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Balance Factor Chapter 49
Epilogue
Reflections
A/N: Please read the A/N at the end too.
Thanks for reviewing!
"Ready to go everyone?"
It had been a few months since the final battle. Kazuki had kept his promise to Draco, taking his family out to dinner. It was the start of a new beginning for the Malfoys. Thankfully, it had been all over the newspapers, so the Malfoys were not prosecuted as roughly as they could have been. Being the "Chosen One" really did have perks sometimes.
He had visited Ollivander the Wandmaker and told him that a very good friend had donated the cores. He refused to say who, pretending that his friend didn't want to be named. Ollivander seemed to have guessed though, because when he stepped in his shop, the old man ran up to him and eyed his hair with wide eyes.
Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Draco nodded. Akira grinned, holding out his blade. Kazuki stood next to him, calmly holding his spear.
"So, Akira-nii, we'll travel to the Shadow Palace first. This will be my first time, so I'm counting on you to show me around," Kazuki said. Homurabi stood next to Shisui, his arms crossed. Shisui looked pleased, leaning his head on Homurabi's arm.
"Homurabi can show us around too," Shisui said gently. Homurabi gave a start, his eyes wide.
"Don't drag me into it," Homurabi hissed. Kazuki gave him a pleasant smile, not quite ready to forgive Homurabi, but also not holding too much anger against him. He did, however, ignore his presence most days, which Homurabi thought was quite a good impression of what Shirogane did to him daily.
"Right," Akira said, raising his eyebrows at Homurabi. "Well, it was all messed up when we were there before. Maybe we'll bump into someone who can help us out." He held up his blade. "I'll open a door for you, Kazuki. Shirogane said that it would be the safest way since you're in your rei form right now, right?"
"That's right," Kazuki said, nodding, his black hair ruffling a little in the breeze. "I'll go with Akira-nii. I will shift forms when I reach the Shadow World."
"Can't you shift forms here?" Akira asked. "You've done so before."
"True. But the presence of three Light Kings favors my rei form," Kazuki said. "It'll be better for me to shift when there isn't an overwhelming amount of Light."
Akira nodded and held up his blade.
"I am the White King. O' divided waters. O' sacred door."
Hermione and Ron gasped as the ground started to ripple as if it was made of water. Draco's eyes shined brightly, excited. It was the first time Kazuki had invited them to the world beyond this one. Only Luna seemed unfazed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of air.
"Open a path for me! Release!"
A doorframe rose up from the watery grass, chains wrapped around its closed doors. The frame itself was beautifully white, columns reaching to the top of the door. The chains snapped and dissolved before vanishing into the air. Akira strode forward, pushing the door open and stepped back, revealing nothing but darkness inside.
"Opened," Akira said, turning to Kazuki. "Homurabi, you first. Then Shisui. Then Kazuki. I'll go last. You four…" He looked at the humans. "Won't be able to enter through this gate. Wait here. We have to create shadows for you first."
"Alright," Ron said, not really understanding. Hermione looked giddy.
-0-
"WOW! It's HUGE!"
Hermione's cries of delight at the Shadow Palace didn't go unappreciated. The kokuchi peeked out from the shadows and Homurabi gave a smirk. Ron's eyes boggled at the huge palace, the white columns towering over everything. Draco's eyes were impossibly wide, shining brightly.
"Homurabi-sama! You've arrived!"
Homurabi turned to see Sawaki run towards them. He tilted his head and nodded a little, glancing at the humans only briefly. "Yes. Kazuki insisted on giving Ron and Draco a tour to see the Shadow Palace as their Factors are Dark and they both have the potential to become shin."
"Kazuki?" Sawaki asked, glancing at the rei that he had never met before. "Oh?"
Kazuki let the change wash over him like a waterfall, shifting his Factor to Dark. Sawaki's eyes widened and he took a step back from the now-shin.
"He's Shirogane and Ryuuko-sama's son," Homurabi supplied.
"Kazuki-sama?" Sawaki corrected, collecting himself again. He walked up to the son of the Direct Kings and bowed at the waist. "Kazuki-sama. My name is Sawaki. How may I serve you today?"
Kazuki blinked, looking at Sawaki. He waved his hand and said, "No need to call me 'sama'. We're all Children, after all." He looked at Akira and Akira shrugged.
