A/N: Please keep in mind that just because the character in this chapter is Sepira's son and Kawahira's 'nephew', that doesn't mean he knew that the Tri-ni-Set is administered by Kawahira. Otherwise he would have known that his 'uncle' was the one who cursed his father to live in the body of a toddler.
While in Japan Adriano thinks of himself as Hikaru, but reborn thinks of his son by his actual name- Adriano. It reminds me of the fact that when I go back to the town I grew up in most people call me by my middle name, which most people I know in the town I live in call me by my nickname/first name.
Oops, had to fix something~!
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"So-" Reborn started once everyone had gathered in his son's rather tiny bedroom. Kyouya was glowering at Adriano and Tsuna looked as if he was about three seconds away from wrapping 'Karu-nii in layers of cotton and stuffing him in a padded room. Hikaru had gotten them all gathered without him getting beat to a pulp by promising a very interesting story.
Personally, Hikaru held no hope that such a story would keep Kyouya from meting out much-deserved, (in the dark-haired Hibari's opinion, anyways), punishment for being wounded- and leaving to begin with, really.
Kyouya did not deal well with unexpected things. Especially when they resulted in Hikaru being injured.
So, Blaise, Hayato, Tsuna, Tetsu, Kyouya, Kyou-chan, and Hikaru- who had Reborn ensconced firmly on his lap- were all sitting on pillows in Hikaru's bedroom over Asuka-obaa-chan's shop, waiting for Hikaru to regale them with his tale.
"I met with Pecora, the Flamel Family Retainer and Aria- the Giglio Nero Boss and my pseudo-niece, crashed our meeting." Reborn sipped on his espresso as he eyed Tsuna, who was slowly inching closer to Hikaru, rather grumpily. Reborn had just gotten his son back after he had nearly died, and less than a year ago his son had been kidnapped. Reborn was not giving up his spot on Hikaru's lap. Not even for the rather fluffy little brat who adored his son.
"Many things happened, but the most interesting thing is that Pecora is better known to me as Talbot- the eccentric, but formidable smith who forged the Vongola and Giglio Nero Famiglia rings." Reborn gaze then a very serious look. "Those rings have helped keep the Famiglia in power for more than two centuries. They are that powerful. Keep that in mind."
"Wow." Hayato whispered as he scribbled some notes.
Reborn nodded in agreement. "Yes, well, Aria had a request for Talbot and I was surprised that he agreed. There was a locket, a cup, and an old-fashioned tiara that Hikaru recovered when he went to Hogwarts that I used as collateral for Aria's request, though I had not originally planned to do so. That is where the interesting story comes into play." Reborn took another sip of his espresso and enjoyed the expectant and exasperated looks he was receiving.
He did so love to mess with these brats. He spent a moment wishing that Kyouya had sat in his line of sight instead of in the window where he would not be 'crowded'.
"Apparently, Talbot has a personal connection to those items as they were forged by his father. Once Aria left he told me about it, and gave me permission to tell Adriano, since Adi is the reason why the items were recovered and/or purified."
"But the Founders lived over a thousand years ago, Papá!" Hikaru exclaimed, sitting up a little straighter and causing Reborn coffee to jostle dangerously.
The Sun Arcobaleno poked his son rather pointedly in the stomach. "Be still, chair." He ordered and gave a quelling glare to the rest of the brats. "This information is to be kept to yourselves, am I understood?" At the ardent nods Reborn nodded in satisfaction and settled back against Adriano. "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted."
Hikaru nervously laughed and stayed extra still.
"According to Talbot, his mother was a rather long-lived woman named Sepira." Reborn told them after he allowed the tension to build a little. "Salazar Slytherin apparently did not leave Hogwarts as part of a conflict, but was tasked with being the Cloud Arcobaleno as part of his generations' incarnation of the Arcobaleno. The other Founders concocted the story of an argument to cover up the truth- as they could not explain about Flames to anyone else- and Slytherin left the school. Shortly thereafter, Talbot was brought to his father by his mother. Evidently Sepira and Slytherin had a romantic relation shortly before Slytherin's transformation into an Arcobaleno.
Sepira stayed with them until Talbot was roughly five years of age before she left them, only returning to visit every-so-often. Sepira had a cousin by the name of Kawahira, who often visited the father and son in the later years. As far as Talbot knows, they were the last two of their people, but both of them were rather tight-lipped about their pasts."
