Aaaand here comes the next chapter! I believe I will be putting my subtle FFXII crossover segment in here… it's subtle, so sorry to all those who wanted Balthier to pop out of nowhere… the only characters appearing are the Espers. So sorry! Anyways, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Okay? Happy? Well, I own the Elemental Lords that don't go by the name of Lakeshore, so yeah.
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Three and a half weeks had passed since Harry had begun his training. Most of his physical exercise was done in his male form, but for practicing with his new Elemental abilities, he turned into Claire. Right now, Claire was standing by the lake, trying to form her Elemental Weapon.
"How go your attempts, Claire?" Lakeshore had risen out of the water, and was now facing the teenage girl as she was trying to shape the water in her hands.
"I keep trying, but it's not taking a comprehensible form!" Claire attempted again, but the water she was manipulating shivered and fell back down. Claire groaned in frustration.
"It's because you're trying to make the wrong type of weapon," Lakeshore informed the frustrated girl. "You're trying to make a claymore, when you should be making a slim long sword."
"What's the difference?" Claire asked the Elemental Lord. In response, Lakeshore created a claymore formed from water, and a long sword formed from water. She let the water in the shape of a claymore fall back into the lake, showing Claire the blade.
"Oh, I see! Thin blade, slightly longer hilt… Thanks, Lakeshore!" Claire turned back to the water, focusing it in her hands, shaping it. After five minutes of concentration, a translucent sword, formed of various colorations of water, was present in Claire's hand. "I did it!" Happily, Claire tossed a rock in the air, and sliced through it. The sword passed clean through with no resistance, and the rock split perfectly in half.
"Good work, Claire. Eventually you'll be able to create your weapon without a source of water readily available, and even further along you'll be able to create a second," Lakeshore informed her pupil. "However, that is not why I came to talk with you. I am afraid, Claire, that until you gain more strength with you newfound abilities on your own, I cannot continue your training," the Elemental Lord informed the saddened teen.
"So, what am I supposed to do now? Go back to Hogwarts?" Just then, Clover appeared next to Claire.
"Claire, when can we go back to Diagon Alley? I want more ice cream!" Claire chuckled, and an idea formed in her head.
"Alright, we'll go to Diagon Alley. I guess I should present myself to Dumbledore and everybody again," Claire said, worry creeping into her voice. "Lakeshore, do you think I should tell them about the curse?"
"That, my pupil, is up to you. However, I would like you to return here over the winter holidays to continue your training. You should also keep an eye out for other students who might be Elementals."
"Alright," Claire said. "I guess I should start packing up then."
"One more thing," Lakeshore stated firmly. Claire turned around, to see Lakeshore holding a small crystal in her hand. "This is a gift, to mark your progress. Inside this crystal is sealed Famfrit, the Elemental Scion of Water. To call him out, you need only focus your energy into the crystal, and place it on the floor. A summoning circle will appear and do the rest. Be warned: Famfrit is dangerous. Only use his power in the most dire of circumstances."
"Thank you," Claire said, taking the crystal. She bowed to her mentor before going over to her tent and returning it to the form of a backpack. Claire turned around, grabbed Clover's hand, waved goodbye to her mentor, and vanished.
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Ron Weasley was practicing with his Elemental Weapon, a spear made of pure lightning. He was sparring against his mentor, the Elemental Lord of Lightning, Raiden. The two of them were exchanging blows quite readily, nearly equally matched until Ron lost his footing, tripped, and fell. Raiden took the opportunity to place his staff to Ron's throat.
"Do you yield?" The man's voice rang out like thunder.
"Not yet!" Ron replied. He waved his hand, and the spear immediately vanished from his hand, reappearing behind Raiden and pointing at the Elemental Lord's neck.
"Good call, Ronald, but you forget about one thing," Raiden said calmly before disappearing in a flash, only to rematerialize behind Ron. "Don't forget that your opponent may be able to teleport as well." Raiden lifted Ron up from his place on the ground, moving the spear back over to Ron's hand.
