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"Thanks for the weather, now on to your news in sports."

"Thanks guys, a new name has been made in the gymnastics community this week and that name belongs to Mika Sabian." The sports anchor turned to his partner.

"You got that right. The eleven year old protege won her very first national competition and it doesn't look like she's stopping anytime soon."

Cut to the head coach right after Mika was announced the winner.

"Tell me, what are you feeling at this moment?"

"Oh I feel wonderful. Not only is this the first time I've trained a champion, but this is the first time I've seen Mika smile like that. I'm so proud of her."

Cut back to the two sport anchors.

"For those of you who don't know who this girl is, her story is one to hear.

"Mika Sabian was born to a Japanese immigrant during the month of February eleven years ago. Not much is known about her mother except that she fell victim to gang violence when Mika was just at the age of five. Not much is known about her over the next few years but at the age seven, everything changed."

Cut to Mr. Sabian's big interview.

"Mr. Sabian, What compelled you to adopt a child? And why not one from an official orphanage?"

"When I met Mika, she had quite literally ran into me. At first I thought that she was just a normal child, but her eyes are what got to me."

"Her eyes?"

"Yes her eyes, I have served my country with pride but there were things I saw and experienced that still haunt me to this day. I believe that you can tell when someone goes through a traumatic event, it sticks with them and can be seen through the eyes. Mika had those eyes and only time and affection have any hope of making it go away.

"Mr. Sabian, Did you not previously state that you held a dislike for children?"

"Yes I did, but not in the way many think. The context to that statement was if I ever wanted to have children. I replied with ' No, I dislike the idea of raising a child'. But as you can see that has changed. While I am not exactly overjoyed to suddenly be a parent, I will strive to give the best life possible to Mika."

Cut to anchors

"Since Mr. Sabian PM adopted her, Miss. Sabian has received home schooling from several teachers from Maynard, St. Benedict, and King Edward VI."

Cut to St. Benedict teacher

"I was skeptical when Mr. Sabian PM approached me to school Miss. Sabian, but I am glad that he did. Miss. Sabian is a very rare breed of student, especially one at her age. She has this determination in her that drives her in her studies and causes her to succeed. If our current arrangement does not last, then I hope to see Miss. Sabian in my classroom once she is of age."

Cut to anchors.

"Although I'm not at liberty to reveal any specifics, All of Miss. Sabian's teachers claim that they expect great things from her in the future."

Cut to coach's and Mika's interview

"How did you meet Miss. Sabian?"

"It was about three years ago. I was at my gym around closing time when I was approached by Mr. Sabian PM. He told me that his daughter expressed an interest in gymnastics and he wished for me to train her. Naturally I agreed. I met Mika the next day, she wasn't what I expected. She was quiet and distant but she did everything I asked. Let me tell you, that the girl is a natural and an incredibly fast learner. She was born with the ability to be great at this sport and she has this inner strength that helped her be where she is now."

"Miss. Sabian, what inspired you to want to be a gymnast?"

"Well when I lived on my own, sometimes people would chase me so I learned how to move in ways that others wouldn't be able to follow. When I told Father, he said that it was a good thing to know so I kept practicing. One day one of my teacher saw me and said that I would be good at gymnastics, so I asked Father if I could try it."

"Wow, I have no idea what it must have been like. Thank you for sharing."

Mika nodded. The reporter cleared his throat, "On an unrelated note. I've heard that you give back to the community, would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Not at all. Ever since Father adopted me, I have been blessed with things I have never dreamed of. Yet at the same time I feel guilty. There are still people out there that need help so it only felt right that I help in anyway I can."

"I understand. It says here that you donate money and clothes to charities and you also convinced Mr. Sabian PM to do increase his donations as well."

"That's right, I just wanted help others the way I have been helped, Father agrees."

"That is a wonderful thing to hear. Miss. Sabian, thank you for your time."

"What do you think of her?"

"Gary, are you nuts? She's related to that politician."

"I know, I know. Gosh, can't a man dream?"

"Dream all you want, but don't do anything stupid. Besides, the one we have is younger then her anyway."

"True." He said looking at a terrified duo in the dark corner.

It was a Spanish woman in her late twenties and she was trying to hide her seven year old daughter behind her. Trying to keep her out of the man's view.

Gary stared at the woman's exposed chest before snapping his fingers.

"Hey Spanish, go get a couple of beers and some food for Mr. William and myself. And do a little dance when you leave."

The woman's eyes flashed with rage and defiance but that look quickly changed when Mr. William approached her and drew his knife. The mother tried to form a defense for her daughter but a powerful backhand sent her to the ground. The knife on her daughter's face kept her there. Mr. William smirked at the display. Seeing no more resistance in his captive, he sat in a nearby chair and forced her daughter to sit on his lap.

"Now Spanish, you really shouldn't be like that." Mr. William slid the knife and pushed some of the hair behind the terrified girl's ears.

"You have a very pretty girl, you know. You should be proud." He painfully grabbed a fist full of her hair and took a deep smell of it. He then removed the knife from her face and slowly dragged it lower and lower down the girl's form making no effort to hide what he wanted.

"I would just love to focus all my attention on her, to make her my very own," his descent stopped to the mother's horror and the girl's distress, "But I can't. You know why? Because as long as you do as we order, we agreed to give all our attention to you. Remember?"

The woman tearfully nodded.

"I thought as much. Now don't you have orders to do?"

Standing up on shaky legs, the mother reluctantly started to walked towards the door.

"Oh and Spanish." She paused, "Don't forget the dance." The woman desperately wanted to be defiant but knew she couldn't without putting her daughter in even more harm. Mr. William had already killed her husband and the other defiled her on his body all the while making her little girl watch, she couldn't allow that kind of attention to be on her daughter.

So, with the courage of a mother protecting her child, she dutifully shook her bare ass as she went out the door to the kitchen.

Mr. William smirk turned to a lusty grin as he watched the milf leave. Seeing that shapely ass move put him in the move and lucky for him he had a certain someone to help him with his growing problem. Unlucky for him, he had learned patience at a young age. If he took her now then there would be problems later which would likely result in two dead bodies. Besides, good things come to those who wait.

With a disappointed sigh, he lifted the girl off his lap and shoved her out the door.

"Man why didn't you just kill the bitch?" Mr. William ignored his friend as he rejoined him on the couch watching the football reruns.

"I didn't kill her cause she is new to her new role. It seems that she forgot what was at stake. Think of this as an incentive to follow orders in the future.

Gary gave a grunt as he took a swig of his near empty bottle, "Yeah right, more like you like her ass and you want to keep it around as long as possible. I say we just kill her and start having fun with the girl, or better yet just have them both."

"I understand, but its seems you don't. By waiting until Spanish fucks up, she will see herself responsible for the consequences."

Gary just grunted again.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't think it'll be too long till Spanish screws up again. I know her type, defiant till the end. She'll forget all about this and try something. Mark my words."

Gary again grunted and threw his empty bottle against the wall. The other team scored.

The two men sat in silence just watching the game when suddenly something crashed against the window, breaking the glass.

"The fuck was that?"

Gary spotted a rock in the pile of glass and his face turned red. Going to the broken window, he stuck his head out and started shouting.

"Who ever did that is gonna have hell to pay! You hear me! Your fucking dea-"

Mr. William, who had been ignoring his friend's rant in favor of watching the game, turned his head at Gary's sudden silence.

"Gary?"

He didn't respond. He just stood there looking out the window.

"Hey Gary?" when he got no response, Mr. William made his way over to his friend.

"Hey Gary, you alright? What's happening out there?"

Again he didn't respond, so Mr. William grabbed his shoulder to turn him around, only for Gary to fall lifeless on his back. A crystal embedded in his forehead and his chest.

He didn't even have time to process what he saw before some thing crashed through the window and into his back. A knife to the top and base of his spine insured his death before he hit the ground.

Rin huffed as she pushed herself off the body. Licking the blood off the blade, she sheathed them and looked over herself. There was no blood on her clothes. Good she might be able to donate them.

Looking over at the man she'd just killed, she sighed. It seems as if her intel wasn't as good as she'd hoped. Her true target had been Gary and, since she had eaten a few nights ago, she was content with taking him out from a far with her ukaku crystals. And since she was told that he lived and worked alone, there'd was no real need since by the time someone found him, the RC cells in the crystals would have died causing them to deteriorate into nothing.

But when the other man came into view, she couldn't risk the chance of others being in the building. Once intel was bad you trust nothing that you've heard, that was one thing she'd learned.

Once she destroyed the crystals in her original target, she looked around the room and was disgusted. Dirty clothes were all over the place, empty beer bottles were everywhere in sight, the sent of stale alcohol and sex clung to everything, and there was dust floated in the air.

