Chapter 3

Squalo, Leviathan, Lussaria, even Mammon was waiting for him inside the Varia Headquarters. When he entered, their heads turned sharply, and some tenseness left their shoulders.

Lussaria spoke up first.

"False alarm, I suppose?" he said cheerfully, and threw a curious glance at the unfamiliar girl his Boss was holding.

Before Xanxus could answer, Squalo cut in.

"Boss, we all felt it." His voice was lower than what Xanxus was used to hearing, and serious. "What exactly happened?"

Squalo eyed the bruises on Xanxus's neck and at the girl in his arms warily.

"This is our new Cloud," said Xanxus gruffly. "Civilian, but powerful flames." He tossed the girl to his second in command.

"Make sure she doesn't wake up."

"She's the one who did that to you," said Squalo with a blank face. The only change in his expression was the narrowed eyes. "Was that before or after the bonding?"

Xanxus gave him a smile full of teeth as a reply.

"I trust you can keep one civilian under, Squalo."

He beckoned to his Sun. "Lussaria, heal my neck. I need to visit the Vongola main headquarters," he ordered. Quickly after Xanxus was certain the bruises could not be seen, he spun out the door. He had a certain favor to ask his father.

"And here I thought you were of the opinion that such things were barbarous," said Iemitsu sarcastically from his seat next to the Ninth Vongola Boss. He was still angry from the last fight they had gotten into, the one that had involved his own son. 'Clear as crystal, this one,' thought Xanxus derisively.

"I still haven't changed my opinion, Iemitsu," drawled Xanxus from sitting languidly in his chair.

Xanxus had asked for a meeting with his father, the Ninth. Unfortunately, the CEDEF Boss had already been in the office, and his father hadn't seen fit to dismiss him.

Xanxus sneered. "I certainly am not looking forward to seal my own son due to my own incompetence."

Iemitsu bristled, and said derisively, "As if a man like you can possibly understand the mind of a father."

"Xanxus, Iemitsu," said Nono firmly.

They both reeled in their tempers and fixed their expressions to something less aggressive.

"Of course I can teach you, Xanxus," said Nono placatingly. "I could do it myself, even. You know that."

Xanxus shook his head. "No. I wish to do this myself."

It wasn't his plan to seal the girl's Cloud flames entirely. That would be pointless; the girl needed to feel the bond between them and be used to it. She seemed to hate being bonded at the same time she welcomed it, and that disgust had to be alleviated. Only when he was certain she would not murder him and the rest of the guardians on the spot could he unseal her flames.

Because in order to unseal her flames, and he would, she had to be his loyal officer. He needed her loyal to him. And he didn't want anyone other, even his father, touching her in any way.

...Call him possessive. He wouldn't deny it.

"I'd be... very eager to listen to your private instructions again, father. Like the old times." He smiled, hoping it would look somewhat bashful.

From the snort from Iemitsu and twitches from his father's Guardians, he probably wasn't very successful.

His father smiled warmly, "As would I." But his eyes were steel, probing for answers Xanxus was not willing to give him as of yet.

Not. Yet.

The smile he sent back in reply was probably as empty-hearted as his father's.

The first thing Harry noticed when she regained conciousness, was her flames.

Or rather, the lack of them.

Oh, she felt a pulsating bond all right, connecting her to ... him, and the rest of his Guardians, a Rain, who was most prominent, and Sun, Lighting, and Mist. He was only missing a Storm. She just couldn't draw enough of her new Cloud flames so that she could utilize it as her weapon.

In short, she had all the downfalls of the flames and none of its perks.

Her entire body felt sluggish, weak. The hair at the back of her neck bristled. When she opened her eyes, she saw intense red watching her.

"What the hell did you do to me?" hissed Harry.

Her magical core was destroyed, yes. Her missing magic was utterly alien and she despised it, but that had been her own doing. But right now?

Even though she had stuffed away her flames in magic for so long, she had never felt this off balance or feel the innate sense of wrongness. The only thing she could feel were her thin bonds. She stuffed away the thoughts that told her that if she hadn't even had the small amount of connection, she would be in a very bad place feeling unsettled by her very own body.

She knew the answer even before he stated it.

"I've sealed it."

Silence filled the room.

Xanxus felt shivers on his back as the tension rose. But he did not even flinch, Harry would have given him points for that if she was in any other situation.

"...What, did you say?" Harry's voice was soft, but inlaid with steel.

The red eyed Sky gave her a deadpan expression. "Did you think I would let you free after what just happened?"

Harry scoffed. "You mean the way you would have pathetically withered and died underneath me?"

The Sky flexed his fingers, and his flames, the Sky ones brushed against her. "I've sealed it for the time being. Don't worry, it's only in part." The words were, should she dare say it, almost tender.

"I'm certain you feel our connection, no?"

"And the price of unsealing," Harry said shrewdly, "Does it come with a price tag that says, for example..."

She drifted off, her green eyes scanning his body from feet to head, finally landing on his vivid, red eyes.

"My unwavering loyalty?"

She said the word with much sarcasm as possible.

The Sky made a frustrated noise. Harry watched him, slightly amused, almost, like a cat toying with a bird just about to be killed for her entertainment. Technically, outwardly, she was the one with all the disadvantages.

But was that true, really?

Because what, exactly, did she have to fear? All her fears had already come true- she had nothing to lose now. And she was already feeling respect for this Sky who just shoved her into her own personal nightmare, tailored just especially for her.

Because she knew she had come off entirely insane in their first meeting. She ripped her own flames apart and killed her to-be Guardians, forced a bond with this Sky, attempted to kill said Sky and promised him to kill the rest of his Guardians.

Granted, she was under a very special circumstance and had been feeling very upset after her not-death, and had been filled with unbelievable amounts of pain from loss of magic and sky flames.

But it wasn't as if he knew all that.

Yet he still wanted her. Her. The broken woman who was shattered into so many pieces; who was, in her own opinion, more at a loss of her own identity than even the stupid, soul splintering Tom Riddle.

"My name is Xanxus of Vongola, Head of Varia. And you, are the new Cloud officer- on trial."

Voice rang the small room, it was clear he was used to leading, it was clear he was used to being followed.

"Now, what is your name?"

Harry burst into harsh laughter. "My name?" She covered her hands in her mouth in an attempt to put off the insane giggle threatening to spill over her mouth. "After all you've already done to me, you ask me for my name now?"

True curiosity filled her. She tilted her head, asking, "Did you really think that I would tell you?"

And do you really want to know?

The face of one Xanxus of Vongola grew cold. "I suppose you don't need your previous name anymore. True, it is a useless thing."

If this was an attempt to hurt her, he was failing horribly, thought Harry with detatchedly.

"From now on, you are Lilith," he ordered. "Lilith of Vongola, my Cloud. And nothing else." There was a cruel edge to his voice.

Harry burst into giggles, feeling hysterical. Why was this so hilarious? Really, this was funny, so funny and ridiculous... Lilith?

What an intuition.

He even had to give her a name that reminded her of the better years, memories so wonderful and precious that now, hurt her most.

Xanxus slammed the door behind him.

'Temper, temper,' thought Harry, and a new round of laughter grabbed her.

Her stomach hurt.

Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes and it rolled down her cheeks without her consent.

Why, why did everything have to hurt all so much?