Chapter 9: Enemies combined.

"So guys, not to be a downer or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting frost bite here."

"Lavi, I swear to Merlin, if you don't shut up I will stab you with Amirah."

"Aww, Wand-Boy, don't be like that… and Merlin? Really?"

Three black-coated exorcists were shivering violently as they trekked knee-deep through snow towards their next mission. These damn Arctic missions were always the worst. It was October, it just shouldn't be this cold. It had been almost 16 months since Harry had become an exorcist, and that had involved training every day, studying magic every day, and including the one he was on right now, Harry had been on a total of 128 missions. All of these had been short and relatively easy, but Harry had changed because of them. He no longer hesitated, even if their target was a sickly child. His eyes were a harsh green pool of suspicion – he had lost count of the times he heard a gun click up against the back of his head. Everybody is a suspect; this was the mind frame he had developed. Trust no one.

He was older, more muscular. A seventeen-year-old Harry Potter stood tall. He was truly an exorcist now.

"Guys, I think that may be our target up ahead." Allen spoke through chattering teeth as he pointed towards a shadowy figure up ahead. His left eye confirmed his suspicion when a monocle whirled to life out of thin air in front of it.

"Well, at least we can warm ourselves up some," Lavi gave his crooked smile and pulled out his hammer from its sheaf, aiming it towards the figure. "Tactics?"

"I'm thinking we split up – Harry takes it head on while you and I take it from the sky." Allen had kind of become the unspoken general of the group – he normally knew the best course of attack, and he hadn't steered them wrong before.

"Sounds good," Harry spoke, reaching for Amirah from its place on his right thigh. "On the count of three, then?"

"One," The three spread out, a determined glint in their eyes.

"Two," Harry strode forth wielding Amirah firmly in his palm, and Allen and Lavi darted forward so fast any normal person would have lost sight of them.

"Three!" They attacked.

Harry lunged forward with a yell. He saw that their target was a level three: not too much fun to deal with, but they had done it before. The creature had noticed him, thinking he was alone.

"Heh, you are a bold one, aren't you? Think you can take me alone, do you?"

Harry didn't speak. He had learnt this through his many missions. There's no point talking to the akuma, they just try to provoke you. Block everything out, concentrate on the kill – that was what Cloud Nine had taught him.

He swung his arm out, Amirah glinting angrily in the sunlight. The akuma dodged, giggling like a lunatic. Harry attacked again. Again. His strikes were getting faster, his arm blurring, but the akuma was fast too. It moved just as fast, avoiding the deadly blow just in time.

"Ahahaha! Exorcist! Too slow! Too slow!"

"Really?" Harry muttered.

He swung his arm out again, the akuma dodged. But then Harry spun in the air, sending a powerful kick to the akumas stomach. It didn't kill it, but he had it on the ground. And that was enough.

The yell of two men were heard in the air as Allen and Lavi pounced on top of the akuma, landing a double blow onto the creature's stomach. A metallic scream echoed through the snow-covered field and a cloud of dust obscured their vision before it cleared.

Lavi dusted himself off as he straightened up, "Well. That was fun. Not as difficult as Komui made it out to be though, huh. Good job on the distraction, by the way, Wand-Boy."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Akuma like that are always easy to trick; so arrogant. He seemed to think he had one over me for some reason-"

Harry was cut off at the sharp whirling sound coming from Allen's direction.

"Wha-" Lavi couldn't even finish his sentence before he was knocked down violently to the ground.

"Lavi!" Allen and Harry yelled, before they realised what was actually happening.

It was another level three that had knocked Lavi to the ground. And that wasn't all. There were more of them; a lot more of them. They littered the horizon of the white ground. Their grotesque faces twisted into grins.

"Found you then, Exorcists. Ohhh, the Earl and his friend are going to be so happy. So soooo happy!"

Allen and Harry fell into defensive stances, pushing their worries about Lavi to the back of their minds.

"It's the two they want as well," A different akuma spoke with glee from somewhere behind them. Harry and Allen moved so they were standing back to back in the middle of the dozen level threes encroaching upon them.

"You mean it's them?" Yet another akuma peered at Harry and Allen as if searching for something. Harry held Amirah to his chest; ready for the attack.

"Oh yes, don't you see?" The akuma cackled, "The white haired with the scar is the one the Earl wants. And that other one is the boy that the Earl's friend is interested in."

Harry frowned. As far as he knew, there was only one person 'interested' in him, and that particular person should have nothing to do with this world, unless…

Harry's eyes widened as fear washed over him. They were working together? There was no way…

"What are we waiting for? Let's get 'em!" The akuma surrounding the two exorcists all smirked simultaneously.

"Well, it's been worse I guess…" Harry heard Allen mutter softly to him.