Rin was even more glad that she wasn't hungry. If this was what he lives in on the outside, then she didn't want to know what kind of nastiness lived on the inside. A quick scan of the room implied that there had only been two people here but approaching footsteps from the other side of the door disproved that.

Readying her dagger, she positioned herself besides the door and waited. Whoever it was carrying food and the scent of it masked the scent of others that were potentially there, but she only heard one set of footsteps so she was confident that there was only one.

Nothing moved as she tensed her muscles to attack, and as soon as the door opened she did. The arm was the first thing she saw when her enemy walked through so she grabbed it, and with the strength no normal eleven year old should have, she flipped the surprised person on her back. Quickly climbing on top of the downed woman, Rin covered her mouth and brought her dagger across her exposed neck.

"Mama!"

Stopping just as the blade drew blood. Looking with she saw a terrified crying little girl standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here? Why are you stopping Rin?" What was going on, why was this girl here? For That matter, why was there more than one target?

The girl look confused but then started to speak in Spanish, "Please don't hurt mama. Those bad guys hurt mama already. She didn't do anything wrong so please, don't hurt mama!"

Rin understood every word that was said and was shocked. Looking down at her would be victim, she saw the horrified look in the woman's eyes. With an unsteady hand, Rin removed the knife, revealing the blood line on the woman's neck, and got off her. The woman was frozen in place but that wasn't what got her attention, nor was it the lack of clothes, no, Rin's attention was on the many bruises that covered her body. She had seen plenty of abused women before but always from a distance while on recon. And whenever she saw one up close, the woman was always dead or unconscious because Rin refused to let innocents see her, because innocents who see her become a threat. And all threats that see Rin die.

But seeing the girl crying over her still mother made her pause. Even if the girl and her mother became a threat, Rin didn't know if she could kill them. She didn't like killing innocents, even that time she was starving, it made her feel bad afterwards. But she remembered her Kaa-san telling her how her grand mother was killed.

Raising the bloody blade to her mouth, she tasted it. It was delicious.

Sighing, Rin knew what she had to do. Walking over to the distressed girl, Rin placed her arms around her, trying to provide comfort.

"Ssssssshhhhh, don't cry. Rin is sorry for hurting your mama. Rin thought that she was a bad guy. Rin is sorry. Will you except Rin's flower as an apologies?"

Taking the red lotus out of her hair, she presented it to the girl. The girl hesitated before she took the flower and when she did, she brought it close to her.

Rin sighed and looked at the mother who was looking back with focused eyes.

Backing slowly towards the window, she watched the girl hug her distraught mother.

The mother watched as the strange girl backed into the window, she heard her say, "Rin is sorry." Then she jumped out of the opening.

Shocked, the mother daughter duo ran to the window and looked down at the street below, only to see nothing.

"Mama look!"

Looking in the direction her daughter pointed, she saw a pair of glowing white wings and what must have been the girl flying away, only to disappear a moment later.

"Mama, was that an angel?"

She didn't answer, because she didn't have one.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Like every other time he had a good day, Detective Barnaby received a call at some absurd time at night to investigate a crime scene. So here he was, near midnight, at his destination.

Getting his required coffee on the way, he made his way to the destined floor and continued on till his met up with his partner.

"Morning Barney." Charlie's chipper tone annoyed the hell out of him.

"How can anyone stand to stay up this late," he mumbled.

"What was that gramps? Speak up."

Barnaby responded with a glare as he sipped his coffee.

"If you two are done with your pointless bantering, I would like to get this over with as soon as possible." Called the doctor.

With a shrug, the two made their way over.

"Let me guess, Red Lotus?" Barnaby said looking at the two corpses.

Doc nodded, "That would be correct. Only this time, there's a twist."

"A twist? What's that suppose to mean?"

Charlie grinned, "I'm glad you asked Barney. Let me walk you through what happened." He led him to the man near the window, "Since we don't have a name for either of these two, we'll go with Dead One and Dead Two, since chances are these aren't the shiniest examples of the human species since Lotus targeted them." Barnaby snorted. "First Dead One was looking out the window when some kind of spike impaled his head and heart. Then Dead Two came over. When he turned around, Lotus crashed through the window and stabbed him at the top and bottom of his spine."

"What do you mean she cr-"

"Please hold all questions until the end," Charlie took too much joy in his partner's famous glare of death.

"After she killed Dead Two, she searched the room and than, see those drops of blood by the door, she stood right there before tackling a third person."

"And why do you think that?"

"Simple, I had time to look over the crime scene while you were getting your mandatory black sludge."

Taking a deep breath, Barnaby took a longer than necessary drink of his coffee.

"Alright then Sherlock, skipping over some of the smaller questions, let's start with the biggest one. Where is this third person?"

Charlie's grin widened, "That is were the twist comes in. Doc, why don't you take it from here."

Doc just shook his head as he led the men through the door and into the kitchen. There Barnaby saw a team of paramedics surrounding a woman and what must be her daughter. The woman was covered in bruises and she had stained bandages.

"Barney, I'd like to introduce you to the third person and her daughter, AKA, the sole known survivors of seeing the infamous Red Lotus."

The detective stared at the two as he processed what he heard. No one has ever seen the Lotus in person. The only ones to even live through an encounter never knew she was there in the first place.

"This is Lisa Rodríguez and her daughter Mariana." Doc said after his talk with the head paramedic.

"I assuming they're not English?"

"Spanish."

"Ah, what are they doing here?"

"(Sigh), they were on vacation when our two 'victims' ambushed them. The one that got stabbed in the back killed her husband while the other raped her on the spot. The two have been living here as slaves ever since."

"Did they touch the girl?"

Doc shook his head, "No, they left her alone since Mrs. Rodríguez kept their attention."

Barnaby let out a breath of relief, "At least that is some good news and I'm using that term loosely. Do you know what happened?"

Doc shook his head, "No, she refused to speak any further until the 'real' officer arrived."

Barnaby shot his partner a smug look as he finished his coffee and sat in front of the traumatized woman.

"Also, Those two called her Spanish while she was here and she seems to struggle to respond to her real name."

The detective nodded as he focused on the woman.

"Mrs. Rodríguez?"

She tensed but other wise ignored him.

"Mrs. Rodríguez?" he asked a little louder.

This time she flinched at the increase in tone.

"Mrs. (sigh) Spanish."

This time she finally acknowledged him with tears in her eyes.

"I am detective John Barnaby, would you tell me what happened?"

Lisa hesitated; her eyes were watching them all closely as if she expected to be hit.

"You don't have to worry Mrs. Rodríguez. Those men won't hurt you again. You're safe now and as soon as we're done here, we will get you home. I just need to know what happened."

Lisa nodded slowly before she began speaking, "Those horrible men had me get them food. When I go back, I open door and she grabbed me," Lisa gained a far off look, "She threw me on the ground and had a, a k-knife at my neck."

"Yes, Then what happened." Barnaby urged.

"She was going to kill me. Those eyes. The red eyes of Diablo. It happened so fast but I could feel it. I was about to die."

"Hey, Hey, Spanish, Mrs. Rodríguez, Lisa, come back to me. Doc, get over here. I need her in the present."

Barnaby stepped back as Doc tried to calm the woman down.

"Barney come over here."

Turning his head, he saw Charlie with Mariana.

"What is it?"

"Well my Spanish isn't really that good but I think our little witness here says that the Lotus is an angel."

Barnaby's eye brow rose as he looked at the girl, "Is that so?"

Mariana nodded as she slowly translated the words in her head. She was about to speak but her mother cut her off.

"Callado!"

Both detectives turned to Lisa and she gave them a stern look.

"Mrs. Rodríguez is there anything you'd like to tell us?"

She stayed silent.

"Mrs. Rodríguez," Charlie said in his most sincere voice "I'm not sure if you understand this but the Red Lotus has killed some very bad people just like the ones who kept you here, and in doing so, has become the target of people even worse. We need to find her so that she can be protected."

Sure he wanted to protect her from the inside of a cell but that was beside the point.

Lisa was hesitant but the detective seemed trust worthy enough.

"Rin."

"Excuse me?"

"She called herself Rin when she apologize for attacking me."

Both detectives were relieved as they wrote in their notepads. They finally had a name for the violent killer.

"Why did she apologize?"

"She thought I was those… people."

"Well at least she seems to have some morals."

…

"Hmm"

"What the? Charlie, what are you talking about?" Charlie ignored his partner as he gained a look of deep concentration.

"'Rin' that name, it might be Asian."

Barnaby gave him a look, "And how would you know that?"

