Hello all Storm here with a new chapter! Yep, updating the same story twice in a row, but what can I say while this story may not be as popular as my other stories, it's one that I really enjoy writing. Well here we'll be seeing some of the actions Shendu has taken since taking over Hogwarts along with how the students now see Akane for her part in it all. So, without further ado.
I own nothing
Five days have passed since Shendu took control of Hogwarts and things were…tense to say the least.
The first thing that Shendu did upon taking control of the school was remake the Great Hall into a throne room; it had large pillars with lit metal braziers at the base of them, stone carvings of Dragons, and a massive throne. He even managed to alter the magic ceiling to now permanently show a representation of the Chinese Zodiac, along with removing the floating candles. Meals were also now delivered straight to the House Dorms.
Classes were still allowed, only with several major changes; such as Shadowkhan now permanently monitoring them and given no one, besides Akane, had a wand anymore, they were restricted to only learning about magic through books rather than practicing it. This was until Shendu allowed them to have new wands and given what Akane knew about the Dragon, they'd be wands he himself created and couldn't be used against him. The only classes that didn't change much were Potions, Astronomy, Flying, Herbology, History of Magic, and some other classes that didn't require the use of a wand.
It was also worse for Akane than before. Before, people either ignored or insulted her for being a muggleborn; now though, everyone was tense and wary around her, given her connection to Shendu. She also knew that several Shadowkhan were constantly shadowing her in the that event anyone had any foolish ideas of attacking her.
Which was possible, as Akane has seen some of the braver, or stupider, students openly glaring at her, blaming her for what's happening.
Currently almost everyone was gathered in a corridor after word spread about there being a dispute between Harry Potter and the Shadowkhan. When the students and some staff arrived, they saw Potter being restrained by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, with a Shadowkhan holding what most recognized as an Invisibility Cloak.
"Give it back!" Harry shouted, struggling against his friends to take back his cloak, his father's cloak.
"Please Harry, there's nothing you can do!" Hermione exclaimed, knowing what would happen if he tried to take the cloak back.
"For once I agree with Hermione! It would be suicide if you tried fighting these guys, especially if that Dragon shows up!" Exclaimed Ron, not saying Shendu's name in fear he might unintentionally summon him.
No one moved to try and help him, out of fear of being punished or worse, though some of his fellow Gryffindors looked ready to jump in and help.
Though that feeling immediately vanished when Shendu appeared in a burst of speed, having been mentally contacted by his Shadowkhan. Any thoughts of helping Potter had vanished with the appearance of the massive Dragon, everyone remembering what happened the first and only time someone attacked him.
None of them wanted to experience being burned alive.
The Shadowkhan holding the Invisibility Cloak knelt to its master and presented it to him. Grabbing the cloak, Shendu hummed in thought, he was getting the same feeling from the cloak that he got from the Elder Wand. Meaning this was the Cloak of Invisibilty from the legend of the Deathly Hallows.
'Two down, one to go.' Shendu thought while smirking, knowing he just needed to find the Resurrection Stone.
"Well done, continue searching the castle for anything of use." Shendu ordered, feeling there were still some secrets to be discovered in this castle, with the Shadowkhan nodding and vanishing into the shadows.
With that done Shendu took his leave with the cloak in hand. Harry would have tried saying or doing something, if not for Hermione and Ron holding him back and covering his mouth. It was only when Shendu was gone did they let him go and most of the crowd dispersed, seeing it was over.
Pushing his friends away, Harry scowled in anger at his father's cloak being taken from him, one of the few things he had from his parents. Looking around, Harry's anger increased when he saw Akane, the one responsible for all this, standing some distance away having seen the entire thing.
"This is all your fault!" Harry shouted, while stomping up to Akane with less than kind intentions.
Only to be stopped when two Shadowkhan appeared with tantos in hand, upon seeing the threat to their master's Familiar. Though while he couldn't attack her physically, he could still yell at her.
"This is your fault! Bringing that Dragon and these things here! And now because of you, we're prisoners in our own school and all our wands are destroyed! You should never have even come to Hogwarts if you were just going to hand it over to a demon!" Harry shouted as he glared at Akane, having never thought he could hate someone more than Dudley and his gang, or even Malfoy.
