Hello, it's Arawn D. Draven here! I'm back with the newest chapter of the Bloody Ashikabi, which also happens to be the first chapter of this new year, so happy new year to everyone who reads this!

Now, this is going to be one of the last chapter before the end of the first arc of this story. Now, there will be a time skip between the first and the second arc, however I will be posting Interlude chapters between the two to show a few important events, like the reactions to Harry's disappearance and a few other major events. Don't expect everything that happens during the time skip to be shown, some will purposely be shown in the second arc through Flashbacks.

This chapter is about Harry's first meeting with the Veela, I hope you'll enjoy it and won't find any of the characters OOC, if you do, please feel free to tell me through your reviews or PMs.

I don't own Sekirei or Harry Potter.

14

Veela colony

Another portkey travel later, and Harry, as well as Karasuba and Akitsu found themselves in France. He had needed to strong-arm Takami into going back to Japan by herself, but it was for the best. Veela were extremely secretive, so he did not want to have her with them when he asked for permission to enter the colony, as she could be very well be considered as a spy. He had no doubt that his request would be met with a strong opposition, maybe even outright refusal, but he had sworn to Akitsu that he would find a way to create a bond with her, and for now his best shot were the Veelas.

Luckily, he had managed to convince the Goblins to sell him a portkey that would bring him to the entrance of the French Veela colony, which was already a victory in itself, as they were very protective of the interests of their clients, and trusting him enough to allow him to let him meet the Veelas was already a sign of trust. After all, if he messed up, and ended up alienating the very beings he needed help from, then said beings would undoubtedly ask the Goblins why he was even allowed near their colony.

Looking around, he had to admit that the place they had ended up was very nice. They were currently standing on a circular stone platform, from which a small but well-kept lane led into a nearby forest. They were currently on the side of a mountain overlooking a small valley, with several small patches of houses and fields. There was a small river that ended in a rather large lake at the very end of the valley, and from the distance they were at, he could barely see a small deck with several boats. He could hear the calls of birds, as well as the chirping and buzzing of a lot of insects. He would not have been very surprised to see a few deer and boars, this valley looked like some kind of wildlife preserve.

At his side, Karasuba merely sneered, though it was expected, she liked nothing bare battlefields, and the peaceful atmosphere must have been rather irritating to her. Akitsu, for her part, after a quick look around, had gone back to staring at him, the Ice Sekirei continuing her usual behavior of watching him like a hawk. Others would have grown nervous after so long of her staring, however Harry accepted it as one of her odd quirks. So what if she spent her time staring at him? It wasn't as if she planned to do anything bad to him, even if he wasn't that great at understanding women, he could tell that Akitsu would sooner die than allow anything to happen to him.

"Can we go, Harry?" growled Karasuba, her hand moving to grab her nodachi, "I hate this place already."

He sighed. Perhaps taking the Black Sekirei with them was a bad idea. He knew that when she was feeling like this, there was no calming her until she had either killed someone, or had a spar with him to work the aggression out of her system. He was tempted for a moment to indulge her and spar with her right there and then, but he suspected the Goblins to have told the Veela of his visit, as such being late would result in them being in a bad mood and having a bad first impression of him. Granted, from what he knew of Veela, they weren't very open, though he couldn't fault them for that, having their kind being hunted for centuries to be sold as slaves and concubines would make anyone cautious and distrusting. Still, sometimes they took it a bit too far in his opinion. Refusing to deal with the outside world didn't mean it wasn't there, after all, so secluding themselves wasn't really smart.

Shaking his head, he motioned at his Sekirei to follow him as he took the small lane. He supposed the Veela colony wasn't too far, as most magic users were lazy, and as such hated any kind of prolonged physical activity. Even their most popular sport, Quidditch, wasn't all that physically taxing, as it merely required to be able to hold a broom and be able to deal with the sudden moves of the game.

He was proved right when barely five minutes later, they exited the small forest to find themselves staring at wooden gate, in front of which two stern-looking, but beautiful women stood. The left one looked rather young, like a teenager about eighteen or so, yet he knew she was probably a decade older, as Veela barely seemed to age once they reached maturity, staying beautiful even in their old age instead of growing wrinkled like human women. She had long silvery-blonde hair tied in a well-kept ponytail, a rather nice figure, though he had to admit that to him she was average, used as he was to be around Karasuba and Akitsu. The one of the left looked slightly older, which meant she was probably around thirty or so, and had auburn hair with a braid on the right side of her face.

Both women were wearing something that looked like a mix between an armor and a dress, although a very practical-oriented one. Their shoulders and torso were protected by metal plates, as were their hips. The rest was purely textile, though he guessed it was probably something akin to Acromantula silk or dragon skin, light but very resilient and resistant to spell damage. The seemed to hold no weapons, however he could tell by their stances alone that they probably relied heavily on Passionfyre, the fire all Veelas and part-Veelas could produce, as well as the blades he could tell were concealed somewhere on their persons. A casual observer would have merely assumed that these women fought bare-handed, which, if they ever did something these guards didn't approve of, would end badly for them.

"Halt!" called the guards as soon as they saw them, tensing as he saw their eyes landing on Karasuba's blade. Still, he noticed that they had spoken in English, probably since it was a widely-known language he guessed. No use in ordering someone to do something if they couldn't understand you, after all.

"What business do you have here, strangers?" asked one of the guards, rather forcefully.

"Ne, ne, Harry-chan, can I kill them?" asked the Black Sekirei, her hand grasping the guard of her nodachi.

Without looking away from the guards, who both looked seconds away from drawing their own weapons, he spoke, in a firm and commanding tone.

"No. Now stop antagonizing them, Karasuba."

Had it been anyone else who had taken that tone with the Black Sekirei, or who had told her to stop her actions, they would have lost their head and limbs on the spot, as she was far too proud to answer to anyone. Luckily for him, she happened to be fond of him, and he was one of the few people on Earth able to give her a decent workout as well as her Ashikabi, as such, she merely pouted and withdrew her hand from her blade.

Satisfied, he spoke up, this time in English (his French was frankly horrible, as he hadn't bothered to exercise it much):

"Hello, we would like to meet the person governing this colony. We have a few questions for her."

"Go home, we do not allow strangers in our walls." was the guards' answer, making him sigh.

He had hoped that he would be able to at least have an audience with whoever governed the colony, as he didn't want to use force to get inside their walls, nor did he want to expose his reasons for being there to grunts. The less people knew about the Sekirei, the better. For all he knew, the Veela could be stupid enough to try and get the Sekirei from MBI out of some misguided sense of justice. Truth be told, taking the Sekirei from MBI at the moment was a stupid idea, as they were the only ones with the technology to adjust them, as well as the only ones able to keep foreign nations from getting their hands on them. And the only reason why the Wizards hadn't bothered them yet was because they had no knowledge of them. If the Veela suddenly went on a crusade to free their alien "sisters", the magical community was bound to notice. As such, the best was to keep the existence of the Sekirei a secret save for a select few, at least until they were old enough to defend themselves, which was not the case yet.

