Sorry for the incredibly, unforgivably long delay on posting. But as you can see, I am still alive, just really uninspired. I’ve basically written up all the notes for the next following chapters but I just can’t seem to make a story out of them. Again, so sorry about the long wait.

Harry Potter is not and will never be mine cause I’m a girl and he’s a flamin’ homo. I do own the original characters, places and the plot but nothing more than that.

Chapter 5

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Thomas Royal Cup!” Lee Jordan announced, “The biggest event to hit Eternia since Lady Cecilia’s wedding to our dearly departed Lord Riddle, and what a fine match they were! Why I remember like yesterday when me dear old pap use ter announce just like I-!”

“Jordan!” Lady McGonagall, the prince’s governess scolded.

“Right then,” Lee coughed, “Let us now meet the contenders and maybe soon to be winners for the cup! In the Harpy corner, Padma and Parvati Patil from our very own Eternia! These two sassy sisters while abso-bloody-lutely gorgeous should not be trifled with especially if you enjoy the use of yer-.”

“Jordan!!”

“Ahem, as I was sayin’ the Patil Twins!”

There were loud and boisterous cheers from the crowd, mostly coming from the males as two tightly dressed girls, identical in looks entered the ring.

“And from the Gryffin corner, who came all the way from Chaosion, Harry Potter and Vega Loki! Not much is known about these two fine chaps since they came from the remote country of the infamous Hunters but we can be sure that they’ll give us a fight we won’t soon forget!”

Murmurs and many shocked exclamations came from the audience as their homeland was announced. Chaosion, the land of Hunters, who were famous in Nirvana for ridding them of the demons that plagued their glorious lands were very rarely seen in public. They were more often than not categorized as recluse and hermit like in their ways, never once appearing unless there was a job to be done. It wasn’t everyday that not one but two would voluntarily show their faces in public.

So it was with a baited breath that the spectators awaited the arrival of two Hunters who surely must look quite exotic and inhuman. Lee Jordan likewise was sitting on the edge of his seat, ready to describe every little gritty detail of these so called demon slayers.

Soon soft footsteps coming from the direction of the Gryffin corner held the attention of every single person in the crowd. Many tittered on their seats, fidgeting nervously, their fear of the unknown getting the better of them.

Long shadows loomed across the coliseum as two figures slowly neared the light of the entrance, their heavy cloaks shadowing their features. And with no faces to speak of, it was their stature that the audience took notice to.

From high above the ground, seated on a plush green throne with silver linings, Tom leaned across the balcony staring at the Hunters, both brows rising in slight inquisition.

“I never expected that the rumoured Hunters to be so…”

“Tiny?”

“…not tall.” he finished lamely.

Ron grinned and slung an arm across the back of Tom's throne. “Who would’ve thunk that the all powerful demon slayers would be shrimps? Ya’ know ‘Mione and me-”

“Hermione and I,” his fiancée corrected automatically.

“-met one on the way back from Silverlake. Saved our lives he did, tiny too like them. Maybe it’s a genetic thing? Gotta wonder though, how tiny little things like them can take down demons twice their size…”

“Now Ron,” Hermione chided, “Just because they don’t tower over normal people like you and Tom do does not mean that they are weak. Size does not mean power after all.”

“Aw ‘Mione, no need to go all teacher mode on me here. I never said they were weak just that they were short.”

“Well you were certainly implying it!”

“Eh?! No I wasn’t!”

“Oh yes you were, Ronald Billius Weas-!”

“Now, now love birds,” Tom interrupted, “Stop it with the flirting or I might just start wallowing in my sorrow for my lack of romantic companionship.”

“Tom I didn’t mean to-!”

“I was kidding Hermione…”

Ron guffawed as his fiancée’s face burned red in embarrassment.

“Just because of that, you can forget me sharing your bed tonight!” she huffed, “If you need me, I shall be accommodated in Fuer Inn.”

“Wait Hermione! Don’t be like that, Tom and I; we were just playin’ with-!”

“Goodbye Ronald Weasley!”

“Pathetic,” Akira scoffed, glancing disdainfully at the knocked out guards who he had just brought down in a couple of seconds. “I have no idea how the royal family had lasted for so long with such incompetent warriors to protect them.”

Sneering at the guards one last time, he turned towards the castle entrance and sped through the empty hallway before stopping and hiding behind a stone wall. Peering behind his hiding place, he spotted two heavily armed men heading his way. Both of them were enormous even by Hunter standards with wide barrel like chests and broad shoulders. He also noticed how clueless both of them looked.