This made Akane flinch, both from the words and his glare. While she and Potter weren't friends, they were at least on good terms due to Akane's friendship with Hermione, given both girls had a desire to learn as much about the Magical World as they could. So, while they weren't friends, they at least had an understanding.
But honestly, it angered Akane more than hurt her, that he actually believed she chose any of this. It didn't help that her frustration has been building ever since she became Shendu's Familiar and his words finally made it reach a boiling point.
"You really think I wanted any of this?! That I wanted to become Shendu's Familiar?! That I wanted Dumbledore to be killed and Hogwarts under his control?! I didn't, I didn't ask for any of this!" Akane shouted, while glaring right back at him.
Before things could escalate any further, Hermione showed up and pulled Harry back.
"Harry stop. You shouldn't blame Akane for this, she's just as much a victim as the rest of us. The only reason she's treated differently is because of her being the Dragon's Familiar." Hermione said, trying to stop a fight from happening and prevent anyone from dying, namely Harry, before he did something rash.
"Well maybe, if she hadn't been messing around with Teleportation Magic like an idiot, none of this would have happened." Harry said, before turning away with a scowl on his face.
Seeing Harry walk away, Akane went to do the same, but she also felt like getting the last laugh as well.
"Takes one to know one, Potter. You and any other First Year would have done the same, the only difference is I knew what I was doing. If it had been you or any other Gryffindor, you'd either send yourself into a volcano or blow yourself up; after all, we all know Gryffindors are known for being brave to the point of stupidity and recklessness." Akane said, knowing that'd rile him up, but she wasn't done.
"And besides, you should be thankful, if it was you in my position, you'd be nothing but an empty shell. Considering you'd likely fight Shendu at every corner and try to escape, and Shendu wouldn't be one to tolerate such a thing from his Familiar. He'd break you in mind, body and spirit, until you were happily following his commands, especially since he has ways to keep you alive indefinitely as he tore you apart. But me, I've accepted what's happened and I'm still in one piece. But you? You wouldn't have lasted a day before he had you singing like a canary." Said Akane.
It might be seen as weak that she hasn't tried fighting against Shendu, but Akane wasn't stupid enough to believe she could actually do anything. Doing what Shendu said might be dooming the world, but at least it kept her alive and in one piece.
While she felt guilty about what's happening, and what will happen, she also had a sense of self-preservation.
Not pleased at the insults both to Gryffindor and himself, Harry turned to say something else only for Hermione to stop him.
"Harry don't. I'm upset with her insult as well, both to you and me indirectly, since I'm also in Gryffindor. But wouldn't you be angry too, at being treated as a scapegoat for Shendu's actions?" Hermione said, stopping Harry from making things worse than they already are.
Giving Hermione the evil eye, Harry stomped away with Ron, who had surprisingly stayed out of the argument, following him. Sighing, Hermione went off on her own, knowing Harry wasn't happy with her defending Akane and will need some space to himself.
Akane, meanwhile, walked away, with the Shadowkhan following her from the shadows, to go find an empty part of the castle to get some peace and quiet. She didn't want to deal with any other students, especially after dealing with Potter, and the next person that tried blaming her for what's happened…Akane would be very tempted to just let the Shadowkhan do whatever they wanted to them.
Unfortunately, while she was lost in her dark thoughts, Akane wasn't watching where she was going and ended up bumping into something, knocking them both down.
Rubbing her head, Akane opened her eyes only to mentally groan at who it was she bumped into.
A First Year Slytherin, Daphne Greengrass, heiress to the Greengrass Family.
'Just great.' Akane thought.
She already wasn't on good terms with the Slytherins for just being a muggleborn, and her being affiliated with Shendu didn't help with that.
Daphne opened her eyes to see who had knocked her down, only for her expression to turn colder than usual at seeing Akane.
"Watch where you're going mu-loser." Daphne said coldly, while catching herself from saying mudblood.
Though she paled in fear when several Shadowkhan rose out of the shadows with weapons drawn, ready to attack her both for knocking down their master's Familiar and insulting her. Daphne gulped, knowing what'll happen next as the Shadowkhan stepped forward.
"Stop. Go back to patrolling." Akane ordered, causing the Shadowkhan to pause for a moment, before bowing and doing as she said.
Akane sighed in relief, while she wasn't Shendu, he did tell the Shadowkhan to follow her orders, but only if they didn't conflict with his own or any that would have them go against him.
