CHAPTER 9:

SNAKEDANCE

Harry had cursed when the Point Me spell refused to work. Wherever Caster or Ryuunosuke were, it was somewhere that prevented him from using it. Or maybe they had some way of blocking themselves from being detected by that spell. In annoyance, he had contacted Hermione, hoping that she had some idea that could help.

She and Waver were working on the issue, as it turned out. Harry notified them that their target was Gilles de Rais. As it was, Waver had a notion, albeit brainstormed with Hermione, that they could use alchemy to detect magecraft signatures in the main river of Fuyuki, using that to help pinpoint the base.

Harry also wasn't sure whether he could risk Fawkes, assuming the Phoenix could find Caster. The defences of their base, or attacks from Caster or Ryuunosuke might cause Fawkes to undergo a premature Burning Day, and Harry needed to have Fawkes to get Illya out of Germany. He rang up Risei and notified them about what Irisviel and Arturia had told him. He then began asking around with the local DMLE, though, and soon found that they had their own casefile open on the disappearances. The Japanese Aurors were hardly surprised that it had something to do with the Holy Grail War, and had been notified by Tokiomi Tohsaka about Ryuunosuke going rogue with Caster.

It was while Harry was on the phone to the Japanese DMLE that Fawkes vanished all of a sudden, while Medusa was petting the Phoenix. And shortly after he hung up, Fawkes appeared again. Only, he was not alone.

Medusa seemed as astonished at the new arrivals as he was. They appeared to be a pair of girls, in their mid-teens at oldest, dressed in Greek dress, with long purple hair, done in twin tails, framing inhumanly beautiful faces that looked a lot like Medusa. They also had the same eyes as Medusa. In fact, they could have been…

"Sister?" one of them asked, and Harry realised she had spoken in Parseltongue.

Medusa, uncomprehendingly, muttered, "Stheno? Euryale?"

With a sudden yelp of joy, one of them, Euryale, threw her arms around Medusa. Stheno, considerably more restrained, walked to Medusa and joined the embrace. "Sisters," Medusa said quietly in Parseltongue, closing her eyes and weeping. "I thought…I thought…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

The commotion had brought Kariya and Sakura from where they had been, Kariya teaching Sakura some magecraft theory. Kariya had merely remarked that the infamous Potter luck had struck again. Sakura, meanwhile, stared fascinated at the three Gorgon sisters, reunited at last.

"What happened to you two?" Medusa asked. "The last I remember of you is consuming you. I had thought you both dead by my hands."

"We were freed when Perseus slew you," Euryale said, looking glum. "It took us some time to realise what had happened, and what he did to you, and by the time we realised it…we could not follow him."

"The humans had believed us slain by you, little sister," Stheno said, her stoic façade still betraying her relief at finding her sister alive. "Realising that our guardian was gone, we worked on hiding the Shapeless Isle from the eyes of mortals. There we have resided ever since, and with the Age of Gods gone, we have been alone. Only the rare human or Dead Apostle had ever stumbled upon us."

"It must have been lonely," Medusa said.

"We had each other," Stheno said. "Are you a Heroic Spirit now?"

"Yes. But Harry there summoned me in an unconventional manner. I am no Servant. Indeed, I feel very much as I did while alive," Medusa said.

"Medusa," Harry said. "Can your sisters speak Japanese?"

"No, unless you use that translation charm. Parseltongue and the Greek of our time is all they know," Medusa said. Harry nodded, and cast the charm as Medusa explained it to her sisters.

"He has Thanatos' likeness, little sister," Stheno said. "No wonder you are smitten with him."

Medusa blushed, and Harry scratched at his head. "We've only just met. Or re-met, anyway."

"Oh, he's cute when he's in denial," Euryale said.

"Umm, Miss Stheno?" Sakura asked. "Why do you call your sister 'little'? She looks older than you."

Medusa and Stheno glanced at each other, before Stheno said, "When we were born, Euryale and I did not age, whereas Medusa did. She was the last of us to be born. Euryale and I are actually older than her, but we do not age."

