Ice Prince Alchemist
9foxgrl
The Heiress of Slytherin
After the fiasco at the Duel Club; Lisa became ostracized within her own House by everyone except for Ethan and the Twins. Although it was more for the reasons that she was a parselmouth. Draco and the others swore to say nothing about her lineage.
Ethan soon joined her in isolation in after he and Ron had a shouting match at breakfast about how it was unjustifiable that they were all persecuting her without any proof. After that the two began to take their meals with Zephyrus. The Twins silently supported her in order to be able to keep an eye on Ron and his band of conspirators.
It was a week before Neville was able to pry himself away from the hounding of his fellow Hufflepuffs to tell her that he believed that she was innocent.
For a while all everyone who suspected her just ignored her. At least until the morning after the Gryffindor-Slytherin game when Collin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley were found petrified in the corridors.
Lisa was immediately questioned about her whereabouts that night by the staff. Despite her insistence that she was in her bed sleeping none of her roommates wanted to confirm it in her defense. The only Gryffindor who did help her support her alibi was Ethan; who had been sleeping in the Common Room after he couldn't take anymore of Ron's chainsaw snoring. Fat Lady also confirmed that she had not left that night since returning from an early dinner.
The next night one or all of the girls in the second year dorm had taken to sabotaging Lisa's bed on a daily biases as well as attempting to break into her trunk. While she did not join in, Hermione made no motion to help her either. Their bullying started to make the normally cheerful girl withdrawn and her grades started to decline.
When the Christmas holidays came around they were surprised to find out that their respected teachers had ask for all three to meet in Central for the first two weeks of the holidays in order to prepare for 'E-Day' as Ed called it in May. After nearly two weeks of nonstop studying Ethan and Alex left for Ishval to help in the city's restoration process and to work on a new variation of alchemy for defensive purposes while Ed left for Resembool and Zephyrus returned to Briggs.
Roy had noticed something was off with his apprentice when she got off the train at King's Cross, not smiling or acting like her normal self. During the practical lessons she stumbled slightly when hitting targets with her alchemic attacks. After twenty misses and several hedges turned to cinders she left the range and sat down under a tree that survived.
Roy sat down beside her and patted Lisa on the head awkwardly. While he volunteered to be her foster father, he didn't fully believe that he was parental material. He usually left that up to Hawkeye.
"Are you okay?"
Lisa just shook her head.
"Did something happen at school?"
Lisa nodded.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Lisa sniffed and started to cry. Roy held her as she sobbed out how the majority of the students believed that she was the one responsible for the sudden rash of attacks that had left the students petrified and even if she had an alibi and witness who were with her, they all believe that she was a heartless killer. Even with Ethan and Zephyrus standing up for her their bullying was relentless.
"You shouldn't allow for this person's actions to hinder you like this." Roy said as she clung to him like a life preserver. "You said so yourself; you don't want to be like your birth father. You don't have to be. Stand up for yourself and choose how you what those wizards see you."
The two sat like that for a while until Hawkeye came looking for him. By then Lisa had cried herself to sleep.
"You know, I would never guess that you could actually be parental." Hawkeye commented as Roy gently lifted his foster daughter in his arms and started to carry her to his office where he set her down on the sofa. "Everyone in Central lost the betting pool since they all thought you would have had a midlife crisis by now."
"Do I look like I'll start wearing a leather jacket or get one of those motorcycles that Prewitt goes on about?" Roy replied as he covered Lisa with his jacket. "Besides…I guess having been friends with Hughes must have really affected me a lot."
(-0-)- Ice Prince Alchemist-(-0-)
The trio met up again for Zephyrus' and Ethan's own birthday on New Year's (which was held in Ishval). While there Zephyrus assisted Miles in locating underground reservoirs for the new wells.
The younger children of Ishval were amazed by the Northern teen's pale features and fascinated by his ice alchemy. Two children named Rick and Leo who took a shine to him asked him to create a small field of snow to play in. To everyone's surprise he just smiled and created enough for the small group of children to play in.
It was also during that time in the eastern deserts that Zephyrus discovered that he was very susceptible to heat exhaustion if he used his alchemy for a long duration of time. One of the crews that was digging out a location for the new well that would be in the city's square had heard from Miles that he was very good at water based alchemy, and asked if he could help them pull the water to the surface, so he used alchemy to help reach a spring that was deep underground and as a result; fainted as soon as the water bubbled to the surface. When he awoke Miles was sitting next to him placing a fresh cold compress on his forehead while Ethan was standing in the back of the room.