"Unfortunately, I do not have the option of simply going back home. I have a problem, and your kind may have some of the answers I seek. As such, I will politely ask one more time: please tell the person who governs this colony that the person formerly known as Harry Potter is here and waiting for her."

He was pleased to see that his name had made the two females rather nervous, however the one with auburn hair shook her head.

"You are lying. Harry Potter is supposed to have black hair and green eyes, as well as a lightning bolt scar."

He rolled his eyes at that. He had to thank Dumbledore, the Potters and the idiots who wrote the storybooks about his supposed adventures for this kind of reputation. Frankly, he wanted to bash their heads on something for that. Who was stupid enough to make the fact he was the one to supposedly defeat Voldemort public when it would be painting a large target on his back, seriously?

Knowing that nothing short of a magical oath would convince the people in front of him, he took out his wand and lazily waved it.

"I solemnly swear that I am, to the best of my knowledge, the person whose birth name was Harry James Potter, as well as the one nicknamed the Boy-Who-Lived. So mote it be!"

After a brief flash of white light, he waved his wand and levitated a nearby rock.

"Good, now that we have confirmed I am indeed who I claim to be, could we please be allowed to enter? Because otherwise I'm afraid Karasuba is going to kill you so that we can get past you two."

He was pleased to see the two guards stiffen at the implied threat, before they went for their weapons. They didn't manage to reach them in time. By the time their hands were going for their blades, the first one had been knocked out by a pouting Black Sekirei, since Harry had explicitly told her to not cut anyone open if they weren't attacked first, while the second found herself encased in a block of ice by Akitsu, who hadn't even moved and merely cocked her head to the side.

"Good job, Akitsu, Karasuba."

Moving next to the woman the Black Sekirei had knocked out, her picked her up and put her over his left shoulder, before asking Akitsu to unfreeze the other guard and hit her with a stunner, picking her up on his other shoulder.

"Good, now let's get in. No point in being sneaky, we just took out their guards anyway."

-Break-

Fleur Delacour was not happy at the moment. In fact, it was more accurate to say that she was downright furious and sad at the same time. She was currently hurling small balls of Passionfyre at a practice target with a ferocity that would have made many wince.

She was fourteen, and as all Veela and part-Veela of that age, she had recently begun changing, her Veela heritage kicking in. Until about a year ago, she had been the epitome of what could be called "cute", a small silvery blonde-haired girl with startling ice blue eyes. However, during her last year at Beauxbatons, she had grown, fast, into a stunningly beautiful young woman, with a lithe body, and much to her chagrin, noticeable breasts. However, more than the changes of her body, what had bothered her was the appearance of the Allure, the curse of those who like her carried Veela blood in their veins.

Suddenly, her female friends deserted her, looking at her with disgust and jealousy, refusing to acknowledge her and spreading rumors, awful ones about her. Her few male friends had stopped treating her like any other girl, going glassy eyed and stuttering whenever she was around, some trying to convince her to bed them, promising her pleasure and money. And when she refused, they spread rumors about her being a whore and a slut, spreading her legs for anyone with money despite the fact that she was still a virgin. Thankfully, those that were proven to be source of the rumors had been given a warning by Madame Maxime, the Headmistress, and as such had mellowed down, though they no longer approached her.

She had barely made it to the end of the year before breaking down in her mother's arms, crying her heart out at the unfairness of the world, for being blamed for something she had no control over. Thankfully, her mother had told her that they would be spending the summer in the French Veela colony to teach her how to use her newfound abilities, explaining that being able to control the Allure would not stop people talking about her, but at least she would avoid being mobbed by empty-eyed males whenever she went. Some of them quite frightened her, considering the predatory looks in their eyes and the fact that they were old enough to be her father or grandfather.

So here she was, venting her frustration on a poor, unsuspecting target practice, imagining the faces of her former friends as she burnt target after target to a crisp. While it did not make up for their treason, it was very therapeutic to imagine them writhing in the flames. Still, she was growing quite tired, the focus needed to control her fire was quite taxing since she was not yet used to it, but she was proud of her progress so far.

As she looked away from the slowly burning targets, she frowned upon seeing three people coming from the west gate of the colony. From what she had learnt from the older women in the colony, it was where those who had portkeys entered the village. The two women, she didn't so much as glance at them, even if they were foreign-looking, since it could happen than foreign Veelas came to see the Matriarch or someone in the colony. However, the last figure, the smallest one, standing at roughly the same size than her from what she could tell, was a male, and...he was carrying the guards?!

She could only watch a boy who looked barely old enough to attend a magical school carried two grown women as if it was nothing, looking quite satisfied with himself. After a moment of bemused staring at the audacity of whoever the intruder was, she shook herself and moved to call for help, as she was clearly not able to deal with whoever was strong enough to take out two trained Veelas.

-Break-

Harry had to admit, the Veela colony was very nice. It was much like a medieval French town, with houses made of rocks stuck together, giving them a very rustic look. Nonetheless, the place had a very pleasant atmosphere, which would make many call it "homey", though he would rather call it welcoming. After all, the notion of "home" was something he still had trouble with, as the Dursleys had done everything they could to make him feel unwanted and unloved, while his stay at MBI was more for convenience's sake than anything. As such, the notion of feeling at home was something he still had trouble grasping.

As they walked towards the center of the colony, Akitsu following him as usual and Karasuba walking by his side as she threw disgusted glances around, he noticed a teenage girl running away from them, probably to get some help. He guessed that his Sekirei had spotted her too, but seeing as neither of them appeared to think of her as a threat, he let her go. Besides, it wasn't as if looks were in their favor, as he was carrying the two unconscious guards on his shoulders. He probably looked quite dangerous to the girl, not that her analysis would have been incorrect, as he was dangerous. Still, it wasn't as if he intended to kill, maim, or enslave any of the women present, after all requesting their help would become a lot harder if he did so. The only reason he had allowed the guards to be knocked out was because he was growing impatient, and he much preferred to explain his actions to someone who had a modicum of power in the colony instead of having to wait for them to make the decision of allowing him inside or not.

"Harry-chan, you're aware that girl is likely to be going for help, aren't you?" asked Karasuba, her hand once again straying to the hilt of her blade.