Daphne looked at Akane in shock, that she'd stop the Shadowkhan from killing her, when she had no obligation to help her. But she quickly covered it up with her normal cold expression and stood up.
"Don't expect a thank you." Said Daphne coldly, while dusting herself off.
"I wasn't." Akane replied, before noticing a good number of books scattered across the floor around them.
It was expected, Daphne is one of the top three first year students, next to herself and Hermione, academically speaking anyway. Though, Akane did notice that there were definitely a lot more books than what First Years are required to get.
"That's more books than I thought I'd see you with Greengrass." Akane pointed out, causing Daphne to scoff and give her a side glare.
"Well given that classes have now been changed to just book study with the loss of our wands, I need more books to study with. Not that you need to worry about such things, you still have your wand, while all of us were forced to watch ours be burned to ash." Daphne said bitterly, while feeling resentful that Akane was allowed to keep her wand.
For Witches and Wizards, losing a wand was like losing a limb, even worse, they were helpless to do anything to stop them from being burned.
Hearing this, Akane winced, knowing it was true. Shendu allowed her to keep her wand for the sole reason being that she couldn't hurt him, even if she wanted to. Sighing Akane knelt down and began helping Daphne gather up the books, stunning the Greengrass heiress.
"Here put them in stacks." Akane said, once all the books were gathered up
Putting the books into a few stacks, Akane pulled out her wand and used the Levitation Charm, stunning Daphne again that she was helping her.
"Why are you helping me? We aren't friends and I wasn't exactly nice to you before all this, so why?" Daphne asked, with Akane sighing before looking at the Slytherin.
"Because, while I hate everyone blaming me for what's happened, I do feel responsible for it. I'm the one who helped Shendu gain his freedom, I told him about the Magical World. Everything that's happened and everyone that's died and those that will die, it'll be because of me. While I doubt that I'll ever be able to make amends for everything, I can at least sleep easy knowing I helped someone. Even with something as minor as carrying their books." Akane said while shrugging.
Daphne wasn't sure what to say that and simply stayed silent as she guided Akane to the Slytherin Common Room. Unknown to the two, they were being watched by Hermione, who sighed after hearing what Akane said, wishing there was something she could do to help her friend.
*Timeskip-Next Day*
"What do you want now?" Akane asked as she entered the throne room, having been summoned by Shendu for something.
As per the usual, Shendu was sitting on his throne with the Enforcers off to the side. Though this time, Akane saw the Pan'ku Box floating in front of Shendu. So far, the Pan'ku Box has yet to reveal the locations of any demon portals and Akane could sense Shendu was growing agitated with the lack of success.
In response, Shendu levitated the box into Akane's hands, getting a confused looked from the girl.
"I require you to try and solve the secrets of the Pan'ku Box to see if you can reveal the locations of my siblings' portals. These buffoons tried and failed." Shendu said, while glaring at the Enforcers, who, besides Hak Foo, gulped in fear.
"And you think that I, a twelve-year-old, can do what four grown men can't?" Akane asked, wondering how that logic worked.
"Yes well, in the short time you have been in my service, you've proven far more competent than these fools have in the months they served me. Besides, it's said that a child can see things an adult cannot." Shendu said, with Akane sighing as she sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Fine, but don't blame me if I can't get it." Akane said, as she started looking the box over.
The most obvious thing would be to try and open it up, but she doubted some ancient and mystical demon portal box would be that simple. The only thing she had to go off of was the vertical and horizontal lines, two vertical lines that split the box into four pieces and three horizontal lines making eight smaller pieces stacked on top of each other.
Getting an idea of what the box's function was, Akane tested it and moved some of the pieces along the lines, smiling when she saw them move.
"What is it?" Questioned Shendu
"It's a puzzle box. I'm guessing in order for it to show where a portal is located, it has to be turned to a certain configuration." Akane said as she began fiddling with the pieces to get a configuration for a portal location.
It took some time, but eventually, Akane turned the final piece, revealing a completed trigram. Immediately, the Pan'ku Box flew into the air and began rearranging itself before one of the pieces lifted up, revealing the green magic core and projected a green holographic map of the world with a location marked by the trigram.
"Rome?" Finn stated upon seeing where the location was, just as the map vanished and the box fell back into Akane's hands with a small section popping up, like a key.