"So you can fight trolls, and stare down the most 'powerful' of wizards, but you can't handle a little heat?"
"Shut up Prewett."
(-0-)- Ice Prince Alchemist-(-0-)
Roy's pep talk did Lisa a lot of good especially when she had a chance to talk with Lan Fan and Ling who were visiting Central on a diplomacy mission; Ling even gave her a sure fire way to divert her bullies. The night they returned Lisa stood up during dinner and announced aloud that if anyone else accused her of being responsible for the recent attacks then she would have no choice but to challenge them to an Agni Kai as Ling had called it. If the insulter lost then a mark of dishonor would literally be burned onto their flesh as a reminder of their slander. After hearing that her declaration the insults and sabotage of her possessions ended immediately. No one knew what an Agni Kai was; only that it involved a 'trial by fire' so to speak.
The following weeks were relatively quiet until Valentine's Day when Lockhart decorated the entire Great Hall in bright pink. Zephyrus arrived in a rather irritated mood (apparently Cho Chang and half of the other girls spent a majority of the night loudly squealing about the next day) when the man made his declaration about the dwarves singing valentines.
The sleepy preteen took one look at the hall then, blinked, and grabbed a mug of coffee and turned to leave cursing "It's too early in the morning for this idiocy."
No one could find him the entire day.
There were no more attacks and the year seemed that it was going to end calmly when Zephyrus received a message from the Spanish Ministry in early May. Apparently one of their wizards found some works by Flamel in the Madrid library, however they were all mundane biology books and they didn't know if there was anything of worth in them. After getting permission from Grumman and Ed, the Spanish Ministry forwarded him the copies of the research to decrypt.
It took him almost his entire weekend to break the code and find the hidden information. A majority of which he spent in his room using his own alchemy reference books and some Greek and Spanish dictionaries. His friends popping in to make sure he took regular breaks and was eating.
While the books didn't contain anything to the Philosopher's Stone; however he did discover that the books contained Flamel's notes on his chimera research.
The chimera research had only gone on for roughly two years, and the children they found in the villa were not the only ones. There were others, but he dumped their remains in an unmarked mass grave, quite possibly across the borders into Portugal or southern France. Prior to that Flamel had made mention of teaching a promising student about red water in France.
But what sickened him the most was a brief mention of Flamel comparing his brief visitation of Greece to his former home of Xerxes.
Not knowing what red water was he made a copy of the notes to forward to the Elrics. He had a really bad feeling about this red water.
By the end he burned himself out with his all-nighters and slept through the rest of Sunday night. When he woke up on Monday, he was not expecting to be awakened by Lisa in a near panic.
"What wrong?" He asked groggily.
"Zephyrus…it's…they've been…"
Fearing the worst Zephyrus followed her at a fast run up to the hospital wing. He paled as he recognized four new people lying on the beds petrified.
"What…happened?" Zephyrus gasped.
"They went to the library early this morning." Lisa whimpered. "That's where Professor McGonagall found them."
"Oh dear God…" Zephyrus whispered in horror as he approached.
There on the beds were Ethan, Luna, and Neville. In a bed adjacent to them was Hermione.
"Do you know what this clue was?"
Lisa hastily looked around before taking out two scraps of paper, one looking liked it was ripped from a book; that she had tucked in the pockets of her jeans and handed it to him.
"I found it in Ethan's hands gripped in a death vice. Hermione had the one from the book in hers." Lisa explained as Zephyrus unfolded it.
Ethan's note had the world parseltongue at the top, followed by a list of magical snakes; from Ashwinders to Runespoors notes of their abilities were added next to them. A majority were scratched out only leaving the basilisk on the list along with Moaning Myrtle's name and Tom Riddle with stars around it.
Zephyrus then looked at the ripped page from the book.
Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.
Underneath it was an added note: Pipes
"What now?" Lisa asked him.
Zephyrus took a deep breath, snapping back into his Ice Prince persona, and then turned to face her with fierce determination in his eyes. "We need to send a notice to Lt. Colonel Prewett. He'll want to know about this."
"And then?"