"I'm aware, yes." he replied dryly. "Let her do that, it's better that way, at least we won't have to look for someone in power, they'll come to us themselves. It's not like you wouldn't like the opportunity to fight a few Veela anyway."

The Black Sekirei just grinned as the continued their walk, and barely five minutes later, as they were waiting by the side of a fountain, they could hear the sound of a group of people running their way. From what his enhanced hearing could pick up, there had to be around twenty people or so coming their way, and, true to this, barely five second later a group of women appeared at the corner of a house and split up, surrounding them as fire appeared in their hands.

Looking around, he counted seventeen women, plus the girl he had seen run off earlier, who was standing behind a woman that looked just like her and was probably her mother. The Veela around them were eyeing with distrust clear in their gazes, as many periodically glanced at the two guards, whom Harry had sat against the fountain. He figured that the only reason they hadn't been attacked yet was because either they didn't think of them as a threat to them, at least with their numbers, or because they were worried about their sisters' safety.

"Hello," he started, taking a step forwards with his hands up to show he wasn't much of a threat, though he could tell that both Akitsu and Karasuba were ready to act at a moment's notice." I apologize for your guards, but they were quite reluctant to let us in. As such, we allowed ourselves in, though they are perfectly fine, save for the possible headaches after being knocked out."

One of the women stepped forwards. Her clothing wasn't fancy, or different from the others', she wasn't more beautiful than most of them either, yet her entire posture and body language spoke of someone used to command others. If this person wasn't the one in charge of the colony, then she was probably quite high in the chain of command. She was, as all Veela were, stunningly beautiful, with a very aristocratic face, a small nose and full lips, as well as long, silvery blonde hair, and her deep blue eyes were studying him and his Sekirei attentively.

Finally, her eyes focused on him.

"What is your business here?" she asked. Her voice, while musical, was literally dripping with hostility, understandable since the three of them had basically invited themselves into what amounted to a sacro-saint place for the Veela. Probably just about anyone on the bad side of the glare Harry was currently receiving would have begun sweating bullets, but he frankly didn't care. She was nowhere near as scary as Takami could be, or Miya when she wanted, and unless he was drastically mistaken in his evaluation of a Veela's strength, then she wasn't much of a threat to either Akitsu, Karasuba or himself.

"Well, you see, I kinda have a few things to ask to whoever is overlooking this colony, and I would appreciate if you could direct us to said person. The only reason why your guards are currently unconscious, is because Karasuba was making them nervous and they wouldn't let us in."

The Black Sekirei simply grinned, her arms crossed in front of her chest. He knew she understood their conversation, as he had managed to teach her English in their time together, and even though she didn't like using his native language, she could still understand and use it just fine. Akitsu too had learnt English, quite easily at that, though she hadn't really an use for it, since she barely spoke most of the time. Still, it was something she had wanted, learning the native language of her would-be Ashikabi, and he had encouraged her. She too had a good grasp on Shakespeare's language, which was quite remarkable since she had learnt it quickly, even though Japanese and English shared very few similarities.

By the way the woman glared at him, it was quite clear that she was not satisfied with his answer, then again, he cared little for it, though it would be better that she was not so angry at him, otherwise getting the Veelas' cooperation was going to be a pain in the ass.

"We do not appreciate intruders in our walls. Leave the guards here and go home, and there will be no further consequences to your actions. However, if you persist in trying to meet the Matriarch, you will find out that we Veelas can be formidable opponents."

For a moment, Harry looked at her in disbelief, her words barely registering in his mind, before he shook his head and chuckled, a reaction that seemed to surprise the Veelas. When he looked at the woman again, he was smirking, and his posture was one of cold confidence. He knew that these women were no match for the three of them, Akitsu could probably freeze them all by herself before they could react, and that wasn't counting on Karasuba, who, if she chose to, could end their lives in but a few seconds, or him, who, while not yet on their level, could probably take out a few of them by himself without too much trouble.

"I see. Unfortunately, I really must insist that we visit this Matriarch you speak of, it is quite vital to me. And please, don't think for a moment that your threats will work on us. While I can easily acknowledge the fact that seventeen of you would be enough to deal with normal people, none of us can be considered normal."

He could see that several of the Veelas seemed to be quite a bit miffed by his attitude, not that he could blame them. His own attitude was similar to the one of an arrogant Pureblood child, who happened to be some of the people the Veelas disliked the most as they were the ones to more often than not hunt them down to use as sex slaves or concubines. The fundamental difference between him and a Pureblood, though, was that he was rightfully arrogant. Where most Purebloods allowed their overinflated ego to dictate their actions, he always made sure that he showed arrogance to those that were not a threat to him and that he did not respect. Still, his behavior did resemble the one of a inbred scion of a supposedly "noble" House, and as such, it was no surprise they thought he was merely a slightly unusual "noble" Wizard.

For a moment, the Veelas were still, until the leader gestured towards them.

"Incapacitate them. We'll see what to do with them later."

Had she paid more attention, she would have noticed the quickly growing grin on Karasuba's face, or the slight frown on Akitsu's features. As it was, she was too distracted eyeing the unconscious guards to notice.

-Break-

Fleur was feeling very nervous at the moment. After having successfully gotten help, she had tagged along with the group of older and more experienced Veelas to see what would happen to the intruders, and she had been quite unnerved by their reactions. The two women, for starters, were behaving strangely, the ashen-haired one looking perfectly fine surrounded by people, seemingly enjoying the situation. She could tell that the woman was dangerous, very much so, by the way she looked at everyone like a piece of meat in front of a starved person. The other woman didn't seem any more normal than her companion, her face a mask of cold indifference, though she could tell that she was surveying her surroundings like a hawk despite her aloof countenance. Then there was the child, though calling him a child would be a bit harsh, as he appeared to be only a few years younger than her. Still, despite his apparent age, he exuded confidence, and unlike most of the boys she knew from Beauxbatons, it was not the arrogance of someone who believed everyone was beneath them. Instead, it was the careful confidence of someone who had assessed a threat and had found it to be of no consequence to them.

Then the order was given to subdue them, and she felt dread. For some unknown reason, she felt as if her mother and the other Veelas were a mouse trying to subdue a raging lion. Looking at the strange trio of trespassers, she saw the boy sigh, before speaking in an odd language she didn't recognize, but didn't sound European.

She wasn't sure of what happened next, really she wasn't. What she knew was that instantly after the boy spoke, the entire group of Veela found themselves encased in ice, up to their heads, which were the only part of their bodies out of the ice. She yelped, as did several of the women in the group at the sudden cold feeling around their bodies, and started shivering. Their anatomy did not agree too well with low temperatures.

