AN: CSR isn't mine. Harry Potter isn't either
The captain of the third platoon shook his head. He had asked for Harry to do hand to hand training with the team. For someone who said that he was weak on hand-to hand, Harry picked things up very quickly. It had only been a few weeks since Kalian's discovery and right now, Harry was handling three platoon members with ease. However, he was tiring. When Harry said hand to hand, he meant no weapons. If someone pulled their DITE, Harry's staff made an appearance. He was very talented with the metal staff. The captain rubbed his shoulder. Whatever Harry had done to him had numbed his arm for almost fifteen minutes. He called out, "That is enough. We have a competition tomorrow. If we continue, we risk injury." Everyone nodded and packed up.
Harry left the training hall being used by the third platoon. He apparated back to the Den and sent Mey-shen home. The timid girl was becoming a little more confident. She also had asked to use the Den's ovens that morning. Harry had seen she had made two batches of cookies. When Harry asked if the cookies that looked like faces were the boy she had a crush on, the girl got even more flustered. It was easy to guess when the other cookies had little hearts in them.
After dealing with the dinner rush, Harry cleaned up and closed down. The sun had already set. He decided to surprise Felli and went to wait outside the gate she normally used to leave. As he neared it, he saw Mey-shen and her friends waiting outside the same gate.
He could make out Felli and Fon-fon talking.
"Between all of training and the time it takes me to clean the Machinery Department, I don't really have all that much free time."
"You're making excuses Fon-fon." As Harry went to follow then, he saw Mey-shen clutch the pink basket to her chest and say "Layfie."
Harry stood behind his student and worker. "So that's who those cookies are for."
The girl jumped and turned a bright shade of red. "That's not, I mean, it isn't…"
Harry chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I don't tease people about that. Good luck Mey-shen."
Harry caught up with Felli and Layfon.
Felli fell in step beside Harry.
Using Harry's presence as a shield, Layfon blurted out, "How can you say that thinking too much about someone else and their opinion guarantees that you act like a fool when you're dating Harry?"
Felli scoffed. "My situation is completely different than yours Fon-fon. Good night." Felli pulled Harry in a different direction.
The pair ultimately was sitting on a park bench near Felli's house when Harry broached the topic of what Layfon had said. "Do you really think that Felli? Do you think that thinking about someone and caring for them leads to poor decisions?"
Felli looked down. "I don't know. Maybe a little."
Harry nodded and stood. "I want you to think about something. I care quite a bit for you. I have also come to care for the city. Is it foolish of me to do so? Is it foolish for me to want to protect the place I live and you as well?" Harry kissed Felli, leaving her sitting on the park bench. "I don't think so."
Felli could tell that Harry was a more than a little angry with her. After sitting on the bench for a while, Felli went inside. She had a lot to think about.
The next day, in the middle of the match between the 3rd and the 11th platoons, the city shook and stopped. Since only two people were in the café, Harry asked them to eat outside. He told them that he had to close up for a few minutes. Harry sent his senses out. Larvals were beginning to pour out of the ground. Zuellni had broken through into a hatching ground.
Harry ran up the steps to his apartment. He pulled his Marauder gear out of his battle satchel. He took a brief second to change the color of the cloth. Zuellni's city emblem was now emblazoned on his back. Throwing the cloak around his shoulders, he apparated out.
When he arrived in the Kalian's office, the President was on the phone. When he hung up, his face was grave. "Contaminoids threaten the city."
Harry nodded. "I know. There is a contingent currently advancing on the southern side of the city with more moving to each side. I'll handle those on the southern side while the platoons mobilize."
Klaian nodded. "Thank you Harry."
Harry apparated away. He looked at the advancing horde. They were already nearing the farms. The techniques he had used on individual Contaminoids wouldn't work. It would destroy the food supply. "Restoration two." Harry drew back and flooded the DITE with magic. Green nen'i pins lit up and followed Harry's mental commands. They flew from the limbs of the bow in front of the heads of the ground-bound Larvals. When Harry loosed the arrow, it split into twenty, each one homing in a different target. The explosion blasted the Larvals apart. Ten shots later and all of the Larvals were destroyed. Harry apparated to the top of the closest spire and began firing on the airborne Larvals. After downing around forty, Harry paused. As these fell, Harry could see the Larvals on the ground begin to eat the remnants of those that had come crashing down. After killing those as well, Harry decided that the southern side should be safe for the time being. The next side was the eastern one. Platoons five and sixteen were there along with a contingent of other Military Arts students.