“Dya hear yet? Lady Parkinson’s entering the competition.” the taller one said, “They say that the prince won’t marry her if she dun’t win.”

“Guh… I don’t understand why the prince won’t just marry her like the queen wants…”

“Crabbe you dunderhead!” the first man exclaimed, “The prince hates the lady, he me mighty angry if Miss Parkinson won.”

The two were nearing Akira's hiding place and it would be too dangerous to fight inside the palace without a proper plan. So instead of knocking them down like the previous ones, he opted to slink back into the shadows, making sure to cloak himself completely from sight.

When the guards left, he reappeared and continued on; heading towards the hallway the two had just come from.

“Well this is certainly interesting…” the albino mused, staring at the painted portraits that framed the hall. “Oh look, great, great uncle von Raleigh is here.”

Akira trailed his long fingers across the oil painting of his long gone relative, pausing briefly on their shared nose. Glancing at all the others, he took a long good look at the prince’s.

“He’s good-looking, I’ll give him that,” he admitted grudgingly, “But certainly no where near our Harry’s beauty.”

“Is this Harry your lover then?”

The Shadow wielder spun on his heel and frowned at the intruder. “So what if he is?” he answered rudely, “How is that any of your business, royal?”

“Down hunter,” the other man chuckled, “And I’m no royal, just a rather well off aristocrat her majesty, the queen has taken a liking to. And just to add, how about you lower that invisible scythe of yours? It will hardly do you any good when faced against a battalion of fully trained guards, they who will answer with a snap of my fingers.”

“You’ll be dead before you could even move your hand.”

“I’m not too sure about that hunter. Your overconfidence might just get you killed one day you know?”

Red eyes narrowed and spidery fingers twitched, just itching to gouge those amused violet eyes and sell it to the highest bidder. He waited for any sign of movement but none came.

If the taller man noticed his tenseness, he didn’t comment.

“You said a while ago that his royal highness, the Prince Thomas wasn’t up to par to this Harry’s beauty…”

“I won’t let you have him.”

“Slow down hunter,” the noble (He was a noble, no doubt about it. Just look at that arrogance. Akira thought.) smirked, “I didn’t say anything about possessing the boy, I’m just curious to know to what extent this Harry’s beauty really is. Lying to one such as myself can be charge with high treason you know, now if this Harry disappoints me then…”

“I wasn’t speaking to you in the first place!”

Akira didn’t wait for a reply as he slinked back into the shadows and fled without another word.

“That boy, he didn’t even remember me.”

Flipping back gracefully, Harry barely avoided another crack from Padma’s rose thorn whip. Ducking suddenly, he swung his arm across the girl’s abdomen, forcing her to crouch as she tried to steady her breathing. Wasting no time, Harry continued to barrage the girl with numerous sharp and quick jabs, most of them aimed at her arms. The whip fell to the ground as he cut off the circulation and temporarily paralyzed both her arms.

“St-stop!” she gasped, wincing in pain, “I’m done!”

“Ladies and gents, Padma Patil is out of the game! Let’s see how her sister, Parvati fares when faced with two deadly demon slayers!”

A trickle of fear entered Parvati’s eyes as Harry’s companion continued his assault, his long clawed gloves making contact with her golden dagger. Vega, Harry observed, was having the time of his life as he continued to push the girl to a corner, his claws occasionally aiming at her pretty face.

It was only after few minutes she was cornered did she realized that the match was already won. Surrendering, Parvati helped her sister out of the ring as both hunters were declared as the winners of the match.

Vega grinned and jumped his friend, bowling the taller man to the ground. “We won! We won!” he chanted happily, sitting atop Harry.

Harry could hardly hear Jordan over the excited cheers of the crowd as he grinned along his friend, accepting the hand offered as he stood up.

“Congratulations Harry and Vega!”

“Annoying parasite,” Akira scowled, his shadows leading him towards the castle gates. “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”

His darlings trailed over him, their inky blackness contrasting sharply with his fair skin. His shadows were trying to comfort their master though they did not know what has gotten him so angry.

“It’s okay my love,” he responded softly, stepping over the still knocked out guards, “I’m fine, no need to worry about me.”

Hearing their master soft and affectionate voice, no longer filled with the distress they felt, the shadows quietly retreated to the ground and disappeared from sight.

Akira smiled softly at their effort to comfort him and continued on to return to the town. Harry and Vega’s fight should be over by now and he didn’t want to worry them by not being there when they leave.

