So, some support for this. I do wish to make a few points clear. One reviewer pointed out the exposition, but I did need to give an idea of what happened in the first episode. However, I wasn't going to write out the Ginza attack verbatim, as many other fanfic writers have done before, or else the crossover equivalent.
Also, I'm reconsidering the pairing. The way Harry is developing, I am actually seriously considering pairing Harry with Pina, potentially with either Delilah or Yao thrown into the mix as well. Pina, as a pairing possibility, didn't appeal to me at the time I conceived the fic, but now, I'm not so sure. Harry and Pina do have a few similarities (the expectations of their station, leading an ad hoc army, having to fight to be taken seriously), but Harry, by this point, is seasoned enough to be a mentor figure of sorts. Plus, Potters and their redheads, you know?
Also, to address the guest reviewer's points, I meant a Harry Potter/Sekirei crossover, not a GATE/Sekirei crossover. That being said, I did discuss such a story concept briefly with Arawn D Draven, before deciding against it. A Tyuule/Homura pairing, though, is an intriguing one. Though I think Karasuba would actually be more up Emroy's alley in some regards. I'd imagine Karasuba giving Rory the best fight she ever had for ages...
EDIT: A couple of you want Harry/Tuka. While I admit that's an adorable pairing, there's the little problem that Tuka's a lesbian, though she may be bisexual at a stretch (she IS canonically attracted to Itami), and her character isn't quite that interesting (beyond being, well, a hot blonde Elf with daddy issues). I'm actually going to go with the two being really good friends. Maybe they might experiment, but at the moment, they will have a close, but platonic friendship. And that might actually be more interesting, especially with the way the whole Hodor thing has ended up.
ANOTHER FINE MESS (ORIGINAL)...
CHAPTER 2:
THE 3RD RECON TEAM
Harry grimaced as he looked at the bloody battlefield that was once the slopes of Alnus Hill, early in the morning after the last massive battle. He'd seen death many times, but never on this scale, not outside documentaries about war and mass murder like the Holocaust. And it was his first time seeing so many bodies.
Shino was standing next to him, her assault rifle at the ready, her expression grim. "Bloody hell," she muttered. "Last casualty count was 60 thousand dead. We're still counting the POWs we captured."
"Molt Sol Augustus had to know he was sending them into a massacre," Harry said. "The returning troops must've said something. But these soldiers…they seem to be using different flags…" Suddenly, he heard a groan from nearby, and rushed over to one body, a burly, older man, missing his left arm and leg, an eyepatch askew, his hair and beard greying. "Hey! Medic!" he yelled.
The medic that approached was a tall Japanese woman called Mari Kurokawa. She hurried over, and checked the man, and grimaced, calling on her radio for a stretcher. "We need to get him help. He's lucky, his wounds were cauterised partly by the heat of the shrapnel. Talk to him, Harry."
Harry nodded. He'd learned that the translation charm Hermione taught him worked for the language of this world, and was apparently a mangled version of Greek and Latin. Casting it on himself, he spoke to the man. "Hello, can you understand me?"
The man opened his one eye blearily. "…Who are you? Gods? Demons?"
"No, we're the people Molt Sol Augustus pissed off by invading through the Gate. Who are you?"
"…King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom," the man rasped. "The Emperor…he sent us here to die, didn't he?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
Before Duran could reply, the stretcher party came along, and Duran was put onto it. "Don't worry," Harry said. "We'll give you medical treatment. If you cooperate with us, you'll be well-treated."
As Duran was taken away, Mari looked at Harry. "Well?"
"Hit the jackpot there, apparently. He claims to be King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom. Probably one of the Empire's vassal states," Harry said. "The way he spoke, he thinks the Emperor sent him and his men to die at the hands of the JSDF. Maybe we have someone we can get intel from."
Mari nodded, and hurried off, after her latest patient. Shino sighed quietly. "Seriously…I'd feel sorry for them if they hadn't killed or raped or abducted those civilians."
"These are the vassal states. They didn't do that. Besides, I doubt that every soldier in this Empire is a rapist."
"Maybe. Still, why are they Romans?"
"Ah, well, the Ministry gave me leave to contact some of my friends. Hermione gave me an idea. Apparently, during the Roman Empire, at least one legion famously went missing, the Ninth Legion. And who's to say the Gate hasn't appeared before? The POWs back in Japan believed that. Said something about the local death goddess Hardy having a hand. Also, something else." Nearby was a corpse of a wyvern, the small dragons ridden by some of the soldiers here, and he gestured Shino to it. "Dragon parts are prized in the magical world as you know, but apparently, the scales here? They go for a lot of the local money according to the reports." He managed to rip away one of the scales, and handed it to Shino. "Feel that."