Harry barked out, "Gorneo, Lucas! Concentrate fire on the airborne larvals. When they fall, the ones on the ground will eat them. This slows down the ones coming up from the ground."
The pair nodded and relayed orders to their teams.
The group coming from the ground on the east was much larger than the one from the south. As Harry fired, the Larvals kept coming at a faster rate. Something else needed to be done.
"Gorneo, Lucas! Order the men back behind me in fifteen seconds. They are to stay there until my attack is launched. Their lives depend on it. Restoration one."
Harry held the staff out parallel to the ground. Once again flooding it with magic the nen'i pins lit up and flew out in a straight line. The line spread the distance of their front line.
Harry began chanting. This was a war spell so it took a moment to get ready.
As he neared the end, both Harry's staff and the pins were glowing blood red. When the last man was away, a red line shot out of each end of the staff, linking all of the pins. Harry waited until the larvals were within ten feet of the line. When he spoke the final phrase, a solid red wave launched from the line connecting the staff and the pins. It bisected all the Contaminoids it came in contact with. Once it reached the edge, it fell like a waterfall, clearing all Larvals that were coming over the edge.
Harry leaned heavily on his staff. "Any more that come up here will eat the corpses. Kill them while they are distracted."
Gorneo and Lucas nodded. They were too shocked to really say anything.
Harry took a moment to catch his breath. All of the soldiers were in shock. Harry heard from a nen'i user that the northern platoons were being overrun.
Harry told Gorneo and Lucas, "Have some people sent to protect the farms to the south. More Larvals might be coming up that way. I'll take care of the northern platoons.
When Harry apparated there, he saw that platoons ten and one were in that area. All others fighters had fled or been killed. "Restoration two." Harry stood on the top of a spire and rained arrows down on the attacking Larvals. After a few shots, the fighters saw the cloaked figure raining death down on their enemies. Vanse and Dinn smiled grimly. When Harry turned his bow once more on the airborne Larvals to slow them down, a large group attacked him. Harry jumped and landed on the back of one.
Quickly casting a sticking charm on his shoes, Harry rode the airborne conveyance and fired his way through the sky. When he was taken out of the Regios, Harry replicated and threw multiple spell grenades into the milling Larvals below. He stuck with bone vanishing and organ rupturing grenades. Cutters of any sort might damage Zuellni's legs. He didn't know if the blood boilers would even work on the Larvals.
The Larval tried to throw him off repeatedly. Regardless of the creature's efforts, the pins that guided his arrows made all of his shots hit. When the sky was finally clear, both from the artillery, and Harry's own efforts, Harry waited until his irritated ride was over the ground. Letting his last shot loose, just behind the creature's head, Harry cancelled the sticking charm. This allowed him to be thrown off and fall. The flying Larval exploded moments later.
Harry threw his arms out. Months ago, Harry realized that his connection to snakeface had given the already well-trained boy a plethora of new and unique spells when Riddle had died. Granted most of them were dark in nature, but there quite a few that were useful. Green smoke swirled around his form and suddenly formed into a set of large feathered wings. When Harry landed, he fell to his hands and knees in front of Vanse and Dinn. The taller pair helped the boy up. Vanse spoke first. "You saved the lives of both our platoons. Thank you." Dinn nodded in agreement.
Harry gasped for breath. "Anywhere else that needs help?"
Vanse shook his head. "Alseif took out the horde attacking the 17th and the 11th. The 5th and the 16th handled everything that came after you took out the Larvals in that section. Everywhere else has only seen a few Larvals come over the edge. There weren't enough to break through. There have been a few casualties, but we would have had many more without your help."
Vanse and Dinn felt the boy sag between them. They had watched him take out the majority of the attacking force. If the reports from Gorneo and Lucas were truthful, these numbers, combined with the figures coming from the 9th Platoon sent to guard the south; Harry had taken out even more Laravals than Alseif. The one massive kei technique would have knocked any of them on their backs, if not unconscious and hospital bound, but Harry was still standing and fighting.
After a few minutes rest, Harry stood shakily. "Goodnight Vanse, Dinn." He disappeared.