Charlie smiled, "My son got me watching these Japanese cartoons with him."

The old detective could only shake his head as he turned back to the victim.

"Did anything else happened?"

Lisa paused.

"Mrs. Rodríguez, please, everything you tell us will help."

…

"She drank my blood before she jumped out the window."

Everyone in the room froze while the detectives' expressions' hardened. Charlie didn't even make a vampire related joke; this revelation was too serious for jokes.

Missing body parts had hinted at it for years, but even then most everyone hoped it was just a coincidence. But it seemed to be as close to sure as they were going to get.

The Red Lotus was a cannibal.

Pulling himself together, the veteran detective continued the questioning.

"You said she jumped out of the window?"

"Sí, she was flying over the buildings with glowing white wings"

"Well that explains the "angel" sighting," mumbled Charlie having gotten his thoughts together.

"What did she look like?"

"Around thirteen, she was wearing a mask and a hooded shirt."

"Alright, anything else?"

"… she spoke her name instead of using words like "I" and the way she spoke, it was like she was years younger."

"Is there anything else?"

"No, lo siento"

Nodding, Barnaby gathered up his things and walked to the scene of the crime while Charlie collected the flower as evidence.

"Detective,I saw her wear a um, a… harmed heart necklace."

"Thank you for your time"

As they walk away, the two detectives thought about what they had learned. They now had a description from a living witness and they didn't liking the completed image.

The rest of the night went smoothly but all the while one thought was on their minds.

Just who was the Red Lotus?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Might Guy is a simple man.

He is the owner of Guy's Bar. A little out of the way place that not many knew about, but enough to get a little income. He had gotten a new girlfriend that week. And his son won his football game for his team.

Not bad for the former "Might of the Underworld."

Guy had made a fortune by black mailing crime bosses, manipulating them to give him what he wanted, or just scaring the shit out of them. It was fun for a good time but then MI5 got him involved in a case and his reputation was destroyed.

But he didn't mind. Now that he was out of the game he was finally able to see his son every once in a while. And he got the bar out of the deal.

He didn't miss his old life at all and even if he did, he wouldn't try anything, not after the last time.

There he was threatening some young upstart that was rumored to be into some pretty bad shit. Then next thing he knew his guy was headless and he was being held by his neck by some hot babe.

What fallowed next was him begging for his life, promising to lead a clean life and being her ear in the underworld.

…

Not his best moments. But on the bright side he survived the infamous Feather Killer, and over time he'd like to say they were friends.

…

Well maybe not exactly friends but they were partners. He'd hear something about some scum and give her what he knew, and she made the world a better place.

To make it even better, the special feeling he got for doing the right thing led him to being on the pay roll with the authorities.

And the best part was that no one would retaliate. For one he already had a rep for being a snitch and two, those that would kill him, he just gave their names to the Feather and let her take care of it.

So he was understandably upset when news broke that Big Bill killed her. And he was even more upset when her daughter Lotus followed in her footsteps and years later tracked him down.

Well at least the murder happy girl pays him (somewhat) unlike her mother.

Speaking of the girl.

He didn't even turn around as he started to prepare her mandatory coffee. His reason was simple. All was quiet then the bar chair groaned. No footsteps of any kind leading up to it.

Once the beverage was done, he turned and gave it to the girl and could instantly tell she was pissed.

"I take it everything didn't go as planned?" he asked picking up a dirty glass to clean.

Rin took a sip of her coffee before replying, "Your information bad."

"Oh?" he looked at her bloody clothes. "I take it Gary's dead?"

She nodded and took another sip.

"Then I don't see what the problem is."

Rin gave him a glare as her eyes began to glow, "He wasn't alone," she growled out.

Guy raised an eyebrow, "Still not seeing the problem. You cleared out that bunker that one time and didn't complain… and would you stop with the stare. Your mother is still leagues above you in the intimidation factor, though the eyes help. Neat trick."

Rin kept it up a moment longer before she huffed and sipped her coffee.

"There were innocents there."

That gave him pause.

"Oh… so did you …"

Guy felt his inner tension relax when she shook her head in the negative.

That was the main reason he never ratted out the Lotus and her mother, besides the fact that he was sure they'd kill him, they never killed innocents… as far as he knew anyway.

They sat in silence.

"Rin is scared."

"And why is that."

"They saw Rin. They could recognize Rin. They are threat. But, but Rin couldn't do it."

Guy sighed as he put away a now clean glass.

"Was your hood up? Was your mask on? Did you speak to them?"

She nodded to all three.

"Then I highly doubt they'd recognized you especially with who your father is."

Yeah he knew the girl behind the mask. Well he knew but didn't have confirmation. Feather introduced them and once she resurfaced, it was easy to figure out.

Rin's eyes shifted colors as he felt a wave an irritation wash over him. She hated if when her other half was mentioned in her presence.

One of the reasons she didn't wear dresses anymore was because her mask in all honesty did very little to conceal her identity alone. In fact, one of her victims actually said her real name before he died. The fact that Guy reminded her of the shortcomings of her old wardrobe left her bitter.

Guy grinned at the preteens mood.

"Well to give you some more bad news, I've heard nothing about anyone to make your kill list."

Rin deflated even more.

"But I have heard something interesting."

That seemed to perk her up.

"A new gang has been making a name for it's self, Salem's Gang. They started out a few years ago by someone named Witch and have been steadily growing every since."

That got Rin's attention.

"Can Rin kill them?"

Guy looked at her and shook his head. While Feather had intimidation, Rin had the creep factor mastered. Those words shouldn't be spoken in such an innocent tone.

"No sorry, they've been keeping their actions small. A few muggings, grand theft, a few heist. A few murders point in their direction but the victims where better off dead. But there are rumors that the Witch left more then a few people in comas and mental hospitals."

Rin deflated again.

"Don't worry, as soon as someone screws up, I'll let you know." He laughed.

Huffing, Rin finished her coffee and laid down a few pounds as she stood to leave.

"Hey, this is only half of what we agreed on."

"I know."

"Come on. Just cause the info wasn't perfect doesn't mean you should stiff me."

"I'm not."

"Then why?"

She gave him a pointed look, "The coffee wasn't good," she said as she walked out of sight around the bar.

Sighing Guy when back to cleaning, not bothering to chase after her. She was already gone. Like some kind of ninja, there one moment gone the next.

It had become a habit between the two in a way. He would try his best to make a good coffee and she would only pay half because it wasn't good.

She was the only reason he even had a coffee maker in a bar in the first place and he's been questioned about it more then once.

To be honest, he was beginning to think that his coffee was good; she just didn't want to admit it.

Not that it mattered. She was gone and he had a bar to tend to.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So did you have a nice night?"

Mika jumped in surprise and accidently shattered the glass of water in her hand. One could also say that she squealed but they would be lying, she'd never make such a noise.

Slowly turning her head, she saw her bodyguard, David Connery, looking at her with an amused expression and a beer in his hand.

Racking her brain, she tried to think of a reason for being up at (she glanced at the clock) three in the morning, looking ruffed up, and not having a bleeding hand after shattering glass.

She came up blank so she did what she always did in this situation.

She pouted, threw the first thing within reach at him, and stomped quietly to her room as to not wake up anyone else.

How he knew she was out (again) was beyond her. She teleported out and teleported in, silent as ever but there he was. For that matter, how did she not notice him? He was just a normal human. He should not be able to escape her heightened senses. (again)

Huffing she stripped out of her hood and sighed. She missed the times when she would wear pretty dresses while on hunts, but it had become a necessity to hide her face better since one of her future victims could recognize her. It was really a shame.

Putting on a fresh pair of undergarments and pajamas, Mika went to bed. It had been a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

David chuckled as he finished off his beer. It was so amusing to see that girl flustered, considering who she is.

Yes he knew she was the Lotus. It was actually pretty easy for him to figure out.

See David was one of MI6's most decorative agents before he was politely "asked" to leave at the age of thirty five. After blowing large amounts of money on brandy for about six months, he got a job as a bouncer. Then over the next year he got a job protecting Mr. Sabian. He must have impressed the man because months later he was offered to be the bodyguard of his daughter.

He knew there was something off about her the first moment they met. As a spy, your ability to see through a lie determines weather you live or die; and although she was good, he was better.

But he let it go and made sure she was the most protected person in the country, outside the Queen of course. That when he noticed that she'd leave the building for a few hours at night. With information from his friends still in the force, along with a few murder dates, the information lined up. And as unbelievable as it was, his charge was a mass murdering serial killer.

And he was okay with that, sort of.

Anyway long story short, he confronted her about it, she tried to kill him, they fought, and he won (barely).

