Happy 50th Chapter! This is the longest story I have on the site chapterwise and has been a while since it beat out Keepers of the Elements' 38 chapters, but still!
As with every 10 chapters of this story, I will do my best to respond to every review and question left on this chapter, as long as it isn't asking for spoilers!
Harry, Darian, Lucas and Aki sat together in their school's cafeteria at breakfast time, discussing random things about their classes.
Harry and Darian sat on one side of the table while Lucas and Aki sat across from them.
Lucas (who had a textbook propped up against his cereal bowl) wasn't participating as much as the other three, looked up when Harry began to speak again.
"I talked to the De L'Ors yesterday. Amethyst and Jasper are going to be going back to their respective schools this week. They're finally ready." Harry took a bite of apple and swallowed, a slight smile spreading on his face when he spoke.
"Ah, that's great! We'll have to talk to them too, won't we?" Aki looked around at the others, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, they'll be home all weekend, so I suspect you'll be able to reach them easily enough if you tried calling," Harry shrugged, finishing off his apple. "It's good to see something we did... the result of something good that we did..."
"To see positive results as a result of us successfully pulling off something that we are training for, yes." Lucas (finally) put aside the book he was reading and paid full attention to the conversation he was having with the others.
"Feels damn good for real..." Darian shoved a forkful of sausages in his mouth and chewed loudly, drawing some disgusted looks from people around him, including his squad mates.
"Remind me never to go to a restaurant with him ever again..." Even Aki had a raised eyebrow.
Harry, who, as a result of his seating position, was closest to Darian, nodded fervently in agreement.
"Whatever." Darian rolled his eyes and continued to consume his food as if someone was threatening to take it from him.
"Oh look. It's the heroes of the day..." a smug, smarmy voice spoke up suddenly.
"Well, Tony," Lucas spoke up, not even bothering to deign the other male with a look, as he had returned to his textbook reading. "Since this is a school for people with ambitions of getting into the hero business, that is something to be expected, do you not think so?"
Harry, Aki and Darian started snickering, as did others around them.
"You only got to save those De L'Or kids because you were in the right place at the right time. I'd bet that you didn't even know they'd gone missing in the first place." Tony spoke again.
"I cannot say for the others, but I certainly did." Lucas spoke again. "Since I am friends with a family friend of theirs and all. Even if I was not, I make it a habit to keep up with current affairs of various planets, especially amongst the witch aligned population. I do not like to appear ignorant, after all..."
Tony twitched and walked away, amongst the snickers of the others around them.
"How do you do that?" Aki asked, sounding in awe.
"What?" Lucas sounded genuinely confused.
"The way you needled Tony like that, bro!" one student nearby exclaimed.
"That was needling?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "All I did was speak the truth..."
Harry, Aki and Darian looked at one another.
"He does this sort of thing without bloody trying." Harry said in awe. "What the bloody hell would he be like when he's actually trying to needle someone?!"
"I don't know, but what I do know is that there'll be some savagery involved..." Aki commented.
"Too bad he isn't so calm around Rainer..." Darian whispered to them.
Lucas' head immediately shot up, having heard the whisper.
"What was that you said?" he narrowed his eyes at them.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." Harry stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be and it really wouldn't do for me to be late..."
As Harry left them behind, he could hear Darian and Aki snickering as well and a smirk spread across his own face.
"So, how's school life coming along for you?" Roxy asked him as they stepped out onto the beach.
"Pretty good, actually. Still getting decent grades, I still get along with Darian, Aki and Lucas (mostly) and my practice with wand-less magic is coming along well, using some of the techniques that Lexagos is teaching us about..." Harry shrugged.
"I guess it's coming along fine for me too. My grades here are actually better than they ever were in high school!" Roxy chuckled. "My flying is improving too. I'm not in the top five fastest flyers in my year or anything, but I'm still pretty up there..."
"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Then are the fastest flyers in your year?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"That would be the twins Kenna and Fiametta of Rosabellum tying for first place, Casilda of Telum is after them, then Rainer, then Aziza from Fortuna. We actually know this one for sure, since we have races in our flight classes sometimes and those five usually get the top spots..." Roxy tossed down her beach bag and shrugged off the blue and white swirled maxi dress she had on, revealing a purple, one-strapped, one-piece swimsuit with white flowers stencilled all over it and light green trim.
Years of being in stranger situations than this kept Harry from overtly reacting to the wonderful sight in front of him, the young wizard managing to maintain a poker face.
"You like? I bought it on my last trip back home and I haven't gotten a chance to wear this particular one yet..." Roxy twirled around in it and struck a sassy pose.
"Yes, I like it. You're gorgeous, as always..." Harry swallowed.
Roxy giggled. "Oh, Harry. Always the gentleman..." she kissed him on the cheek, then moved to pull her hair into a ponytail.
"You know that I am..." Harry shrugged off his own clothing, donning a simple pair of blue swim trunks beneath.
