Seal-breaking checklist:

1. A Vongola Sky [X]

2. Access to Vongola Records [X ]

2.1 Vongola Nono's trust [X]

2.2 A suitable justification for getting clearance [X ]

3. Discreet way to reach Young Master [ ]

I heard a creak. With one hand, I hid the offending journal underneath the one I was expected to use. With my other hand, I readied the sign bearing the phrase "SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY".

"B-"

Up went the sign.

"sorry!" He whispered, "don't worry though, it's not time yet. you still have an hour left, I'm just here to give you some snacks."

I flipped the sign, "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE LIBRARY".

"whoops… …I'll just leave now."

Good riddance.

I turned back to the document.

Spada is a curious associate. As is tradition, after I received Vongola's Sin, he took back CEDEF's Ring halves and replaced old man Salomone, thus confirming himself as the my CEDEF head. Unlike father and Salmone, who were good friends even before father was confirmed as heir, we have barely made each other's acquaintances at this point, and Spada seems unwilling to make further effort. I feel that such is doubly exacerbated by a strange variance of clashing personalities, with Spada being quite queerly archaic, and I favoring the modern approaches to business. Yet we are agreed in the value of efficiency: my Flames are weaker than the norm, and Spada is an extraordinarily strong Mist to compensate, so we have begun a reversal of the normal Family-Consultancy relationship, with Spada acting with violence and I focusing on the less than openly bloody battlefields, as to make use of our strengths and weaknesses as we expand the Vongola, for expand it we shall, our campaigns swift and brutal, taking advantage of my being underestimated to strike while our enemies are unprepared.

I found a sketched portrait of our Seventh. I made note, but given that Seventh was a Mist, its usefulness was less direct than one would expect-but not useless. Mists were human, and their hearts were human also. Even if Seventh was using a false face, his own self-image would betray him, creating consistencies throughout his manifold appearances. Of course, that was only when the illusionist in question had an excess of hubris. The ones who were aware of their shortcomings usually paid enough attention to their appearances to overcome subconscious shortcomings. Luckily, seventh, being a powerful Mist, was not immune to arrogance.

My firstborn is a bouncing baby boy! Spada, constipated bastard that he is, refused to come to the christening but left a set of lovingly cared for Primo-era toy soldiers as a present to baby Flavio, then had three bosses of enemy famiglias be found belly up in the harbor-dead and bloated, of course. He is playing up his likeness to Daemon Spade excessively.

Spade? Ugh, this case was becoming far too complex. I reminded myself to check on Mukuro if the Decimo-Primo transmigration ridiculousness was involved.

An abundance of sons, while a bountiful blessing, burdens one greatly with the matter of Inheritance. While the Vongola has our Ring Trials, in which any Sky of Giotto's blood with a complete Sette may challenge another for the position of Heir, it is not possible for other Families, who, having neither the weight to negotiate with the Cervello, nor the split and blood-locked Rings from our forefathers, to utilize the same rites and mechanisms. Yet though other Families can not make use of the solution, they are not immune to the problem. I have devised a method by which they may secure Succession as well. A truly wonderful means, that although reversible when met with such a necessity, will not be easily altered by unlawful hands. I have set down the way by which a Sky must manipulate their Flame, so as to create a barrier, a boundary, and a bind, and so allow the young to grow up innocent of the burning powers of the world.

I had found my lead in Quinto's records.

Daniela's born! My beloved Rebecca named our daughter after her brother Daniel, but it is my opinion that children should not be named for anyone. Their burdens are great enough without taking on those of their forbears, though Daniela seems quite up to the task, bawling lustily the moment she emerged into the world-nightmare child. I fear for whoever she marries.

Ottava? Well, luckily for all involved, she did not bother to marry.

Spada was late to the christening, nearly pulled a Sleeping Beauty. I swear, that man is getting worse. Gifts: Standard dead enemies in the harbor-poor dock workers, I'm reducing their protection fee; another heirloom from who knows where; the worst blessing in history: "you will not die of weakness".

The two Settimos' relationship was clearly improving, but friendship with the Seventh should not have been motivation for attacking the present-day Vongola.

Spada, silly man. I heard from Cilantro, formerly Gladius that he managed to misuse the phrase "no comments from the peanut gallery" and say "no comments from the spice cabinet" instead. Spada has turned the whole thing into a lesson, Cilantro gloomily informs me, and now he is a spice, not a weapon.

Ah, yes, that old bit of history.

