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Fateful Ashikabi, Chapter 1. Old Debts.
🕑 Added 2024-04-19 14:27:44 +0000 UTCYear 2013. Tokyo, Japan.
Tatsuoki Furumizu looked out the window of his office on the highest floor of the NswF Headquarters. Overseeing the whole of Tokyo much like a god would survey the Earth from the Heavens. His office was luxurious and elegant, decorated with only the finest things.
The man himself was old, in his sixties at the earliest. His hair a dull grey, the colour taken by the passage of time. His face belonged to the typical happy grandfather, with sagging cheeks and many a wrinkle in it that clearly came from smiling. Yet, his dull brown eyes didn't hold much spark in terms of warmth.
His gaze turned to a plaque of his father that lay on his desk. Putting a hand on the glass protecting the photo embedded in it, he ran his fingers over it lovingly. "You were so perfect in life." Furumizu began, speaking to an empty room. "As a father, as a scholar, as a man." a smile of fondness began to form on his face as memories of his father came surging back to him.
His smile turned into a frown as quickly as it came. "But you made one grave mistake." he began to ball his hands into fists. "When you chose the woman who bore me into this world." The old man removed his hands from the picture as to not thoughtlessly damage it. "Because of that filthy harlot my body will remain cursed. For as long as I live."
His father had met her in kindergarten and fell in love with her down the line and shortly after his mother's nineteenth birthday he came along. Though, the Furumizu family had been a strict one and at first forbid his father from marrying his mother so he was born out of wedlock and forced to live with his mother in squalor for the first ten years of his life. 'A muggle for a mother. You should've listened to your family, father.' Tatsuoki thought. 'If you had then I wouldn't have been born a Squib.'
That was something he gave his mother the blame for entirely. His father had the power of a god and was perfect, but he had wasted it for such a harlot. Given up on such much power and perfection for nothing. Only gaining the Furumizu fortune after Tatsuoki's grandparents died of old age.
Though, if that wasn't bad enough he also was impotent. His inability to have children only made him being a Squib that much worse.
He stood up abruptly at the painful reminder. Only to be forced to experience another as he looked directly at the gigantic skyscraper belonging to MBI when looking outside his window. That only served to further sour his mood. Around the Millennium he had been the Professor of Genetics for Minaka Hiroto and Takami Sahashi. Both brilliant in their own way, even though the former was as crazy and eccentric as he was smart.
He had been part of the team discovering Kamikura Island in 1999, which was more pure luck than anything else. For him it was a place where he received another reminder of his flawed genes. As it was later discovered only so called Ashikabi were able to open the ship. Meaning you needed specific genes.
A third time he was reminded of his inferiority. 'All because of my mother.' he raged inside his mind while his face showed none of the rage he held inside. Laying the fault squarely at her feet. His embarrassment of her being a Muggle turning to outright hatred with time as it was left to fester and grow.
It would be a bitter pill to swallow for anyone to have had the potential for possessing magic, being an Ashikabi or even able to produce children. Only to have none at all. Though, he still had his brilliant mind. Something that harlot hadn't been able to take from him at birth.
Yet, all that would change soon enough. He may not be able to use active magic, like casting spells, but he could use Potions, rituals that used ambient magic, which admittedly were not that many. Things he learned from his father after it came out he was a Squib. Even afterwards his father had been nothing but supportive. On that knowledge he had built and developed things further together with Science.
He would be reborn from the loins of a perfect mother this time. Not the failure from before. With these rituals and the Jinki he stole from Kamikura Island he'd create himself a new body with a new mother. Though, the two Jinki wasn't all he stole. Furumizu also took DNA samples and a weapon of Sekirei design as his own. The latter nobody had paid particular attention to. He called it Witchblade out of a whim and some poetic irony. It looked like a simple silver bracelet with a spherical ruby embedded into the centre.
Later on he learned the weapon was deemed a failure. It had been an attempt to give an Ashikabi a way to defend themselves. However, only women could wield it and considering that most Sekirei were female and therefore most Ashikabi were males, which made the weapon pretty much worthless to him, the Sekirei and Ashikabi. Not to mention that once attached, it wouldn't get off without taking off the limb it was connected to and only Ashikabi with Sekirei could truly make use of it. Without the bond the bearer turned violent and unstable with time. Considering all of that it had not much use for him, but he had found a use eventually.
