading as both Storm and Mist. The next flame she might be capable of materializing is Lightning."
The two elderly women winced. A recipe for a nightmare was a Mist on a hallucinogen. The previous mental tampering would have made a recipe for disaster if Marcella was flame-active. Even so, just because people weren't flame-active didn't mean that they couldn't show signs of what flame they actually were.
There really wasn't a combination more damning than that when drugs were taken into account. Storms were all about attacking and never retreating, Lightnings tended towards obsession for one reason or another and a delusional Mist was actually pretty common when drugs and lack of training were taken into account. That she had her son believing in her delusion was bad enough; as young as he was, he wouldn't be too heartbroken about the facts being wrong, especially if it was explained to him as due to the drugs. One tantrum later after the facts were properly explained and he was all primed to kill whoever did that to his mother. He was such a good little boy.
"So any other sign of who it was?"
"While the Mist showed all the signs of a total neophyte, the rest of them were good. Very good."
"That's not a good sign." Adriana said, as someone needed to. "She's salvageable though right?"
"The Anchored Illusion is feeding off of her flames, slowly fixing the worst of the mental damage and drawing out repressed memories since she's missing time. She's missing about two years worth completely, with areas of her childhood and teenage years missing as well. After that is therapy, training and the rest of her recovery depends on her own will."
"The mental conditioning was precise in how her mind was tampered with despite how 'rough' it appeared. Any chance the Mist is faking his competency?" The Cloud Guardian asked, taking all possibilities into account.
"Possible, but unknown. Likelihood is high though."
"Damaging a female Sky like that is stupid on any famiglia's part since a half competent Sky can only benefit the famiglia, more so if she has a kid with a Sky Flame. It's a noted trend that female Skies tend to have Sky children, or else Timoteo wouldn't have had so many cousins with other Flames from your own siblings, Daniela. It just doesn't make sense though unless we want to check through other similar institutions to find a pattern." Adriana grimaced at the thought of doing so, much less doing so repeatedly through all the institutions they could find.
The Vongola were against human trafficking, which -if the workers were there against their will- this would count as, along with the sex trade. If both were happening so close to a Vongola base, someone was trying to give the Vongola reputation a big black mark and were succeeding; not for long though, if Ottava and her Guardians had a say in it.
"At least we managed to get Xanxus. It would be a disaster it someone else got a hold of him now, or got to him later." As it was Daniela saying that, her Guardians believed her.
"The kid would grow up strong anyway, he wouldn't have anything else." The Cloud Guardian stated.
"But would he retain his humanity? Even if my son picked him up and claimed him as his could you imagine?" Daniela asked.
"Considering how mad he was earlier when he was told that you doubted his paternity? Finding out that he was adopted would be a disaster especially since he probably would have had boss training and worked his way up the ranks. He's got a personality and temperament ideal for the Varia, so..." Adriana trailed off, as the other two could fill in the blanks about what would happen if a young Xanxus actually believed he was Timeteo's son and found proof otherwise when he either led or was part of the Varia.
"Crises averted?" Fedele asked.
"No, we still have to raise him and make him into a loyal kitty. One that goes off to fetch presents to bring home for his master."
"Ah, so pre-Varia training?" Adriana asked.
"I was thinking Heir-training, followed by specifics traditions for the CEDEF and all the Houses of the Vongola actually." Daniela explained. "One of the current issues between the Vongola Houses is the lack of communication and understanding. Since Alonza retired from the Varia and her husband with her, they've transferred to the Vongola Reserve Force and the Medical Response Team respectively. The current CEDEF leader is in the same mold as the last; a spineless yes man. Getting someone there that understands the rest of the Houses would be best, but I'd take someone with a spine and the ability to use it too. A brain would be good too, so they'd be smart enough to prevent issues like this from ever starting."
"Yes, the current boss of the CEDEF is less than ideal; Timeteo is going to have to appoint someone from that House to Boss soon since the current CEDEF Boss had such a massive failure but a lot of the candidates are less than ideal. The fact that slums actually developed this close to home is worrying, especially concerning their competence in so many areas. That House probably needs cleaning." Adriana added, as if she hadn't politely mentioned what would probably kill at least a dozen people if the CEDEF was infested as she thought it was. "We can plot about how to get that done later though, we need to focus on getting Xanxus educated before anything else."
"He's getting Heir-training, it's a bit excessive but it needs to be done." Daniela replied, a firmness to her face that told both Guardians her intuition was active.
"That's a heavy workload to be starting this late, just in basic requirements alone. Then there's the Varia requirements on top of that. Never mind how much else, including the basics of being socially acceptable. While the Varia won't care about manners, the other Houses of the Vongola require them and even if he ends up Varia anyway they will benefit him."
"We can help the mother's therapy by teaching her such along side her son; she probably wishes to move up in the world from where she's been. She'd make a decent hitman, even with her experiences." Daniela mentioned. "Possibly better than decent. You did mention she was well-educated by civilian standards in your message earlier, so we'll have to see how much of that remains."
"Yeah, we have to find work for her to do, beyond laying on her back. How soon until detox is over?"
"She's currently in a Rain-induced sleep, with an IV for nutrients since blood tests proved she was low on a few of them. Xanxus is scheduled for a full physical and medical examination tomorrow, so his diet can be adjusted accordingly. She's got another line for some antibiotics as she tested positive for two STDs. Both thankfully curable, unlike a few others that are out there. While she can sleep off most of the sedatives and a number of other drugs it is what will happen after a few days of that that is a matter of concern."
"Withdrawal concerns?"
"Yes, those."
"Fuck."
"Language."
"Sorry, I'm angered on the kitty's behalf."
"That's perfectly understandable. I'm quite angered too." Fedele added brightly.
Adriana felt the need to pray for the enemy's quick death, despite how unlikely they were to get it.
Anyway in the 1st chapter, it was mentioned that Timoteo was born in '31. At the start of HKR, he's 70, which gives you the time frame all HKR occurred in 2000-1. So minus about Tsuna's age gives you the year Tsuna is born in, which is 1987 since he's only 13 when HKR starts. Xanxus is ten years years older than Tsuna so he's born in 1977.
So yeah, in terms of technology I have the mafia being at least 2 decades ahead in some areas such as medical, firearms, security and the like due to Ottava's influence. So while the human genome project didn't start until the 90's the mafia already have the tech for some of the basics and know not to let information like that get out because there's enough rumors about Nazi-science and experimentation... and some of that might be true.
So if Xanxus was real and it was 2014, and the dates were reality... he'd be 37. At least we know he ages well thanks to the future arc. *drool*
