Chapter 7
AN: Thank you to everyone who favourited, followed, or reviewed 😊
LMaltez: Ivy is a Rainy Cloud, meaning her secondary affinity is Rain.
To all those who mentioned about the questioning: here it is
"You said it was self-defence, voi. Why did he attack you in the first place?" Squalo asked as the two Officers made their way through the quiet back corridors towards Lussuria's office.
"I overheard him talking on the phone, saying he would call someone when the job was done and telling them to have money ready. I'm guessing he shouldn't have been doing that because that's why he tried to kill me," Amsel replied, still looking a bit pale. She was too calm for this to be her first kill so why did she look like it was?
Squalo frowned. It sounded like Ottabio had been selling information. Not against contract, provided you did it through Mammon. Doing it yourself though… that was a potential loophole in the Officer contract that needed to be closed. The regular contracts would need to be looked over too, just in case. Who had he been selling information to? What had he said? Even when dead Ottabio was still causing him headaches. "He shouldn't have. If you find anything in his stuff that looks like it might relate to that I need to see it. I'll pass the message on to Kaiser too." Damn, this was such a potential mess…
"Sorry." Amsel apologised.
Squalo waved the apology away. "It's not your fault, voi. This mess may be a headache, but Ottabio's death means it's more damage control than anything else." They continued in silence for a short while. "Was this your first kill?"
"Fifth actually. Sixth if you count the giant snake." Well that was a surprise. Amsel was one of the last people Squalo had expected to have a body count prior to joining the Varia. Wait a minute…
"Giant snake?" Squalo asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"It was attacking people in the school and tried to eat me and my friend's little sister. I stabbed it through the head with a sword; I went to school in a renovated castle, so there were plenty around," Amsel explained, the colour starting to return to her cheeks. That… that was pretty strange, even by Varia standards. Now Squalo was curious about the other four kills on her record. Unfortunately, that would have to wait; they had reached Lussuria's office. Hopefully the okama was here. Squalo knocked.
"Come in! What can I do for you Squ-chan, Brindille?" Lussuria asked as they stepped into the office.
Squalo grinned, "Not Brindille anymore, voi. Amsel here is the new Cloud Officer." Lussuria clapped his hands and grinned.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations sugar! I take it you're here for a uniform then. We'll need to go down to the village tomorrow and get you a proper pair of boots from the cobbler too. Just stand on that platform for me and we'll get you sorted," Luss said as he found a tape measure and a note pad. "So, what did Ottabio do to meet his demise?"
"I heard him talking about something he shouldn't have been doing, and he tried to kill me for it. Naturally, I didn't take it very well," Amsel replied.
"He was selling information outside of approved channels. We don't know who to yet; that's next on the list," Squalo explained. Amsel needed her uniform and crest so everyone knew she had the right to go into the Cloud Office and start going through the paperwork. It also meant she could kill anyone who interfered with her. Someone would – that was almost a given. It would be interesting to see how she handled it, considering she hated killing.
Lussuria hummed. "I'll go tell Mammon and Bel once we're finished here; they'll want in on this too. I think I'll put you in one of Bel's old uniforms for now Amsel; it'll do until I can make one up for you. It won't take me long to change the crest." The Sun disappeared out of the office, returning a few minutes later with one of the uniforms Belphegor had grown out of and a new Cloud Officer patch. The patches were quickly switched, and the three Officers headed out. Time to find out what Ottabio had been up to.
Ivy had never really been in Cloud Division before. As an apprentice she never really had any reason to go there and avoiding that area had been one of the easiest ways to avoid running into the creepy Cloud Officer. Curious looks and questions followed her through the halls as she made her way towards the Cloud Office. Just as she was about to reach the door, someone stepped in front of her.
"Where do you think you're going?" The burly Cloud in front of her asked.
"To my office," Ivy replied mildly, her hand reaching for a kunai she had stashed up her sleeve. Squalo had stepped back, leaving her to deal with the situation on her own, as she had expected. She would have to prove herself capable of handling her new position.
The man laughed at her. "You aren't the Cloud Officer; Ottabio is. Take that patch off and go play with your dolls. The Varia is no place for little girls."
Ivy's eyes narrowed at the insult. She had attained this position by her own strength, whether she wanted it or not. She would not be mocked like this. "Haven't you heard? Ottabio's dead. By my hand. Would you like to join him?" she threatened, kunai in hand. Normally she wouldn't bother resorting to violence over insults, but she needed to establish her authority here quickly.
"You really expect me to believe that a little girl got the best of Ottabio?" the assassin asked, laughter in his tone. Ivy gave in to her instincts and threw the kunai, leaving a long gash on the man's cheek.
