The memory stops and suddenly Skull is standing in front of them again, speaking and looking through them, just as he had in the very beginning.
"That man in the bar from that day…he came to bring me back to the Wizards. The war I fought in, the ideals I tried so hard to end…it never stopped. It moved into politics. It moved into 'accidents' and hits. The war I tried to end is going on in the shadows. Everything I did…everything I lost…it was for nothing."
Skull's face twists with anger- with fury- and pain for an instant before he sighs. "They dragged my family into it. Took George, Bill and Fleur. Charlie is still in Romania, but…Fleur is pregnant. And they are being held to lure me back into that world. So my strings can be tugged to other people's whims—so that I can be caged. They who have already taken so much from me."
And then Skull's face becomes thunderous, his eyes shining with rage. "I will not allow it. Even if I have to destroy the entire Wizarding World of Britain."
O~O~O~
The Arcobaleno are pushed out of the Pensieve, gently this time, having come to the end of Skull's shared memories. It is not everything. It doesn't cover the all his struggles afterwards, or the struggles he goes through in regards to the Arcobaleno. It doesn't cover the disastrous months afterwards where Harry struggles with his losses and walks a knife-edge of continuing on or self-destructing as his inner Cloud rages over the loss of His Own. The Arcobaleno know this, but they have been shown much, have been shown enough. (For now).
They straighten from their places and eyes meet over the Pensieve. Their resolve is gleaming back at each other.
"We have a Cloud to join." Colonnello's voice rumbles in the silence.
Viper nods "I can get everyone in place. It will take some work, but we will be with Skull by the end of the day."
"Good" Reborn's voice is a dark rumble even as the Pensieve packs itself away now that it is no longer in use.
Viper vanishes from her place. She had information to find and a Cloud to follow.
"We're coming Skull."
The thought is unanimous.
O~O~O~
Skull feels it the instant his Pensieve packs itself away. He knows the moment the Arcobaleno had finished with his memories-13 hours after he handed them over (the memories had been shared at the speed of thought, but it had been a lot of memories to cover)- and he wonders at their reactions to what they now know. It's not everything, not even close…but it gives them a good chunk of the information, a good solid foundation.
Then he shakes his wandering thoughts off and takes a breath, sighting down his sniper rifle and tracking his target. He makes a note to thank Reborn for teaching him to handle all manner of guns (because 'no Lackey of The Greatest Hitman will not know how to shoot properly') because the skills have become very useful in the last hours.
He feels his lips twitch into a smile when his target and the two body guards with him collapse to perfect between-the-eyes headshots. Even when the surrounding area erupts into motion, Skull is too far away to be pinpointed by the Wizards as the source of his target's sudden death, especially with the silencing spells around his place to keep the gunshots from being heard by those who would recognize them.
Sightings of Skull's prey have become rare as they retreat to their manors and wards and pray it will be enough to stop him. Some are foolish enough to step outside and Skull reacts instantly to the opportunities without hesitation- as he just had with his most recent target- but he still has quite the collection of targets to be killed.
Skull hums as he sits up and quickly dismantles his equipment before putting it away. It's mostly muscle memory and habit that makes Skull go through the motions. With magic, he could technically just shove his sniping equipment into his bottomless bag while everything is in one piece, but it is calming and instinctive to take everything apart and put it away. (It's also one of his happy memories with Reborn, who had been steady and patient with Skull while teaching him his art)
(He remembered Reborn saying it was because 'the art of gunmanship was not something to be rushed or taught half-heartedly')
He pulls himself to his feet as soon as he finishes and climbs down from his perch. He slips back through Diagon Ally and into the store known as Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Fred and George had keyed him into the wards surrounding the place when it first opened, and George had told him hundreds of times after the war that Harry was welcome. He had never thought he would be taking George up on that offer in this way though. Never thought he'd be using the shop as a base of operations to save his family.
He hadn't thought a lot of things.