It was only due to his experience and skill that he won that fight. He had no clue how she moved as fast as she did or was as strong as she was but he didn't question it too much.

As of now things where okay between them. He was her bodyguard and she acted like a politician's daughter. But every now and then he'd catch a flaw in her persona and she would try to perfect it. All good fun.

But for now his fun was over and since his charge was home, he might as well get a few hours of sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

At nine in the morning one could find Thomas Sabian in his office working feverishly.

He honestly loved his job and really felt that there was a difference within his country thanks to his efforts. Plus the respect, power, and money that came with his position helped.

But the shear number of papers and documents that he had to sign was mind blowing. A few times he'd been close to quitting just so he wouldn't have to deal with it, then he would remember all the many positives and would just continue working.

But every now and then something would come up to distract him from his work.

"Mr. Sabian"

Like now, thank the heavens for small pleasures.

Calmly pressing the intercom, he spoke, "What is it? I'm very busy and find these interruptions quite distracting."

The secretary made a noise over the intercom that showed she didn't believe him.

"There is a, um, … man asking to see you."

Thomas frowned; it wasn't like his secretary to be so forcibly polite. Plus he didn't remember having anything scheduled for that day.

"Does he have an appointment?"

…

"He says he didn't know he needed one."

The Member of Parliament snorted, he couldn't just have random people come into his office without an appointment. His time was much too valuable for that.

"If he doesn't have an appointment, then why are we having this discussion?"

"He says it is a matter of great importance."

"Sure it is. Well if it is so important then tell him to make an appointment.

…

"He says he's here to discuss a letter concerning Miss. Mika's schooling."

That made Thomas pause; he hadn't actually been expecting to meet anyone over this issue when he sent the reply letter. Also he didn't want to deal with the possibility of the reason of someone being here. But is would give him a small break from his work.

"Is he armed?"

"No Sir. Security had him checked before he was allowed entrance to the building as is protocol."

…

"(Sigh) Let him in."

"Of course, he will be there shortly."

"Also have Mr. Connery bring Mika here as soon as possible."

"… Um Sir, you do realize what time it is right?"

Thomas rubbed his temple, already feeling the headache that was sure to come later.

He didn't have time to think about that though because the door opened and his Politician persona was in place.

Time to see what this was really about.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Leave me alone."

"The Boss was very clear that your presence was required at the office, so get your ass out of bed."

Mika groaned as she yanked the blanket out of her "protector's" hands and wrapped herself up in them like a cocoon.

"Fine, be that way" he huffed and walked away.

The young ghoul smirked as his footsteps faded. Honestly what was her father thinking? He knows how she got if she was woken up before ten on a non school morning.

"Not that it matters now," she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

The dreams were just about to start when a bucket of ice water was dumped on her.

She didn't squeal (she doesn't do that) but she did nearly hit the ceiling.

Glaring at the snickering idiot, she wondered if she was fast enough to kill him or surprise him enough by revealing her kagune to give him a heart attack. Having no way to quickly kill him, she settled for sending as much anger in his direction as possible.

Only to be even more irritated when he wasn't fazed. Not thinking of any other civil way to express her displeasure, she stood with as much dignity as she could when completely soaked, gathered up her clothes she was planning to wear that day, and went to her bathroom to get ready.

"Hurry up! Boss wanted you there yesterday."

He got a slammed door for an answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sodatta baka, orokana, mukanshin, nani mo saru no tame ni yoi"

"No need to be angry at me. I told you to get up, you have only yourself to blame."

"Baka!" she said and sped up her pace to her father's office, passing his secretary along the way."

"Oh Miss. Sabian you're here. Good. Your father is waiting for you in his office with a guess."

She didn't bother responding and just walked to the office door and knocked.

Taking a breath, all her irritation and annoyance was no longer present as she entered the room.

"Ah Mika, how nice of you to join us."

"Thank you Father. I am sorry for taking so long. I was not aware that my presence was needed today."

"It's no problem at all. There is someone here that wanted to meet with you." He said gesturing to the other end of the room.

A curious look was the only reaction Mika showed as her eyes focused on the shortest man she had ever seen.

"Mika this is Professor Filius Flitwick of … Hogwarts was it?" Flitwick nodded.

"Professor Flitwick, this is my daughter, Mika."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Professor," Mika said with a small curtsy. Judging from his out of date clothes and glasses, she took a guess he appreciated older traditions.

"Yes, a pleasure." The short man replied with a grinning bow. It appears she guessed correctly.

After the greetings, Sabian got the conversation underway.

"Now Professor you were about to explain the content of that letter."

Flitwick's face lit up in remembrance, "Ah yes. Miss. Sabian this may or may not come to a surprise to you but you are capable of magical feats, the letter would not have been sent for you other wise. As you probably guessed I'm a Professor there. I teach the advanced charms class."

The way Flitwick confidently spoke, the absents of any obvious tells, and the hint of pride that was heard when he spoke of his profession led Mika to want to believe him. After all it would explain some of her abilities, but she wasn't going to believe anything at face value.

Giving him a questioning look she said, "So what, I'm like a witch or something? Will I learn how to brew potions, spells, and ride brooms?"

The way she said it made it sounded like simple curiosity but he knew better. Flitwick hadn't been around pureblooded stuck ups for as long as he had without being able to pickup heavy laid sarcasm when he hears it. Even so the nature of the question brought a smile to his face.

"Oh yes, you will be learning all those things and more."

Mika's eye twitched, she hadn't been expecting him to answer positively.

"Mr. Flitwick, you have to understand if I find your statement a bit hard to believe."

The short man nodded and pulled out a… stick. 'Seriously? They use magic wands?'

"Of course, perhaps a demonstration is in order. May I?" he asked gesturing to an empty chair.

"By all means,"

The 'wizard' waved his wand in an over dramatic fashion and said some nonsense words when a beam of light left his wand and hit the chair. Nothing happened immediately but seconds later, the chair began to shift. Slowly if began to rise on its front legs, defying the laws of gravity, and its hind legs shifted till they resembled arms.

Once all the movement stopped, the chair did nothing, and then it took a hesitant step forward stumbling. It was actually amusing to watch in Mika's professional opinion. Once it got to the skill level of a baby in terms of walking it paused again. And proceeded to go into a very intense Irish jig.

This cracked Mika's public persona by leaving her mouth slightly open and wonder started to creep into her eyes. Every movement from the animated object was perfectly fluid and life like. It was almost as if the chair itself was trying to prove its talent.

"Alright, that's enough."

With a wave of his wand the chair went back to the way it was, sitting innocently as though nothing happened.

"So magic is real." Sabian said after literally seeing the impossible happen in front of him seconds ago.

"Yes it is, but judging from your controlled expression, you already knew that."

"Yes there were… incidents when Mika was younger that weren't… normal, but I wrote them off as natural."

"That would be what we call accidental magic. It usually happens when a child is experiencing an extreme emotion, the magic responds accordingly."

Sabian nodded.

"I have some questions," Mika said as a few plot holes formed in her head.

"Of course, of course, ask away."

"How come I've never heard about this before?"

"That is simply because the wizard world is separate from the muggle one almost completely. The world is a lot bigger than what you think because magic keeps our part of it hidden."

This was when Thomas spoke up, "And what of other students or those that do not accept to go to this school?"

"Well we try to keep as much of the magic world out of the muggle one as possible but some time things spill over. When muggles see magic a branch of our government usually… makes sure that they don't report what they saw."

Both the Sabians narrowed their eyes as they read between the lines.

"I'm sorry, muggles?" Mika said, best not focus on the unintended threat right now.

"Yes that's the term wizards and witches use when talking about non magic people."

"Ah"

A silence formed between the three of them that was getting more awkward by the second so Flitwick got the conversation back on track.

"It appears that we have gotten off track."

"Yes we have," Thomas said straightening himself, "This schooling, how much will it be costing?"

"You won't have to worry about that, all seven years of Miss. Sabian's tuition has been paid for."

That really brought a look of surprise out of them, especially Mika. Who would pay for Mika's seven years at a school she didn't know existed.

Thomas gave the short man a suspicious look, "Paid for? By who?"

"I would believe her birth parent(s). Magically she is listed as 'Mika Sabian Black', and was listed as such in her letter. I understand if there was any confusion. I personally looked at the records, She was registered under 'Mika Black' and around what I guess would be the time of your adaption, the name 'Sabian' was added with Black taking superiority."

"I see." He said taking a look of concentration, "Mika, why don't you wait outside while Mr. Flitwick and I discuss the finer details of this new, development."

