CHAPTER 5:

RETURN AND REFLECTIONS

Thankfully, Rory opted to act as a translator between Tuka and Mari, Harry not sure whether he could handle the panicked High Elf girl in his depressed state. Plus, translation charms only worked when cast on one's self. "Well, it seems like Hodor has retrograde amnesia caused by his head injury," Mari said with a frown. "Amnesia caused by trauma can be potentially permanent, but it may also come back by itself. Unfortunately, there's little I can do, out in the field as it were. Even at the infirmary back at base, I don't think we have the equipment, though there should be an EEG to help. Ideally, I'd want to put him into an MRI scanner in a hospital on the other side, but who knows how different a High Elf's brain is from a human's. After all, if he doesn't remember Tuka, that's over 160 years' worth of memories missing."

Rory translated, before she frowned, stopping partway through. "An 'Emm Arr Eye Scanner'?"

"Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner," Mari explained. "It's a machine that allows one to see inside the body without opening it up."

"Huh. Interesting." She translated to Tuka, who looked increasingly upset.

"Can't you help with your magic, Harry?" Tuka asked plaintively.

"I don't know Legilimency or Mind Healing," Harry responded. He would have loved nothing more than to have told her that he could help her, but he didn't want to lie to her, and get her hopes up for nothing. "Those would be the best chances. Anyway, there's no magical cure for amnesia."

Tuka sobbed quietly, and Mari put a hand on the blonde Elf's shoulder soothingly. "Hey, hey…it'll be all right," she said, before she drew her into a hug. The Elf allowed herself to be embraced, sobbing into Mari's BDU. And Harry's heart went out to her. In that moment, he remembered Neville and his parents, the latter broken by the Cruciatus Curse.

As Rory predicted, most of the villagers left the next morning, leaving some, mostly children and women, as well as the old and frail, with the JSDF. Harry decided to stay with Mari and Tuka on the way back. He needed his cousin's reassurances, and Tuka seemed to draw strength from them both being there.

"You seem to be getting along well with that Rory Mercury girl," Mari said, before she shot him a look. "Should I be worried that my cousin is a lolicon or something?"

Harry glared at her. "She's over 900 years old, Mari. And anyway, I'd prefer them to be maybe 17 or 18 at the youngest, preferably older. Even if she is older than she looks, I wouldn't touch her. Well, unless Aging potions work on her. No…she and I just had a talk last night."

Mari nodded. "She asked me about your past. I mean, the Statute of Secrecy doesn't really apply to a world where magic is not secret, right? I have to admit, she's kind of likeable. No doubt the brass will think she's a threat, given that she's an Apostle, and thus a superhuman demigoddess. And while she's a threat, I also think she's a powerful ally. Anyway…Harry, you beat yourself up over this. You're not a soldier. Oh, I'm sure that, thanks to Dumbledore, you're pretty much a child soldier in all but name…but you weren't actually trained as a soldier. This doesn't mean I don't wonder if we couldn't have saved more of them…and frankly, I wish we could've. But we saved most of the people there. Maybe you can't call that a win, but it counts for something. Besides, you using the rocket launcher on that thing was pretty good. I heard the brass was thinking of sending some choppers over, carving it up, even making the head a sort of trophy slash warning sign for Alnus. As in Don't make me come over there."

Harry snorted at the thought. Still, he wondered how the brass would handle even the small amount of refugees coming here…

He was glad that Itami was the one being chewed out. Given his ability to translate the language without a phrasebook, once he got back to Alnus Hill, he was the one, along with Rory, who had to help marshal the refugees. Of those, it was Cato and Lelei, along with Tuka and Hodor, who caught his eye. Especially when Rory said something interesting.

"So, let me get this straight," Harry said. "Lelei, because she has blessings from the deities La and Elange, can learn things very quickly?"

"Yes. She'll be able to pick up Japanese and English quite easily, probably the latter first," Rory said. "Our tongue sounds a little more like English in some ways. She already comprehends that what the JSDF uses is not magic but technology. She's intensely curious."

"Definitely a Ravenclaw," Harry remarked. "She's not going to be any trouble?"