"See? We have the means to defeat you easily, but we've been cordial, polite even, but you people just brush us off for no reason. Really, where were your manners? I mean, it isn't like we asked for the Moon. Just a meeting with the Matriarch, that's all we ask, so that we can explain why we're here. It's not that much."

Fleur quite disagreed, after all she was a part-Veela, someone who had every reason to be in the colony in the first place, and even she had never seen the Matriarch. Still, she could understand his point about these people not being normal. Whatever they had done, whatever magic they had used, they had managed to essentially trap a group of fully alert Veelas without moving, which was no small feat. The reason why so many wizards hated Veela was the Allure, was that it made them look like weak-minded fools (which most were) most of the time, but also because despite their ethereal beauty, they were physically stronger than humans, though not to the point of a Vampire. Magic users as a whole disliked to be reminded they weren't the strongest beings on Earth, even more so when it was by beings that looked like beautiful women.

"So, now that we showed we meant no harm, if we free you, could you please lead us to your Matriarch?" asked the boy, with a pleasant smile that sent shivers down her spine.

-Break-

Eventually, Harry asked Akitsu to release the violently shivering Veelas from their ice prisons, and though some glared at him, most seemed to at least understand that they were outmatched. He would have preferred not to meet the responsible of the colony, this "Matriarch", in circumstances like this, but he absolutely loathed people looking down on him, for any reason. Besides, he had been polite, yet they had tried to escort the three of them back to the entrance of the colony, without even asking about why they wanted to meet with the Matriarch.

Deciding that he might as well be civil, he went around casting warming charms, making sure the Veelas weren't misinterpreting his actions this time around. Now that the tension had lessened a bit, he did not need them to go back to the whole "threatening to expel them from the colony" part. The Veelas looked a bit wary when he started waving his wand, but after several of them got better thanks to the Warming Charm, they relaxed a bit, though they were still ready to act at a moment's notice.

Once all of them were freed and properly warmed, Harry turned towards the Veela who had given the order to subdue them.

"So, would you mind leading us to the Matriarch? I'm sure that by now we've shown that we didn't bear any ill will towards Veelas as a whole, since you were at our mercy earlier."

Said Veela simply shook her head, her hands clenched into fists.

"No matter what you say, we will not let you see the Matriarch. She is not to be disturbed, save for an emergency, or a special occasion, and you have yet to tell us what you wish to meet her for. Until we are certain you are not a threat, we will not allow you to meet her."

The sound of steel being drawn made the people present turn and look at Karasuba, who had taken out her nodachi, and seemed perfectly content with the opportunity to inflict grievous bodily harm on the people in front of her.

Harry sighed. He should have expected her to react like that, she had never taken well to not get what she wanted, especially if there was no valid (in her opinion) reason for her to not get what she wished for. The problem was that in those cases, she tended to resort to violence to solve whatever prevented her from getting what she wanted. Basically, her motto in this kind of situations was "Hit it until you get what you want. If you don't get it, then you haven't hit it enough yet".

"That's too bad. Maybe if I rough you up, you'll listen to Harry-chan then? Please try to not die too quickly, I haven't gotten a good challenge for a while." she grinned, licking her lips in anticipation.

Her declaration saw the Veelas create fireballs and tense, ready for a fight, while Karasuba and Akitsu did the same, the Black Sekirei taking a stance, while the Ice Sekirei merely cocked her head to the side, ready to summon her ice at a moment's notice. That was before the air grew thick, a miasma of incredibly potent malice surrounding the people present, as what sounded like the voice of the damned echoed in the background, making everyone present slowly turn towards the source of the feeling, which happened to be Harry.

Said pre-teen had lowered his head, his long ashen-grey and lavender-streaked hair covering his eyes, while darkness seemed to coalesce behind him, starting to form a grinning, skeletal mask, with black hair, as its two eyes seemed to glare at everyone present. Sharp, serrated teeth held what looked like pieces of rotten meat stuck between them as a dark tongue snaked out of it, and it's hair seemed to be moved by a nonexistent breeze. Its' mere presence seemed to speak of death, torture and unimaginable pain.

"Wha...Wha...What...is...th...this?" stuttered one of the Veelas as she, as well as the others, paled and hugged each other in terror, all thoughts of fighting gone from their minds, as they prayed that whatever they were seeing would just stop.

The reaction from Harry's Sekirei were drastically different, however, as Karasuba just glanced at it (she had been on the receiving end of it more than once from Miya after all), while Akitsu had become slightly pale but had not shown her fright in any other way than the slight widening of her eyes. He idly noted that he would have to praise her for her ability to overcome her fear once they were back in Japan.

"Learning Miya's tricks, Harry?" asked the Black Sekirei, grinning. Truth to be told, she had often envied Miya for it, as she had wanted to be able to produce the same effect on people. True, she had a similar effect on those that knew of her reputation as a bloodthirsty killer, but to be able to traumatize random strangers with The Hannya of Doom was something she had sorely wanted. Maybe now that Harry had learnt it he would be able to teach her?

"What? With how often she's used it on me, I think I'm entitled to use it myself. It's useful to shut people up, and at least now we can negotiate in peace. Though I wish you didn't threaten them again, you're making it difficult to have a civilized conversation with them, Karasuba." he said, giving a warning glance towards his first Sekirei.

He didn't mind her antics usually, but when they jeopardized his chances at finding a way to wing Akitsu, now that was another story. He might not be as strong as her yet, but he had means to punish her even without that. He could refuse to spar with her, for one, as well as ask the Goblins to not fight her until he allowed her. True, it was underhanded, but Karasuba needed to learn that sometimes, actions had consequences, even for her. Though more often than not, he was supportive of said actions.

Turning back to the group of terrified Veela, Harry then dispelled the Mask of Doom and asked, pleasantly:

"Now then, the Matriarch?"

This time there were no more protests.

-Break-

Harry whistled as he beheld the building that housed the Matriach. While not too-impressive looking, as a only slightly larger than normal house, he could feel the protections on it, and it made his head spin. He had only seen two places as protected as this one, the first was Gringotts, the second was the Japanese Ministry of Magic. However, these defenses, unlike the ones he had seen before, seemed to be exclusively of the protective sort, there were no wards that would injure, maim, or kill an intruder, something that had been quite prevalent on what he had been able to feel during his visits at Gringotts' Japanese branch. Hell, with the wards alone, a small army would end up obliterated before even setting foot in the bank. Here though, the main objective was not to dissuade intruders, more to gain as much time as possible for the house's inhabitants to get away or trap them.

They were reluctantly led inside, where they were left to wait for the Matriarch, whom one of the Veelas had went to inform her of their visit.