Mika wanted to stay. She'd just found out that her birth father, whom she'd never heard from or seen, had paid for her schooling. She wanted to know more. She didn't really care to find out who he was but she did want know to more about him.

He is/was after all her birth father, and he somehow slept with her Kaa-san, someone who thought that even looking at other people was a betrayal to Elizabeth-san. The fact that Kaa-san hadn't really regretted that night also peeked her curiosity about him.

But one look at Thomas and she left with a polite smile, because her Father was no longer present. Mr. Sabian MP was in his place, "Of course Father."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So this is the entrance to the magic world?" Mika asked as Connery drove away. Her tone was neutral but one could detect disapproval in it.

Flitwick grinned, "Yes that response is quite popular with muggles. This here is the Leaky Caldron. It's become quite the staple in our world, though I wish Tom would make it more appealing." He said leading them inside the inn.

Mika took one look at the old black wood, the dirty air and dusty furniture and had to hold back a look of disgust.

"I share your sentiments."

Living as a princess for the last four years had indeed spoiled her, but she still didn't judge those that live in poor, unclean conditions like she used to. It was those who live that way on purpose that she held her judgment for.

It honestly looked like how she'd picture an old run down pub from the old times. In fact the only thing that contradicted this was the booths were somewhat full. She didn't think she'd spend much time in this place.

"Right this way Miss. Sabian," the professor said leading her through a door and till they came face to face with a wall.

"Well Miss. Sabian, allow me to be the first to officially introduce you the world of magic." Drawing his wand, Flitwick tapped the wall in three seemingly random places and the wall started to crumble away.

Thanks to Flitwicks dramatic welcome, Mika prepared herself for … something, but seeing the alley for the first time was something else. Her open mouth and widened eyes were a testament of the wonder she felt looking at the busy alley.

Flitwick smiled. The girl was rather good at hiding her emotions, not the best but she was still young, but in all of his years he's never seen a child not react from seeing the alley for the first time.

Deciding the child had been a child long enough for now, he spoke up, "Diagon Alley is a wonderful sight, isn't it?"

Shaking her head, Mika returned her expression to neutral before nodding her agreement, "Yes I wasn't expecting it to be so, active."

He chuckled as he began to make his way down the street with Mika at his heels,

"This is on of the most popular spots in Magical England so it's always more or less active."

Mika nodded as she got a more intimate feel of the crowd. Children were running all over the place, grown ups in robes walked to and fro, and what could only be magic was happening everywhere.

As they walked they passed a store with a broom of all things on display, a clothing store, what was perhaps a library (she made a note to visit there if they didn't), and many more that seemed to sell the impossible. But they didn't stopped for a single one. Not that she minded the tour of a tourist hot spot but she was hoping to get out of the open, members of the older generations were giving her suspicious and sometimes scared looks and it was getting annoying… and a little intriguing.

"So where are we going?"

"Well first we're going to Gringotts, the wizards bank. Then we're headed to Ollivander's to get yourself a wand, and after that there is only the matter of getting your school supplies.

Mika nodded, "Should I go back to get my money?"

The professor shook his head, "No, for now I don't think that would be required."

"And why not?"

"I have a, hunch, about who your … father is."

Mika's curiosity rose. She had caught the professor's hesitation.

"And would my father be the reason every other person is staring at me like they've seen a ghost?"

Flitwick's smile faltered, "You are quite perceptive, as for your question, let's hope not. If so, well, I'll explain if it comes to that."

…

"What's that?" Mika asked as they passed an alley that had a dark vibe.

"Oh, that's Knockturn alley," he said bitterly.

Mika raised an eyebrow, "I take it you don't like it there."

Flickwick gave a snort, "That's one way of putting it. Knockturn is a dangerous place with shady people and activities all over."

"If it's so bad then why does it still exist?"

"I'm not quiet sure. Maybe the Ministry feels that it's somewhat contained within the alley. In any case, it is no place for you to ever go."

With a nod Mika followed him till they came across a rather impressive building that was very different in architecture then its neighbors.

"I'm guessing that's Gringotts?"

"Yes unfortunately it is. Modest isn't it."

The obvious distain and sarcasm cause the ghoul's eyes to flash different colors with sudden interest at the surprisingly harsh tone that came from the joyous professor. But she didn't comment on it as they climbed the stairs, instead she watched her guide's mood decrease with each step.

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

"Makes one feel welcome does it not?" Flitwick said after reading the sign outside the entrance.

Mika stayed silent.

Sighing Flitwick spoke, "I'm sorry but the occupants running the bank and I have some bad history."

Mika nodded in understanding.

"Well, might as well get this over with," he mumbled.

Mika understood almost as soon as they entered why the short professor was bitter. Every single employee was the same height as Flitwick but there faces were more feral, there teeth were sharpened, and in just something about them didn't seem human. They probably weren't.

In fact, if she had to guess, since Flitwick could pass as a human but shared features with these creators she hadn't noticed before, he was probably only half human.

Not that she cared; in fact, it made her like him more.

"What do you want."

The creature's rude words as they approached his booth caught her off guard.

"I apologies for the inconvenience Mr. Goblin but I would like an inheritance test preformed on this young lady here."

The goblin sneered, showing his teeth as he looked at Mika, "And what house are you hoping for."

Mika, not wanting to look intimidated, spoke up before Flitwick could have the chance.

"The House of Black." She said with poise.

The sneer lessened only a bit but the annoyance in his eyes did gain interest. Or was it amusement. Maybe both?

"That's quite a claim," he said interlocking his fingers, "The most Noble and Ancient House of Black hasn't been active for a decade. In fact, if I recall correctly the only one who had claim to that vault has been rotting away in Azkaban for nearly as long."

Mika's soft expression beginning to harden seemed to amuse the goblin if his growing smile was any indication.

"If it is all the same, Mr. Goblin, I would like to proceed," her voice was no longer pleasant and instead was very calm with a little bite to it.

"Oh but it isn't the same witch. With such an important vault, claims to it are not taken lightly. After so long, to have someone try to gain access is quite concerning and, if you are wrong, bad for business. I'm sure you understand why I have to increase the fee for potential abuse of Gringotts' generosity." By now the goblin was smiling, with greed clearly in its eyes.

He knew he was scamming them, she knew it, even the professor knew it if his reddening face was any indicator. The only difference between the three was that only one was enjoying it.

Mika's eyes were as cold as her expression in their icy blue. She sent a wave of her displeasure at the goblin but he was either not affected or ignored it. Either way it pissed her off even more.

Her father had once told her that the most evil people on the planet were politicians and bankers. Politicians were obvious and now she understood bankers if the one in front of her could be taken as a majority.

But she was in a new world with probably different rules and since Flitwick was just silently fuming, this was probably something that couldn't be fought.

"I understand perfectly Mr. Goblin."

Its grin grew even more as he made a gesture and another goblin came before running off after they exchanged words from a language she didn't understand.

They waited only a few minutes before the goblin came back and presented the banker with a small box.

With a nod the teller goblin dismissed the other and carelessly tossed the box to Mika. Opening it, she found a rather plane ring inside. Losing her cold expression and changing her eyes back to their natural crimson, she looked at the teller expectedly.

"Well, put it on."

His excitement brought a wave of apprehension, but none the less she put it on. In all honesty she was a little disappointed when it only changed to a beautiful gold ring with a black gym stone. It was completely impossible but she was expecting something… bigger.

The reaction, though, seemed to be enough to make the goblin's anticipation fade to a disappointed frown. It also caused Flitwick to grin, though she didn't know if it was because of the ring's reaction or the goblin's.

The teller summoned the goblin from before and again sent him off somewhere only this time he returned with another goblin much older and covered in scars.

"Heiress Black, it is a pleasure to met with you. I am the Black's vault manager, Bloodfist," the goblin said giving her a look over before resting on her eyes. Mika stared right back.

The tense stare down only lasted a few seconds with Bloodfist being the first to crack with a smile. "It's been a long time since I've had a true child of Black."

For some reason that made her smile.

"Come, come, I'll show you your the trust vault."

Mika looked at her guide, who nodded and walked to a waiting section of the lobby.

"I'm sorry, trust vault?"

"Yes, yes," he said leading Mika to a door, "Only the head of house and those approved can access the main vault. And since the current 'Lord' Black denied all those previously approved and is currently… indisposed of, the trust vault is the only one you can access until you receive your ladyship."

"Yes, but a trust vault?"

"Oh yes, yes, I remember. Around a decade ago Lord Black summoned me to help create a vault for one 'Mika Black'."

"Why did he do that?"

"Not quiet sure but I can tell he was excited about it."

Mika didn't respond as they arrived to an old cart of some kind.

"What is that?"