To Seal Flame is a difficult matter. Flame, like all flames, burn. In time, with sufficient application of heat, all things will be consumed. To smother Flame is no small matter either, for the smothering of Flame is the smothering of life. There is no way to succeed without killing the bearer of the Flame. Instead, Sealing redirects Flame, turns it inwards and contains it, as one banks a fire until all that remain are coals. To this purpose, I have made use of Primo's Zero Point technique, but with a peculiar inversion, so that instead of solid, physical ice, the effect is a spiritual freeze that absorbs the Sealed individual's Flame to maintain itself in a self-sustaining system.

Zero Point. Reversal of Flame. To use it, one must be able to enter the Dying Will Mode, as foolish as the name may sound. Yet the Sealing demanded a Sky. I would have to replicate the steps, from Zero Point to Sealing, using my own bluebell flames. In secret, at most with my teacher's aid. My nature, shaped by the burdens I had taken from Kage and Kiri and country, held my focus in reserve, for the Young Master's condition would not worsen in the year or so in which we would be conducting a war, and so, I made note carefully, whispered the secrets I had learned to Iruka, then calibrated my rifle and spun my lies, and, for now, brought force and fury to bear against those that my people battled.

The wind is blowing against us. The War to end all wars seems to have failed in its purpose, and Europe will soon be burnt and blackened by gunfire and gasoline. I see trouble writ in our futures, but Vongola is strong. We shall weather the storm. I have ordered Spada to begin establishing safehouses and weapons caches, but I am unsure if it is enough. Spada wants us to act more overtly, with the intent of interfering in politics to prevent the Fascists from taking power, even if that walks the line the Vindice have drawn between Flames and Government. I will not countenance that. The government is in ignorance of Flames-we have an advantage. The Vindice are our own enforcers. The less survivable threat is the latter. My Sword is furious at my decision, but it is non-negotiable.

The beginnings of a schism. I winced (a odd reversion to my childhood, back when I had not been trained to school my face at all times) as my shift in position put pressure on my sprained ankle. Too many bullets meant one would hit eventually, but I had chosen to throw myself to the ground, suffer far too many friction burns, and twist my left ankle to boot. I had then forced myself to run, using Mist and Rain in conjunction to keep the wound from hindering me.

I would need to return to the page sometime in the future. Also, "my Sword"? What was it with Family heads and CEDEF heads and the pet names (see sir, now somewhat reconciled with Ninth, and Ninth's affectionate "my Lion").

I began to scratch out another report to my liege and his own lord. My penmanship with my left hand was less than desirable, so I used a looser hand.

The process is thusly. First, one must practice creating the Seal. Reverse Flames so as to create Zero Point Ice, then hold the reversal within conventional Flame. Then, Harmonize with the intended, and direct the subject's Flame to form the same composition, inverted so as to be purely spiritual.

One may find it helpful to use these visualizations: first, a whirlpool whirling in the sea; then, its reversal. With these two visualizations, one should successfully create a core of reversed yet soft Flames that meld into soft-Flame exterior. The sea one envisions should meld into a foreign lake, and then the whirlpool should bring the lake's currents into its rotation.

I had it. A viable thread to follow as well. Waters great and vast, as are were are those of my homeland, as much the province of Rain as Sky, the lock that I must pick or to which I must fashion a key.

Ow. My poor dislocated shoulder.

I fear. Papa is gone, taken by the Fascists. Flavio is gone too. He came when they caught me and told him to exchange himself for me. They weren't going to let me go unless I was collared and leashed and muzzled. Spada rescued me and gave me the CEDEF half-rings. We are in one of the safehouses Papa ordered created. I have only three Guardians, and one of them must rule her own Family.

Here the handwriting changed, steadying, and became both bolder, somewhat squared yet sharp-angled.

In two days, I will challenge my dear traitor cousin in the Ring Trials. Tiberia offered to have her own Guardians join us for the ones I do not have along with her acting as my Storm, but I will deal with my sweet cousin and those supporting him with my own, or else on my own. Perhaps one or two of them will understand the circumstances and bow. I will prove myself Donna.

Again, a shift. Each word was now set down deliberately, as if full of hesitance.

Spada has been a presence in my life for as long as I could remember. Yet never have I ever conceived that he would support me over my male kin. He is loyal to the Vongola, or rather, is image of the Vongola. He is a known quantity, but loyal only to a degree. He chose me because I fit his purposes. Because his image of me was that of a Donna he would follow. Yet I am certain that I will not always be that Donna.

It will too unstable for CEDEF to change in leadership at this point. I will keep my father's Sword. For now.

This, I think, will be the last time I allow myself to slump in exhaustion. War is coming-no. It has come. I will take command of my father's people with Flame and Will, and bring us through this.

