A.N.And that's it folks, that's the last chapter to Bond Snapshots Satoshi. However I'm not done with writing about them and the changes they've undergone and have at least two sequels planned. They will not be updated daily the way the snapshots were, but the first one is already up. The sequels will be crossover fics, one that is already in progress is a Detective Conan/Case Closed crosover focussing on the local phantom thief, Kaito and his search for the magical stone called Pandora. The story is called: Meetings, A Kuroba Apprentice Sidestory. The link between worlds is that Dark taught Kaito's grandfather theft, which is elaborated more on in some of the snapshots. Once I finish that one there's a Buffy Crossover in the works, as you can probably tell from the references that Sunnydale's gotten.
A.N. 2. Due to a question from my wonderful beta, who is also my mom, I am stating that these snapshots take place over two and a half years. I had decided on this but mom pointed out that it isn't clear in story. these don't all have a set time frame, some may be set after things that haven't happened yet, but CH.1's Mirror takes place before everything else, and the second one on this page, Time, is the last one in that timespan
Comprehend
We cannot be known or seen as we truly are, not even those who know about magic can hold the idea of what we are becoming, with no frame of reference for us. We are magic and mortal, fire's warmth and a torrent in thaw, we should be unable to exist, for a human cannot grasp the power of a Great Work as their own, any more than a work of art can understand humans. But the boundaries were blurred when the two halves of the Black Wings were bound to human minds for centuries. As a result at least Dark learned to understand humans somewhat and their power was channeled through and affected the bodies of their current humans. Now at first that had no major effect, all such magic stayed dormant with their departure to the next Tamer, but now they are sealed and we have it all, everything they left the imprint for in us, and human magic altered to mesh with the inherited magic that had held them bound to our blood for so long. Daisuke doesn't realize it, but even his family fears him at times when he slips; they may be Niwa and used to Dark and magic, but the heir is supposed to be only a magically strong human once Dark leaves, and they don't know how to handle what he has become.
Time
After a year and a half the Hikari stopped trying to undermine me, having learned that it wouldn't work. I almost wish they hadn't stopped, heading them off was excellent stress relief, and some of the payback was long overdue for what they did to me. I make a point, for intimidation purposes, of always being winged when dealing with them, only for intimidation purposes. Seriously, that's my only has nothing to do with the fact that any chance to be winged for long periods of time is a chance to be relished. Nothing at all. In any case I now have absolute rule over one of two major powers in underworld/magic politics, and Daisuke is well on his way to equal power as soon as his Rite of Passage is over with, (said rite consists of proving oneself as a thief after Dark has left) and then he'll be Heir Apparent to the Niwa leadership instead of Heir Presumptive. Given that now that the feud is OVER, we intend to make our clans rejoin the mystic underworld in more than the currently in effect 'stay out of our territory and our feud, that way we won't put the feud on hold to slaughter any interlopers.' That has been our only contribution for centuries, as well as the reason Japan is a safe haven from all kinds of things. The fact that he'll have the power of Heir Apparent is a good thing, because then he can command the Niwa. His Rite will involve dealing with five artworks on the active Hellmouth in America, starting a week from today. Hikari aren't supposed to know so much about the internal workings of clan Niwa, but he knows as much about how the Hikari work as I do about the Niwa so it evens out. Besides, we're friends and more kin to each other than our blood relatives, and there is no rule that says that accepting help from a Hikari makes the Rite invalid. Granted that's because no one ever thought it would happen, but still the only real rules are: that the target must be stolen and sealed within an amount of time decreed by the current clan head, that the Rite must be undergone after Dark has left the Tamer, and that the art must be secured with as little involvement of normal humans as possible. If the art has taken a human after the Niwa arrives the Rite is failed, but if the art takes a human before the Niwa can get there, successfully retrieving the human is also part of the Rite. I'm going with him on the Rite, given that no Rite has happened on a Hellmouth before now. I wonder how long it will take to seal all five, and how much power it will need given the whole Hellmouth issue. At least we settled the whole Pandora issue, so there's no need to worry about developments on that end of things while we're busy in America.