"These two used to tease me about that," Medusa said.

Harry sighed quietly to himself. After a moment, he said, "Okay. As much as I'm glad that you're reunited, I'm going to have to set some ground rules. Actually, Medusa, could you please do so, and explain what not to do in front of Sakura?"

"Very well. I will explain about the Holy Grail War as well." Medusa then escorted her sisters out of the room.

"Good thing this place has plenty of bedrooms for staff, back when it was the Library of St John the Beheaded," Kariya muttered. Sakura knew the original name of the library, and had thought little of it other than gross. "What do Gorgons eat, though?"

"I dunno, but I'm guessing my Gringotts account is going to get more of a workout," Harry said. "Thank Merlin Kotomine's giving me a small stipend to act as the head of this sanctuary area."

"…If Medusa is my new mummy, does that make them aunts?" Sakura asked.

Harry sighed. "If Medusa is, I'm sure that's the case. You don't mind having Gorgons as aunts?"

"They seem nice."

Kariya laughed. "You know, this is like one of those manga or anime, only instead of accruing girlfriends, you're accruing a family! Sakura's the daughter, I'm her uncle, Medusa's your fiancée, and now, the Gorgons are going to be your sisters-in-law! Half your family is from myth!"

Harry groaned softly. Still, he hoped that the Gorgons would not complicate matters too much…

"…and that's how it is, sisters," Medusa said in Parseltongue, having explained what had happened, and what was happening.

Stheno frowned. "So, the Magi of this era are participating in a tournament using Heroic Spirits as familiars called Servants in order to activate a magical artifact that can reach Akasha," she mused. "This Harry Potter, who seems to be a fragment of your paramour, somehow summoned you, not as a Servant, but as a familiar."

"More than that. I think my body is becoming more and more real," Medusa said. "I think his magic, and that of Thanatos, is bringing me back into existence as I once was. I'm certain he is Thanatos. He is virtually unaffected by my eyes, Stheno. He either has something like EX-ranked magical resistance, which would be ridiculous for a human, let alone most Heroic Spirits, or…"

"I get the point," Stheno said.

"He also has one of Thanatos' Hallows, the Cloak. I spoke to him about it later, and he once possessed all three."

"He seems a lot like Thanatos," Euryale said. "Still has the same good looks, too. Hey, you even have the glasses thing now!" She then smirked. "So, have you two caught up, if you know what I mean?" Her waggled eyebrows left little to the imagination as to what she meant.

"Euryale!" Medusa snapped, scandalised. "We haven't even kissed yet! Though…we share a bed."

"I knew it!" Euryale said. "Ah, such a tale, of two starcrossed lovers, reunited by fate!"

"Well, let me lay down the law. Stheno, Euryale, you have met Sakura. Harry wishes to expose Sakura to the minimum of violence and lewdness. So make sure that you are decent at all times. The robes you are wearing are decent, and we will try to get modern attire for you. But she will be your niece, after a fashion, so you need to set a good example. No innuendo in front of Sakura."

"We're goddesses, Medusa," Euryale pouted. "We're good examples by default."

"We may also be receiving another guest in the evening," Medusa said. "Like Sakura, she will be a young girl of impressionable age. What's more, her father is a notorious assassin of this age, who is insanely experienced at killing Magi. We will NOT give him any excuse to target any of us. I wouldn't be surprised if he could find a way to kill a Heroic Spirit, or even a deity."

"And we're looking after his daughter, why?" Stheno asked.

"Because apparently his wife trusts Harry, and so does their Servant." Medusa closed her eyes, smiling. "It's good to see that you're both alive. When I was brought back into this world, I thought you both dead."

"We mourned you, Medusa," Stheno said. "It is good to have another chance to be a family again..."

It was now five o'clock in the Black Library, with the Gorgon Sisters chatting away, while Kariya played with Sakura. The phone trilled, and Harry went over to pick it up, answering it. "Hello, Black Library. Harry Potter speaking."