Bloodfist's evil smile just poured amusement as he gestured inside. She soon found out what he found funny when one insane rollercoaster ride and a waterfall shower later Mika and Bloodfist were at her vault. And she didn't scream in fright, because she wasn't scared. Plus is was undignifying for a heiress to make such a noise when not angered. And she definitely wasn't angry at the moment.

"Well isn't that interesting."

Bloodfist's voice broke her out of her musing and she looked up to see him looking intently at her face. Or more like a certain area of her face.

Quickly she changed her eye to match her crimson one.

"That waterfall has been charmed to change everything that passes through back to its original appearance." Bloodfist said answering her unasked question.

Leaving the cart, Mika followed the goblin to the vault door," Just present your ring to the door." Doing so, Mika was shocked by what was inside.

Piles and piles of gold coins filled the vault. She had seen piles of paper money from her time as Rin. But it would never compare with the image of shining gold.

"Its not that much I know, but trust vaults are limited to a maximum of only a hundred thousand galleons."

"Only?"

"Yes, you'll have to wait till your Ladyship to access the rest."

Mika could feel her excitement get the better of her at the thought of all that money. So, much to her sadness, she forced her feelings away to focus her mind objectively.

"Is there anything else I should know about?"

Bloodfist just smiled his toothy smile. It was good to have the Blacks back.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where to next?" Mika asked as she exited the robe store.

"Last on the list is Ollivander's wand shop." Flitwick said and Mika nodded. He began to grin as he saw through Mika's neutral expression. The twitch of her brow at the sight of his grin also brought him much amusement.

"So are we going to talk about it?"

Flitwick's grin grew a little, "I knew you'd figure it out. As you guessed I'm not fully human."

That was not the 'it' she was referring to but she was a bit curious so she played along, "Yes I thought as much, but I thought it rude to bring it up."

"How kind of you. Yes I'm part Goblin. The irritating bankers and I have a mutual dislike for each other."

"Ah, but what about all the people staring at me like I'm a potential hazard?"

Flitwick lost his grin as he sighed, "I was hoping you forgot about that." Mika shook her head."

"As you guessed I figured you was a part of the Black family, but I was hoping I was wrong. The Black are a very old family, one of the oldest, and they have a dark reputation."

"Dark?"

"Yes. Dark is a magic label. Magic is labeled as dark or light depending on the requirements to cast a spell and the results. Though more and more things are being labeled 'dark'." He ended bitterly.

"I take it you do not agree?"

"No I don't but that's for another time," he said. "As I was saying the Blacks have always had a dark reputation, but that's not why everyone is staring. Around more than a decade ago a truly evil wizard started a civil war for pureblood supremacy and was very close to winning if not thanks to a miracle. Anyway his right hand man, or woman as is the case, was named Bellatrix Lastrange nee Black. She was as savage as she was powerful. If ever the wizard needed someone killed, tortured, or maimed, she would do it with a smile. You just so happen to look like she did when she was younger."

Mika took all this in. She didn't really care all that much about her family's reputation, if anything she would increase it since she was sure a ghoul would be considered 'dark'.

"Where is she now?"

"Well after her master was defeated, she was tried and sentenced to life in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" she asked with a little too much interest.

The professor grimaced; he was not looking forward to this.

"Azkaban is the wizard's prison. It has different levels with the higher the level, the worst the torture."

Mika hid her surprise that the wizards used torture on prisoners. She was in a different world after all. Different world different rules. She actually agreed with them. If people knew that law breaking would get them tortured then less people would do it. Though she was beginning to dread why this was relevant.

"Both Bellatrix and your father are on the highest level." Mika kept her face neutral but internally her eyes hardened.

"Your father was named Sirius Black. He was a gifted man and an oddity of the Black family or so we thought."

At her questioning look, he explained, "Sirius was against everything his family stood for. In fact he was one of the most vocal against everything dark. He was always the first to fight on the front lines. He was really something."

"If he was such a good guy, what happened?"

"Well for some reason he ended up betraying one of his best friends to the dark wizards but he ended up being defeated. He was seen running from the crime scene and ended up blowing up his other best friend and about a dozen muggles along with him. It's said he even confessed upon his arrest. … Are you okay?"

Even as she nodded, Mika was growing more and more furious with each passing second. To know that her sperm donor was in prison didn't bother her. (Since by all accounts she should as well) What pissed her off was that fact that had abandoned her and her Kaa-san for some mad man he called Master. Even more so since Kaa-san had slept with him and had multiple times stated that she wanted to meet him again, maybe even be friends. So to say she was pissed would be an understatement. Already she was making plans for her father to have a meeting with Rin.

"Here we are."

Looking at the building it was very old and very unimpressive compared to the rest of the alley.

With a shrugged she walked in and immediately sneezed when her hypersensitive nose inhaled a lot of dust.

Standing up with dignity to try and save face, Mika looked around the dust filled room and saw what looked like a wall of long, narrow shoeboxes. The wands must be inside.

Focusing her senses, she heard the breathing and heartbeat coming from behind the wall. And sure enough an old man appeared on a sliding ladder all creepy like.

"Mr. Ollivander?"

"That's correct Miss. Black."

Mika hide her shock well, "How'd you know?"

The old man just chuckled, "I've been around for hundreds of years and remember every customer I've served; as well as every wand I've made and sold. I'd like to think I remember certain traits from families over the years."

Yep, very creepy.

"Mr. Ollivander, this is Miss. Mika Black. She'd like to purchase her wand."

"Ah, Filius Flitwick, nine and three fourth inches of oak with a unicorn tail hair core."

When the professor nodded, the old wand maker seemed to smile to himself. He then waved his wand causing measuring tapes start taking measurements of her… everywhere, while he went behind the counter and started looked at the boxes.

"Miss. Black, what hand is your dominant?"

"Both," she said with a shrug. It was required in order to wield two knives efficiently.

That caused Ollivander to pause for a second before going to a completely different section of the wall out of view.

"Mr. Ollivander?" she asked after the measuring was done.

"Hmm" she heard from the back.

"You mentioned unicorn hair?"

"Indeed I did, " he said as he appeared with a arm full of boxes, "Wand cores are the heart of any wand with the main cores being made of phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings, and of course unicorn tail hairs. Though, they can be made of parts from other magical creatures as well."

Mika frowned, "Magical creatures?"

"Yes a very general term I know, maybe even insulting depending on the audience. For this instance, let it referrer to all non-human magical beings. I hope no offence was taken Filius?"

"None."

"Splendid. Now Mika if you would, try this wand." Ollivander said removing a stick from a box and handing it to her.

"Thirteen inches of white cedar with a unicorn tail hair core. Well go on, give it a wave."

With a shrug, she prepared to wave the stick but Ollivander snatched it from her instead.

"No, no, no, giving this one to a Black? What was I thinking? Here, try this, eleven and one fourth inches of willow with dragon heartstring."

This time Mika did get to wave it, only the thing she pointed it exploded.

Shocked, the young ghoul quickly gave the wand back, "Mr. Ollivander I'm so sorry."

But he wasn't paying any attention to her or the damaged caused, instead he was staring intensely at the wand, "Hmm, not quite… maybe its… or the other."

Disappearing for a few moments, he came back with two dusty boxes, "Here you are, twelve and a third inches of Prussian pine with dragon heartstring."

Giving it a wave… she caught a bookshelf on fire and Ollivander… was smiling? Yes he was smiling as he gave her the other wand to try as Flitwick put out the fire with a… water spell?

With a hesitant wave, she managed to knock over a desk full of items. Thankfully none of them broke, not that the wand maker cared.

"Just as I thought," he mumbled to himself, "The heartstring isn't powerful enough while the wood wouldn't do. … Yes, yes, I bet that would do nicely."

Disappearing in the back again, this time he only returned with a single very old box.

"Twelve and a half of red hickory with a thestral hair core."

As soon as she grasped the handle, she knew it was the one. A show of sparks flew out of the tip, a non existent wind blew back her hair, and the power she felt inside her being seemed to feel happy. It's like she found a missing part of herself she didn't know was gone.

"Well done. Looks like you found your wand, or more accurately your wand found you." Said the wand maker with pride in his voice.

"Thestral sir?" she asked once she'd gotten use to the feeling of having a wand.

"Hairless winged horses that have a bad reputation though are misunderstood."

"How so?"

"Well for one, only those who have witnessed death can see them. And while they are peaceful in nature, they can still be quite dangerous if provoked."

Mika gave an internal smirk at the description. It seemed she had some things in common with these thestrals. Ghouls had a bad reputation, though theirs was rightfully given. No one really saw Rin unless they were about to die, though the more she thought about that, the more she was excited to change it. Mika was usually peaceful, while Rin was definitely dangerous if provoked.