She did, frowning. "It feels a bit like the trauma plate in ballistic vests. Except lighter."
"Exactly. Those things stood up to anything short of 50 calibre rounds at Ginza. I don't think even the dragons back home were this tough," Harry said. "Still…the Emperor sent this many men to their deaths…bastard."
"Hey, this is war, Harry. They killed all those people at Ginza, and wanted to enslave us. If they bothered to retreat instead of running headfirst into gunfire…" Shino looked grimly over the battlefield. "Dulce et decorum pro patria mori my arse(1). It's one thing to fight to protect one's country, but this…ugh. I like a good fight, but this doesn't feel right to me. Gimme some rapist douche to beat the crap out of…"
Partway through undressing for his session with Tyuule, ex-Queen of the Bunny Warriors, Prince Zorzal El Caesar sneezed twice, and frowned. He hoped he wasn't coming down with something. Tyuule, on the other hand, sincerely wished he was. Maybe if he had the flu, he wouldn't be able to muster up the energy to rape her…
Later that morning, Harry, Shino, Mari and a few others were ordered to line up, ready to become part of the 3rd Recon Team. The second in command was a grizzled older Sergeant Major by the name of Souichirou Kuwahara. Harry recognised Sergeant Takeo Kurata, a young and eager otaku, Sergeant Akira Tomita, a tall, burly man who was very much a gentle giant, and Private Furuta Hitoshi, a tall, thin young man with a serene expression and who was apparently an ex-cook.
And coming out to meet them with a lazy expression was Itami. He was a bit scruffy, but Harry had grown to like him, partly because he reminded him of Ron, and partly because Itami, when he wasn't geeking out over something, was a very amiable and personable guy. Harry didn't listen to the rambling, very unprofessional speech that Itami gave, but he heard Shino groaning in disgust and annoyance.
As they drove out to one of the nearby villages, Coda, Harry found himself in the same jeep as Itami, Kurata, Mari and Kuwahara, Shino refusing to get into the same vehicle as Itami. As they drove off, Itami looked back at Harry, who was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest, though the only sidearm he was wielding was a magnum pistol. "So, we never really got to talk about this while in the JSDF base…but I was told you're a wizard, and some hero back in Britain?" Most of the JSDF spoke fairly good English, due to having done joint exercises with the US Army. Though Harry also managed to speak Japanese well enough now to be able to converse with them sans translation charm.
"Yeah. Not really sure I can call myself a hero, though. I just killed people who wanted me dead."
"I was briefed on this. This is all hush-hush stuff, can't speak about it to even other groups," Kuwahara said. "Some warlock, a wizard neo-Nazi terrorist called Voldemort orphaned Harry at the age of one. However, Voldemort somehow survived being killed, and came back from the grave a few years back before Harry put him down for good. Isn't that right, Harry?"
"Yeah. All those terrorist attacks in Britain between 2006 and 2008? Many of them weren't Al Qaeda or gang wars," Harry said bitterly. "Some of my best friends died during that mess. Too many people died. I'm not sure I want to say anything more about it."
"Hey, it's cool," Itami said quietly. "And the Brits expected a teenager to kill this guy?"
"I was the Boy Who Lived for surviving something my parents didn't," Harry said. "They were either holding me up as the second coming of Merlin, or making me out to be Voldemort's successor…"
They found their way to Coda, and as Harry's ability to speak to local language, courtesy of the translation charm, was better, he was sent to negotiate, as well as ask about maps of the area. He also learned, after revealing he was a wizard to the villagers, that a couple of mages lived nearby, Cato El Athelstan and his apprentice, Lelei La Lalena. Harry made a mental note to speak to them later, but apparently there was a High Elf settlement in a nearby forest, and Itami was to try and make contact with them and establish friendly relations. They'd head back to Coda later.
Harry decided to ignore Itami and Kurata's spirited debate about who had the best 'waifu', until they started singing the song to some inane magical girl anime called Mei-Com. "Oh, stop torturing those cats, you two!" Harry snapped irritably. He liked Itami, but while he liked some anime, others he didn't.
"Hey, that's no way to speak to your superior officer!" Itami barked at Harry, albeit good-naturedly. "Anyway, aren't you excited to meet Elves and Catgirls and whatnot?"