Ottava was an inspiration. Spada was CEDEF head for sometime after her ascension. This was news. And it went against tradition. Daniela suspected him, was already examining his neuroses as Settimo Fabio did not.

Another report, but for sir's eyes only. This cut to the core of the matter. I did not trust the Family not to be compromised, but sir was safe.

I have found Sage to be an acceptable substitute. Spada will die at the end of the war. All that remains is whether he will breath afterwards. I am still undecided. But he will not stand for peace. Any world worth living in will have to be without him in it.

I sucked in a breath, ignoring tender ribs. The assassination order should be found soon, if it ever left a paper trail.

Spada is dead. I have given orders for his burial as a loyal soldier of the Vongola, with the honors afforded to my own blood, for his service. Perhaps I may now think of him as my dangerous, but caring uncle. However, I can not help but feel as if I should have his corpse decapitated, a stake driven through his heart, and a cross put upon his lips. Sealing the coffin with silver would not be amiss either.

Dracula, of all things? No peach wood? (Zabuza had been given the name Momochi as a bit of irony, given that he had proven himself a demon)

My Mist reports strange things with his Ring. Queer dreams and dark impulses. I will have Sage take the CEDEF halves tomorrow. Yet the portrait of Spade in the halls of the Mansion seems to smile at me in passing. Perhaps Spada was just that, our bloodiest ghost come in our darkest hour as a demon to stalk our enemies. Or perhaps I am being a superstitious fool. If he is truly dead, I do not regret his death. If not… Well, Luce tells me that Sage's chosen apprentice will be a Vongola Sky, come from Giotto's Line in Japan with Intuition stronger even than mine. Having found his way into the heart of the cosa nostra on hearsay and rumor, he will have proven himself powerful in other ways as well. I have taken every precaution I may before my passing, but Spada should not be aware of my suspicions, lest he take precautions against our defenses. Therefore, I shall entrust the solution to Spada, or perhaps Spade, should he still live, to the External Consultancy.

I closed the embroidered journal with a heavy sigh.

There was my answer.

"Nufufufu… So someone found out anyway."

Sir?

No. His smile was too sinister. His posture too predatory. Sir's relaxed playfulness was boisterous and wholesome cheer. This was a cat, playing with a mouse. But I was no mouse.

I carefully put the journals into their strongbox, then stepped away from the table and chair.

"This one has the honor of addressing Spada, who is in actuality Daemon Spade, this one supposes?"

A few things:
My own CEDEF HC:
1. The new head steps up immediately after the new Don, because the old head was involved in choosing the Don. The old head may still work in the CEDEF, but they will no longer be in command. This is to reduce the odds of the CEDEF head influencing the Don unreasonably.

2. As we never understand how the rings go from being completed to separated again, I HC that with each new CEDEF head, they take the Half-Rings back when the new Don ascends. Poor Basil, the Rings get unsealed and fused together, so that piece of ceremony must be discarded.

Now, on Settimo (Fabio). He has the weakest Flames but the strongest (and most mundane/practical) weapons. I have interpreted it to mean that his personality is rather on the pragmatic and secular side. So he never entertains the possibility that Spada is Daemon, even if his name is literally a letter changed from Spade (On the other hand, Spada means Sword, and is a legitimate name, as far as the Rainbow Mafia is concerned), but he works very well with Spada.
Additional angst: All the antiques Daemon gave Fabio's children were from his own time. He saw them as the children he and Elena never got to have.

Daemon is most powerful when the Mist Ring is completed and worn. Fabio wore the Sky Ring to bolster his weak Flames, so his Guardians followed suit. They only stopped right before WWII, when he realized his successor would step up soon. Daniela did the right thing when she split the Rings. It neutralized Daemon until, well, now.

Daemon is very proud of Daniela for giving the order to kill Spada, even if he is a bit miffed by it. Her ruthlessness proves to him that she is, indeed, worthy to be Donna. Sadly, it also kept him at bay until present.

And yes, Daemon got summoned right before he kills the Simone family. So no avenging Simone, yay! (I won't deny that this is because I don't feel like wrapping my head around all the Earth Flame stuff and incorporating Earth Flame lore.) Just imagine that they're living their lives peacefully, away from all the Vongola craziness.

Now, because there's a special kind of hell for authors who leave their readers cliffhangers as Xmas presents, check out a holiday card on the AO3 version of my fic!
B&B assassinating the mysterious reverse thief and stalker known as Santa Claus, who breaks into houses and leaves suspicious packages, demands protection money in the form of milk and cookies, and surveils underage individuals all year round.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!