Some pairings take a lot of justifying, but they can be worth it if you can put in the effort. Doing a Harry/Atalanta story has been pretty much on my mind since even before I began watching Fate/Apocrypha. But with the right effort and entry point into the story, things work out...hopefully. This is the first chapter of a story with said pairing. Whether it'll become a full story is, of course, another matter entirely. Atalanta is one of those characters I wish was developed more, at least sooner than the whole fiasco with Jack the Ripper. I like how she was portrayed in Fate/Grand Order better, as well as fanfics around the same (particularly the chapter 'Maternal Instincts' from the Fate/Grand Order slice-of-life fic Fragments of Chaldea by GhostXavier, which I recommend).

Of course, pairing her with Harry, or indeed any other character, is difficult because of the whole vow of chastity thing (apparently, this was to prevent animals from smelling anything from sex from any hunters), but I think I have found a decent enough workaround, and the romance will be gradual. Then again, the main point of this fic, as with many of mine, is to try and give Atalanta, and other characters, a happier ending. Anyway, I hope you enjoy...


MOST DANGEROUS GAME

CHAPTER 1:

JAEGER

Harry didn't know where he was. One moment, he was running away from Dudley and his gang, and the next…he was in the wilderness. Forests and mountains everywhere. It was cold and it was night, the silvery light of the Moon shining down. He shivered, fearing that every bush could have a predator bursting out from behind it. He kept an ear out for a rustling that would herald the advent of a predator, not knowing he was being watched, not knowing that the truly best hunters would hide their approach until it was too later, that a predator would not herald his end with a rustling of bushes.

However, when the near-silence (not counting the birdsong and the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees) finally broke, it was not with a rustling of leaves or the roar of a hungry predator.

Instead, it was with a high-pitched squeal of delight.

"KYAAAAH! Oh, he's SOOO CUUUUUTE!"

He had no time to react to the startling noise, for he soon found himself snatched into the air and whirled around, catching a brief glimpse of skin so pale it was white, and sapphire blue eyes. Then, he was pressed to a pair of really soft round and warm things. That wouldn't have been so bad, had he been unable to breathe.

"Oops, sorry," came the voice as he began to flail. He was gently let down on the ground, and found himself face-to-face with the one who had attacked him. Only to stop and stare. A single word escaped his lips.

"Pretty…"

The woman was indeed pretty. In fact, she was utterly beautiful. Her skin was pale, practically snow-white, while her hair, in long silvery tresses, looked like they were spun out of the very Moon itself. Sapphire eyes bore into his own emerald ones. Her figure was something every man would desire, slender and yet buxom, though he didn't know the meaning of the word buxom.

The woman's beautiful face seemed to frown, as if remembering something, before she did. Then, she looked down at him, her blue eyes now stern. "You trespass upon my hunting grounds, wizard. These sacred lands are not for mortals to tread upon, and are closed off from the rest of the world. So, plead your case, and I may decide to be lenient, for I do not suffer interlopers gladly."

Harry stared at her, before he shook his head. "…I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being a freak…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be here…I'm sorry…"

As he began to weep, he realised that the woman had knelt down before him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "…They call you a freak?" she asked quietly. "I see…one of Hecate's children, treated by others with contempt. Though this darkness…" She prodded his scar, causing him to wince as what felt like a dagger of ice jabbed into his skull. She hissed in horror just as he hissed in pain. "…So, another one like Herpo the Foul has arisen. I'll have to see if I can remove this…maybe my brother can help. Anyway…I'm guessing you came here by accident, didn't you?"

He nodded, mutely.

"What about your family?"

"…My parents died in a car crash. They were freaks too, so my uncle and aunt told me."

"I don't know about that. If you really are a freak, you're a cute one. Hmm…well, as your uncle and aunt can't see what a gift they have been given in you, I think I will take you up myself," the woman said with a smile. "Sorry for scaring you, but these lands are sacred to me, closed off from mortals, save for those very few I allow. The children of Hecate, both wizards and Magi, make concerted efforts to trespass all the time. It's rare that someone comes here by accident."

"So how did I get here?" Harry asked.

"Magic, obviously."

"But there's no such thing. Uncle Vernon tells me that."

"Then he is a liar or a fool, or even both, I am not sure which. Because you are a wizard. Still… would you like to stay here?"