"The Gungnir is a powerful weapon. Use it wisely, along with the gift I am about to give you." Ron watched in amazement as Raiden condensed lightning in his hand, to form a small crystal in his hand. "This is Addramalech, Elemental Scion of Lightning. Use his power wisely, for he is not one to be trifled with." Raiden handed the crystal to Ron, who nodded slightly.
Just then, Ginny appeared, her fiery bow in hand, with a letter to Ron. "Ginny, what's in that letter?" Ginny handed him the letter, shrugged, and vanished. Ron noticed the crystal in the same hand as her bow before she disappeared. Did she get a Scion as well?
Ron wasted no time in opening up the letter, and his eyes widened at what he read.
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Hermione was standing in the middle of a forest in the mountains, which she had made her training site for the past month. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was overly familiar about Claire, the girl she had met two and a half weeks prior in the Muggle shopping districts, and had met up with every weekend since.
Hermione chased the thought from her mind, conjuring the ice bow that she had learned to create one week prior. Grandius had called the bow Sagittarius, even though that wasn't her Zodiac sign. Hermione drew back on the crystalline bowstring, instantly crystallizing the water vapor in the air into the shape of an arrow. She released the string, sending the arrow rocketing towards a tree.
Upon impact, the arrow completely froze the tree over, coating it in permafrost. Another arrow, and the tree shattered into thousands of pieces.
"You have done well, Hermione," a voice said from behind her. Hermione turned to face Grandius, her mentor. Glacia appeared on her shoulder in her ice drake form, before turning into a younger version of Hermione. "I believe Glacia would like to give you my gift." Hermione leaned down to look at what Glacia had held in her outstretched hands.
Hermione reached down and took the crystal, noticing the strange engraving on it.
"Sealed within that crystal is the Elemental Scion of Ice, Mateus. Beware his power; he is power-hungry and will do anything to gain more, but I believe you have the capability to restrain him. I believe you have read on how to summon beings such as Scions?"
"Just focus your magic into the crystal, and plant it on the ground. The summoning circle will do the rest of the magic for you, and once the being is either defeated or pulled back, the crystal will reappear in the hand of the caster."
"Very good, Hermione! Now, Glacia, you may want to give Hermione the letter from her friend before you freeze it." The girl pulled a letter from behind her, and handed it to Hermione before turning back into a small ice drake. Hermione saw the letter was from Harry, tore it open, and examined the letter.
I will be at the Leaky Cauldron at noon on Wednesday. I would only like to see Professor Lupin and my two best friends, Ron and Hermione. No Aurors, and if anybody tries to send me back to the Dursley's, I will run away and never return to Hogwarts.
Signed,
Harry Potter.
Hermione glanced down at the letter a second time before looking up at Grandius. She couldn't say a word before he answered the question forming in her thoughts.
"Yes, you may go. I do not believe there is anything more for me to teach you. Anything else about your Elemental powers, you must discover by yourself. I wish you luck in your battle, Hermione. Keep your eyes open for other Elementals such as yourself;they may be closer than you think," the Elemental Lord said, a slight hint of prophecy in his eyes.
Hermione bowed, closed her eyes, and teleported back to her house. She wanted to go to Diagon Alley early anyways, so she could get her school supplies. She hoped that Claire would be in Diagon Alley as well…
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Claire and Clover had just stepped out of Fortesque's ice cream parlor when Claire felt herself embraced in a hug.
"Claire, I didn't think I'd see you here! How are you?" Claire was let go, and turned around to see Hermione. She didn't see the ice drake on Hermione's shoulder this time. Maybe it was better hidden this time around?
"I'm good, Hermione! What are you doing here?"
"I'm picking up some school supplies before going to meet an old friend, who dropped off the face of the earth for a month, and now I get to give him a piece of my mind!"