The connections were loose, she knew, but they did bring her amusement.

"Wait if these horses are hairless, how-"

"Sssssshhhhh," Ollivander interrupted in a hush tone, "It's a secret."

"O-kay…" creep factor was back.

"Miss. Black as your future teacher, I would recommend a wand holster."

With a nod, Mika purchased her wand and a holster. That's when she heard the most disappointing news she'd heard all day.

"Now remember Miss. Black, you must be careful were you use your wand?"

"Why is that?"

"Because if you use it in a non magic area, the Trace on the wand would alert the Ministry of Magic that the Status of Secrecy has been violated."

Mika fought to keep the frown off her face, "Would that be a problem?"

"Yes it would," Flitwick said adding his own advice, "The Ministry takes the Status of Secrecy very seriously and violators are often harshly punished especially if a muggle sees magic."

"Is there a way to take this 'Trace' off?"

Ollivander shook his head, "No, sorry. All wands are required to have the trace till the users seventeenth birthday."

"I see. I thank you for your warning Mr. Ollivander. If you'd excuse me, I must be going. My father is expecting me home before dinner.

"Of course. Come back if you ever have questions. And remember Miss. Black to treat your wand right. If you do than it is sure to do the same for you."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

'The beautiful princess was sure that her savior was killed by the mighty dragon, for nothing can survive its deadly flames of death. But there he stood with his wand raised high, "Haha, you foul beast. You are no match for the awesome power of the Boy Who Lived." And then with a mighty battle cry the Champion of the Light showed the monster his true stren-'

"Out of my way girlly!"

Mika was so into the book that she didn't process the warning before she was shoved to the ground while knocking over her pile of books. She had just enough time to see a black haired boy close to her age disappear around the bookshelf with a red head boy chasing him.

"Naze sono chīsana baka! Chīsana otoko wa sore o suru shinkei o motte ita! Rin ga kare ni tewosashinoberu to ki!" she stated muttering in Japanese. There will be hell to pay in retribution. But plans of violent deaths would have to wait.

"Ron! Charles! Get back here. I told you not to run in the sto- Oh my gosh! Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine." Mika said letting go of her anger and began restacking her books.

"I'm so sorry for my son. His too much like his father, can never be still. Here let me help you."

The young witch just nodded; it was her son's fault after all.

"My name is Lily by the way."

"Mika." She said looking up at the woman for the first time. She couldn't stop the gasp from escaping.

For the briefest of seconds she thought her Kaa-san was standing right in front of her. She had the same skin tone, she had red hair, hell, she even looked the right age. But reality is a heartless bitch and she quickly noticed the differences.

The woman's, Lily, features weren't as soft as is with Asian women, her hair was the western kind of red and not the blood red she missed so much. And her age, Kaa-san never made it that far.

"Is everything okay?" Lilly asked with concern.

Shaking the thoughts of longing from her head, Mika nodded, "Yes I'm fine. It's just, you reminded me of someone I cared about."

Lilly gave her an understanding nod, then she frowned and concentrated on Mika's face.

"You wouldn't happen to be… Mika Sabian, would you?"

Mika raised a brow, "Yes I am. I'm surprise you recognize me. No one here has so far."

Lilly gave a small laugh, "I'd be surprised if they did. I'm muggle-born see, and I like to try and keep up with what's happening on their side every once in a while. I must say you are very accomplished for someone so young."

"Thank you." She meant it. It felt good to have your hard work recognized.

"And give my thanks to your father as well, for making this country a better place."

"I'll pass him the message." She said with a smile. So far the woman seemed nice so there was no reason not to be in return.

"I didn't think you were a witch."

"Neither did I. When I got my letter I honestly thought it was a joke, one that my father did not find funny."

"I'd believe not," Lilly said small chuckle, "So are you here for your school supplies?"

Mika shook her head, "No, I did that a few days ago with the professor. I've come back because I wanted to learn what I can of this world." "Among other things"

"Oh? Which professor did you get?"

"The Advanced charms professor Filius Flitwick."

Lilly nodded, "You're lucky, Flitwick is a great man."

"You know him?" Mika asked.

"Yes I know him. He's my boss of sorts."

"Your boss? Then that means-"

"That I work at Hogwarts. I am the regular charms professor, while he teaches the advanced years." She finished with a smile. That smile shrunk a little when she picked up the book Mika had been reading.

"I see you like to read," she said handing her the copy of The Boy Who Lived and the Tower of Guarded Treasure.

"Well I don't want to accidently insult anyone by not knowing the culture and Father is expecting me to do well at Hogwarts so I decided to get these books. But since term doesn't start till a few months I decided to find something more entertaining to read and found these Boy Who Lived books." Mika said pretending not to notice the tone shift.

"And what do you think of them?"

The question had more to it than the first layer, but Mika didn't know what they were nor did she really care. So she answered honestly, "I think they are an enjoyable read to pass the time, and the fact the author claims that they're based on trues stories make it even more entertaining."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one, for these stories to be true then the 'Boy Who Lived' would only be two to five years old in most of these books and that is just absurd. Not to mention the character is just, uhm, too much of a good guy to be real. It reminds me of… muggle children's stories, with the hero always beating evil with the power of good, or in this case light."

She paused to think about what she was going to say next before continuing, "What makes these even better is that, from what I've read, they were written right after the war and about the one who 'defeated' the dark lord Voldemort. They were obviously written to improve peoples spirits after such a bad time."

The professor blinked in surprise, having not expected such an answer, "Hmm, I've never thought about it that way. Though I am surprise you use his name, almost everyone calls him 'You Know Who' or 'He Who Must Not Be Named.'

Mika just shrugged, "Must be a cultural thing. I'll try to be considerate though. In all honesty, I'm surprised more credit isn't given to the boy's mother."

Again Lily blinked in surprise, "Oh, why is that?"

"Well the stories claim that The Boy Who Lived survived a killing curse, that leaves no injuries, with a lightning bolt scar. It seemed to me that something else was at play. And it is mention on a off hand statement that the boy's mother is the smartest witch in her generation, so I think she had something to do with it."

Lilly was silence in thought for a second before she gained a genuine smile, "Thank you for your thoughts Miss. Sabian, but if you excuse me, I need to find my son, his friend and my idiot husband before they cause more trouble."

"It's no trouble at all Sensei."

"Sensei?"

The young witch's cheeks reddened a little, "Sorry Professor, it must have slipped."

"No it's fine. Sensei, that's Japanese right?" The girl looked adorable.

"Hei, I mean y-yes." Her blush became more noticeable.

Her blushing face caused the woman to laugh, "No need to be embarrassed Miss. Sabian, It's alright really. Anyway I'd best go find my boys. Merlin knows what kind of mess their in."

She was on her way out of sight but spoke again before she disappeared behind the bookshelves, "Study hard Miss. Sabian. I'm looking forward to having you in my class." And she was gone.

Once the ghoul could no longer smell her, she let her blush fade away and let out a smirk. It seems as if she was already on one of her professor's good side. It had disappointed her that she wasn't able to pull anything with Professor Flitwick, but he was to good at reading people. Well that was not completely true. She had underestimated him, and by the time she realized this, it was to late.

Noticing the golden light filling the room, the witch figure it was close to sunset. So putting the Boy Who Lived book back among all the others and proceeded to purchase the many books she'd gathered. She had all her school books in her room, these were just things that caught her eye. Like a few history books on the wizard world, a couple advanced books in her school subjects, a book on wizard politics, a current events book, and other things.

With school out and gymnastics season over, Mika was determined not to be bored for the rest of the summer.

But that was for later, for now night was approaching.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin was quiet as she walked down Knockturn Alley in plain view of everyone. It was the most terrifying and exciting thing she had ever done. And Rin was loving it.

Before now, everything Rin did was very careful and precise. Rin was a shadow only being seen when she wanted to be seen and thought of every possible outcome so to have zero chance of failure.

Sure it preparation was fun, most of the time, but the actual fighting was getting boring. Nothing was ever really a challenge to her, and since Rin spent so much time preparing, there wasn't too much danger.

But here things were different. These humans are strong and could provide a challenge for her, or so she hoped. And as Rin learned from her previous hunts, planning doesn't always work. And it was only a matter of time before her image was out in the… muggle world.

But here Rin was an unknown, at least for now. It was why she was in the open, were anyone could attack her at any moment. Rin was honestly hoping for it, because soon enough they will run at the sight of her.

But before that could happen, she needed to make a couple stops. So silently she walked wearing a hooded robe she'd gotten earlier that week. Her red lotus flower being displayed from behind her ear.