One of Weekly Look'N's reporters had taken a nap and had fallen asleep before the evacuation alarm sounded. She had woken up to the sounds of battle. Her camera had a long-distance lens so she went to see what was going on. Her apartment was on the eastern edge of the building. From her balcony, she also had a good vantage point of the north and south. She watched and photographed as a crimson wave rolled forth, slicing the Contaminoids in half. She watched as the Larvals to the north began to overrun the platoons protecting that quadrant. She was surprised when some of the Contaminoids around the platoons suddenly were missing their heads. Once she found the cause, she was shocked. A single figure stood on a spire. She focused her lens. The mystery Military Artist drew back their bow and seconds later, more Contaminoids were dead. The setting sun lighting the figure from the front and the darkening sky behind made for an excellent shot. The hood the mystery fighter wore made any kind of identification impossible. Whoever it was, they systematically destroyed the advancing horde. She snapped what pictures she could as the fighter actually rode on a Contaminoid and killed other airborne ones. Silver glints fell from outstretched hands onto the ground below. They were likely weapons as well. The picture that would grace the front page came at the end of the fight. The warrior jumped off of the flying Larval. Once it joined it's brethren in death, the fighter had smoky green wings guiding it to the ground. In the press of fighters, she lost track of her target. She also shot pictures of devastation laying to the south. Fighters were only now arriving on the scene. The Larvals' remnants were the same as those to the north. It looked like the archer was responsible for that too. That kind of thing was unlike anything she had ever seen any platoon member demonstrate.
The reporter wrote up her experiences and found the Editor with her story.
The gruff man was shocked. "This new weapon, this mystery fighter, coupled with the death of the dormant mother is amazing. It is rumored that Layfon Alseif took care of the mother. I do not find that surprising. But who is this archer?" The man puzzled over it for a moment. "I'm going to add to the name you've given this fighter. Instead of only Zuellni's Archer," he tapped the photo of the green wings, "What about we add Zuellni's Avenging Angel? I'd like your thoughts."
The girl's eyes widened. "That would be an excellent headline."
The man nodded. "We would have heard about a fighter of this caliber before. The only reason we wouldn't have is if it was all kept under wraps by the Military Arts Department. This story needs to get out before Kalian kills it."
The girl smirked. "Well, that and Harry won't bribe anyone with treats to keep things quiet this time."
The editor raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to skip the next lunch he makes for us?"
The girl rapidly shook her head.
The editor smirked. "Didn't think so."
Harry's apparition took him to his bedroom. Harry staggered into his shower, shedding his gear. He ignored the ten minute allotment of hot water. He'd give Zuellni some magic to make up for it. Harry knew that he'd have to restart his magical training regimen. He shouldn't be this tired.
Harry heard his front door open and close. He sent out his senses. It was Felli. Harry shut off the water once he felt clean. When he stepped out of the shower, his pajamas were sitting on the counter as well as a towel.
Harry stepped into his room from the bathroom. Felli was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at her hands. All of his battle gear had been moved from the trail leading from the front door into a pile at the foot of his bed.
Before Harry could say anything, Felli spoke. "You were right and I was wrong."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
Felli continued. "I don't want to lose you Harry. I had extended my senses and was keeping an eye on you. I didn't even respond to Nina. You were amazing. Fon-fon contacted me and had me find the Contaminoid who had laid the eggs. The attack all over the Regios was horrible. So many people were hurt. Some died." Felli took a deep, shuddering breath. "Fon-fon said something before he killed the adult. He said that because of the world we live in, if we want to keep living, fighting was the only option. I never looked at it that way. I always thought that fighting was stupid." Felli had tears in her eyes. "Harry, can you forgive me for what I said?"
Harry held out his arms in response. Felli ran into them.
Harry kissed the top of her head. "There's nothing to forgive Felli. It's been forgotten. But I want you to keep something in mind next time Felli. No one really lives alone. We all depend on other people for something. When someone fights for the right reasons, they are fighting for something or someone. When people fight for and alongside someone else, it brings them closer together. In doing so, they become stronger. I fought today not only to protect the city, but also to protect you."
Felli nodded against Harry's chest.
After a few minutes, Harry said, "Felli, I'm tired. Can I lie down? That took a lot out of me."
Felli helped Harry into his bed. After she tucked him in, the girl weighed her options for a few moments; she joined the now unconscious boy under the covers.
The next morning, Felli was awoken by a knock from the door. Harry wasn't even stirring. She heaved herself off the bed. She frowned. It was Kalian.
Kalian came in and sat down. "Felli, is Harry awake?" The Student Council President had bags under his eyes. He had likely been up all night overseeing the aftermath of the battle.