Reborn shifted a bit and took another sip from his coffee cup. Leon apparently had become bored with sleeping on Reborn's fedora and the little chameleon scampered off of the fedora to curl up on Reborn's lap so the Arcobaleno could pet him. "Slytherin was a Potions Master and a renowned Alchemist. In fact, he had made the cup, locket, and tiara as well as creating an entirely unique metal that his friend's sword was to be forged from. Slytherin was also a Master Craftsman, though he favored items as opposed to weapons.
Throughout his life after his induction to the ranks of the Arcobaleno, Slytherin and Talbot created many items, potions, and elixirs as they attempted to free Slytherin from his Curse. The Philosopher's Stone- which was stored at Hogwarts and Adriano rescued- was one of those creations."
"Do you ever have a normal day, Hikaru-sempai?" Hayato asked somewhat doubtfully.
"Once." Hikaru told the boy rather cheekily. "I think it was a Tuesday."
"Anyways." Reborn pushed forward as he glowered the snickers into submission. "One day Slytherin disappeared, leaving only a cryptic message behind. A few weeks later Kawahira came to see Talbot, who informed him that Slytherin had perished. After that Talbot became largely disconnected from the world, choosing to live in solitude on the small farm he had shared with his father. The two had travelled the world in their quest to find an alternative to the Arcobaleno Curse, but the farm is where they spent most of their lives. He had apparently only decided to help the Vongola and the Giglio Nero at the request of his mother and by that time his father's most cherished creations had been lost to time."
Reborn swirled his coffee as he looked over the assembled children. "Talbot told me all of this so that I would understand the significance of giving him the items. Pernelle Flamel, he informed me, is his only child and Nicholas is a descendent of Talbot's mother's cousin, Kawahira." Reborn tipped his head back to look at his son. "He said that he would speak with them about assisting us on Victoriè Isle, but he thought that they would enjoy the challenge."
Hikaru let out a relieved breath. "Good. We could definitely use their expertise."
The man-trapped-in-a-child's-body nodded in agreement. "At any rate, before too much longer there will be some rings that Talbot and Aria asked me to keep safe. After speaking with Federico, we decided that in order to fulfill Aria's request, we would do some shuffling among ourselves."
"Huh?" Seemed to be general feeling of the group.
Reborn sighed quietly, but tried to explain without revealing too much. "Among the Vongola the rings that Talbot forged for Primo were divided between the Main House and the CEDEF- the Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia- which functions as an external information gathering advisory branch to the Main House. While taking recent incidents into consideration, Federico has decided that the half-rings that the CEDEF currently hold will come to my control; while the rings that Aria requested I keep safe will be redirected to him and his Guardians. The switch will not happen until December, when Talbot will be doing some 'maintenance' on them."
"Why do they have to have holders?" Tetsu asked, his brow contracted in confusion. "Why can't we just put them in a box somewhere?"
"The rings are likened to the Arcobaleno Curse in that they need to be held by someone who has Flames, preferably by a Flame Active person." Reborn explained patiently.
Reborn was focusing on Tsuna and Hayato, who needed a bit more thorough explanation and some instruction about how important it was going to be for them to work on the Flames, so he missed the sharp look Adriano sent Tetsu. Tetsu caught the look and nodded slightly in acquiescence, even as turned his eyes towards Kyouya who gave him a tight, expectant nod.
By the time Reborn refocused on the group as a whole, the exchange was over and Tetsu was scribbling away in his trusty notebook.
"Now that we've had story time, let's all yell at Adriano for being stupidly noble and getting wounded. Again." Reborn chirped cheerily, prompting Adriano to groan miserably and the others to gleefully join in, Kyouya whacking him over the head with his tonfa a few times as an opener.
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Pernelle Flamel- she preferred Ellè, personally- was many things. A Beauxbatons graduate, Ellè was an Artisan Enchantress as well as a highly distinguished Runesmistress. Ellè was also a Master of Blood Magicks, though that title had been left off of her for at least three centuries due to the Ministries branding the subject as 'Dark'. Nicholas Flamel- or Nick, as he preferred- had several distinguished titles that complemented his lovely wife's titles. Also a graduate of Beauxbatons, he had obtained the distinguished titles of Artisan Alchemist, which of course required a Master's Certificate in Potions, as well as being an Artisan Arithmancer, and a Ritual Master. Both Flamels were quite accomplished in Herbology and Magical Creatures out of sheer necessity, but neither had bothered to gain an official title in those areas.