Looking around, Harry took in the furniture. Unlike what he had expected, there was nothing truly expensive, no pieces of art by famous artists, no sculptures, just the standard furniture he'd expect from any house. There was no unnecessary luxury, everything was functional and served a purpose. Still, unlike what many would have expected, it did not make the house any less welcoming, in fact, there was something in the way everything was arranged, in the way the house was kept, that made you feel at home, or so Harry assumed, since he didn't know the feeling. Though the warm feeling he got reminded him of a warm, invisible blanket, making him feel safe, which was quite rare for him.

Looking around, he sat on the sofa in the living room, followed by his Sekirei, though he had to gesture for Akitsu to do so before the Ice Sekirei finally sat as well, insistent as she had been to stand guard for him from behind the sofa. Harry did not miss the disapproving look in the eyes of the few Veelas who had stayed inside with them, probably in the case he attempted anything on their Matriarch, but he couldn't care less. After all, he had basically broken in the colony uninvited, threatened their equivalent of the Aurors and police, and forced them to lead his group to their leader. He frankly didn't think that sitting down uninvited would make the Veelas impression of him any worse at this point.

It took but a few minutes before the sound of footsteps could be heard, and a few seconds later the Veela who had left to inform the Matriarch of their visit came back in the room, though she looked less than pleased. A few feet behind her was another woman, whom Harry guessed was the Matriarch.

Unlike the other Veelas he had seen so far, she did not look like she was in her twenties, instead she looked like a very beautiful woman in her fifties with snow-white hair that seemed to shine with an unearthly glow. Despite her apparent youthfulness, Harry was not fooled, the Matriarch was positively ancient, as he had made a point to learn everything he could about Veelas before coming. And he had learnt that Veelas very rarely looked older than forty at most, which meant that the one in front of him had to be at least one hundred years old, if not more. Unlike the other Veelas, who wore relatively normal clothes, she sported what looked like a mix between a Roman toga of old, and an Egyptian dress.

The Matriarch, noticing his look, gave him an almost imperceptible nod of greeting, which he returned, as did Akitsu, though Karasuba just gave her a lazy wave of her hand.

Gracefully walking towards an armchair and settling herself in it, the ancient woman crossed her legs and stared at the two Sekirei and Harry with curious, but keen eyes. He had no doubt that despite the unusual situation, the woman in front of them was not letting her curiosity getting the best of her, and was probably trying to figure out the reason of their presence in the colony.

Finally, after several minutes of staring, the Matriarch spoke, her voice soft and surprisingly strong for a woman of her age.

"Greetings. I am the Matriarch of this colony, and my name is Adana."

Understanding that despite what her underlings had told her, she was at least willing to hear them out, Harry decided to be on his best behavior for once. After all, the reason of his presence here was Akitsu, and while he didn't think he could love, he still cared very much for one of the few people who could understand him.

"Before introducing myself and my companions, I must insist that everything that is spoken today is to be kept silent from everyone save for those who are present here today. Is that acceptable, Matriarch?"

Before the old woman could speak, the guard had already begun taking steps towards Harry, her face a mask of indignation.

"How dare you..."

The fireball that had appeared in her hand showed that he may have angered her beyond what was safe, but luckily for the Veela, she was stopped by the raised hand of the Matriarch, who had not taken her eyes off Harry and was peering at him intently.

"Very well, boy."

The only reason Harry didn't rip the woman apart right then and there was the fact that boy had not been meant as an insult, nor did it seem to have any derogatory connotation. However, he still had to consciously force his hand to stop from drawing his blade, as he had been about to do.

"Thank you. My name is Harry-Minaka-Peverell-Ravenclaw-Slytherin, though I am more famous as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived."

At that, the Veela guarding the Matriarch started, while the old woman herself lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what does the British Wonder Boy want from us? I was under the impression that Dumbledore had hidden you away for your safety, and that you would surface back at Hogwarts at the beginning of the next school year."

At that, Harry growled, Karasuba grinned, and Akitsu glared at the older Veela. Harry really did not like how most people took Dumbledore's words as gospel, for all he knew the man could have gone completely mad, and people would still listen to him, simply because he was Albus Dumbledore. That was one of the reason he despised British magic users, they were complete sheep and believed someone not based on the facts behind their arguments, but on the person's reputation.

"That old, moronic bastard did hide me away", growled the teenage wizard," but his plan failed, quite spectacularly at that. I do plan on paying him back later, though. There is no way I will let the man who ruined my life get away with it."

The Matriarch quirked an eyebrow at that, while the guard seemed confused, not that he was surprised. Despite not being in England, Dumbledore was still hailed as the Leader of the Light by the French people, even if it was not to the point of fanatical devotion like it could be seen in Great Britain.

"He ruined your life, did he now?" asked the Matriarch. "I have trouble believing that, boy. While I am not close to Albus, I do know him enough to know that he would not allow himself to cause harm to a child, even less the child of two of his most fervent supporters."

At that, Harry sneered. True, as far as he knew, Dumbledore did not intend for the Dursleys to abuse him, however, that did not change the fact that he had used Blood Magic, which was illegal in England, while he was supposed to uphold the law, that he had sent him to a family known to dislike magic, and that he had not only failed to check on him, but had also prevented his birth parents from doing so. That was enough for him to lay the blame on the old man.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he felt a cool hand grasp his own, and looked to the side to see Akitsu rubbing her thumb over his hand soothingly. She was looking at him with a worried expression, and that, more than anything, served to calm him down. While he wasn't sure he could love anyone, as he did not know what love was, he cared deeply for both Karasuba and Akitsu, and, to a lesser extent, for Homura. Considering they had come to help Akitsu, a small part of his mind noticed how ironic it was that it was her comforting him, and not the other way around.

Shaking his head, he looked back at the Matriarch, who had been looking at the exchange quite intently.

"Anyway, let's cut to the chase, otherwise I might feel the need to kill someone. Dumbledore is a subject I'd rather not talk about right now, since I might get a tad insulting."

"Very well. Then, might I ask why you broke into our colony and threatened our people? I understand you came here looking for me. Might I inquire why?"

Harry steeled himself. So far, few had known about even one of his secrets, and those that did, he could trust. Takami and Minaka had no reason to divulge the existence of the Sekirei to the world, while the Goblins would keep the secret even under the torture since he was one of their best clients, and had extended his protection to his Sekirei. However, the Veelas were another matter entirely. Their entire history was full of conflicts between them and humans, as many had sought to use them as glorified sex slaves or concubines, which had even once been the cause of a war.