"Most human mages have no affiliation with the Empire. If they have an affiliation, it's with Romdel, the city of mages and academia, and they're notorious about staying neutral. In addition, Lelei is formerly of the Rurudo nomads, and they're known for their disinterest in the Empire's affairs. If anything, Lelei is more like a kid in a candy shop. She'd probably side with the JSDF. Keep in mind, the Empire doesn't really have that good a reputation here, or Molt Sol Augustus didn't, anyway. He's been noted for his aggressive expansionism, to reclaim parts of the Empire that were later ceded to other realms. One of his first acts as Emperor was to annex the town of Rosa thirty years ago. He's just a petty, power-hungry warmonger. His oldest son, Zorzal El Caesar, is even worse. He's a notoriously debauched sadist. Diabo El Caesar is apparently better, but he's also a self-centred schemer and a coward. Actually, I like his daughter, Pina Co Lada best."

"…Pina Co Lada? That sounds like a cocktail back home," Harry said flatly.

Rory chuckled. "Really? Well, anyway, Pina is a die-hard patriot of the Empire, but she's also, from what I have heard, a decent person. She's obsessed with chivalry, and even established her own knightly order, the Rose Knights, as a young teenager, after seeing a play called The Rose Knight. They're mostly used as colour guard for parades, few take it seriously. Still, by all accounts, she's actually a good fighter, and cares about the people. She just needs a wakeup call."

Lelei chose that moment to come over. "Mr Potter…" she began.

"Lelei, just call me Harry. The only people who called me Mr Potter were teachers, one of whom I despised. Besides, I'm 20."

"I see. Harry, would you be so kind as to explain a few things here, as best as you can? You seem familiar with the contrivances these people have created."

Harry looked at Rory, who shrugged. "Go ahead. I can act as a translator if need be for the others…"

In a way, teaching Lelei about technology was a bit like teaching Arthur Weasley how some Muggle things worked…only, Lelei was a better student. She grasped general principles fairly easily and swiftly, absorbing knowledge like a sponge absorbed water. She accepted, for example, that electricity was a form of harnessed lightning, or that cars used what were effectively burning of refined petroleum. She understood that Harry only really knew these things in broad terms, though. Harry decided that, if they ever brought Lelei back to Earth, she needed to get Hermione to meet her. Harry had better luck explaining biology, hygiene and medicine.

Eventually, she also began to ask about magic on Earth, and Harry told her a little of his life story. One of her first major expressions was when he explained the Blood Purity beliefs that Voldemort espoused: while magical lineage was important and frequently caused a lot of snobbery, there was, thankfully, no similar movement or ideology in Rondel. If there was any violence in Rondel, it was generally born of academic rivalry rather than lineage. At learning of Voldemort and his twisted, xenophobic ideology, Lelei actually scowled strongly. They were soon joined on their tour, such as it was, of the base by Tuka. She had left her father in the infirmary for now, distressed about his loss of memory, and had basically attached herself to Harry, given that he was the one who rescued her.

There was some good news, though. Tuka had been told by Mari to notify Harry that King Duran was being cooperative. True, they had to muddle through with the phrasebook they compiled, but the man seemed grateful for the JSDF for healing him, even if they were the ones who cost him an arm and a leg. But he blamed Molt Sol Augustus more than the JSDF. Apparently, Duran believed that the Emperor, in order to ward off a potential rebellion by his vassal states (what with his army decimated during the attempt to invade Ginza and the JSDF's retaliation), sent them here to die, in order to ensure the vassal states were no threat. If they actually managed to do anything to the JSDF, then all the more good for Molt Sol Augustus. Elbe would ally itself with the JSDF, if need be.

They soon sat down to have lunch, and Harry, with his translation charm on, asked, "Just out of curiosity, why didn't we see any demi-humans around Coda?"

Cato harrumphed. "Demi-humans are not well thought of in many parts of Falmart," he said. "We of Coda doesn't mind most of them, and indeed, the prevailing attitude towards the likes of some demi-humans is indifference. But others hate and fear them, and indeed, in Sadera, most demi-humans are seen as less than human, even Elves, even if they're not generally seen as demi-humans."

Harry knew this somewhat already, at least in broad terms. However, Rory then added something interesting. "Of course, some demi-humans are war-like brutes. It depends on the species and the mores of the particular group they belong to. The worst group is the Haryo. They're demi-humans who are part-breeds, usually between two different demi-human species, and who are generally shunned even by demi-human society, often unjustly. The Empire considers them a nuisance at best, but they're surprisingly well-organised. Of course, other demi-humans have been persecuted rather unjustly. The Bunny Warriors, for example."