“Hey old man!” a boisterous voice exclaimed. Followed by the first was another, only this one softer but no less cheerful.

“Hello Akira.”

The albino smiled tenderly at Harry and scowled at their third companion. Reaching over to gently take the green eyed boy’s arm, he led them into the half filled cavern and to an empty table.

“Congratulations on winning the first round Harry,” he said, “did you have a hard time?”

Harry, very much used to Akira’s gentlemanly manner towards him, responded in turn, “A bit, my opponent had a rose whip; its thorns grazed me here and there when I was approaching her to paralyze her arms.”

“We’ll put some healing salves on them after dinner.” the oldest of the three resolved. He turned his head to face the shortest and in an instant his entire demeanor changed. “And how about you speedy, did you run away just as you usually do?”

Vega scowled and flicked a small stone at Akira. Predictably the other dodged which only caused the Speed Demon’s scowl to darken further.

“I. Do. Not. Run. Away!!”

The albino opened his mouth to retort but Harry beat him to it.

“Vega was amazing during the match,” he said quickly, to diffuse the oncoming fight. “He had his opponent cornered with no way out in seconds after the match started, you should’ve seen it Akira.”

Thin eyebrows rose, but other than that, there was no comment that came from the other.

“Yeah,” Vega boasted smugly, completely forgetting his earlier ire at being insulted in favor of bragging, “I was so totally in control of everything.”

“Hmmm, we shall speak of your conquests later, for now we shall celebrate you victory,” Akira declared, vaguely reminding the two of his aristocratic upbringing. “Waiter!”

After the three finished their dinner, both Vega and Akira immediately went to their respective beds to sleep, but Harry was too anxious for some unknown reason and decided to stay up a bit later and instead went out for a quick stroll, after leaving a short note should either of the two wake up and find him missing, to go exploring the forest.

Making sure that he didn’t wake up either of his companions, (which was extremely difficult as Akira was known to be a notoriously light sleeper. Vega said that it was the reason why he was grumpy all the time.) he stepped over various weaponry that Vega had left littering the floor and quietly left their shared room, closing the door quietly behind him.

“The capital’s really peaceful during the night.” He murmured, not used to the lack of bustling in the usually crowded street or the silence caused from the lack of chattering of many people and the advertising of the hawkers of their various products. He passed the cobblestone streets that made the market place and noticed that it looked distinctly similar to Chaosion’s barter street. “Kinda reminds me of back home before mum and dad left.”

Old memories would come rushing back of when a beautiful red-headed woman would sing him lullabies of brave warriors and dragons at night, a tall and handsome man telling him stories of far away empires where couples gave their children strange names suck as Akiko and where they dressed in confining clothes called kimono, yukata and such. At times like those, he could remember, even as a child exclaiming at the absurdity of it all, wondering how they fought Demons with such annoying things such as long flowing dresses to constrict them. The man would laugh and gently tell him that he would tell him all about it the next night but right now, it was time for him to go to sleep.

Sighing softly, Harry banished those thoughts away as he leaned against a old willow tree he found while wandering the forest. He then looked up and stared wonderingly at the stars.

“Lance…, he said that he would help me find my parents if I agree to bind with him…” the young man closed his eyes, his mind returning to the conversation they shared a few days ago. “Are they even alive…?”

The stars didn’t answer except for twinkling cheerfully down at him.

“Sleep tight Tom, I know I won’t without Hermione beside me tonight.”

“Goodnight to you too Weasley.”

The door closed and Tom started stripping until his was down to his undergarments before dropping tiredly face first onto his bed.

“Dammit, should’ve never listened to Hermione,” he muttered, “and now the girl went a left too.”

He rolled on his back and covered his eyes with an arm. “So tired…”

With nothing to do and noting to occupy his thoughts, his mind wandered to the first fight of the day and the two hunters that fought against the pair of twins. His thoughts focused on the taller of the two hunters as the tinier one seemed a bit too childish for him to comprehend. Undoubtedly, the hunter’s cat-like movements were enthralling but not at all that impossible to learn. He could not, for some reason forget about the match, that and the taller of the two hooded figures.

“His movements… they look familiar.”

Tom's mind blanked out and he groaned in frustration.

“I’ll think about it tomorrow when I’m not so tired,” he resolved, before falling asleep.

Outside his room, bright stars covered the night sky, shining brightly down on the castle.

I’ll end it there and while it might take another long wait for the next chapter, I hope you will continue supporting this story. Feedbacks will be greatly appreciated.

Akira