"Well, yeah. But I don't go on and on about it. We don't exactly have those in Britain. The sexiest magical creatures we have are Veela, and you don't want to get on their bad side. They're like a mix of Siren and Harpy who can use fire magic with ease."
"Hey, Harry," Kurata said, "best waifu in anime. Who would it be for you?"
Harry grimaced, before he eventually said, "Toss-up between Saber or Rider from Fate/Stay Night. Saber because she's King Arthur as a girl in her late teens, and I'm British, and Rider because, well, she's Medusa. Sexy Medusa too. Plus, I can speak to snakes. She'd probably get a kick out of that."
"Seriously?" Mari asked. "You can talk to snakes?"
"Long story. Short version? I got a bit of Voldemort's soul in my skull, and while that got removed, the ability to speak to snakes remained," Harry said. "Anyway, Shino actually got me Fate/Stay Night, the visual novel, to have a go at playing. Cool story. Though really, the writers are fucked up in the head."
"How so?" Kurata said.
"Two words: Crest Worms." Harry shuddered at the imagery on display with those disgusting things…
Later that evening, they were approaching the Koan Forest where the High Elf settlement was supposed to be, but they saw a plume of smoke in the distance, a massive plume that all but blotted out the sky. They soon pulled over, and the 3rd Recon Team looked over at the forest. Harry was the first to spot the cause. "Holy fuck me, it's a dragon!"
And indeed, it was the largest dragon Harry had ever seen, somewhat larger than the Hungarian Horntail that Harry had confronted back in his fourth year, for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. However, this one was crimson and even more belligerent than that one, if that was possible.
"Well, if it isn't King Ghidorah's one-headed cousin," Kuwahara remarked sardonically.
"More like Smaug's little brother," Harry retorted. "But seriously, why do I get the feeling we need an anti-tank rocket or something?"
"We've got some Panzerfaust-3s in the jeeps, Harry," Shino said. "They have HEAT warheads. If those can't kill that, I'm afraid what will. Still…look at the size of that thing. Is that the same size as dragons back home?"
"Yeah."
"Commander, what do we do?" Shino asked Itami.
"Well, you could hold my hand, Kuribayashi. I'm actually feeling a bit scared right now." On Shino's irritated grunt, Itami said, as the dragon flew off, "No, seriously…Sergeant, I don't think dragons would burn down a forest for the hell of it. I think he's just attacked the very village we were coming to. Hey, Harry…are any of your spells good for firefighting?"
"I could use Aguamenti charms," Harry said. "They work best with a good source of water nearby, though."
"Right, well, if you think you can do it safely, without dying, when we get close, get started, okay? I want to help any survivors as best as possible…"
It had already started to rain by the time they got as close to the inferno as they dared, but Harry was fine. Between a Bubble-Head Charm and the Aguamenti spells, he began to quench the fires. Kuwahara, seasoned veteran though he was, decided that the remains of the village were safe to enter by the time night proper had fallen.
Still, it seemed that they were too late. Burned corpses and houses were everywhere. Harry looked around, before he happened to look down the well. It was getting dark, so he cast a Lumos…and a pair of startled teal eyes met his own. Glad the translation charm was still working, he called down, "Hello? Are you okay?"
"…Who are you?" called the girl down there, warily. An Elf girl, with blonde hair, and distinctive pointy ears. A beautiful Elf, apparently in her late teens or early twenties, dressed in green.
"My name is Harry Potter. I am a mage from beyond the Gate on Alnus Hill. What's your name?"
"Tuka Luna Marceau. Please…if you can get a rope or use your magic…I need to find my father."
"Okay, gimme a moment." Then, he said, pointing his wand, "Wingardium Leviosa." Tuka was lifted out of the well, and all but fell into Harry's arms. "Mari!" Harry called, casting a Drying Charm on Tuka, then a Warming Charm.
Mari hurried over, and began checking Tuka, who looked at Harry nervously. "She's a medic, a healer. She wants to check you for any injuries or hypothermia. You've been in the water for so long, it might affect your body temperature."
Tuka, after a moment, nodded. "Please…my father….if your magic can find him, do it. He is Hodor Ray Marceau. Please…"
Harry nodded back as Mari hustled the Elf away. Kurata began squeeing over the fact that they had found a hot blonde Elf, until Harry shot him a look, made irritable by mild magical exhaustion. "She just lost her home, along with everyone she knew, Kurata. Show some bloody respect instead of fanboying out!"