O~O~O~
Viper is very careful as she gathers the information she needs. She only has one shot at this. It doesn't help that Skull had definitely been on the move, which is causing mass panic amongst the wizarding population and making her job harder.
Viper wasn't fazed however, slipping easily through the chaos and gathering the information she needs. (She isn't the best Information Broker money can buy for nothing)
She doesn't have the time to screw around, not when her Cloud is out there fighting a war alone, not when the rest of her Elements are waiting for her to come back to them and keep her promise of meeting up with Skull by the end of the day.
O~O~O~
Yuni doesn't move as she watches the Arcobaleno.
She had known for years that each of them were dangerous, that they were like big predators given human form. Watching the others after Viper leaves to gather information only enforces the image.
Colonnello was pacing. He alternated between being so tense Yuni wondered how his bones didn't snap under the pressure, and being lose in a way that a wolf might be before it lunged for the throat. His fists alternated between loosening up ready to reach for his rifle, and clenching so hard his knuckles bleached white. His lips pull back from his teeth in a feral snarl every few moments as if he would be able to rip the throat out of Skull's enemies.
Fon and Reborn are on the opposite side of the spectrum when Yuni looks their way. Both of the men are utterly still. Dangerously so. The way a black mamba would be just before it stuck so quickly there was no time to escape.
Fon is deceptively loose in his place by the wall. Loose the way he only ever is when he is about to cut loose and demolish his enemies entirely. In a way that allows him to choose from any of his multiple martial arts styles without warning. In the way that had earned him the title 'Eye of the Storm' amongst the mafia.
Reborn appears entirely relaxed in the chair he had sat in. His eyes are the only hint of the dangerous temper brewing under the façade. Leon sits atop the Sun's knuckles and it is the only other visible sign of Reborn's readiness to spring into action- that Leon is so close to his hands ready to respond in an instant and become whatever weapon Reborn could desire. Looking into Reborn's eyes Yuni has the thought that she is looking into the abyss, and the abyss was staring back.
When Yuni turns her eyes to Verde the man is sitting at the couch, a notebook in hand and his pen flying over the paper. She has the idle thought that a pen dragging over paper has never sounded so close to the warning rattle of a rattlesnake. And that really is what the sound should be compared to. Verde rarely ever loses his calm cool nature. But his ire had been stirred in this case, and Yuni knows with the certainty a person would call the sky blue, that if she were to look at the notebook in the Lightning's hands it would be filled with some very not nice experiments soon to have test subjects.
When she turns to stare at Lal she sees the woman very intently and calmly going over her guns. The weapons are all pulled apart and she's cleaning them. Yuni has the thought that it's like watching a lioness sharpen their claws in preparation for the hunt. Lal always took care of her weapons, but she was only that meticulous when she was going out to Clean House where there would be an unknown amount of enemies with unknown power levels.
With Viper out doing what she did best- gathering information and making plans- Yuni knows it is only a matter of hours at the most before the Arcobaleno take the Wizarding World by storm and join Skull on his crusade.
Her eyes cloud over for a moment as she gets a glimpse of what is to come.
When Elements Rage in synch with each other, when their Rage is stirred on behalf of one another…there are no words for it.
The world's oldest tales of The End of Days, the tales that whisper of The Horsemen, of beings descending onto the mortal plane to wipe out those who were deserving of it are based on Elements Raging together.
And the Arcobaleno are the strongest of them.
Yuni blinks as the room comes back into focus.
The Wizarding World has no idea what they have unleashed upon themselves.
O~O~O~
Two hours.
It takes Viper two hours to gather enough information to go back to the others. It's late, but there will be no waiting for the Arcobaleno. They will be with their Cloud before the night ends.
She transports herself back to the others.
O~O~O~
The moment Viper appears the Arcobaleno mobilize, coming closer and waiting. There are no questions, no frantic exclamations, no scrambling questions. This is the stillness and silence of the World's Best waiting for a briefing.