Felli shook her head. "He barely made it into bed last night."
Kalian nodded. "He protected several key parts of the city. The farms, the water treatment plant, he even directly saved the lives of the first and tenth platoons. Gorneo and Lucas explained what he had done in their sector. I've never even heard of anything like it. If a nen'i operator hadn't recorded it, I would have been skeptical. Whatever he did outside the Regios made it so a lot of Larvals were either dead or they had lost their carapace, so they were easy to take out."
Felli narrowed her eyes. "What do you want Kalian?"
Her older brother hung his head. "I wanted to give him my thanks. Things could have been much worse if he hadn't intervened." He looked up. "How is he? Vanse said he was exhausted."
Felli nodded. "He was. He is asleep now."
Kalian stood. "Please tell him that he has my thanks."
Felli nodded.
Kalian stopped by the door. "Felli…does he make you happy?"
"He does."
Kalian nodded. "I will try to stay out of your relationship. I can't promise that I will be able to do so all the time, but I will try. Even though you may not think it, I do care about you Felli. Goodbye."
Felli went back to the bedroom. She was disappointed that when she got back under the covers, Harry woke up.
Felli was about to attempt to keep Harry in bed when Mey-shen's voice rang through the apartment. The girl cursed.
"Harry are you here?"
Harry rolled out of bed. "Give me a minute Mey-shen." His voice was gravely.
Harry teetered into the main room. "What time is it?"
Felli could hear Mey-shen giggle. "If you're going to open the café today, it's time to get started. The vendors are due to arrive in about ten minutes."
Harry blinked. He must have fallen straight asleep. "I'll be right down Mey-shen." He tossed the girl a set of keys. "Unlock the back so we can get the deliveries processed."
Mey-shen walked down the stairs confused. She had never seen Harry this groggy. The Contaminoid attack yesterday was unsettling. Maybe he had difficulty sleeping. She couldn't fall asleep until she heard the 17th Platoon was all ok. Maybe he had been worried about Felli.
By the time the bread vendor showed up, Harry had made his way down the stairs.
Mey-shen was surprised when Harry made a series of small cakes as well as a larger number of desserts than usual that day. The cakes all had roman numerals on them. When she asked, Harry merely shrugged. "The Platoons all fought to keep the city safe. Don't they deserve a reward? Besides, the Larvals were defeated. I think that's reason enough to celebrate a little. Don't you think so?"
Mey-shen had to nod at that question. She was surprised when Felli came and helped with anything not related to cooking anything. Mey-shen found it odd. Normally, Felli wouldn't stop by until later. Maybe she was worried about Harry too. At Harry's request, she sent out a nen'i message to a member of each platoon to come by and pick up their cake. Mey-shen wondered how Harry had been able to fit those cakes inside the oven.
The Den did a brisk business that day. When the various captains came by to pick up the cake for their platoon, they had heard the stories of what Harry had done in defense of the city. It was difficult linking the damage dealt with the genial cook. The 14th Platoon had led reconnaissance work on the ground. They had found entire areas where the Larvals had all lost their hard carapace and were unable to move. One hit with a DITE was all that was required to kill these Larvals. They didn't even have to use kei. Other areas of Larvals had their internal organs seeping through the joints in their shell. They were dead where they stood. Any Larvals not affected were eating their fellows. There weren't all that many of the final group. These had been disposed of. Where Layfon had been seen jumping out of the Regios, the Larvals were all cut in half. With the death of the mother, there were now no more Contaminoids around Zuellni.
Even after the demonstration, a lot of the captains had wondered if Harry had just bluffed in dealing with Kalian. The evidence that he hadn't bluffed was overwhelming. In the south, corpses of hundreds of Larvals were dead by Harry's hands. Vanse and Dinn had been talking about how he single-handedly saved their platoons. The entire force guarding the eastern section had spoken in hushed whispers at what he had done. Even the normally loud Shante hadn't said much. Only those Military Artists on Platoons knew about Harry. Someone had even recorded Harry standing on the back of a Larval, thinning out the airborne ones. No one would have believed the story otherwise. They had no idea how he stayed on. For that matter, how had his hood stayed up the entire time?
Shortly after the Den opened, a special edition of Weekly Look'N hit the racks. It had sold out before Kalian had seen the story about the attack. When officially interviewed, Kalian stated that the identity of the Archer was a Military Secret, and the issue was to be officially dropped. That didn't stop the speculation of the population.