Zephyrus's glare darkened. Lisa shivered; his cold blue eyes looked like they were staring into her very soul.
"We find the bastard responsible for this and kick their ass."
Lisa nodded in agreement then followed him out of the hospital wing. Both of them were wearing grim but determined faces. After sending off the note with Valkirye the two immediately gathered their alchemy gear and headed to Moaning Myrtles bathroom, both noticed a new message scrawled on the wall and their motivation intensified.
Lisa quickly found the sink Ethan had marked in his notes and hissed.
"Open."
There was a churning as the sinks rose up then separated revealing a large tunnel heading underground. Lisa casted a quick light spell to illuminate it.
"Looks pretty deep."
"Yup."
"Who goes first?"
"There will be no need for anyone to go down there."
The two turned slightly to see Lockhart pointing his wand at them. His golden hair and his periwinkle robes were in disheveled as if he just ran.
"Now, if you kindly back away we can sort this all out."
"Planning on another idiotic display?" Zephyrus asked as the wizard approached. "Or another farce like in those books?"
"I can say I caught the heiress of Slytherin." Lockhart said greedily as he looked at Lisa like she was a prized trophy. "That alone will bring me much more fame. Just capturing you alone will set me for life."
Before he could utter a single spell Zephyrus launched forward to kick him in the stomach then threw him over his shoulder and down into the tunnel. They waited until he stopped screaming and they heard a thud from below. Lisa and Zephyrus merely exchanged a look then followed. When they landed they appeared to be in a chamber with another door against the wall and the floor littered with the skeletons of several small creatures.
Lockhart tried to curse them again, but this time Lisa incinerated his wand with a quick snap of her fingers and Zephyrus hit him with a well-aimed stunning charm between his eyes.
(-0-)- Ice Prince Alchemist-(-0-)
"This place is freaking me out." Lisa whispered as she climbed down some stairs into a sort of ante chamber with wall to wall snake statues.
"Your ancestor really had a snake fetish." Zephyrus replied.
Lisa just shuddered until she noticed some one lying at the foot of the largest statue. "Zephyrus."
The two approached cautiously; while Zephyrus slipped out a dagger from his sleeve and looked around cautiously Lisa leaned down to check the girl for a pulse. Seeing the red hair she gently rolled her over then paled as she noticed a worn journal in her hands.
"She won't wake." Said an amused male voice.
Zephyrus braced himself as a tall boy seemly melted out of the shadows in front of them.
"Who are you?"
The figure seemed to examine them both with curiosity. "Who I am means nothing…however…I know the two of you. Lisa Malfoy the 'snake in the lions' den. And of course Harry Potter the object of Miss Weasely's affections."
"My name is- ah forget it!" Zephyrus cursed. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU ATTACK OUR FRIENDS?"
The boy tilted his head in amusement. "Why? Because Ginny asked me to. There was only so long I could tolerate her whining about her prince charming ignoring her because of his friends. However, it's not you that interests me most of all."
He turned to Lisa with curiosity. "You girl…you have the same eyes as me."
"Tom Riddle." She whispered in fear. "You're Tom Riddle?"
Zephyrus quickly caught onto the double meaning and made himself a shield between them. With a quick flick of the wrist he threw that dagger at him only to have Tom repel it with Ginny's wand.
"Get out of the way Potter."
"I don't respond to that name anymore Riddle." Zephyrus snapped as leaned forward to prepare lunge. "And I sure as Hell am not moving so you can hurt my friend."
Tom just smirked and pointed to the statue behind Lisa. "Speak to me Slytherin! Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!"
"RUN ZEPHYRUS!" Lisa yelled as she heard the snake hiss in anger as it slithered out of the statue. Zephyrus quickly tugged on the snow blinding goggles around his neck and clapped his hands together before slamming them on the chamber floor. Lisa shivered as the surge of Zephyrus' alchemy caused all the water on the floor to rush towards the snake as ice stalagmites.
While none of them could pierce the snakes' hide they did slow down its movements.
"I thought these damn things were cold blooded!" Zephyrus snapped as he used alchemy to create a barrier around Lisa and Ginny before drawing his sword and charging. The blade to his surprise managed to pierce the Basilisk's thick scales.
"YOU IDIOT!" Lisa yelled through clenched teeth as she tugged on her gloves and snapped a large fireball at Tom before he could try to attack Zephyrus.