Viper delivers.
She tells them of the situation in Britain. She speaks on the politics and the shadow hits and 'accidents' Skull had spoken of. She tells them about what the politics had covered up- the rot and sickness hidden under gilded words. She speaks on Skull's actions, the things he had done, the name he was given and the mark he had left at the scene of every retaliation against his enemies.
Their enemies.
She tells the Arcobaleno about Skull's family.
And then they are moving.
O~O~O~
Skull senses the moment the Arcobaleno enter the Alley.
He lifts his head and his lips twitch.
O~O~O~
Viper had layered the Arcobaleno and herself with Mist Flames as they appeared in Diagon. It didn't matter it was so late at night. The Alley was still bustling partly because some Creatures could only emerge at night, and partly because of the hornet nest Skull had stirred up with his actions. She wanted no attention drawn to them, wanted no one aware the Arcobaleno had not been in the Alley for weeks before the 'accidents' started happening in regards to the Death Eaters, and her Mist Flames ensure it is as she wishes. (Everyone that glances at the place they walk cannot see them, but at the same time the idea that the group hidden by the Mist had been in the Alley for a month is placed in the people's heads)
She watches as the Arcobaleno scan their surroundings, the only hint that they are not used to the open uses of magic being the way their eyes pause on certain things or people for a fraction of a second.
Viper flares her Flames once, twisting them just so, so that no one other than Skull himself will sense what she had done. She didn't want attention pulled to them by allowing the wizards around her to sense her Flames after all.
And then they wait.
O~O~O~
Skull seems to appear out of the crowds.
Even with his purple hair and punk-clothes, Skull blends into the crowd until he seems to just melt into being in front of them. His eyes- black for the moment- are steady as he meets each of the Arcobaleno's.
They meet his eyes head on, thousands of words exchanged in a glance, and a thousand more they will speak on later. Skull doesn't speak, he nods, tilts his head in a silent command, and slips through the crowds.
The Arcobaleno obey the silent command and follow Skull through the crowds, Viper's Mist Flames shifting and onlookers' attentions elsewhere for the few seconds it takes the group to pass by.
Skull leads them to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, and makes a silent motion for them to wait outside. He slips inside long enough to key the Arcobaleno into the wards. The twins had trusted him, allowed him the ability to add and remove peoples' access to the store and their home. Skull knew how much trust he had been shown by the twins- and until the Arcobaleno he had never used his ability to add and remove people from their wards.
Skull opens the door and beckons them inside, a request the Arcobaleno obey immediately.
The room is silent as they stare at each other once the door closes behind the Arcobaleno.
O~O~O~
After watching those memories, seeing how wrong they had been about their Cloud, the Arcobaleno wonder what to say.
How did one go about apologizing for being so blind to the suffering and sorrow in one of their own?
They weren't really sure.
And Skull frowned after a moment, taking a breath and breaking the silence. There was much to cover between them, much that would need to heal and be addressed, but Skull had family to save first and foremost. "The Neo-Eaters have disappeared behind their Wards in an attempt to hide from me. When they leave the protection of their wards, they hide behind hit-wizards, protection charms, and bodyguards in hopes of protecting themselves." Skull's eyes shimmer with his Flames, and it is the only visible sign of his ire.
Reborn tilts his head after a moment. They owe Skull more apologies then they will ever be able to give him- but Reborn has the thought- and it is a thought the other Arcobaleno share- that helping their Cloud kill his enemies to get to his family is a good start.
If Skull wants to put off talking in favor of that, none of the Arcobaleno will stop him. It will be talked about- they will not allow these wounds caused by ignorance to fester- but they have family to save and family always comes first.
Family is sacred after all.
And they would teach these wizards not to touch one of their own.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Okay, life got up and murdered me. Hurricanes are not fun. The family is alright, but damage was done and is being dealt with so this next update might take a while. Apologies in advance. Just in case I don't see y'all- Happy Halloween!