"You will address me as Officer or Amsel. I would not be standing here wearing this patch if Ottabio was not dead," Ivy said coolly. "I believe Housekeeping have the body if you want more definite proof, though last I checked no one has ever survived being beheaded." The enraged assassin made reached for a weapon. Ivy did not give him chance to draw it; another Flame-sharpened kunai sliced through his carotid artery. As the man staggered back, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood, Ivy forced herself to remain calm.
"Anyone else?" she asked, staring challengingly at the assembled assassins. Hopefully she would not have to kill again today. She knew she would likely have to kill again soon – Ottabio's followers would not be happy their Officer was killed, and other ambitious Clouds would see her as an easy target – but two in one day was enough. No one else stepped forward, allowing her to enter the office with no further issues.
The Cloud Office was large and tidy, with shelves above the desk and the paperwork in neat piles. Ivy headed straight for the desk, ignoring the paperwork on top for now, and started checking the drawers. One of them was locked. She called on her magic and focused on the lock, forcing it open. Magic was much harder to control without a focus; she needed to see about a new wand soon. Inside the drawer was more paperwork, specifically bank statements.
"Captain, I think you might want to see this. Either Officers get a very healthy paycheck or Ottabio was charging a fair bit for his services." She held out the documents for Squalo to take while she pulled the rest of them out. As he started reading Ivy went back to digging in the drawers and paperwork piles, revealing yet more incriminating documents.
"Voi, that shit was selling information to Sawada!" Squalo snarled as he read through the papers.
"Judging from the amounts, he was selling to more than just the CEDEF. These go back over seven years," Ivy told him, handing some papers to Mammon, who had just arrived. Both of the more experienced Officers looked up from their work at her.
"Seven years? Are you sure?" Mammon asked. Ivy nodded and handed over the relevant papers. Mammon scanned through them. "These aren't CEDEF account numbers or Sawada's; I'd put good money on them belonging to someone in the Vongola though. This was how they knew."
"I think I'm missing something rather important here," Ivy muttered.
"The Cradle Affair," Squalo said, clearly having heard her. "Boss' attack on Don Vongola. We always wondered how they knew we were coming; now we know."
Ivy didn't know who Boss was, and she got the feeling now would not be the best time to ask. Instead, she turned her attention to sorting and boxing the files so Mammon and Squalo could set about finding out who Ottabio had been selling information to and what they knew.
On a lonely windswept beach in northern France, a strangely dressed man suddenly appeared out of thin air. Looking around to check he was truly alone, the man twirled a stick and his odd robes became more typical clothing.
Sirius was travelling alone. His search of the Black Library had revealed that the ICW laws on werewolves moving between countries were incredibly strict. Werewolves were not allowed to leave the country they had been infected in and were expected the register with the Ministry of that country. Any werewolf attempting to enter an ICW affiliated country would be turned back at the border, and anyone aiding them entering a country illegally – like Sirius had originally been planning – faced deportation and a ten-year prison sentence. With the warrant out on his head, that meant Sirius would have gotten the Kiss if they were caught. When he had given Remus the option of coming with him his friend had refused, not wanting to put Sirius' life at risk. Instead, Moony had offered to keep Sirius up to date on what was happening in Britain while he searched for Ivy, using money Sirius had given him to purchase an owl for that purpose.
Almost as though summoned by that thought, Sirius' new owl Polaris landed on his shoulder, having been sent on head a few hours prior to have time to fly the Channel. Sirius stroked the owl's breast feathers lightly and pulled out a package from his pocket. It was one of a set of two communication mirrors he and James had used at school to talk while in detention. Since Polaris would be spending a lot of time flying back and forth to Britain, and Ivy was likely having Hedwig do the same, it made sense for them to have another method of communication. Sirius tied the precious parcel to the owl's leg along with a note explaining what it was.
"Fly fast and stay safe," he said to the owl. Polaris hooted and nibbled his ear affectionately before taking to the air. Sirius watched him go before closing his eyes and focusing on the godparent bond to find the direction Ivy was in. Once he knew that, he would simply apparate by line-of-sight as far as he could, switching to muggle transport in more populated areas. The Blacks had various properties dotted around Europe, so he didn't need to worry about accommodation; being Lord Black had some benefits. He would need to stop in Paris to change the galleons Remus had withdrawn for him to the local muggle currency, but other than that he had everything he needed.
The bond was pulling southwards, deeper into France. Sirius trudged up the beach in that direction until he was high enough up to get a good view. A twist and a crack, and the beach was empty once more.