"What sort of magic is this?" Tom demanded as he tried to extinguish the fire ball, but resorted to dodging it, just as Zephyrus ducked behind them and let the fire ball hit the basilisk.
"Kill the boy!" Tom hissed.
"Don't look at its eyes!" Lisa yelled as Zephyrus disappeared down an adjacent water flooded tunnel.
"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" Zephyrus yelled in the distance.
Lisa abandoned the safety of the barrier to start sending more fireballs at Tom who decided that dodging them was easier then attempting to negate them. Apparently when these fireballs hit a magic barrier it created a magical backlash on the wand holder.
"Who do you think you are to challenge Lord Voldemort!" Tom yelled as he managed to grab a hold of her hair. Lisa screamed as he pulled it hard.
"Who are you girl?" Tom snared. "How can a child raised among Muggles have the magic of Slytherin running through her veins?"
In the distance they heard Zephyrus scream in pain, making Tom grin triumphantly. "Well look at, one down, and another to go."
'No, no! I won't lose to a monster like you!'
There was another howl from the tunnels, this one sounding more animalistic. Zephyrus then stumbled in with a blood sword in one hand and a basilisk fang in the other, cradling his right arm. From under his bloody hair Lisa could see some ice formed around the elbow.
"I killed the basilisk." He said weakly before leaning against one of his ice pillars.
"And you were bitten as a result." Tom sneered. "Don't worry Potter; you will be with your dead parents soon.
Eyes widening in fear then narrowing in determination Lisa snapped a small fire ball to incinerate Tom's hand and some of her hair, leaving it short and singed at the ends.
She then ripped off the gloves and flicked out her pendant and held in front of her. The alchemy circle started to glow a shade of gold before turning bright red, illumining the chamber in its glow. Zephyrus, who had witnessed this form of alchemy attack during the Promised Day, hastily retreated behind one of the snake statues for cover.
"You want to know who I am Tom? My name is Lisa Malfoy! I am the Heiress of Slytherin!" Lisa roared as she released the energy from the pendant.
The chamber was illuminated with a bright flash of light and heat. There was a scream of pain from Tom as he was incinerated but to their shock, still burned he stood up laughing.
"You can't kill me!" Tom yelled. "You can't kill me as long as my memories live!"
Looking at the diary Lisa understood the hidden meaning. Grabbing it she threw it at him. "ZEPHYRUS!"
Zephyrus winced in pain as he threw his sword out to stab the diary in mid-air. Tom screamed as the venom now embedded in the sword's metal seeping into the diary, severing the connection. The two watched in shock as Tom began to melt in front of their eyes, screaming in pain.
Ginny woke with a gasp and looked around in fear. Ignoring her, Lisa scurried over to Zephyrus who was lying against the walls breathing shallowly now that the ice began to fall apart at his arm.
"Zephyrus, are you-?"
Zephyrus smiled weakly and pulled up his right sleeve revealing an open wound.
"On no! No!"
"Well, at least you can't be called the source behind the attacks." He breathed weakly.
"You can't die, come on! Stay alive!" Lisa yelled as she slapped him to keep his eyes open.
"Basilisk venom…is one of the deadliest in the world…" he wheezed. "I…froze the wound…to try slow it down…but…it's wearing off…S-sorry…"
"No come on! You'll live!" Lisa snapped as she shook him.
There was a burst of silver light from above and another drop in temperatures.
"Valkyrie…you're here?" Zephyrus wheezed as the ice phoenix landed on his injured arm.
The phoenix cried out as let a single glimmering tear fall from its eyes and into the wound. Another flash of silver light later, the wound was healed and color was returning to Zephyrus' cheeks.
Wincing a bit, the boy sat up and looked at Valkyrie with amazement. "Thank you."
The three headed to the entry way they came in, Lockhart was still lying on the floor unconscious.
"So…what should we do with him?" Lisa asked.
"Let's leave him here." Zephyrus replied bluntly.
Ginny eyes widened in shock. "Really?"
"Well unless you have a better option, I don't think Valkyrie is magically powerful enough to take all four of us to the surface." Zephyrus replied.
*~(Ice Prince Alchemist)~*
After Ginny pointed out that they could possibly get in trouble for doing that, Zephyrus reluctantly levitated the man out. The three then left him in the bathroom tied to the sinks with Myrtle telling him every little pain of her afterlife.