"…Is it okay?"

"Of course! They're my lands, and I decide who gets to stay here! Hmm, it's been a while since I've raised a child, even if it was by proxy, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it!" The woman smiled at him, a cheerful, joyful thing that Harry couldn't help but be reassured by.

"…Thank you. But…what's your name?"

"Oh? Oh, okay. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Silly me! I am known by many names. To the Romans, I was known as Diana. To the Spartans, I was Aeginea. To some, I was known as Phoebe, Cynthia, Agrotera, or Tauropolos. But most know me as Artemis. And your name, cutie?"

"Harry Potter…"


On the outskirts of Selçuk, a town in Turkey, there were the ruins of the Ancient Greek city of Epheseus, and within those ruins, the ruins of the Temple of Artemis. It was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World by Anipater of Sidon. In the 4th Century BC, a man named Herostratus was condemned to have his name erased from history (unsuccessfully) and to be executed (rather more successfully) for his insolence for burning down the temple merely to gain infamy. The temple was rebuilt, but was destroyed by something even greater than a fame-hungry arsonist. Neglect, decay and time, when the temple was closed during the rise of Christianity.

Normally, tourists were the only ones disturbing the peace at this once sacred land. But now, the peace was broken by something surprisingly more insidious than slackjawed gawkers who had about as much respect for history as Herostratus did towards the very temple he destroyed. Then again, these interlopers could, debatably, be called thieves. Even archaeologists, these days, had respect enough for the past to study and display it, rather than steal it away for their own purposes.

However, the clashing groups on the grounds of what had been the Temple of Artemis had somewhat selfish reasons to be fighting in the moonlit night. On one side, you had a rather shady, reptilian-looking man dressed in a vulgar Hawaiian shirt and with tinted glasses, his hair an explosion of ginger curls. Rottweil Berzinsky was a mercenary Magus of considerable note, and no little amorality. His face, while not actually reptilian, had a vaguely reptilian attitude to it, and due to the way his magecraft worked, his body was actually partly reptilian, albeit hidden by his clothes.

He was fighting alongside some Enforcers from Clock Tower, the colloquial name for the worldwide Magus Association. He didn't bother remembering their names. They were tagalongs, babysitters meant to ensure that he didn't do anything too outrageous in getting what he wanted. Which was, namely, some sort of artifact from the Temple of Artemis. He'd heard rumours that an Auxiliary Grail War was happening soon, and to sweeten the deal with Clock Tower in allowing him to go, he'd volunteered to retrieve some artifacts that could be used as catalysts to summon Servants. The last Auxiliary Grail War he'd participated in went badly, due to his clients ordering him to kill his own Servant to harvest the magical energy. That went badly for them, and for Rottweil: he killed them, and when the magical energy was unleashed, he barely survived.

He wanted something a bit more substantial, hence his presence here. He wanted to win one of those things. He was hoping to find something like, say, something belonging to the great hunter Orion, or perhaps a relic of Heracles. Hell, he'd even take something like a scrap of the hide of the Calydonian Boar and summon Atalanta or Meleager with it, and in fact, he'd found that very thing, just before they showed up.

At first, he thought it had something to do with the local Ministry of Magic. Magi and wizards were rarely on good terms for the most part, so it was prudent to speak to them first if you were doing something relatively official for Clock Tower. In fact, he spoke to both the Greek and Turkish Ministries, and they gave him permission, but with odd looks on the representatives' faces, as if they knew he was going somewhere very dangerous.

Certainly, rumours surfaced that Jaeger, a shadowy figure of some dark repute, made this general area their stalking grounds. Magi and wizards causing trouble in this part of Turkey and in eastern Greece tended to…disappear. There were rumours of someone who hunted them. Indeed, Jaeger also was known to hunt abroad, helping out Enforcers and Executors on hunts for rogue Magi and Dead Apostles. They even frequently took Magic Crests and Mystic Codes as trophies. Rottweil was hoping to be in and out before Jaeger could take issue, assuming he or she did.

No such luck. The ones who showed up appeared to be Homunculi, not with the distinctive albino looks of the von Einzbern Homunculi, but rather, with light brown hair and eyes that were like a mix between crimson and violet, distinctive of the Homunculi created by the Musik line. A line which had joined with Yggdmillennia. But why would Yggdmillennia interfere here? This was quite a way away from Yggdmillennia's territory in Romania.