He feared that the knowledge of another group of non-humans, one mostly made of females that could rival them in beauty, and who would end up bonded to the first person to kiss them, would cause them to try and "free" the Sekirei out of some sense of duty. He was not stupid enough to believe that some Veelas wouldn't feel some form of relation with the Sekirei, and would see them as their peers, when nothing was further from the truth. Sekirei and Veelas were two different species, and despite Minaka's mad "Sekirei Plan", most of what MBI did was necessary. If the Sekirei were not adjusted, they would end up killing their Ashikabis by accident, since even the physically weakest among them could kill a grown man with a mere flick of a finger. Veelas, while they were stronger than normal humans, were far from being that strong, and as such, did not need any kind of adjustments to be able to live a rather normal life.

In the end, he was making a gamble. He was going to possibly endanger MBI and the Sekirei to find a way to wing Akitsu, but frankly he thought the risks of having the Veelas find out anything they could use to free the Sekirei were slim at best. Even if the guard blabbed, they had no way to track him down without going to the Goblins, who would tell him first if they tried to inquire about his whereabouts. And he doubted the Matriarch would try anything, at least for the moment.

Gesturing towards Karasuba and Akitsu, he spoke:

"Ladies, please do introduce yourselves."

A grinning Karasuba went first, a psychotic grin etched on her face. It was clear as day that she relished in the opportunity to cause some chaos, even if it was merely by introducing herself.

"Karasuba, Sekirei 04, the Black Sekirei. If you cause trouble for Harry-chan, I'll kill you."

Akitsu, for her part, stood up and bowed, making her impressive assets bounce in a way that would have caused a lot of male attention had any male apart from Harry been present.

"Ah...Akitsu."

Seeing that she was going to stop there, he nudged her a bit, causing her to blush slightly. She was still not very used to use her old number while introducing herself, as she had been convinced that she would never be more than a failed experiment after the procedure that broke her ability to be winged in a normal way.

"Sekirei 07, the Ice Sekirei."

Seeing the questioning looks of the two Veelas, Harry sighed. While it was obvious that he had to explain just what Sekirei were, he had hoped to avoid the apparently inevitable explanation.

"To explain just what Sekirei are, I'll have to explain some of their history.

Millennia ago, eight ships hailing from beyond our solar system arrived on Earth. They were made by the alien race which has been named "Sekirei" since their recent rediscovery. Now, seven of the ships landed without problem, and the Sekirei inside them mingled with humans, interbreeding with them. However, one particular ship encountered an unknown problem and crashed into the Pacific, causing it to shut down its' systems, and the people inside to go into stasis.

Now, said ship was rediscovered a little more than a decade ago, and the Sekirei inside were reawakened. Karasuba and Akitsu are some of the few adult Sekirei running around."

The Matriarch and her guard were looking at the two Sekirei with narrowed eyes, probably trying to get around the idea that these women were apparently members of an extraterrestrial race with technology advanced enough for travel between different solar systems. The fact that neither of the two Sekirei looked different than a normal, if beautiful, human woman, instead of having some strange, otherworldly distinctive features also made it hard to believe at first, which is why Harry continued his explanation.

"Now, Sekirei look like humans, save for the fact that like your people, they seem to be the embodiment of what mankind considers beautiful. However, there are several aspects about their species that set them apart from humans and Veela. First and foremost, they are incredibly strong. Even the physically weakest adult Sekirei can bend metal plates barehanded, and that is after their strength is reduced to avoid the risks of them killing humans by accident. Their bodies are simply that powerful.

The second aspect that sets them apart from wizards and witches, is that they can be classified into three "types": the first type are the physical Sekirei, whose defining feature is their superior physical abilities, even among their own kind. Karasuba here is an example." he said, pointing towards the grinning Black Sekirei. "She fights by using a sword, and I've seen her slice a building in two once. The second type are the elemental types. They can use an element with extreme proficiency. Akitsu and another Sekirei I know belong to this type."

To demonstrate her power, Akitsu created several ice spikes floating in the air, before letting them disappear, causing the already wide eyes of both Veela to widen even more, an understandable reaction considered she had not even moved to create them.

"The last type, and the rarest, is the "brain" type. Unlike the other two types, their specialty is to use modern-day technology to find any information they need. While this seem rather lackluster compared to the previous two types, do realize that one of them could very easily cause a worldwide nuclear war is they so wished."

That was most people didn't understand about brain-type Sekirei. They pegged them as very useful for information retrieval, but they never thought that they could hack into the programs managing nuclear programs, or even manipulate information from a distance if need be. Matsu, for all her perverse antics, was probably not that far behind Miya when it came to how dangerous she could be. In a proper fight, she may be useless, but she could launch a nuclear apocalypse with merely a push of a button so long as she had a decent computer and an Internet connection.

By now the Matriach and the other Veela looked a little pale. Despite the fact that most wizards and witches, well the European ones at least, didn't pay too much attention to the Mundane world, the Veelas were acutely aware of how advanced the weaponry had become in the last decades. To hear that a single Sekirei could cause a nuclear holocaust if they wanted had probably scared them shitless.

Seeing that the Veelas understood what he meant, Harry continued.

"Now, the reason I am here is related to the last aspect of what differentiates Sekirei from humans or even Veelas. Sekirei will look for their Ashikabi, or what could be best described as their mate, ideal partner, something like that. They have a way of telling who said person is, as a Sekirei's body will react to the presence of said person. The symptoms are diverse, but a few examples are a spike in their bodies' temperature, quickened breathing and heartbeat, or the loss of all strength in their limbs.

Now, the relationship between a Sekirei and an Ashikabi is, from what I have experienced with Karasuba, the equivalent of a soul bond, meaning that once a Sekirei is bonded to his or her Ashikabi, it's for life, with no way to break out of it. That would be good, unfortunately, there are several reasons why it isn't the case here, but I'll explain them later.

Right now, the main reason I am here, is Akitsu." he said, pointing towards the ever calm woman, who had yet to move from her spot. "During her adjustments, one of the people responsible for calibrating her powers messed up big time, and essentially sealed her ability to bond with her Ashikabi."

Two sharp intakes of breath made him smirk. Looks like they understand why that's bad, at least. They had turned to look at Akitsu with looks of pity, disappointing him slightly. As it was, they had probably not fully understood just how bad the Ice Sekirei's situation was, likening it to their kind's experience with soul bonds.

Veelas, from what little he had been able to get from the Goblins, venerated soul bonds, and worshipped them to the point of threatening anyone interfering with the few couples that were soul bonded. A Veela was considered blessed when she experienced such a bond, and the very idea of a Veela unable to even have the chance to form a soul bond was a sacrilege in their eyes. They had no idea just how right they were in Akitsu's case. Sekirei literally lived for their Ashikabi, to be unable to wing herself was the equivalent of a death sentence for them, or most of them since the Ice Sekirei had shown just how resilient she had been to keep living, even when the purpose of her life had been lost. From what he could tell, another Sekirei in the same case, Yume for example, would probably have committed suicide in the hour following the loss of her ability to bond.