"Whose portal is that?" Akane asked, while looking at Shendu.
"Given what the trigram was, it is my sister, Bai Tza's portal. Good, her control over water makes her one the strongest amongst our kin, along with being the most cunning, second only to myself." Shendu said, while hoping he can get the spell preventing him from summoning his dragon minions removed, sooner rather than later.
Akane just rolled her eyes, believing he's just boasting his power again. Though she also shivered, remembering that Bai Tza was the mermaid looking demon she met, along with Hsi Wu.
"I'm guessing I'll be coming along." Akane said, with it sounding more like a statement than a question.
Shendu had recently extended the distance from which Akane could go from him, so she didn't have to constantly remain by his side. Though she doubted that he'd leave her here alone, while he goes off to another country.
"Yes, you'll be joining us." Shendu stated, with Akane sighing in acceptance.
At least she had the chance to change out of her uniform and take a shower, this time around.
*Later*
"Now this is a sight, never thought I'd get a free trip to Rome." Chow said, while looking around and taking in the sights.
"I hear ya. We're gonna have to check out the sights, I could definitely use some new kicks." Finn said, before looking down at his shoes and suit, which were starting to show signs of wear, given he hasn't changed since Shendu took over that magic school; plus, there's no way he was wearing some bathrobe like the rest of those Witches and Wizards.
"Maybe some Roman style pizza too, that'd be great." Added Ratso, with the others nodding in agreement, even Hak Foo.
Akane, meanwhile, didn't say anything, though silently agreed since she'd want to see the sights as well. Her focus at the moment though, was on the Pan'ku Box as it guided her to where Bai Tza's portal was located.
Before leaving, Akane had made sure to shower and get some regular clothes, now dressed in dark blue sneakers, black shorts, a navy-blue shirt, and a dark crimson vest with a hood. It felt good to be in some civvies, rather than walking around in robes.
After that, it was one hyper speed flight to Rome, with her and the Enforcers searching for the portal's location as soon as they were on the ground. Meanwhile, Shendu was watching them, while invisible in the air.
"We can get something to eat and go sightseeing later. Unless you want to become dragon food for holding off freeing Shendu's dear sister." Akane said, while giving them a deadpan look, before noticing the box was glowing brightly, showing that they were close to the portal.
Soon, the location became clear when they arrived at the Colosseum of all places and the box flew out of Akane's hands as a beam of magic shot out of the key part at a statue head on the ground, transforming it into the proper symbol which shrunk down. The Pan'ku Box then flew into it like a key entering a lock, then a green bordered portal expanded on the ground with swirling red and yellow interior, accompanied by strong winds.
A large amount of water then burst out of the portal, which began moving and taking shape, a shape Akane was familiar with, while the Enforcers looked on in shock. Soon the water transformed, and Bai Tza the Water Demon was free once again.
"Aah! Freedom at last!" Bai Tza hissed in enjoyment, before taking notice of the Enforcers, more specifically the little girl, his brother's Familiar, who was surprisingly still alive
"What's this? Shendu's little pet? How surprising, I had expected my brother to have killed you by now." Bai Tza said, surprised the girl still lived passed the time-frame she and Hsi Wu believed she'd last.
The ground then shook as Shendu landed in front of his sister and stood over her. With him back at full power, he'll no longer cower before her or any of their siblings again.
"Dear sister, welcome back to the mortal world. Now if you'd be so kind, remove this curse you and Hsi Wu put on me." Shendu said, while Bai Tza floated up until she was at eye level with her brother and smirked.
"Now brother dearest, why would I do that? After all the deal was, the curse would be lifted once all of our beloved siblings were free, and as of now, six of us still remained trapped. So, no dragon minions for you, how sad." Bai Tza said in a mocking tone, while Shendu growling at his sibling, but held his tongue, knowing Bai Tza could make the situation even worse if she wanted.
"Our business here is concluded. We're leaving. Come sister." Shendu said while turning to leave, only to stop when Bai Tza scoffed and crossed her arms.
"I'm not going with you Shendu, I'm returning to my kingdom of Atlantis." Bai Tza said, with Akane and the Enforcers looking at her in surprise at hearing that she ruled Atlantis.