The three followed Valkyrie to a nearby classroom where they jumped as a man's voice reverberated through the solid oak doors.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE?"
"It sounds like Roy is here." Zephyrus said with a hint of amusement. Lisa just snickered weakly then opened the door.
Sure enough Roy was in the classroom along with Fabian, Olivier, a red haired couple who were with the Twins and Ron that Zephyrus had recognized as their parents Arthur and Molly, Flitwick, McGonagall, and to his distaste; Dumbledore.
"GINNY!"
"Mum!" Ginny cried as she ran into the arms of the woman who had been crying.
Olivier crossed the room swiftly and quickly looked Zephyrus over for injuries. Roy did the same for Lisa, and then to her shock, he hugged her.
"Thank goodness you're okay." He whispered.
Lisa's eyes watered a bit. "The Heir is gone; and so is the monster."
Olivier pushed Zephyrus into a chair. "What happened?"
Lisa opened her mouth to speak, but then Ethan stumbled in. Catching sight of his friends' disheveled appearance he sighed in relief before leaning against his dad for support.
"You kicked that Heir's butt huh?"
Ethan gave them a quick summary of how had been secretly investigating the Heir of Slytherin before he was attacked. He deduced since Lisa heard something that night he deduced that is was a snake of some kind and then used some books to research what kind it could have been. Finding just a list of magical snakes and their abilities to work with he interviewed the ghosts and asked them about the last time the Chamber had opened with Luna and Neville assisting him. They had then been led by Peeves to Moaning Myrtle.
Her testimony and recount of how she died helped narrow the list down to the Basilisk. In fact he had been on his way to warn Lisa and Zephyrus when they ran into Hermione outside the library. It was there they had been attacked from behind.
Lisa and Zephyrus picked up from there; keeping out certain details, they told of how they use Ethan's clues to get into the Chamber when Lockhart attempted to ambush them.
"He's tied up in the bathroom." Zephyrus said looking at Roy who glared at the mention of the man.
Tom then appeared from the Diary and confessed to not only using Ginny as a puppet, but that he was the student who became Voldemort before unleashing the Basilisk on them. Lisa held the spirit away from Ginny with fire spells while Zephyrus led the Basilisk away from them, including being injured as he tried to kill with his sword.
Olivier yanked up his right sleeve to see the fading scar. Only Zephyrus caught the glimmer of worry in her eyes before she allowed them to continue.
"I bombarded that guy with all the fire spells I knew." Lisa said catching Roy's glance. "But none of them worked. He just regenerated until Zephyrus managed to pierce the diary he came out of with his sword."
"But how did that work?" Arthur asked. "He used a muggle sword didn't he?"
"Did you use the same sword that you used to kill the basilisk?" Flitwick asked.
"Yes sir."
Flitwick thought for a moment. "Well, there have been a case where a weapon that had been used to slay a venomous creature the venom it's self seeps into the weapon. But that was with Goblin made weapons. Muggle swords would deteriorate on contact and broken when confronted with the snake's hide."
He turned to the two sword wielders. "Do you know who forged them?"
The Armstrongs exchanged a look before shaking their heads. "Our blades have been passed down the family line for generations. But the forger's name was never told to us."
"As interesting as this revelation is." Fabian interjected. "We still don't know how it was possible for a diary to control Ginerva and make her attack her fellow classmates."
"Yes, there are many theories to that question." Dumbledore said; speaking for the first time. "But I do believe that Tom placed an enchantment of sorts on this diary…and used it to possess Miss Weasely."
"WHAT? You Know Who possessed Ginny?" Molly screeched making the Amestrians wince at the volume.
"Not to worry, I'm sure with young Harry's intervention and destruction of the diary there is not a trace of the spirit left."
"Harry?" Arthur said questionably then looked at the teen. "I thought your name is Zephyrus?"
"It is." The teen growled.
"His muggle name is Zephyrus dad." Ron piped up before the Twins could stop him. "His real name is Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter?" Molly repeated in shock.
"That was his name, until I adopted him!" Olivier snapped back at her.
"I thought you left the boy with his muggle relatives." Molly asked the Headmaster, completely ignoring the fuming Armstrongs.
"I did. And that is where young Harry will be spending a portion of his summer. So he can get in touch with them again."