"I see you understand just how bad this is for her. Now, the reason of my visit is the following: I want you to help me create a bond with Akitsu. I don't care if we have to force it, but I will wing her."

As he had expected, it took barely a second to the two Veelas to register his words, after which the guard had already formed a ball of fire in her hand and was lunging at him, snarling. It was with irritation that he caught her arm, and then, without losing a moment, tossed her back from where she came from. That did not deter her, however, as she flipped into the air and landed on her feet, already changing into the partially avian form all pure Veela could use when angered. Unfortunately for her, she found herself unable to move and hurt the person who had set her off, as she found herself once again encased into a block of ice, save for her head, courtesy of Akitsu, who in the few seconds it had taken for the exchange to take place, had gracefully stood up and extended her hand towards the Veela.

"You shall not harm Harry-sama."

-Break-

Akitsu, despite her usual apathetic nature, was now extremely angry, so much that her hold on her ice powers had loosened, allowing the temperature in the room to drop to the point ice was starting to form on the furniture. She was normally extremely laid back and mostly unresponsive, and even now, despite her fury, her face merely showed a frown, however right then and there she was feeling anger the like of which she had only felt once, when she had learnt she had lost her ability to bond. She knew her Ashikabi was strong and able to take care of himself, however that did not mean that she did not feel extremely protective of him, as he was the only person who had shown an interest in her that was not lust.

She had been elated when her Master had stated his wish to create a bond with her, even if he had to force it, as it showed that he was willing to do whatever it took to have her, when another would simply have accepted her inability to bond and moved on, using her and then tossing her aside. However, when she had seen the face of the Veela darken and the fire she had created, she had known that something was amiss. That feeling, however, had been nearly instantly drowned by cold fury when the woman had lunged at the center of her universe, and had then been intensified by her insistence in fighting her Ashikabi, who had avoided harming her in a surprising display of concern. That had been when she intervened. She did not care if the pre-teen next to her massacred the Veela, however she would pay for daring to attack her most precious person, especially when said person had said nothing wrong.

"You shall not harm Harry-sama."

Her voice was cold and sharp, and should she be disobeyed, she would gladly kill the bug who had dared threaten her world. As if answering her will, ice spikes appeared next to the ice encasing the Veela growing until their edge were inches away from the now avian-looking woman, who had looked ready to try and melt her ice in her haste to harm her Ashikabi.

"Let me go!" snarled the Veela, her voice a mix between a human woman's voice, and a bird's screech of anger. "How can you defend him when he wishes to enslave you?!"

The ice spikes grew a few inches, drawing blood. By now Akitsu was standing in front of the transformed Veela, preventing her from reaching the young wizard behind her.

"Harry-sama does not need to enslave me. Whatever he wishes me to do, I shall do."

She had stated the fact as if it was an evidence, which for her, and those who knew her, it was. The sky was blue, gravity pulled objects towards the heavier mass, and she would do anything to please her Ashikabi. She did understand why other people couldn't comprehend her need to please the person who had saved her from the life of an empty shell, however that didn't mean she appreciated the way they reacted when she showed her devotion. Most of them looked at her as if she was insane, she was not. She was merely extremely devoted to her Ashikabi, something she only took a bit further than most Sekirei, yet still seemed to shock most people.

However, instead of calming down, the Veela started to struggle even more, as she glared at the green eyed pre-teen standing behind her.

"What did you do to her, you wretched little monster?! What-"

She was suddenly silenced when Akitsu grabbed her by her throat, and glared at her. She was however interrupted by the Matriarch's voice.

"Stop now, young woman, or I shall make sure your friend never gets what he seems to so desire."

Turning to the transformed Veela, she asked:

"Would you mind freeing her? You have my word that she will behave."

The or else was quite clear, as the older of the two Veelas glared at the other, who had the decency to look sheepish, yet still managed to glare heatedly at the one she had lunged at.

-Break-

Harry sighed as he drank the tea the Matriarch had provided them with. He had made sure to check there were no potions in it, after all considering how the woman guarding the Matriarch had reacted earlier, he wouldn't put it past her to try and get rid of him by either poisoning him or slipping a potion into his tea.

They were once again sitting, the atmosphere tense as the guard glared at him with barely restrained fury, as she seemed to be convinced he had done something to Akitsu to make her that devoted to him. Quite frankly, he was barely refraining himself from seriously maiming the rude little girl (quite hypocritical considering he was younger than the woman by probably a decade), as he did not take well to attacks on his person, especially when it came from people who jumped to conclusions.

Taking another sip of his tea, he set back his cup on the table, and looked back at the Matriarch. Since the attack on his person, she hadn't spoken, choosing instead to look at him and Akitsu intently. He had no idea of what was going on in her mind, but if he had to guess she was probably reviewing the information he provided her with, as well as what happened and his request. He was quite surprised by how calm she was, though he guessed it came with her old age, someone as old as her (though he had no idea of her true age, she had to be quite old to lead the colony) was probably used to keep their calm in situations like these.

Finally, she sighed, and looked at him.

"Before agreeing to anything, I hope you understand that we will need more than a pretty story to convince us of your claims."

At that he perked up, at least she hadn't dismissed his request. While that wouldn't have stopped him from searching for a way to create a bond, he'd rather avoid using underhanded means to get what he wanted, as if such was the case, and the Veela found out, he'd be hard pressed to keep it silent, and they'd no doubt spread word of his appearance and whatever info could be used to track him down was a big no-no.

Nodding and motioning for the old woman to continue, he sat back on the sofa, wondering what she would want.

"First, I would like proof of your story. It is all well and good that you come to us, however we have no reason to trust you. How can we be sure that these...Sekirei actually exist? For all we know these two ladies could be nothing more than very skilled witches, no offense to you two, dears."

Harry grinned, that was a proof quite easy to supply, after all he had the perfect thing to prove that Karasuba was definitively not human.

Motioning for the Black Sekirei to come closer, he saw understanding in her eyes as she started to grin and licked her lips. Once their lips touched, Karasuba's wings flared, the black pillars seeming to absorb the light and giving off an eerie feeling that made goose bumps appear on the Veelas' skin, while Akitsu did not show any reaction to them. However, a second later, wings of light burst from Harry's back, flaring with multicolor life and knocking a few objects off their supports. Unlike the pitch black from his Sekirei's wings, his own were a mix of black, an icy blue-white, crimson and lavender. While Karasuba's light appendages were easily seven feet long each and about a foot large, his own were shorter, around four feet, and thinner, though that may have been due to his young age, or the fact that he was not a "pure" Sekirei.

