"How are you hiding your Flames?" demanded Viper with intent.

Colonello blinked owlishly and slowly put his drink down.

"How do you know I'm hiding them?"

"Because until you proved to Renato and the others that you were an active Rain with a strong Cloud, we thought you were a Latent," said Viper bluntly.

Colonello pulled back his left sleeve to reveal a simple, if somewhat stylish bracelet.

"Flame suppression bracelet and creative use of Mist," he said simply. "Getting one made for Lal was a bit trickier, but once things calm down we can go back to the military and no one will know we're active unless we let them know."

Viper looked openly interested hearing that, as did Verde when he heard what they were talking about.

"You have a flame suppression bracelet that effective?" he said with intent.

"They had no idea I was even Active until I demonstrated I could manifest them. I wasn't about to let them kick Lal out alone," said Colonello.

"How did you know to hide it before now?" asked Viper intently.

Colonello's snort was derisive.

"Like I was going to let the fact I have Active Aspects give the sycophants even more reason to piss me off. I'm just lucky I realized what happened before anyone found out. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have people immediately assume things about you just because of your Aspect type?"

The second anyone found out he had Cloud flames they'd treat him like a feral beast, and Rain flames would have gotten him stuck doing diplomatic duties which he loathed.

The two snorted as well.

"You mean how Mists are supposedly treacherous and untrustworthy?" said Viper annoyed.

"Or Lightnings are supposed to act as meat shields and attract all the attention?" said Verde in equal disgust.

"Or how Storms are supposed to be brash, hot headed and jump into things without thinking?" added Fon with some annoyance.

"Exactly. No way in hell was I getting stuck as a diplomat when I can barely tolerate my own countrymen. Just because I have Rain flames doesn't mean I enjoy acting the peacekeeper. And Clouds just get treated like feral beasts if they so much as look like they're getting irritable."

"I have some Oolong tea if you're interested," said Fon, changing the subject.

Colonello perked up.

He was British. He liked his tea, though he wouldn't say no to a good strong coffee.

"Now about that suppression bracelet," said Viper with intent.

"I can get you one if you're really interested. You too, Verde. Maybe you can figure out how to make the refinement process go a bit faster or something."

Seeing the two perked up, they quickly switched to suspicious.

"What do you want in return?" asked Viper.

"I have the distinct feeling that if I tried to brush off repaying me later you wouldn't believe me, so let's just say you two would owe me a favor to be paid back later. Nothing major, though," he added.

That seemed to satisfy them.

"Been meaning to give Skull one anyway, since the poor guy was a civilian before this."

"Before, you called Flames 'Aspects'," said Fon after a moment.

"It's the name I knew them by. Didn't know there was another sub culture based around them, or that they'd gone into the underworld," said Colonello.

Fon's eyes flashed, as if confirming his private thoughts.

"Hogwarts, Beauxbatons or Durmstrang?" he asked evenly.

"Hogwarts, Gryffindor," said Colonello immediately.

Viper's breath hitched a bit hearing those words.

Fon's eyes closed.

"Then the two Skies fighting over you were Dumbledore and Voldemort."

Colonello said nothing. His silence was answer enough, as was the feeling of anger hearing those names again.

"How do you know about the magical enclaves anyway?"

"My fourth cousin once removed went to school there."

Colonello slowly lowered his drink and stared at Fon in disbelief.

"Cho is your cousin?!" he blurted out.

Fon blinked at that.

"How did you know who I was talking about?"

"I was two years under her, and I was part of the DA," said Colonello. "Cedric was a good man and if Potter hadn't been such an idiot and suggested they both took the cup, then he might have made it out of that tournament alive."

Fon's eyes glinted.

"I have heard many things about Harry Potter. From what my cousin said he is an honorable man. It's a pity he went missing."

From the way Fon spoke of him, despite never having met the man, it was clear he respected the missing wizard.

"I can't imagine surviving the killing curse twice would have done anything good to his aspect. From what I heard he might have been a Cloudy Sky," said Colonello, changing the subject.

"I suspected he was a Sky as well. It would explain a few things," said Fon, changing the subject.

Colonello had given Fon all the hints he was going to get at the moment. If the Storm figured out the truth, then he would accept that. If not, then it wasn't his problem.

He had changed his name and a few of his features for a reason after all.

Skull accepted the flame suppression bracelet gratefully. Having to deal with Skies trying to force him to join their famiglia was very annoying, as Lal could attest. Especially since he was so obviously a civilian.


"I can't take it anymore. Luce, if you don't knock it off with the flaring then at some point I am going to snap and punch you in the face," said Lal irate.

Luce jerked back as if shocked.

"You knew I was..."

"Your Sky feels like fire ants crawling all over my skin, as if they're ready to bite," said Lal annoyed beyond belief. She was like a wolf, pacing and ready to lunge at someone's throat.

She only remotely calmed down when Colonello came into the room and she curled into his side.

"Your Rain flames are ridiculously effective on her," said Renato.

"It really doesn't help she has a Cloud secondary," commented Colonello. "Or that Luce keeps riling her up."