"Mr Potter, it's Tokiomi Tohsaka."

"Tokiomi…" Harry said. "What can I do for you?"

"A few things, but I wanted to first thank you for the information about Caster. Risei told me you obtained this from Saber and her proxy Master," Tokiomi said.

"You have a problem with this?"

"No, as long as you are staying within the rules, I have no objection to you communicating with other Masters and their Servants. In any case, the rules governing you aren't as restrictive as those regarding an Overseer. However, I need to call upon your services on a personal matter that overlaps with the Grail War. I have received word that a number of Rin's classmates have gone missing, and given that we suspect Ryuunosuke Uryu to have a hand in the recent disappearances of children, it may be that he has taken them. However, I just received word from Aoi that Rin didn't come home. She is usually punctual, and the school did say she left at the usual time."

Harry felt a chill run down his spine. "What," he said flatly. "Do you think she's been kidnapped?"

"Perhaps, but I know my daughter. She may very well have tried to investigate the disappearances herself. She is headstrong. I thought I was sending her into safety, but Ryuunosuke may either use her as leverage against me, or else kill her. I need you to find her and bring her to the Black Library, at least until Aoi can pick her up. Take Ophis at the very least. If you can find my daughter, I will be grateful."

Harry nodded, before he used his wand. "Point Me, Rin Tohsaka," he murmured. The wand indicated that she was not far from here. "And maybe, if Ryuunosuke is involved, I can deal with him. All right, Tokiomi. I'll go now."

"Thank you. And good luck."

As Harry hung up the phone, Medusa asked, "Trouble?"

"Yes. Rin's probably in Fuyuki," Harry said. "Kariya, Sakura, stay here. Stheno, Euryale, I need to borrow your sister. Fawkes, you'll have to wait for a bit before you bring our next guest."

"Rin's in trouble?!" Kariya demanded.

"She left school, but hasn't turned up at home. If we're lucky, she's decided to emulate me and try and have her own adventure. If we're unlucky, Ryuunosuke's got her. Kariya, stay here with Sakura!" Harry dashed out of the door, Medusa in tow.

"He seems quixotic," Stheno observed.

"In wizarding circles, Harry is famous, infamous even," Kariya said. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to dash out after Harry, and only the need to keep Sakura safe kept him there. "Thanks to his mother's sacrifice, he's the only known person to survive being hit by the wizards' ultimate curse, Avada Kedavra. He defeated an infamous Dark Lord multiple times, and managed to stop him forever before he turned 18. Harry's been in a lot of tight places before. And if there's anyone I trust to find Rin, it's him."

Sakura nodded. And with complete and utter conviction, far beyond even childish faith, she said, "Daddy will find Rin. He'll save her…"

Harry dashed along the streets, Medusa in tow, pausing every so often to cast the Point Me spell. Rin was on the move. And the sun was setting. Harry hoped with fervent hope that he wouldn't be too late, not just to save Rin, but to save other lives. And if he did encounter Ryuunosuke…he was going to put an end to that psychotic bastard…

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here you have it. The Gorgon sisters have now become part of the Black Library household, and Rin's on her adventure.

I've fiddled around with the timing of Rin's venturing into Fuyuki. It's not quite clear what time she actually heads to Fuyuki, save that it's at night, so I've changed it to the afternoon. With Kariya not Berserker's Master, he can't save Rin from Caster's horrors, hence Harry being called up by Tokiomi.

Incidentally, I hadn't originally intended to bring in Stheno and Euryale, but after thinking of their appearances in Fate's Gamble by Lupine Horror, along with cameos in a few of sakurademonalchemist's Fate/Stay Night stories, I thought having a family reunion would be nice, and also give a nice POV of Medusa, of which I hope to have more.

As Kariya basically says, though, Stheno and Euryale won't be part of a harem. A strange extended family, yes, but not a harem. In fact, for the moment, the pairing is strictly Harry/Medusa, and I have no plans for a harem. Stheno and Euryale will sort of be aunts to Sakura.

No numbered annotations for this chapter.