But even as they exchanged blows, spells, and gunfire, they were soon interrupted by a roar. "PHOEBE DELUGE!" Suddenly, arrows began raining from the sky, and Rottweil was forced to dive for cover, as were the Enforcers and Homunculi.

"Magi…for what reason do you profane this sacred place?" came the same voice. "Answer quickly, or I will spill your blood myself."

Rottweil chanced a look behind the tree he had taken cover behind, but could only see a cloaked figure. And even then, it seemed to be hard to see, almost as if it was a living mirage. One of the Homunculi, perhaps unwisely, decided to attack the figure by firing an arrow, only for the cloaked figure to raise and fire a bow with lightning speed, splitting the arrow in two, and impaling the Homunculus through the head, pinning him to a tree. "Not a very nice answer. Well?"

"We are here to retrieve artifacts for safekeeping," one of the Enforcers said.

"I'm keeping them safe, Mr Clock Tower Enforcer," the figure said. Then, a little quieter, he (for the voice was male, and with a British accent, albeit tinted by something else) added "Me and my mother, anyway. Clock Tower and their tomb raiders are not welcome here. Neither are these guys, whom I presume are part of another faction of Magi. If you go now, then you can leave with whatever you brought here, including your lives. Or, in simpler terms…" The figure did something with the bow in their hands, and the sound of a shotgun having a new round loaded in filled the air, before he yelled, in a corny American accent, "Get off ma lawn!"

Rottweil felt a surge of vicious anger, and snarled, "I ain't scared of you or your mother, clinging on to the train of a dead goddess! The Age of the Gods is over!"

In hindsight, he'd blundered in his lack of tact. Especially when the figure looked their way, and one of the Enforcers said, "…We're not being paid enough for this."

"Good. I will not punish those who don't oppose me. But…" Another Homunculus fired at him, and as he was distracted, Rottweil fired his own gun at the figure.

As the cloaked figure dissipated, the last thing Rottweil heard before everything went white, and then black, was a woman yelling, "TRI-STAR AMORE MIO!"


Rottweil hadn't expected to wake up, but he did, hearing the voices of the young man who attacked him, and a woman, her voice musical and childish. "…Why these people were profaning my temple," the woman was saying. "I don't mind tourists, as annoying as they are, and at least archaeologists displaying parts of my temples allows some spreading of belief, but still…"

"Hmm. We should send Clock Tower a warning. Well, two. One about the possibility of a Holy Grail War in Romania, and another about letting their hired dogs run around here with impunity," said the man. "At least the Enforcers knew when to throw in the towel. I'm glad you didn't kill him with your Noble Phantasm, Mum."

"That's fine, sweetie. Anyway, I think he's coming around."

Rottweil opened his eyes, to find himself in a forest area, a pair of figures peering down at him. One was a magnificently beautiful and buxom young woman, with pale skin and silvery hair that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Incongruously, she seemed to have a toy bear in a loincloth perched on her shoulder. However, her blue eyes were looking down at him in contempt. Even as his anger flared at her for doing such a thing, a primitive part of his mind was cringing away from her, as if she harboured some sort of power it could sense.

Next to her was a young man in his mid-twenties, with a messy mane of dark hair, and emerald eyes. With a start, he recognised him. True, he looked much older, but he looked like the wizards' bloody golden boy, who'd more or less disappeared after a brief but eventful couple of years in Britain. Harry Potter. He too was glaring down at him in contempt.

As his anger burst forth, and he opened his mouth to snarl at them, rather unwisely, the toy bear, of all things, chose that moment to talk. "Hey, buddy? Here's some advice from someone who knows these two very well. Do NOT piss them off any further than they already are. They get creative."

"Orion, Darling," the woman said, "he is already going back to Clock Tower in considerably diminished condition than when he first arrived here. How diminished a condition he suffers depends on how polite he is. You did, after all, attack my adopted son. That deserves punishment at the very least."

"And who are you?" Rottweil sneered, again unwisely.

"…What insolence, mortal," the woman said. "You speak with such foolish disdain towards Artemis, compounding your offences towards my person."