"Atlantis sunk thousands of years ago, it's little more than ruins at the bottom of the sea." Shendu said, causing Bai Tza to hiss at him in anger.
"Then I will just raise it once more, or perhaps drown a human city and force the survivors to rebuild it." Retorted Bai Tza, preparing to go and do just that, only find herself frozen as Shendu used the Rooster on her.
"Do that and you risk flooding an entire coastal region, something that will bring too much attention to us." Shendu stated, with Bai Tza giving her brother a glare as she was reluctant to admit he was right in that regard.
"Hmph, I never thought I'd see the day you were afraid of some humans, brother." Bai Tza said tauntingly, only to flinch when Shendu tightened his hold on her and created a ball of combustion energy, causing steam to come off her body, while the dragon growled at his sister.
"It's not fear sister dearest, but common sense. We underestimated the humans once and it was that arrogance that got all of us sealed in the Netherworld in the first place. It was that same disregard for humans that lead to me being trapped in a statue for hundreds of years by Lo Pei and then to my defeat at the hands of Jackie Chan. So no, it's not fear sister, it's that I have learned from my past mistakes, while you clearly have not." Shendu said, before releasing his hold on Bai Tza and cutting the flames.
"But by all means, do as you wish see what happens. But know this sister, if you are banished again, do not expect any help from me." Said Shendu, while pointing a talon at Bai Tza.
Growling, Bai Tza gave her brother a look, before making a "Tsk" sound.
"Fine, take me to wherever it is you are hiding." Bai Tza said while reluctantly conceding to her brothers point that it'd be better to stay off the radar for now, at least until the rest of their family was freed.
Seeing that his sister has backed down, Shendu nodded before turning to his minions and Familiar.
"We're done here." Shendu said, preparing to return to Hogwarts.
"Uh actually, we were kind of hoping to do some sightseeing and getting something to eat." Akane said, with the Enforcers nodding in agreement.
"We have no time for such things. The sooner I free the rest of my siblings, the sooner this curse is removed." Shendu immediately said, refusing to waste time for something like "sightseeing".
"Yeah but…" Akane said, while tossing the Pan'ku Box up and catching it.
"I'm the one who solved the first portal location and now that I know how it works, solving the rest will be easy enough. Plus, wouldn't it be good to get familiarized with the landscape of the portal locations, not to mention getting your sister refamiliarized with the Human World after being sealed for so long. Plus, there's not really a time limit of when the portals have to be opened." Akane countered.
Shendu and Bai Tza both had annoyed expressions, as Akane did have some good points, but that didn't mean they had to like it.
"Your pet has quite the mouth on her brother." Bai Tza said, before being enveloped in a swirl of water.
"I'm aware." Said Shendu, as his body glowed and began changing.
After a few moments, Akane and the Enforcers were shocked when in the place of the two Demon Sorcerers were two humans. In place of Bai Tza was a woman with pale skin, blue hair tied into multiple braids resembling her tentacles, and wearing black dress shoes, dark blue leggings, and a light blue coat that went down to her knees. In place of Shendu was a muscular man with slicked back golden bronze colored hair, tanned skin, and wearing an open vest, a sash, and pants, all in the same color as his scales.
'Huh, didn't know they could do that.' Akane thought, but at least it'll make it easier to blend in.
Even their eyes changed, with Shendu's being amber, while Bai Tza's were a navy blue.
With that done, the two transformed Demon Sorcerers, the four Enforcers, and the little witch left the Colosseum to explore Rome.
So, what did you think, good. Yep Shendu now has two of the Deathly Hallows and has the Shadowkhan searching for anything else of interest in the castle. We also see Akane isn't going to take anyone blaming her lying down, as while she knows she's at fault, she isn't going to let anyone push her around, but that also doesn't mean she doesn't want to try and make amends for her part in it all. Also just to get it out of the way, Akane is not going to betray Shendu or try to find a way to break the Familiar Bond, as think about this the only thing keeping Akane safe from any retaliation is Shendu's presence, take that away and Akane would be lucky if being thrown in Azkaban is all that happens to her. Finally we see that Bai Tza has been the first Demon Sorcerer freed rather than Po Kong, given her trigram was the one Akane solved on the Pan'ku Box and she'll be joining them at Hogwarts after Shendu took her down a couple pegs. So, review if you liked go away if you didn't.
Storm out