Harry grinned. "Let's wipe the floor with them."

The akuma lunged forward, but Harry and Allen had already shot into the sky as high as they could go. Allen rose higher and Crowned Clown activated in a bright light before he managed to take out two in a row, wielding his sword fiercely.

Harry couldn't jump as high as Allen, but he still managed to go high enough to land on top of one of the akuma's heads. He brought Amirah down hard, stabbing it into the creature's neck, eliciting a sharp scream from it before it exploded into ash.

Before any of the others could respond, Harry had already jumped again, this time using Amirah to its full potential.

"Strike, Sharp left, Strike, Burn." Harry issued his orders hurriedly, yet calmly. It was similar to casting spells, actually. But easier; more natural. There were no obscure Latin utterances. Instead, Amirah did was he willed it to, the words were just a formality.

The dagger flew its course. It shot forward, piercing straight through the closest akuma's head, creating another cloud of dust. It then immediately turned left, slicing through another akuma's heart and then continuing on to yet another akuma where it embedded itself into its chest. A fiery explosion then burst forth from the wound, engulfing not only the one akuma, but also the two that were flanking it.

However, as Amirah flew through the air, Harry was defenceless. He sensed the presence of another akuma behind him and spun around to face his enemy. It darted for him, but Harry dodged it, faster and faster until he could land a hard kick on its chest to push it back a few metres. He always hated these moments of vulnerability without Amirah. Fortunately, however, he had another weapon at his disposal:

He whipped out his wand, quick as lightning, and pointed it at the akuma. It had no effect on actually destroying one, but it could definitely set it back long enough for Amirah to return to him. He shouted 'Stupefy!" and a burst of red light shot out of his wand, hitting the akuma squarely on the chest. It doubled back, but it didn't have the same effect as it did on humans. It was on its feet again, advancing towards Harry with a fury in its eyes.

He felt rather than saw Amirah flying back to his palm after it had done its duty. He grasped it firmly, leaping forward in a spinning motion. He turned and slashed the akuma across the neck with his dagger. Another scream. Another cloud of dust.

Panting, Harry turned around. Only Allen remained standing, sword still drawn, surveying the area. Lavi still lay unconscious on the ground.

"Is that all of them?" Harry asked, still on edge.

"According to my eye, yes. But it didn't pick up on this lot before, so I'm a little nervous…"

Harry could see that Allen was, indeed, anxious about his eye. As far as he knew, it had never malfunctioned like this before.

"Well, it'll be alright. We can get Komui to look at it when we get back." Allen shot Harry a terrified look. Harry chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I guess that's not a comforting thought."

"No, no, it's really not…" Allen grumbled.

"Is he ok?" Harry jabbed a thumb at the unconscious Lavi.

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine. Still breathing and everything. Just unconscious."

"He has always had bad sleeping habits"

Allen chucked before extending the belts of his white cape to wrap around Lavi's limp form. "We'd best get him back, though. Or he might really get frost bite."

"Yeah, you're right. I can't believe Komui didn't tell us there were this many though." Harry was annoyed. It's not that he and Allen couldn't handle this many, but some warning would have been nice.

"I don't think he knew…" Allen seemed troubled as they started their walk back to the town through the snow. "They seemed more organised than normal. And did you notice that they were after us specifically? I mean, the Earl's been after me for a while, ever since the whole ark incident really, but you…"

They exchanged worried glances.

"I think it was Voldemort." Harry finally said.

"What?"

"Voldemort. The 'friend of the Earl's' they were talking about. I think it's him."

"Are you serious? Harry, this… this is bad."

"I know that." Harry spat.

And he did. One of these guys was bad enough. But both. Together. That was a nightmare.

"We have to tell Komui." Allen said immediately.

"I've got a feeling he already knows something about this to be honest." Harry felt a twisting in his stomach. Something was coming, he could feel it.

He just hoped he was ready for it.


A/N

Ok, so it's been a while (I'm so sorry, but hey, the uni semester is officially over and I am now on holidays – sigh of relief- ).

Also, there has been a rather massive time lapse since the last chapter. The last chapter was set September 1st, 1996. This one is set October, 1997. It's been over a year. Harry is seventeen and can now use magic to help him fight, but as he is purely up against akuma at this point, he doesn't use magic all that much. Also, Amirah's true form is through the power of words, but Harry doesn't use that unless he has to, still preferring his close-combat style from earlier, as it means he isn't left virtually defenceless as Amirah is off slaying bad-guys. Just thought I'd give you guys a quick run down of that as it has been so long – sorry wise and real-life wise.

Next chapter will be very soon, but also pretty short. It's more of a middle chapter, I suppose.

Until next time!