"Sawaki has always been like that," Akira said. "He keeps the affairs in order in the Shadow World though, so…"
"Translation: He does most of the paperwork because Father Shirogane decides to ditch it and someone has to do it," Kazuki said, amused. Ron laughed and Draco quirked a smile. "I know how my Father works. He'd avoid doing paperwork to visit Ryuuko. I bet he still does, to visit Akira. Maybe even more now because he has bad memories of someone killing Ryuuko here." He shot Homurabi a look, who shifted a little from discomfort.
Sawaki sighed a little. "Other than paperwork, there is the matter of-"
"Harry? Is that you?"
Sirius Black peeked out of the doors, grinning widely. A girl squealed in happiness upon seeing Homurabi and Akira, running forwards and giving Akira a hug.
"Akira-sama!" she said, pressing her large chest to Akira's arm. Akira gave her an exasperated look.
"Lulu," he said, looking disturbed the other was so close.
"Yes. Hello, Sirius," Kazuki said, looking at him. Ron and Hermione gasped, running up to Sirius and asking him how he was. Luna gave a wide smile and looked at Draco.
"It's a lovely place, isn't it?" she said dreamily. "So many shiny things here."
"What did you do to your hair? And did you know you can't use magic here?" Sirius asked, looking around. "And what in the world did you do to your eyes? They didn't used to be red, did they? You kind of look like Shirogane."
"WOW! He looks like Shirogane-sama!" Lulu said, capturing Kazuki in a hug. Kazuki blinked, too surprised at the sudden contact, aware that the girl's breasts were pressing against his chest. "So cute! Little Shirogane-sama!"
"I told you, my name is Kazuki," Kazuki said to Sirius. He turned to the girl and smiled. "I am Shirogane and Ryuuko's son. Also known as Balancer."
"Ohhh! Sawaki was looking for you in papers!" Lulu said excitedly. Kazuki quirked a smile.
"For my protection, Shirogane and Ryuuko filed no paperwork on me," Kazuki said. "I stayed at the Light Palace ever since my creation." He gave a smile and looked over at Ron, Hermione, Draco and Luna. Luna was looking at Lulu interested, a wide smile on her face.
Sirius spoke up.
"By the way, where is Shirogane?"
-0-
"Welcome to Defense Against Dark Arts," Shirogane said, a pleasant smile on his face, his white hair braided and almost touching the floor. "My name is Professor Shirogane and you will only refer to me as such."
The first years all looked at each other nervously. It had only been a week since school started, but it was obvious they had heard about Shirogane's reputation in Hogwarts.
"You there!" Shirogane said sharply, pointing at a quivering, terrified first year student. "Tell me what a gnome is."
The student shook her head. "I… I-don't… know!"
Shirogane let out a frustrated sigh. "If you can't even answer a simple question like that, you don't deserve to be called human. You'd be better off dead." He turned to the board, pulling out a box. He opened it, revealing a caged gnome, who looked just as terrified as the students. Shirogane opened the cage and the gnome instantly tried to make a run for it.
In a flash, Shirogane's katana was out, stabbing the gnome in the shoulder and pinning him to the desk, blood welling up from the wound. He turned to the class, a pleasant smile on his face, ignoring the screaming gnome.
"And this is a gnome!"
The class was dead silent. A student slipped off his chair and fainted.
-0-
"Teaching," Kazuki said casually, waving a hand. Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Shirogane seems the type not to care much about children in general, why in the world would he agree to do something like that?" Sirius asked. Sawaki gave a small start, trying to picture Shirogane as an instructor.
"Magic school, terrorizing children and magical beasts alike-they don't like him at all," Akira said calmly, shrugging.
"Ryuuko-sama's there," Homurabi supplied, knowing that the real reason Shirogane insisted on staying was because Ryuuko was at Hogwash teaching Muggle Studies. Kazuki had attempted to correct him that it was Hogwarts with no success.
Ryuuko, unlike Shirogane, would teach about culture and art, technology and literature, as well as brilliant things humans had done. Ryuuko, surprisingly, was quite well versed in the common muggle world, knowing the basics, though not much of the speech. Students loved his class; Muggle Studies being the number one list on student's elective favorites.
"Ah, I see," Sirius said, nodding a little. "Shirogane likes Ryuuko then?"
Sawaki gave him a strange look and sighed, nodding. "We'll leave it at that-"
Akira cut him off. "He's smitten with him."
There was a silence. Kazuki turned to Sawaki and Homurabi.
"How's Kou?"
Sawaki hesitated and Homurabi blanched. Kazuki raised his eyebrows at the reaction, looking over to Akira for help.