"I'm sure he'll get what he deserves," Claire said, tensing up slightly at Hermione's not-so-friendly tone when saying this.
"Claire, can we get some ice cream?" Clover was tugging on her clothes again, and acting just like a little girl her age would.
"C'mon Claire, let's go shopping, and get your sister some ice cream while we're at it!" Hermione grabbed Claire by the wrist, and the three girls went off to buy what it is they needed.
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After they had all finished up with there shopping, Claire and Clover had returned to the Leaky Cauldron, where Claire went into the bathroom, changed, and reverted to male form. Harry emerged from the bathroom, spying his Familiar on the bed, cradling the crystal that held Famfrit in her hands.
"Clover, give me that. I don't want you accidentally calling out a dangerous Scion."
"Fine, but only if you give me two bowls of ice cream next time we can get some!"
"Clover…"
"Fine!" Clover got up, went over to Harry, and gave him the crystal. Harry slipped the crystal into his pocket, changed the color of his backpack/wizard's tent from a vivid blue to a dull grey, and put it on his back.
"Clover, no matter what, do not turn me into a girl while I'm saying hello to my old friends, ore there will be hell to pay."
"Only if you give me two bowls of ice cream!" the little girl said, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"I'll make it three if you don't cause any problems at all for the next month or so, okay?" Clover nodded, transformed into her water dragon form, wrapped herself loosely around Harry's neck, and went invisible. Harry stepped out the door of his room, and went down to the parlor of the Leaky Cauldron
Don't worry bro, nothing bad is going to happen! Just relax! Clover thought to Harry.
I wish I could, but… hey Clover where are you going? Harry couldn't get a response, as he was enveloped in a bear hug. After seeing who it was, Harry drew in barely enough air to speak.
"Remus… I… can't… breathe!" Remus Lupin immediately pulled back, drew in a sharp intake of breath, and began yelling at Harry.
"Harry James Potter, how dare you vanish for an entire month without so much as giving any notice as to where you are! Do you have any idea how worried all of us have been about you?!" Harry didn't get a chance to answer, as a brown-haired witch and a red-haired witch simultaneously came up and hugged him.
"Harry, where on earth have you been?! I've been worried sick, and so have Ron and Ginny!" Hermione informed her friend, who was still stunned. He felt himself be turned around by Ginny, who embraced him in another strong hug. As soon as Ginny pulled back, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun, and turned to face Ron Weasley.
"Blimey, mate! After seeing how we all reacted, I'm afraid my mum may have passed on the Weasley family curse!"
"Weasley… family… curse?" Harry asked, somewhat scared.
"It's the reason there's such a huge age gap between Percy and Bill," Ginny answered. "The curse says that the wife of a Weasley will become so enraged at something that whoever caused her anger will drop dead!" Harry took a gulp.
"But that's just a lie to keep Fred and George in line, right?"
"Wrong," Ron replied, frowning. "I saw two headstone markers that had the names of two Weasleys, born the same year, died the same year. It certainly answered the question of why there's such a huge age gap between Bill and Percy."
Harry drew in a slow breath, before Remus spoke up again.
"Perhaps we should get to Grimmauld Place? There, we can meet everybody else. Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, and Harry's future guardian are all waiting there."
"Wait, my future guardian?" Harry choked out. "Who will that be?"
"Who it should have been instead of the Dursleys," Remus said. "Now come along; I can't use side-along apparition to take all of you at once, so we'll need to take the Knight bus. Are we ready?"
Harry wasn't given the chance to respond. Remus had already called the Knight bus, and they were being piled in.
I hate this bus, Harry thought.
Sure you don't want me to turn you into Claire so you can make a quick getaway? Clover thought to the unsettled teen.
Don't even think about it, Clover, or no ice cream until the winter holidays!
The Knight bus lurched into motion, thwarting any attempt by Clover to respond to Harry's threat. The bus sped along the streets of England, and was gone.