Lelei nodded, picking up the story. "The Bunny Warriors were semi-nomadic warriors. Originally, they were quite savage and were a major problem for the Empire and others, but eventually, they settled down and became relatively peaceful, or at least less belligerent towards others. However, three years ago, the Empire used an old dispute as an excuse to go to war against the Bunny Warriors. Prince Zorzal El Caesar won, but through a war of attrition. That, and apparently the Queen of the Bunny Warriors, Tyuule, betrayed her people out of fear for her life, and begged to be spared. The Bunny Warriors were decimated, many enslaved. Others remain at large, many of those having ties to the Formal Clan of Italica."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't believe everything you hear from Zorzal's mouth. Anyway, the Formal Clan of Italica is known for harbouring demi-humans. Officially, they're employed as servants, but unofficially, the late Count Formal acted to make his city a refuge for demi-humans. In truth, he had a bit of a fetish for them, but he, unlike many lords in this world, also kept his hands to himself, content to look but not touch. He has Bunny Warriors, Catgirls, even a Medusa, and you know how rare those are, Lelei."

"Great, xenophobia is alive and well here," Harry snarked. "So the reason we didn't see them was there aren't that many in these lands?"

"Disappointed?" Rory asked.

"A little, though Itami and Kurata are more likely to be," Harry said. "They're what they call otakus. I don't know what the equivalent term in your language would be. Consider someone who is utterly obsessed with certain genres of fiction, and while they aren't actually crazy, it's sometimes hard to tell."

"Oh, a bit like a religious fanatic, only with fiction," Rory said.

"Not quite, but not far from it." Harry then looked at Tuka. "Do you remember when we first found you, how Kurata was yelling for joy? It was because he got to meet a beautiful Elf. I got angry with him because, well, you'd just lost your family and friends, at least until I realised your father was still alive."

"Oh. I wondered what that was. He was pleased to meet me…because I was an Elf?"

"Yes. Remember, the only Elves I know of back home are those brownies, whereas there're Elves like you in stories. Actually, I've got my copy of Lord of the Rings, and maybe one of the folks around here has the movie."

"Lord of the Rings?" Lelei asked.

"It's a story, like a myth, written by an author called JRR Tolkien, about a group of adventurers who set off to destroy a malevolent magical ring…"

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

And I think there's a good point to end the chapter. Next chapter, some more preamble prior to Italica, with some more character development, especially for Tuka and Shino. In the original story, the next chapter didn't exist, and I slotted it in to give that needed character development.

Review-answering time! Loamy Coffee: Yes, sadly, there's that, and of course, Giselle. That's how Yao's still entering the story, after all.

Agurra of the Darkness: Oh, don't worry, I have plans in place for Tyuule. She won't be part of Harry's harem…but I think what I plan for her will surprise many of you, and pleasantly so.

rmarcano321: Hmm…favourite character…it'd have to be Rory Mercury hands down. As disturbing and scary as she is at times, she is also Awesome with a capital A.

Leicontis: Yep, you got my term for that trope down pat. I find it rather hilarious, that term, 'Veil-Assisted Transdimensional Pratfall', but it's also such a handy plot device, as other fanfic writers have shown.

Lord Mortenson: No. The harem is strictly Harry/Tuka/Shino/Yao. In my original version of this story, I actually considered making it a Harry/Pina fic, but it didn't quite mesh for me, and as other people wanted Tuka in the pairing, I decided, for once, to go with it.

Celestia GF of the Void: It actually is unfair AND unhelpful. Comments like these actually can stifle my creativity and potentially halt progress on my fics. I can't help where my muse goes, and you have absolutely no right whatsoever to dictate what I should or should not be writing. I try to at least write as many chapters as possible before I lose interest. And I do try to update my older fics, even if it's on an irregular and infrequent basis. So while it's great that you enjoy my fics, reviews like this do not help matters.

Aurora Halsey: Actually Shino IS a Sergeant 1st Class in GATE canon, but it's easier just to write 'sergeant'. It's probably incorrect as far as military nomenclature is concerned, but I've never been a fan of the military. So her promotion to a Sergeant-Major is not a big leap.

No numbered annotations this time.