Of course, they had about a thousand other smaller titles, but Enchanting and Alchemy were their passions. Everything else that they did and accomplished was mostly to support the two things.
Ellè was Talbot's only child, and Nick was the only Apprentice Talbot ever bothered to take on. It had been Talbot who had provided the couple with their pseudo-immortality.
Ellè had always figured that her eccentric father had gotten relatively lonely, and that was why he had taken Nick on as an Apprentice and provided them with the Elixir. They had been nearly three hundred before they had managed to recreate the thing, even with instructions and the Philosopher's Stone already at hand!
Still, Ellè and Nick always quietly worried for Talbot as the eccentric man was prone to disappearing on personal expeditions for years at a time, only to come home to his farm and isolate himself while he experimented and tinkered until he either accomplished his goal or once again failed his self-appointed quest.
Neither Ellè nor Nick had ever discovered what the quest was, but it was Talbot's lifelong goal to achieve it, they knew that much.
So it was understandable that when Talbot came back to them from retrieving the Philosopher's Stone they'd loaned Albus- he had told them he was experimenting with an elixir that could actually cleanse the Hogwarts dungeons, which had needed a desperate cleansing but there was no extra money in the school budget for such a thing- more excited that they had seen well- ever. They were understandably concerned.
"Father, is everything alright?" Ellè asked him as the elder man nearly bounced into the Flamel's sitting room.
Talbot snatched his daughter up and twirled her around excitedly. "Ellè, my dear! It's so exciting!" Talbot dipped the bemused woman and then allowed her to spin out of his hold before he bounced over to the sofa and threw himself down on it. "The people who recovered the Stone also had some of my father's greatest works! And then young Aria made her request and-" Talbot broke off there and leapt back to his feet and grinned widely at them. "How to the two of you feel about assisting some younglings as they recover an island that had been lost to the world for nearly as long as you two have been alive!"
Nick blinked owlishly a few times as he tried to process his father-in-law's uncharacteristic exuberance and the information. He shared a quick, lost glance with his lovely wife and was somewhat satisfied to see an equally lost- if not softly happy- look on her face as well. "Master?"
Talbot waved his hand negligently. "How many times have I told you to call me Father, Nick?" the man twirled excitedly and pinned the two Flamels with an excited look. "Allow me to explain what has happened…"
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It had been nearly three weeks since the operation the Varia had performed with the assistance of the Tenth Gen Chiavarone, and roughly a week since Adriano and the Sun Arcobaleno- along with Mammon's brat- had gone back to Japan. As a show of good faith and a way to forge ties between the Tenth Generation of the Vongola and the Chiavarone, Marius Potter had been left with the Varia.
Of course, Shamal was checking in on the brat from time to time and Adriano's Godfather was also assisting the Varia WEATHER Squad as well as keeping an eye on the kid.
Understanding and appreciating the caution, Xanxus had stuck the brat in the Archives Hall. Now, normally the Archives Hall was as organized as humanly possible as the Hall was under the control of Squalo's SIC, Divulio. Unfortunately with Xanxus having been incapacitated and the Varia having been under a severe amount of scrutiny, one of Ottabio's slimy little sycophants had been put in charge of the Hall. As a result there was an extreme backlog of paperwork, especially with the ongoing Operation Eradication among the other Varia operations currently trying to play catch-up now that Xanxus was back and the Varia had cleaned house.
Missions Intel was managing, but the Hall needed to be straightened out yesterday and at the moment there simply was not the Varia operatives to spare.
So partially as a test and partially out of sheer necessity the brat had been handed a Master Codex of the various codes the Varia Divisions used when submitting reports and shoved into the Hall.
Now, nearly a week later Xanxus and Squalo had more than three seconds in between missions and meetings to check on the brat.
"Hey, Shitty Boss, you think the brat has actually made some headway?" Squalo asked as they made their way towards the Hall.
It should be notes that the Hall was situated in between Mist Division and Rain Division. The two Divisions being perfect for disguising and setting up protections for the Hall. Also, Storm Division had a habit of having free-for-alls every Saturday and even Varia-Quality paper could be Disintegrated. Cloud Division used to be in Rain Division's spot, but there was nothing worse than a Propagation fight getting out of hand and one of the damn Clouds multiplying the paperwork exponentially. Sun Division was surprisingly devious about playing 'pranks' that resulted in the inks running off the pages or blending together as the single properties of the inks were Activated and twisted. The less access Lightning Division had to paperwork for when they inevitably had a snotty, messy breakdown, the better.