Once they needed to breathe, they separated, a string of saliva still connecting their respective lips, which was broken once the Black Sekirei licked her lips sultrily. A cough made them turn their head towards their audience, as they saw the Matriarch staring at them disapprovingly, though she looked quite curious, while the guard seemed to be torn between staring in shock and sneering at him. Akitsu, for her part, had her usual blank face, though there was a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks, and he could easily tell that she was jealous of the attention he had shown Karasuba.

"Is that enough of a proof?" he asked, uncaring of the disapproving stares of the two Veela.

"Indeed. I find extremely interesting that you would also have these wings of light. Is this something that happens to other...Ash...Ashikabis?"

"No, it isn't." he admitted.

While he didn't like the idea of giving the Veelas ammunition to use as leverage against him, he hoped that by telling them his secret, they would be more willing to help him, and less to betray him. After all, if the violent reaction he had gotten out of the guard earlier was any indication, he had been right to expect the Veelas to see the Sekirei as something akin to sisters, and by showing them that he more or less belonged to the Sekirei species, they would be more reluctant to betray him. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to believe that would grant him full impunity in his actions, but any leeway he'd get from them would be welcome, as they were so far the most likely to leak information to the British Wizards.

"Other Ashikabis, as far as I can tell, do not have the wings. My case, however, is a little special. To be blunt, when I was ten, I was sent to protect two young Sekirei who had been abducted for experimentation by foreign soldiers. During their rescue, I was shot, and since I was so young, the blood loss would have killed me long before anyone could reach our position.

However, it turned out that the facility was linked to the Sekirei ship, as such I fled with the two girls to avoid the other soldiers until reinforcements could come. As my luck would have it, the ship somehow sensed I was wounded, and performed a procedure on me to keep me alive. Unfortunately, seeing as it was a Sekirei ship, the blood transfused to me was that of a Sekirei, turning me into what you could call a pseudo-Sekirei. I do not need an Ashikabi, as far as I can tell, however I have gained some of the physical strength and stamina that belongs to their species. My magical reserves have gone through the roof as well, though I don't seem to be developing a preference for an element as far as I know."

-Break-

Adana couldn't quite believe her ears and her eyes. She was old, even though her appearance did not reflect her old age, however this day was turning out to be one of the more surprising ones in her long life. She had seen her fair share of strange and inexplicable things in her life, but what she was seeing know was answering quite a few questions she had never known she had. She, like many others, had watched as man walked on the moon for the first time, however she had never expected, never in a million years, to be able to meet aliens. Yet here she was, sitting in front of two of these Sekirei, who happened to look exactly like humans, well, with Veela beauty if nothing else. They did not have the Allure, as far as she could tell, though that could be due to the fact that one was bonded, and the other had lost her ability to bond.

Truth be told, she did want to help this boy, unlike the young one who had recklessly charged their guest, she had observed this Akitsu, and while her attitude made it clear that something, or someone, had broken her, she could tell that it certainly wasn't the boy in front of her. Her protective attitude did not have any of the ingrained aspects she had been able to see in the few of her sisters she had met who had been abducted and broken into slaves by the Wizards, it was too spontaneous to be the result of indoctrination. That meant that her attitude towards the boy was genuine, and while she was curious about why she would treat him in such a way, it was none of her business. Still, she could tell merely by watching her that he had probably saved her from herself, been here to save her from her own personal Hell. Nothing short of that could warrant such devotion, of that she was certain.

That left her in a bit of a quandary. She wanted to help this boy, if what he had said was true, then Akitsu needed to bond, if only to be at peace with herself, otherwise she would always see herself as inferior to her fellow Sekirei for not having something that they all had. Unfortunately, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had to tread carefully with the boy, who had proven that he was more than a spoiled Pureblood brat, and not the Hero the storybooks portrayed him to be. She could tell that this Harry Potter was ready to do whatever it took to get what he wanted, and she was quite afraid of what that would entail should he need to perform less than savory actions to bond with his Sekirei.

As Matriarch, it was her sworn duty to ensure the safety of her people, and while it would be good to be able to count on someone with as much political clout than the Boy-Who-Lived, in the off case they needed political backing, she did not want to make a deal with the Devil. She had a few ideas of how a bond could be forced, and few of them did not involve very Dark Magic, which she doubted would be enough to stop Harry from performing said magic if it granted him what he wanted. On the other hand, she was quite sure there were other ways to create a bond, without needlessly using Dark Magic, but she would have to check that.

"Very well. We shall assist you in finding a way to bond with Akitsu. However, there are conditions for this."

She was pleased to see that Harry seemed to have been expecting this, as he merely nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"The first condition is fairly easy to fulfill, I would like you to lend us your assistance should we call for it."

There was no hesitation when the pre-teen nodded, then again it was a fairly reasonable condition, and she had no doubt that he already had ideas of how to turn said condition around if he did not wish to help the Veelas.

"The second condition is that you will ensure that all of the other Sekirei drink a potion that we will provide you with. It is a special tool known only to Veela, which allows us to prevent any forced bonding, as numerous Dark Wizards have tried to enslave our kind before. I have little doubt that it will work as well for the Sekirei. We will not allow humans to exploit the Sekirei's ability to bond to force themselves on them like they did with us."

Once again, he nodded, though she could see that he was a bit surprised by the condition, and even a bit...pleased? Shaking her head, she continued.

"The third, and final condition I have, is that you do not, in any way, abuse any information we will give you, and are not to force any Sekirei or Veela to bond with you, and that you give us information on them."

Once again, he nodded, though his grimace showed he was a bit reluctant. She was a bit surprised, frankly, she had thought the third condition would have been met with a little more reluctance, but perhaps it was only paranoia. Then again, she was so used to deal with greedy, self-serving wizards that the very thought of someone NOT planning to abuse information on bonds was ludicrous.

"Very well. I shall contact Gringotts to ask them to draw up a contract."

-Break-

As Harry laid on his back in his bed back at MBI's tower, he couldn't help but grin. Everything was going how he wanted, now he only had to make sure he was ready for whatever attempts Dumbledore would make to track him down. He had already planned to move out from the tower soon, as soon as Gringotts could provide him with a house up to his standards, which he would then have warded to Hell and back. He also planned to create rings that would could be used as foci instead of wands, as well as emergency portkeys. It was better to prepare for the worst, especially considering what he had planned for the next years.

As he felt Akitsu snuggle to his side, her breasts pressing against his arm, he smirked and patted her head, eliciting something like a purr from the Ice Sekirei.

Hope you enjoyed, you know the drill, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be ignored with extreme prejudice.