"You're not so bad looking yourself, you know..." Roxy brushed a hand lightly on his chest. "You're not overly muscled like The Hulk or anything. Just perfect. At least, for me..."
"Er... thanks..." Harry felt himself reddening.
"Oh, come on! We've been dating for over a year and you're still so modest with me?" the animal fairy put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.
"Excuse me, but I thought you said that you liked me being a gentleman with you?" Harry spoke indignantly.
"Of course I do, Harry." Roxy put a hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly. "Now, I'm going to go take a swim. Care to join me?"
"I can't swim. You know that..." Harry said.
Roxy rolled her eyes. "Doesn't mean you can't float around in the water and have a bit of fun, though..."
Harry eyed the water nervously.
"You really need to learn how to swim. What happens if you're in a situation where you need to learn how to swim?" Roxy asked him.
Harry's mind flashed back briefly to the time Professor Maximus had dumped them randomly in the mountain range that he and his squad mates had eventually found the De L'Ors in. Landing in that icy cold river and the indignity of coughing up water and fish while trying to not drown...
He shuddered at the very thought.
"I... I suppose I will. I'm not that bad... I can paddle..." Harry said reluctantly.
"Maybe I'll get to teach you someday!" Roxy exclaimed cheerfully. "The lake in our favourite spot in Tir Nan Og is pretty peaceful and the beach there isn't all that bad..."
She hooked her arm around his.
"Now come on! Let's go for a swim!" Roxy pulled Harry towards the water with a surprising amount of strength.
Harry found the water to actually be nice and relaxing.
He managed to float in it on his back without sinking (a first!) and was simply enjoying the feeling of the water around him while Roxy swam up and down the length of the beach.
The sun shone on him pleasantly and he felt quite calm.
At least until all of that changed.
It was subtle at first.
The water started to grow cool, the wind picked up and soon, Harry couldn't feel the sun's warmth.
"What..." Harry opened his eyes to see a dark sky. "Wasn't it just sunny a while ago?"
"It was..." Roxy paused next to him and looked up at the sky suspiciously. "Something's really not right here... This weather doesn't feel normal and I'm not just talking about the quick change..."
Harry pushed himself up so that he was standing in the water. "You're right... It feels like dark magic..."
"I think we should get out of here..." Roxy started swimming towards the shore and Harry waded quickly behind her.
Around them, other people were doing the same and those already on shore were bustling about trying to get their things quickly and leave.
As Harry and Roxy packed up their own things and hurriedly put clothes on over their swimsuits (ignoring the fact that they were still wet), the wind got even stronger, threatening to blow them off their feet.
"Dammit!" Roxy exclaimed. "If my feet can barely handle this mess, how can I even fly in it?"
"I don't know if that would work..." Harry gritted his teeth as he fought against the sudden wind that was blowing sand into his eyes. "I could try opening a portal..."
Harry was about to reach for his wand to make the attempt when a lightning bolt struck so close to them that they could feel the charge from it while not actually being hit.
"What in the bloody hell was that?!" Harry helped up Roxy (who had stumbled) and glanced up at the sky.
Two figures floated down from the sky, smirking down at them.
"Hello there, Harry Potter." the white-haired one spoke, her voice somehow clearly audible above the now howling winds. "How nice to finally meet you again..."
"What do you want?" Harry took a protective stance in front of Roxy as they became surrounded by a dome of violent wind that blew away anything that came near it, even as those inside the dome remained steady on their feet despite the violent winds.
He felt the energy of Roxy's transformation behind him and when he glanced to his side, Roxy did indeed stood there in her fairy form, looking ready for a fight.
"Oh, we just came here to have a bit of fun. Between causing trouble across different realms and generally messing with people, we've been having quite the time." Stormy smirked.
"But we just had to come back to where it started, didn't we, Stormy?" Icy said. "And who should we see out but the precious little Princess of Tir Nan Og and her little Chosen One boyfriend?"
"It's a pity Darcy couldn't be here to be part of the fun, isn't it?" Roxy asked almost casually. "That's what usually happens when villains team up with other villains. Lots of backstabbing. Obviously you didn't learn from what I hear it was like with Lord Darkar and Valtor..."
Harry quickly cast a shield charm, which deflected one of Stormy's lightning bolts.
"Temper, temper, Stormy. That could be your downfall one day." Harry said. "Oh wait. It already has been. Several times..." Harry dodged the next lightning bolt aimed at him.
"Come on, Roxy!" Harry grabbed his girlfriend's hand and they managed to break free of the wind dome, only to find that it was complete and utter chaos outside.
People were running and screaming; those who could fly were attempting to do so trees and volleyball nets flapped wildly in the breeze and Roxy had to use her energy blasts to blast away several bits of flying debris that kept coming at them.
"Where are you two going? We just wanna play!" Icy sent a stream of hail at them that Harry managed to melt with an Incendio.
"Well, whatever bloody game you're playing, we don't want to be a part of it!" Harry lashed out with a hex at the same time Roxy with a spell of her own.
Icy and Stormy smirked at one another.
This was going to be fun.