Nina had come to enjoy the girl-time chats between her and Felli. There had been a few awkward moments early on, but those had smoothed out. After the Contaminoid attack two days ago, both girls needed to unwind a little.
"Nina, I have a question."
Nina took another bite of ice cream. Harry always supplied the sweets for their get-togethers so it was another positive mark about the chats. "Sure."
"My uniform is getting tighter. I may need your help going shopping."
Nina blinked. "Felli, you don't look like you have gained weight."
Felli stared at her captain. "Most nen'i users have a delayed puberty. My bust size is increasing. Given my height, it is unlikely that I will be as large as you are, but I will get bigger. It only makes sense for me to ask for assistance from a fellow girl when shopping for undergarments. Mey-shen insisted that I not ask Harry, and that she also said that asking her would not be ideal since I might be in an unexpected battle. You are the only other girl I trust." Felli continued, "According to my doctor back home, I may likely not grow much taller. I don't have a problem with that. Harry isn't too tall either. The doctor here also said that once my bust increases in size, it is likely that my monthly cycles would be starting as well." Felli looked at her captain. "I need to ask you about how you handle yours. My mother hasn't responded to my letters yet and I would not like to be caught unprepared."
Nina looked both stunned and shocked into silence. She had not expected this. It was like a train wreck and she was lashed to the tracks between the oncoming trains. One was labeled embarrassing, the other awkward. If she had paid attention, she would see a plane named 'it's about to get worse' fall from the sky above her.
Felli thought for a moment. "While I am asking you that question, I must admit I am confused about something. I figured you would be the best person to answer my question. I wanted to ask if you knew why my brother's secretaries might be speculating about Harry making me a woman. I thought that process happens naturally through hormonal triggers. Their comments make no sense, so I obviously have not been told everything about puberty. What would Harry have to do with that? Since you are done with puberty, would I be correct in assuming that a boy has helped you in that regard?"
And the awkwardness was back with a vengeance. It brought friends too. Nina cursed Felli's parents.
A few days later, life resumed as normal in the Regios. When the 14th Platoon defeated the 17th, only Felli and Harley showed up at the Den. Sharnid was still scared of Harry. Nina was likely frustrated over the loss. Layfon never really ate out all that much. Harry still treated the pair to a meal. Harley asked to talk in private. Harley grilled Harry about his DITE. How it was working, if he had experienced any problems, it was all normal questions. The only thing different than any other DITE user was that, Harley asked him again to demonstrate how he made it.
Harry just grinned. "Magic Harley. How else?"
Harley began grumbling. Every attempt to have Harry re-create his DITE was met with denial or evasion. Not even Kalian could order Harry to do it. The Alchemy Department had made headway on a way to store and release kei, but it was nothing like the size Harry had. It was significantly larger. On the plus side, it also could do a LOT more damage. It was strictly for destruction. They would be able to send out a blast of kei that would decimate an enemy. There was no way of changing what it could do. In all the tests it should work. After a few more tests, they would start working on building a full-sized prototype. The entire department was excited about the project.
Harry interrupted the boy's thoughts with a question. "Are you ever going to make a move on Nina?"
Harley blinked. The change of topic threw him off. "Um what?" A slight blush rose and colored his cheeks.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I know you are childhood friends and all, but you always dote on her. I have seen you giving her shoulder rubs, you always get food for her, her DITEs are better made than all the others, you are always the first to try to calm her down, and you and I both know that at the challenge between the 3rd and the 11th platoons you were glad no one else showed up. That and you always eat her cooking and tell her it's good. It's obvious that you like her. Those pancakes could have been classified as biological weapons."
Harley had completely forgotten about pestering Harry about his DITE.
"Um, well, you see…"
Harry nodded. "Before you tell me any lies Harley, at least be honest with yourself."
Harley beat a hasty retreat.
In regards to the identity of Zuellni's Archer, Harry had to shake his head at the various guesses that people had. One of the most believed was that the Alchemy Department had augmented a student, turning them into a super-warrior.
Mifi had even asked Harry his opinion. Harry had just smiled and said that it could really be anyone.
As she sliced the vegetables, Harry noticed Mey-shen was not focused.
"Problems Mey-shen?"
The girl began becoming flustered. Harry took her knife away from her.
"Um, a letter to Layfie ended up in my mailbox."
Harry nodded. "Are you nervous about getting it back to him?"
Mey-shen nodded.