"Did something happen to Kou?" Kazuki asked, frowning.
"Well… Nothing permanent. But… when Shirogane-sama came back the first time he was holding a package that Ryuuko-sama had asked Shirogane-sama to put in Ryuuko-sama's room," Sawaki said. "And… well…"
"Kou, being Kou, was curious and went to go open the package. There are now thousands of pink and purple dragons flying around the Light Palace that explodes when they come into contact with anything," Akira said, rolling his eyes. "Kou went into hiding, thinking that Ryuuko would be mad at him. The last I was in the Light Palace, it was still overrun by dragons, flying pigs, and firecrackers."
Ron wheezed with laughter, clutching his sides.
"Can't you just… destroy them?" Kazuki asked. Akira sighed.
"They just split into two and then we have two dragons to deal with. We've tried. We've even tried to get kokuchi to eat them. Which just turned kokuchi neon colors and explode and spawn more dragon babies," Akira said. "We've been waiting for Ryuuko to come back to ask him what we should do."
"They must burn themselves out sometime," Hermione said reasonably. Akira shrugged.
"It's been a year," he said. "They're still there."
"Akira-kun," Shisui said, slightly worried. "I'll go back to the Light Palace and check on the details there." He looked worried, biting on his lip, his gold eyes concerned. Homurabi wrapped his arm around Shisui and whispered something in Shisui's ear which caused the man to flush. Kazuki did not even want to know what was exchanged.
They had a fabulous meal. Kazuki showed off his cooking skills he had learned from the Dursleys and smiled as the humans, rei, and shin talked. Luna and Lulu seemed to be having an interesting conversation about magical beings, Lulu hanging onto every word Luna was saying. Sawaki and Hermione were chatting about books. Ron and Akira were talking about friends. Sirius was catching up with Draco, interested in what actually happened during the war.
"Hey, Kazuki?" Hermione asked, looking at him when Sawaki mentioned that Kazuki was likely going to stay in the Shadow World. "Are you really staying here? Or will you go back to the Human World?"
Kazuki gave a sigh, thinking. "It would be more beneficial for me to stay in the Shadow World." He paused. "My existence has vanished from the Human World anyway."
There was a silence that was met with this statement, all conversation stopping. Ron's mouth opened in shock, not understanding. Draco's eyes were wide.
"What do you mean?!" Draco demanded. Kazuki took a sip of tea and thought about it.
"I have risen up to a higher plane. People will remember Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, but they won't remember that he wasn't human, or that he had two entities for Fathers. McGonagall and Snape forgot the instant I moved into the Shadow World," Kazuki explained. "When you leave this place, you must leave all knowledge of me behind. You'll still remember Harry Potter, but like the others, you won't remember any more than that. Which is partially why I brought you here."
He set down his cup, thinking deeply. "Hermione is the only one truly ready to take on her role as a rei. The rest of you have connections. Parents, siblings, friends."
"But, Shirogane and Ryuuko are still at Hogwarts!" Ron said. "How could McGonagall forget that they-"
"She remembers that she hired two teachers, but not what they are. She will have no recollection of the truth. As it should be," Kazuki answered before Ron could finish the question. "This way, the balance is not tipped and humans don't have knowledge they shouldn't." He smiled, looking at his friends. "I called you here to thank you, actually."
"Us?" Hermione asked, blinking. "We didn't do anything. You did most of the work."
"Companionship is rare for me," Kazuki replied. "For that, I am grateful. I will come visit you as Harry Potter. But you won't remember Kazuki. I apologize for that." He bowed his head, but then looked at Draco.
"Draco, The handkerchief you have will bring you fortune. Keep it as a reminder of me, even when you don't remember, alright?" Kazuki said, calmly. "I'll always be watching over the balance. When the time comes, I'll ask you to join me."
Draco nodded slowly. Kazuki turned to Ron and Hermione.
"Hermione, you can make your decision now. Or you can wait and go back with Ron to the Human World," Kazuki said. "Ron… You're not quite ready yet. As I will with Draco, when you're ready, I'll come and collect you."
"Is there a way we can keep our memories?" Ron asked, obviously distraught at having to lose a friend. Kazuki smiled sadly.
"Unfortunately, no. Not unless you remember on your own," Kazuki said softly, looking at Akira. Akira shrugged his shoulders and Kazuki sighed.
"But that's not fair!" Ron said, standing.