Rottweil's reaction, understandably, was sheer disbelief. One of the Olympians, still alive and well, outside of the Age of the Gods? Impossible! "…What?"

"Yeah, buddy. What's the saying these days?" the bear said. "Oh yeah. You done goofed. This here is Artemis, one of the last of the Olympians, that's her adopted son, Harry Jaeger, and I'm Orion! Yeah, yeah, I know, I don't look as handsome as I did in life. It's a long story. Now, the Enforcers were eager to tell us why you were here, and frankly, the missus isn't happy. So, why don't you grovel a bit? Maybe then, she won't turn you into a deer and hold a hunting party."

"…You can't. The Magus Association won't stand for this!"

"Yeah, well, you're a freelancer, just like me," Harry said, with a shrug. "Anyway, the local Ministry here knows better than to meddle in affairs here. So…frankly, you'd better hope that Mum's feeling merciful…"


"So…from what we got from those fools…those Enforcers plus that Berzinsky creep were looking for artifacts to use as catalysts for a Holy Grail War," Artemis mused, toying with the scrap from the hide of the Calydonian Boar. She'd forgotten it was still present somewhere on the ruined grounds of her temple. Then again, Artemis was a bit of a ditz, to say the least. Even she would admit that.

Her adopted darling son Harry nodded. They were currently walking through the vast forests that were the sacred hunting grounds of Artemis, kept isolated from the rest of the world via a form of pocket dimension. She remembered the day when he first ended up here, and she never regretted adopting him.

True, there was that brouhaha when those damned wizards kidnapped him, but that turned out for the best. Well, more or less. That warlock who tried to kill him was dead (via divine intervention…well, a loving mother's intervention), he'd made new friends, and he got to test himself against a dragon! Her little baby boy was growing up so fast.

"And now, Yggdmillennia are apparently about to reveal they have the Greater Grail to the world…well, Clock Tower, and thus call another Holy Grail War," Harry said. "So, it's going to get real messy real soon. And I'll have to take them back to Clock Tower."

"Still, this could be a good opportunity, Harry," Artemis said. "Over the years, you have honed your abilities as a hunter. True, you have been a hunter of people rather than of fauna, but still, they are the most dangerous game. Sooo…now that we have a few relics to act as catalysts, why not summon yourself a Servant?"

"Huh? You actually want me to participate in this thing?"

"Sure! It'd be a great test of your abilities, and I'm sure you'd work well with any Servant who is aligned with me. Besides, no Magus can best my child."

"…You're not going to take no for an answer, are you, Mum?"

"Not really. Besides, do we want someone like Darnic having the Greater Grail?"

"…I guess not. Okay, I'll do it. Hopefully, I get someone nice from the summoning…"

Thankfully, one of the Enforcers knew how to draw out the summoning circle Harry needed to use, and after that preamble was out of the way, plus placing the chosen catalyst, the hide of the Calydonian Boar, Harry held out his hand, beginning the chant. "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning! I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world! Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of the Scales!"

There was a flare of crimson light, and Harry felt a sting on his right hand. Then, as the light faded, he saw, along with Artemis and Orion, who were looking on, the kneeling figure in the circle. "Servant Archer has answered your summons. I ask of you, are you…"

"LITTLE 'LANTA!"

That was the only warning that the figure had before they were glomped by a guided goddess missile. Harry stifled a giggle as his mother embraced the bemused and startled young woman whom he had just summoned, her green eyes wide in a deer in the headlights look. A messy mane of blonde and green hair reached her waist, framing sternly beautiful features. She was dressed in a green dress. However, the most striking features of the newcomer were the cat-like ears protruding from the top of her head, as well as the tail snaking out from beneath her skirt.

"…My Lady Artemis?" the woman asked. "Is this really you?"

"Yep! Oh! Right. Harry, meet Atalanta, one of the finest huntresses to ever fall under my aegis," Artemis said with a big smile. "Atalanta, this is Harry Jaeger, my adopted son in this era. And, if I'm not mistaken, he's your Master…"

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

Well…fun times are about to be had. Harry's been raised by Artemis, and through a series of events, has summoned Atalanta as Archer instead of Rottweil. Incidentally, that background about Rottweil is pretty much canon, and yes, he was Atalanta's Master. More will be revealed about Harry's past and abilities soon…

No numbered annotations this time.