Harry smiled. "I'll tell you what. Felli said that they have team training today. Why don't you go and give it to him then?"
Mey-shen began blushing. "Would that be ok? I mean he won't think its weird or anything?"
Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't, but there's no real way to tell." He then looked at the girl. "Can you pull yourself together or will you have to call it a day?"
Mey-shen nodded. "I'll pull myself together."
When Mey-shen arrived at the Training Hall, she couldn't bring herself to knock on the door. As she went through various scenarios, Felli walked up behind the girl. When Harry had dropped off her lunch, he had mentioned what had happened. "Do you need to speak with Layfon? I'll go get him for you."
When Mey-shen took off running, Felli picked up the envelope. "Who is Leerin?" Suddenly Felli had an evil idea.
When Felli walked in the hall, Layfon, Harley and Sharnid were all there. "I'm sorry for being late." She then walked over to Layfon. "Mey-shen had a letter from your girlfriend in Glendan accidentally put in her mailbox. She asked me to give it to you."
Felli sat back and watched as Layfon sputtered as Sharnid and Harley took hold of that statement and refused to let go.
The fun was interrupted when Nina came in and cancelled training for the day. When Layfon went to leave, Felli followed. Once they were away from the others, Felli asked, "Are you busy this evening? Kalian has something he wants to discuss with you. He said it was a private matter and very important."
"Why would he want to see me?"
"I don't know. He didn't say." Felli looked at her watch. "I need to go buy ingredients and make dinner for us all." What she meant by that statement was have Harry cook dinner. "Do you know where Kalian and I live?"
Layfon shook his head. "Can I follow you?"
Felli took a different route to the market and pointed to her house. "Go inside. I will be back shortly."
When Felli walked in the Den with two sacks of groceries, Harry smiled. Apparently he was cooking for the Loss household again. Between taking orders, Harry cooked a simple dinner. He was surprised to hear that Fon-fon would be over as well.
Harry quickly apparated both Felli and the dinner over. Felli set it out on the table. She kissed him goodbye and Harry disappeared. Layfon was surprised. He hadn't even heard the sounds of food being prepared. Come to think of it, he hadn't even smelled it either.
When everyone began eating, Layon began, "Wow Felli, you are a great cook."
Kalian smirked. "Good meals are the only good thing coming from Felli dating Harreeeey!"
Layfon blinked. "President are you alright?"
Kalian ground out, "Just fine. Thanks for asking."
Kalain decided to get down to business. As he explained the presence of a Contaminoid in their path, Felli's eyes widened. "You're going to use them aren't you?!"
"For some reason, Zuellni is seeking out Contaminoids. I don't know why, but until she stops, we must rely on them."
Layfon looked confused. "You mean the Archer that everyone has been talking about? Who is he?"
Felli looked at Layfon. "If you would have been on time your first day, you would have found out."
Kalian looked confused. "Captain Antalk has not informed you?"
Layfon shook his head.
"I wonder why."
Felli huffed and left. She then sent Harry details about what he might be facing.
Kalian knocked on his sister's door. "Please inform Harry that I will have him as Zuellni's defense while Alseif will face the Contaminoid. Harley Sutton is preparing a special DITE for Layfon."
The next day, Felli spoke with Harry in person before classes.
"You don't have to do this Harry."
"I know Felli. If he thinks Layfon can handle the beast, then I am only if he fails. It's a solid plan."
Felli nodded. "I know better than to try to stop you Harry."
When Felli went to class, she realized that Fon-fon was helping her brother put Harry in danger. Maybe the boy needed a good kick too.
Two days later it was time for the mission. Nina had overexerted herself and was in the hospital. Harry closed the Den so he could be on standby for the mission.
Harry stood with Felli at the edge of the Regios. There was an aversion ward in place. She was relaying what was happening to him. He channeled some magic into Felli to expand her range. Layfon said he needed another good hit to take the Elder down. The DITE went clean through the beast's forehead and a blast of kei liquefied the beast's brain.
Once she confirmed the death of the threat, Harry caught Felli as she collapsed. He apparated her back to his apartment. When she stirred, Harry kissed her on the forehead. "You did fine. Rest." Harry felt Zuellni shift back towards the location of the 17th Platoon. Nina, Sharnid, and Layfon were all going to be fine. He had to keep an eye on Felli.
On the way back to Zuellni, Layfon was about to ask Nina who the Archer was. Just as he opened his mouth to do so, the bike decided to break down. The question left his mind.