Kurata winced, recoiling. Harry knew Kurata didn't mean badly, he just didn't think before fanboying out. Itami was more measured, but he said, "Harry, he didn't mean it that way."
"I know, but if Tuka there knew what he was talking about, wouldn't she be angry or disturbed? Anyway, I'll see if I can find her father," Harry said, putting his wand into the palm of his hand. "Point Me, Hodor Ray Marceau." The wand spun briefly, before pointing at one of the collapsed but less burnt homes. He hurried over, and began using magic to lift the rubble away, believing he'd find a corpse. He was surprised to find a relatively intact body…and was even more so to find it still breathing. Like Tuka, he was an Elf, with blonde hair and pointy ears, his clothes singed but mostly intact, his face similar to Tuka's. Blood trickled down his forehead.
"Mari! When you're free, come here! We've found another survivor! I think it's her father!"
Despite doing considerable searching, no other survivors were found. If any had survived, they had fled far away by now. As it turned out, the other survivor was Tuka's father. Tuka, thanks to the Drying and Warming Charms, was out of danger, just needing a blanket to keep warm, but Hodor had a bad concussion and a few other injuries. They decided to camp on the outskirts of the former Elf village for now, and head to Coda in the morning to warn them.
As they had dinner, Tuka, who was surprised at the taste of the MRE she was given, looked at Harry. "Harry Potter, was it?" she asked. "Thank you for bringing me out of the well, and finding my father. I was sure he was still alive, but…"
"You're welcome. Are you all right?"
The blonde Elf shook her head, chewing her lip a little. "…My friends have been killed by the Flame Dragon. But…it doesn't make any sense! The Flame Dragon is a calamity that is only supposed to awaken every century, and it is decades too early! Something or someone must've roused it from its slumber!" She shivered, not from the cold, though, tears trickling from her teal eyes. For a time, she didn't speak, before she eventually asked, apparently to distract herself from her grief, "You said you come from a world beyond the Gate. Is magic common there?"
"No, it's rare and hidden. I'm the sole wizard here."
Tuka frowned, and then looked at the JSDF soldiers. "Then…what are those staffs they hold? And what is that thing on your belt?"
Harry tried to think about it, before he realised what she meant. "They're called firearms, guns. They're like a bow and arrow, only they use a small explosive to propel metal pellets at immense speeds. They can be built with the right machinery. And these people are soldiers with the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, the military of the country the Gate opened onto on our world. I am from another country on the other side of that world, Britain. Sergeant Kuribayashi there is my second cousin. I am a mage unofficially on contract with them."
"Oh," Tuka said. "…Am…am I going to be able to stay with these soldiers for a while? At least until my father gets better? I don't have anything to pay with, save my body, and…"
Harry held up his hand. "Hey…you don't have to sleep with anyone to pay off any debt. The JSDF came here mostly to hold the Saderan Empire to account, but also to meet the locals as friendly as possible. Using sex to pay debts is not really the done thing on our world. I'm sure the JSDF will work something out."
Tuka seemed shocked, before she gave a rather sad smile. "…Thanks. Do you have Elves on your world?"
"Not like yours. Some wizards have brownie servants, who work in exchange for magic, but I don't know of any others. Elves like you are in our fiction, though. There's Goblins, Merpeople, Centaurs…but not really the demi-humans you have here."
"I see. Do you think…my father will be all right?"
"I don't know, not with a head injury like that. But he's alive, right?"
"Yes…he's alive…"
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
And the first major divergence from GATE canon begins fairly quickly. Tuka didn't get bopped on the head with a water bucket and spent less time in the well, and Hodor was found before he could wander off in an amnesic daze. Oh, and King Duran was found before he could crawl off wherever he went to to get healed. Seriously, how DOES he end up at that convent Pina finds him at?
I'm not sure how Hodor survived, or whether he was still present when the JSDF arrived. I decided he wandered off with amnesia shortly before they did, otherwise, the JSDF were pretty negligent in searching for survivors. Still, for the sake of this story, he will remain unconscious for a while longer…
Anyway, the upshot is, Tuka stays sane, more or less…but having a father with amnesia is sure to cause other problems. I also decided to bypass the whole House Elf issue by having Harry tactfully call them brownies.
I also wanted to give Shino some more characterisation. While compassionate, she also seems rather aggressive and even a little bloodthirsty. I wrote in that bit to show that she doesn't really like the one-sided slaughter.
1. 'It is sweet and fitting to die for one's fatherland'. An old Latin saying.