Stepping inside her first stop, Rin looked around. The room looked as if a fire had come through and burned everything but the old man sitting at a table. Rin took the seat in front of him noting his eyes following her.

"Rin wants a wand." Rin demanded.

"Youd want wand? Youd go to hack Ollivander."

"Rin wants a wand NOW!" she demanded again but this time drawing her knife and holding it to the man's throat.

The old man blinked, then he gave a toothy smile. "Youd come with me," he said as he hobbled to a hidden back room.

Sheathing the knife, Rin followed and arrived in a candle lit room with lots of jars, blocks of woods and other things she didn't recognize.

Her attention was brought to the man as he spoke, "Youd want true wand, youd have to choose. Ollivander makes no true wand. His wand weak, limited, controlled. True wand never such things. Choose." He said gesturing to the many different woods and materials.

Looking at all the different options, Rin had no Idea where to start looking. So she did what she used to do when she was younger and couldn't make up her mind. She closed her eyes, spun around, and pointed in a random direction.

Opening her eyes, she was pointing to a very dark block of wood. It seemed to make the old wand maker excited.

"Good, good, Brazilian Ebony. Choose again."

Again Rin closed her eyes, spun, and pointed. Only this time she was pointing at nothing. Pouting with a frown, she did it again only to loose her balance and fell on the floor.

"Kuso!" Rin whined only to realize that her hand was resting on her head, more specifically, her hair.

Getting an idea, she cut off a few strands of her hair with her claw and presented it to the man.

Confused as he was, the man took the hairs and preformed a few test on them. They must have passed since the wand maker got all excited again and he shooed her out the room, "Go, go, I make wand now. Leave me alone till done.

Six hours and one extremely bored ghoul later, the wand maker hobbled into view.

"I say I make youd true wand, I make youd true wand." He said presenting her with the wand.

It was truly a work of art; it even had a lotus engraved on the handle. At a pure twelve inches, Rin knew that it was perfect… or was it?

Seeing his customer hesitated the old man frowned, "Youd no like?"

"To big," Rin said simply with a frown.

The man frowned as he quickly thought of some way to keep his customer. Getting an idea, he hobbled to the back room and returned with a bubbling orange jar.

Carelessly he tossed the wand inside and started to shake it violently for a minute or so. Then carefully with a pair of tongs, he opened the jar and took out a ring that had the exact same lotus symbol from before. Again he presented his finished product to the ghoul and this time she took it, putting it on her left middle finger.

Like before with Ollivander, she gasped at the feeling she felt. But where as with Ollivander it felt as if she found a part of herself, this time it felt as if her body was enhanced. Like before she had been sick and now she was truly well.

No wind no sparks. Ollivander's wand was with her, but this ring was her.

"Good, good, wand works well right?"

Instead of answering, Rin pointed her hand at the table and did something she'd always wanted to do. Bringing her inner power to her hand, she focused it into the ring and pushed it forwards. Instantly everything in front of her hand was pushed back.

Squealing with excitement, Rin jumped up and down with joy. She'd been experimenting with her power before but has only been able to teleport and channel emotions through her eyes. Nothing else worked. Well she'd tried to push things back before but only managed a small shift no matter how much power she put in.

Staring at the ring, an evil grin spread across her face at she thought of all the fun she'll be having.

"Pay now." The wand maker's demand brought Rin from her happy place.

Slowly Rin removed several galleons from her person and gave them to the man.

"Rin was never here."

"Pay more."

Frowning, Rin hesitantly gave him more gold coin.

"Orokana don'yokuna rōjin. Watashi wa kare o korosubekida."

The man didn't respond as he gave another toothy grin and returned to his disturbed table.

Rin was gone as soon as he had turned around; she had one more stop to make after all.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Coffee, straight," Rin ordered as she sat at the run down bar.

"The bar tender's surprise turned to a grin as he got the hooded persons scent, "Is it not past your bed time devushka?" his accent was heavy and probably Russian, "You need to be careful, there are all kinds of dangers prowling in the night."

Rin ignored him, "Coffee, straight."

The bar man started to prepare a drink, "Sorry, devushka, no coffee, but here is something you seem to like, " he said giving her a cup of blood.

Rin frowned internally as she made a note to get a stronger perfume to cover her scent. Ignoring the cup Rin instead focused on the 'man'. He smelled exactly like the cup especially around his mouth. She could hear his heart beat but it was much to slow for him to be moving and he has a Russian accent. Vampire.

Extending her senses, she also smelled woods, dirty dog, and filth. Werewolf?

Dirty, tasty, nastiness, unclean. Bad humans.

All were present in the dirty rundown bar. About fifteen in total "Interesting."

"Rin is looking for someone."

"Oh and who is that," humored the vampire.

"Someone bad, killers, rapist, slavers. Someone like that."

The Vampire thought about it, "I might know someone like that."

"Rin will pay for your service." She said pulling out a bag of galleons.

The vampire didn't even hesitate to sell out the human.

"Thank you," said as she gave a fourth of the coins to the vampire and walked away.

"Devushka!," Rin stopped, "What do you think you're doing devushka?" Yelled the vampire. All conversation in the bar stopped as all eyes focused on the two.

"Rin pay for your service, you only gave Rin part of your service. Rin only give you part of your pay." She said and started to walk away again.

"Big mistake devushka." Mutter bar man and with the speed of a vampire, he charged the hooded girl. His clawed hand was ready to strike.

Only for Rin to catch his hand before it could harm her. Slowly, Rin lifted and turned her head and for the first time the vampire saw her two glowing red ghoul eyes.

"Rin is soooo glad you did that," she said with a sickly sweet smile as she unleashed her kagune.

The vampire didn't have time to process the sudden appearance of the bright white wings because Rin jumped up and, using his arm as a hinge, kicked him in side of the head. The kick was so strong that it dislocated his arm, which she had been holding, and sent him flying into a table which broke upon impact.

For a moment nobody moved, they were two shocked by what they saw. Then as one, the occupant started to draw their weapons of choice.

The wizards were the first to attack; sending different colored spells her way. Rin had no idea what they were and had no intention of finding out. Dodging the spells wasn't too difficult; true they were bigger than bullets but they much slower.

But its was when the werewolves got in close did things get fun.

The werewolves looked like humans but they were much tougher and stronger then them. When Rin hit them with enough force to break a table, they'd get back up, a least the first few times anyway.

It was pure chaos within the bar. Bodies were all over the place, both unconscious with bruises and cut, or being thrown through the air. Flashes of light from spells were everywhere. It was madness. And at the center of it all was Rin having the most fun she'd had all month.

She would spin and twirl through the spell fire all the while hitting anyone unfortunate enough to be close to her with any one of her many weapons.

Something she did notice though was that the wizards didn't really move too much since the fight started and one by one she sent a crystal projectile their way. Each time her aim was true and the target was out of the fight. Again they didn't move either because they didn't see the crystal or whatever. Though some of them tried to use what looked like a light shield, not that it did them much good.

Pathetic really.

All to soon in her opinion the fighting stopped. But her sixth sense was still alert.

Quickly turning, Rin raised her left hand and sent out a blast of magic. The vampire, who had been trying to sneak up on her, was caught by surprise as he was thrown from his feet and into the shelves of beverages.

Wasting no time at all, Rin sent two crystals into his shoulders, pinning him in the air against the wall. Ignoring his howls of pain, Rin let her curiosity take over. Using her kagune to raising the air till she was eye level with the creature of the night. Taking her finger, she jabbed it into the vampire's shoulder causing his cries to intensify. Rin moved the digit around to make sure it had an even coating of vampire blood, removing it; she stuck it in her mouth.

…

Only to spit it right back out. It tasted like flesh that had been left out to rot. She downed the cup of blood, which was somehow still there, in hopes of getting rid of the taste. It worked a little but the after taste was still there.

The vampire could only watch in terror as this, this, monster finish cleaning its mouth and looked at him with those eyes from hell. She floated closer and closer till she was only a breath away.

"Next time have coffee." That voice, it should not be coming from such a monster. The sound of an innocent girl had no right being spoken from a beast.

Rin didn't give the creature anymore time to think as she elbowed him across the face, knocking him out.

Touching the ground, Rin looked around the destroyed room and saw no one else standing. She pouted, "Aaaaah, over already? Rin want to have more fun." She pouted even more when she got no response.

Sighing in disappointment, Rin teleported and hoped that Connery was not waiting for her.

The night had been a success. She got what she wanted plus she wanted to wake up early to start practicing spells.

She had a hunt and school to look forward too, so it was time to prepare.

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Until next time…