"YOU HAVE TO BE INSANE IF YOU THINK THAT I WILL ALLOW ZEPHYRUS TO GO BACK TO THE BASTARDS WHO HAD ABANDONED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Olivier yelled. Roy and Fabian quickly backed away towards the door, dragging their charges with them. Fred and George manically grabbed their father and siblings and backed away as well.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked.
"Trust us little brother-"
"-You do not want to anger Zephyrus' Mum anymore."
"Why?"
"She is the highest ranked and scariest woman in the Amestrian military for a very good reason." Roy and Fabian deadpanned.
Fred and George nodded fearfully.
Ron snorted. "So what? I bet she isn't as scary as you think."
Fred and George grabbed him. "SHUT UP RON!"
"DON'T BE SUICIDAL!"
"Please Madam, I am sure that young Harry-"
"YOU WOULD TRUST THEM TO TAKE CARE OF HIM FOR TWO MONTHS AFTER THEY ABANDONED HIM IN ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS MOUNTAIN RANGES IN WESTERN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BLIZZARD? AND SECONDLY MY SON IS ZEPHYRUS! I ADOPTED HIM, AND GAVE HIM A NEW NAME BECAUSE HE HAD NONE!"
"That's can't be possible!" Molly cried out from behind the woman radiating murderous intent.
Roy and Fabian winced as Olivier turned slightly to focus some of her wrath onto the woman.
"No it is." The white haired teen replied in a vain attempt to keep his mother from attacking a civilian bare handed. "I had no idea what my name was or where I even came from at the time so Mother gave me a one."
"But Harry, your relatives-"
The boy suddenly glared at Molly, perfectly mimicking the cloud of promised doom radiating from his adoptive mother.
"My name is Zephyrus Armstrong! Harry Potter died the second he was abandoned to the Durselys! And in case you don't believe me or Mother about how terrible they were to me in the one YEAR that I was living with them I'm sure the doctor who treated me for pneumonia and hypothermia back then also documented the other injuries I had!"
"Injuries?" she said meekly.
"Broken wrist, multiple bruises, and some recently new and old lacerations." Olivier counted off as she remembered how pitiful a state the toddler had been in when she had found him trying to stay warm in a hollow log. "Frankly I'm surprised that you weren't picked off by the wildlife before I had found you."
"Please, I'm sure that it was all a simple misunderstanding-"Dumbledore tried to argue, but suddenly found that he was facing both of the Armstrong's death glares, including the glares of the two men who had accompanied her in storming his office after receiving word that Ethan had been petrified and Zephyrus & Lisa had gone missing minutes after Ginny had been taken.
"One does not abuse a child due to a simple misunderstanding." Olivier growled. "Now this is enough on the matter Headmaster; your authority ends here at the school grounds on matters of academia, and from what I have seen so far it is lacking."
"Our professors are the best in Europe!" Dumbledore tried to argue.
"With the exception of the buffoon who thought he could use my ward as a ticket to stardom I'm sure." Roy interjected angrily. "Morally this school is doing very little to correct any misconceptions about non-magical ideals or subdue the racist ideals that are causing strife generation after generation. With enough time I'm sure you will end up being the alma mater to the next 'Dark Lord' as you call them."
"If case it slipped your mind Dumbledore, the main reason I even allowed for Zephyrus to attend this institution was a political sign of good faith on our countries' behalf towards the United Kingdom!" Olivier stressed. "Had it not been for that then he wouldn't have come!"
"The same reason I allowed Lisa to come here." Roy added. "I'm sure we could have done just as well if Fabian or a private instructor tutored them."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence sir." Fabian replied as he stood between his son and sister. He had been nearing the point of shooting the man when his son stumbled in.
"Hogwarts is the finest magical school in Britain!" Molly chastised to her brother.
"It is the only magical school in Britain Molly." Fabian retorted dryly.
"Zephyrus, you are to return home as soon as the term ends. If you're not on that train then I will come back up here, with the Briggs Bears in tow!" Olivier snapped; the last part of her threat directed at Dumbledore. "Fully armed!"
(-0-)- Ice Prince Alchemist-(-0-)
"Another year of crazy magic school finished." Ethan sighed as the train started to leave Hogsmeade station. "Think we can survive five more?"