Fon eyed the way Lal was acting around Colonello, and the comment he made about his 'primary aspect' being damaged by the actions of Dumbledore and Voldemort.

"Colonello, exactly when is your birthday?" asked Fon calmly, as if trying to figure something out.

"July thirty-first," said Lal.

Fon's eyes closed, as if putting the last puzzle piece together.

"I see. A permanent hair dye potion then? With colored contacts?" he asked, as if commenting on the weather.

Colonello didn't even try to hide it.

"Easiest way to get rid of the fans was to change things they look for," agreed Colonello.

"Am I missing something?" asked Renato, looking between Fon and Colonello.

"I believe there's a very simple reason why Lal is reacting badly to Luce's Flames. She's already bonded to another Sky and Luce is poaching."

"Bullshit. I told you it was damaged after what happened," said Colonello without thinking.

"And it's been almost seven years since that last battle. That's more than enough time for it to heal, at least enough to form new bonds," said Fon evenly.

Renato blinked, before he looked at the two Rains with new eyes.

"Are you telling me that blond idiot is a Sky?"

"A damaged Sky, but still a Sky," said Fon.

"How on earth can a Sky be damaged?" demanded Verde.

"Constant pressure to form a Guardian bond between two very antagonistic and older Skies, on top of the fact this fool was on the front lines of a fight where any Element he bonded with would have been targeted specifically would do it," said Fon. "And that's not getting into what happened before he killed off the broken Sky that caused so much trouble."

Martyring yourself was a good way to do a lot of damage to your flames, and if the poor fool came back would have boosted their purity immensely.

"Wait, what do you mean by poaching?" said Lal confused.

"Does being around your boyfriend create a warm, fuzzy feeling in your chest that feels like you've come home?" asked Fon, smiling.

She blinked at him with wide eyes.

"That's a basic description of what harmony is and why it's so coveted. Luce keeps trying to lure you into her own Sky, except you're already bonded to Colonello...which is basically like rubbing a cat's fur the wrong direction. You instinctively know she's trying to take you away from your home and it's driving your instincts into overdrive to make her stop," explained Fon patiently.

"...That explains so damn much, like why being around her makes all sorts of alpha male tendencies pop up, despite the fact I've been dosing myself with my own Rain for years," said Colonello, shaking his head.

"You've been dosing yourself with your Rain flames? How?" asked Renato baffled.

"He quite likely has PTSD from the terrorist attacks a few years back. He was one of the main fighters who ended it and was the one who took out the corrupted Sky causing most of the deaths. I've never heard of someone dosing themselves with tranquility though," said Fon.

"Made it easier to get half of Luna's cryptic speech and riddles though," said Colonello cheerfully.

It was hard not to understand Luna-speak when you were half-'stoned' from tranquility. He suspected she was a Rainy-Mist, because it would explain far too much, or a Rain-Cloud, because she was ridiculously possessive of him.

"How do we know you're a Sky for sure?" asked Renato.

Colonello thought that over for a moment, before shrugging. He was unaware of the fact that Skull had walked into the room, as had Viper when he took off the suppression bracelet and just let his Flames drift freely.

Hearing the sharp gasp of shock from Viper and to a lesser extent Skull had him turning to look at them. It almost made him forget the odd blossom of warmth in his chest that didn't originate from holding Lal close.

"I take it back... he's definitely a Sky," said Renato, grimacing. It wasn't from the fact Colonello was trying to force a bond with him, but more to do with the fact that as a Sun he could feel the full extent of damage to the man's Sky.

Fon's hands clenched, before forcibly relaxing...he was clearly not happy.

Colonello slipped the bracelet back on, and the worst of it abated. He carefully withdrew his flames back inside his soul, though he somehow managed to drag Skull and Viper in with it.

Odd.

Viper looked particularly twitchy about the whole thing, and it was only because it had been an accident that kept them from being too upset.

"So...is Colonello your real name?" asked Renato.

"Nope. Just the one I picked to get as far away from my ex-girlfriend as possible. Not like they were looking for a blue-eyed blond when they knew me best as a green-eyed, raven haired runt. And you aren't getting the real one out of me until I know for sure you're not going to accidentally let it slip to the wrong people. I hate my fans."

"What, were you some sort of fashion model or something?" snarked Renato.

"More like a war hero who's fans were all too happy to demand he protect them, but didn't bother to support him," grimaced Fon. "And then take offense when he didn't fit into the narrow box they tried to shove him in after."

"War hero?" repeated Luce, horrified.

"I can confirm that part, actually. Only time you see PTSD as bad as what he has is from those who were in the thick of long-term combat and torture," grimaced Lal. The fact Colonello's arms wrapped around her tighter said volumes of how much he didn't like talking about it.

In the dark of the night, when he was really, really drunk, sometimes he would tell her things. She was the only one he trusted himself to vent to, and she took the knowledge of that fact very seriously, all while holding him close.

"He seems fine to me," commented Renato.

"You're talking to the master of bottling up my real feelings until they explode. Often with violent and terrifying results. Imagine a Cloud who tallies up the bad things only to come after your ass with an unrelenting fury and an extreme pain tolerance," said Colonello bluntly.

That got Renato to wince.