The Varia were not stupid enough to put their Intel into a digital system that could possibly be hacked. Until Mammon couldn't manipulate it remotely, the Lightning and Research and Development Divisions would keep working on making Varia Quality Servers and Computer Systems.
Until that happened, everything was still done via paper.
Xanxus grunted noncommittally as they came to the Hall door and he scanned his access card with the Flame-Reader Signature attached before a keypad popped out and Xanxus entered his Varia Access Code. "We can only hope, Shark-trash. We need to get this place squared away yesterday."
Squalo's lips compressed into a thin line, but he only nodded tersely as a reply.
The door swung open and both men stepped through- after Squalo stopped and scanned his card and input his VAC, the Varia took their information's security seriously- the door closing behind them and the wall flickering a wavering for a moment before the Rain-infused Construction fell and the two entered the Hall proper.
Then they both sort of stopped abruptly and gaped a little. The word 'Hall' was sort of a misnomer as the Hall was actually a large circular room that was split into two stories, as the room was within a Mist-Constructed space that was created by both Flame and magic. The room was actually within a medium-sized closet between Mist and Storm Divisions, which was another security measure. The file cabinets were all made of metal and inset into the 'walls' so that they could be much bigger on the inside than the outside suggested.
And the last time Xanxus or Squalo had beheld the inside of the Hall it had been filled with haphazardly stacked files and teetering stacks of mismatched reports, all scattered on and around the large desk that sat dead center in the room.
Now there were still piles and full file folders, but they seemed to have a rhyme and reason to them. Marius was seated behind the desk scribbling away on a piece of paper, referencing what they guessed was the Master Codex occasionally before going back to scribbling away. It took Xanxus clearing his throat for the brat to notice them.
"Ah, Boss Xanxus, Commander Superbi." The brat told them once he'd looked up and acknowledged them. Not for long though, he swiftly went back to scribbling away. "I've made a decent headway on the backlogged Intel, but compiling it and checking for discrepancies before archiving them is taking a bit longer than I expected. Since Varia Code is not an actual language translation spells are useless, but on the bright side I think I've gotten the basics of the usual encryptions. Lightning Division's Code makes my head hurt a little, though."
Xanxus just grunted a little- Squalo expertly discerned the incredulity and surprise, though- as the Varia Boss rounded the desk and picked up one of the folders that Marius had indicated when he'd said 'compiled'. After a few moments of flipping through the neatly condensed pages Xanxus' brows rose in pleased astonishment- at least according to Squalo's mental index of Xanxus' Eyebrows and Their Meanings.
"You've-" Xanxus drawled slowly as he tossed the perused to Squalo and picked up another. "Gone through all of this in just a week."
"Yup!" Marius rejoined cheerfully as he flipped a few pages of the Codex before making a happy sound of enlightenment before going back to scribbling. "It's kind of fun, really." He told them cheerily as he switched to a fresh sheet of paper. "It's like a treasure hunt, except with words! There are definitely some people who need to be watched though, their reports are shit."
Xanxus blinked slowly and looked at Squalo.
Squalo blinked a few times before he locked gazes with his Boss and after a few heartbeats both men grinned sharply.
"Information Dissemination." They both said in tandem as they turned mirrored, rather predatory grins towards Marius who looked up right about then and blanched a bit.
Marius swallowed a bit apprehensively. "Uhm. Boss Xanxus, Commander Superbi?"
Squalo's grin officially reached 'maniac' levels. Xanxus' was solidly on the meridian of bloodthirsty.
Marius gulped nervously.
"I have a feeling that we are going to get along very, very well brat. Keep on with the work you've been doing and you just might be Quality."
Yeah, totally feeling like a fish in front of a shark. Marius thought a bit feebly as the two men began to laugh. They know they can't keep me, right?
Cowardly or not, Marius went back to work without saying anything. Let Dino or Adriano remind them. Totally not in his job description.
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Please leave a review on your way out!
Also, the amazing Umei no Mai and the industrious InsaneScriptist have collabed! It's a side-story to Umei's 'Black Sky' and it is called 'Parenting is not a Varia Quality'.
Quite frankly it is amazing. You should totally check it out! I know that it doesn't have an 'established main character' in it but you will want your very own yummy, klepto Varia Mist by the end! So check it out and leave some love for those awesome, amazing ladies~!