"Unless we can get the Fuhrer to start a magic school up in Amestris it's not like we have much of a choice." Zephyrus muttered as half heartily while pilfering a spearmint stick from his nearly empty candy bag.
"It's not a real question if we can survive it, more like if Hogwarts can survive when we get our certifications." Lisa laughed. "I guess the next time we'll see each other will be for the exam in Central."
Upon his return to the Armstrong Manor Zephyrus collapsed on his bed and fell into the world of dreams.
At first everything was all white, and then a familiar looking door appeared.
"Welcome back Little One."
Zephyrus gasped as a vague figure with a grinning mouth appeared in front of him.
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"Oh that's right, you were only a small child back then you don't remember the first time you visited me?"
"Visited?"
Zephyrus gasped as he vaguely remembered the incident that destroyed his scar. "You're…the Gate of Truth. What do you want from me?"
"Don't worry; you're just here in a dream sense. I'll let you go in a minute."Truth laughed.
"Then why-?"
"Do you know you destroyed something very important this year child?"
"I did?"
Truth just laughed.
"Tell me child, what is the greatest taboo amongst alchemists?"
"The creation of gold and humans."
"Very good. And can you guess what the taboo amongst wizards is?"
"Common sense." Zephyrus deadpanned.
Truth just laughed.
"Oh if only that true, or else their actions would have been a lot easier to understand. The greatest taboo amongst the magical community is the manipulation of human souls, both alive and dead."
Zephyrus gaped.
"Did you know that there was something inside that diary? It was similar what was inside your scar as a child."
"Something…was inside the scar?"
"Yes and there are five more still in existence. Do you want to know what it was?"
If possible; Truth's grin grew larger.
"The thing…was the fragment of your birth parents' murderer. A fragment of his soul."
Zephyrus woke up in a cold sweat.
Some things cannot be explained and the Gate of Truth's actions is one of them. With the return of an old friend and a suspected killer on the loose life is never dull.
Next time – State Alchemy Exam
It's is time for the Ice Prince to be crowned.
OMAKE – The Queen's Knight
Zephyrus was currently with Dr. Elsie reading a fairytale story book. Apparently she didn't think that it was alright for a soon to be four year old to be learning to read from military manuals so she wrote to her parents to send her some of the books she read as a child, many of which were fairytales with princess and dragons.
"Umm… ?"
"Yes? What's wrong?" the doctor asked looking away from Buccaneer and Ian* at her small charge.
"A lot of these books have princess and queens in them."
"So they do."
"And everyone calls my mother a queen."
Buccaneer snickered. "An Ice Queen."
"So…who is her knight?"
"Eh?"
Zephyrus opened the book and pointed to a picture of a knight protecting his queen. "All queens have a knight to help them…then who is mother's knight?"
The doctor and the two men exchanged a look. That was good question.
Buccaneer stated that his roll was more like a bishop's than a knight so that began the debate with would last for nearly two months, the question slipping to the general forces who added their own opinions before they came up with an answer. It was during a brief strike with Drachma. The General and Miles (who had only joined a month ago) had gone topside when they were attacked by Drachman sniper squad.
The General got hit in the shoulder and Miles kept her safe until Buccaneer and the Bears arrived to dispose of them, but not before the General and Miles worked together to fire one of the cannons they had been inspecting at them. To everyone's surprised Zephyrus went up to Miles and thanked him for protecting his mother, he even hugged him!
The next day they gave Zephyrus an answer. Elsie, Ian, Buccaneer, and Hell even a majority of Briggs who voted decided unanimously.
The Ice Queen's knight was Miles.
But to their surprise the child just laughed.
"But I already knew that! Mother and Miles told me." Zephyrus laughed as he ran off, leaving them stunned.
OMAKE # 2- Declaration of Love
His eyes are as blue as a calming draught
His hair as white as the peppermint candy
I truly wish he was mine,
He's really divine,
The Hero who conquered the Dark Lord.
Zephyrus just stared at the dwarf who had discovered onto his hiding place on top of Ravenclaw Tower and gave him a Galleon. "Here, go get some strong liquor to make you forget that."
"Much obliged." The dwarf said before flying off.
*Ian is the name I made up for Buccaneer's automail mechanic at Fort Briggs.
A/n: I'm starting up a poll on what nicknames Ethan & Lisa should receive on my profile. So please vote!