"What would you have me do, Ron? What could I possibly do?" Kazuki asked, looking up at Ron. "Humans are not supposed to have knowledge of us. The fact that all of you have come so far with me means that your memories of me will be very difficult to alter. But, Ron, you cannot miss what you don't remember."
The ground beneath Ron and Draco rippled, but neither man took notice of it. Kazuki smiled at Ron, this time in a reassuring manner. The time had come to part.
"I'm sure you'll remember eventually. We are good friends, after all," Kazuki said gently. Ron gave a scream as he was plunged into the watery darkness, Draco giving a soft cry of alarm as he fell. Hermione gave a start and jerked away from the empty spots.
"I'm sorry," Kazuki said to her. "It has to be this way. If you choose to accept this position, Ron and Draco will forget you too."
"Wait… does that mean…" Sirius asked, slowly, unsure.
"People in the Human World believe you're dead, Sirius," Kazuki said, nodding. "But I have your house under the Potter name. Don't worry about that. But the question is what about Hermione and Luna?"
"I think I'd like to join you," said an airy voice.
Kazuki turned to Luna who was smiling at him. "Luna…? Are you sure?"
"Oh yes," Luna said confidently. "But you can't use magic here, can you? I tried with my wand and nothing happened."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Wands don't work here. But that's okay. It's actually kind of refreshing doing things by hand. After all, we don't age physically in this state. Right, Sawaki?"
"That is correct," Sawaki said.
"So we have all the time in the world then," Luna said dreamily. "I think it'd be fabulous to be shiny."
"To live as a shin or rei is to fight. Are you prepared for an eternity of fighting?" Kazuki asked softly, unsure if Luna was certain about this. "Immortality is no joke. It's an eternity of being isolated among humans."
"I'm not worried. I have you," Luna said, pleased. "And you're immortal too, which is a definite plus."
Kazuki smiled a little. "Well put."
-0-
"Mr. Potter!"
Kazuki turned, looking at Professor McGonagall. He had traveled to Hogwarts to visit his Fathers, but hadn't hidden his presence. It was late October, the autumn breeze pleasant in his hair, blowing it behind him. Leaves were gold and red, scattering in the wind.
He was in his rei form, as his human vessel had looked quite similar to this form. He smiled at the Professor, pleased that the other had come out to the grounds to greet him.
"Sorry I didn't give you much notice, Professor," he said calmly, smiling pleasantly. "I wanted to see how the school was doing. I hope it wasn't too much of an intrusion."
"So, famous Potter decides to show his face to the public once again," Snape sneered, walking behind McGonagall.
Kazuki laughed, not at all offended. "Hello to you too, Professor Snape. You're still headmaster, aren't you?"
Snape sneered, turning away. Kazuki followed McGonagall into the castle, looking around at the pictures and bustle of the students. People who recognized him as the Chosen One gasped and froze in place. Kazuki merely gave them a smile, continuing to make his way through the castle.
Hermione and Luna were rei now. Akira had made them his Children, taking on the role of teaching them battle. So far, Luna was a lot better than Hermione, but Hermione was making vast improvements as the weeks went by. She had been a little hesitant to accept, but, ultimately, her loyalty to Harry Potter had won over her desire to remain human.
As for Draco and Ron, they returned to the Human World. Kazuki had visited them twice within the last month. They had forgotten all about Kazuki, rei, and shin. Kazuki was careful not to reveal anything in front of them, not wanting to trigger their memories too soon. They had another fifty years of living in the Human World before they would be ready to become shin. Or maybe not even then.
He had kept the Deathly Hallows, not spreading the knowledge and keeping it to himself. He was immortal anyway, so if he really did become Master of Death, then it wouldn't really change anything. The Cloak worked just fine in the Shadow Palace, but the wand did not. The stone remained unused since his first time, as Kazuki didn't need to summon anyone from Death.
Kazuki parted from McGonagall and Snape, heading into the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. Snape paused for a second before turning to McGonagall.
"Were Potter's eyes always blue?" he asked. "Didn't they used to be emerald green, like his mother's?"
McGonagall gave him a look of surprise. "What? No, I don't believe so."
She left Snape standing out in the hallway, looking confused. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling he was missing something.
-0-
A/N: That's it folks! Thanks for sticking around all this time! A special thanks to Firehedgehog who reviewed quite often!
Happy ending at the end? Well, I think so! Will Snape ever remember what he forgot?
That depends on your reviews I guess. Ideas would not go amiss either. If I get inspiration, I'll make a one-shot.