Since the theft he had used his knowledge of genetics, technology he took from the Sekirei ship and the Jinki to build his own company. NswF. A rival to MBI and Hiyamakai Enterprises. Though, Furumizu didn't care for profit as much as the advancement of his research.
'It shouldn't be too long now.' he thought in satisfaction, banishing any other thought from his mind. 'Soon I'll be perfect.'
With the help of the Jinki he at first tried to create his own Sekirei, knowing most of the objects' abilities. However that venture was met without any luck or success. Then he turned his attention to the Sekirei Core, or Tama as it is also called. The very thing which gave the Sekirei life and their power. That bore fruits but not the one he hoped for. He was unable to create Sekirei Cores himself, though he could try and create Ashikabi with his own DNA using the technology acquired from the spaceship.
By now the Second Generation of Neogenes, as he dubbed them, was born. All of them female and all of them basically being as close to perfect as possible. Though, to find the perfect candidate he couldn't rely on chance. That's where the Witchblade came in. The original and the copies he made served as a test for them. The one that held out longest would be granted the honour of becoming his mother.
Was it risky to do such? Undoubtedly, however no worthwhile reward was easily gained.
It had taken years of work, but now perfection was within his reach.
At the culmination of it all he'd be reborn into a new form. One that allowed him to wield magic and much more. The ritual for his rebirth had been used by many Dark Wizards during history. The last one being Lord Voldemort in 1994. He had also modified it to serve his purposes like all before him.
Once reborn the Death of Tatsuoki Furumizu would be announced to the masses. Everything he owned, his wealth, company and more would go to the "next living male relative." Which would be his new self.
As Furumizu made his way down to the labs to oversee how each of the Neogenes adapted to their Witchblade he didn't know that Fate had other plans. Plans that did not include him.
In a tragic accident the bearer of the original Witchblade grew erratic and unstable very quickly and killed Furumizu in a rampage before escaping through a window.
Year 2013. Egypt, Valley of Kings.
A 32-year old Harry Potter enjoyed his time off from his last expedition for the Goblins. 'My debt is finally paid in full.' he thought with a sigh of relief as he sat near the Nile on a blanket. Currently watching the sun set near the largest river of the world. Sipping from a drink for a job well done.
The heat of the desert was quickly replaced by an ice cold wind as night set in. All the while Harry was lost in memories.
After the Battle of Hogwarts his life had been a mess and he honestly wanted nothing more than to escape from it all. So it came as a bittersweet surprise that the Goblins forcefully enlisted him to work for them as a Cursebreaker. Turned out the Goblins took all his money as compensation for his break-in and the damages caused. Though, with that not being sufficient he was forced to work for them.
At least they gave him a choice. Well, choice was a bit of a stretch. He could've worked as a teller or as another bureaucrat, but then he'd have to work his whole life to pay off the damages due to the obviously exorbitant interest rates. Not wanting to be forever chained to them he chose to work as a Cursebreaker. The job with the biggest high-risk but high-reward ratio. Even then he'd had to use nearly every knut efficiently to pay it off as fast as he did.
The only reason why he wasn't made into a Dragon Feeder which got the lowest pay and highest mortality rate was due to the reason why he worked for them in the first place. Having broken out of the bank with the help of a dragon. Apparently a Parselmouth could speak to dragons as well.
Naturally the Goblins didn't provide costly education for him and literally threw him in the deep end. Considering the danger of the job that was basically a death sentence. Luckily, Harry was a fast practical learner and his experience with life or death situations had him in familiar territory from the beginning. He had to learn by observing the people he worked with and asking for all manner of advice and spells. The sheer necessity of survival eliminating his somewhat lazy attitude towards learning and knowledge.
It wasn't made better by the fact that he also had to take the most dangerous expeditions to pay it all off as quickly as possible. Old cities full of Inferi left behind by their masters, Necromancers, deadly traps and many an unknown piece of magic stood in his way of freedom.
In the last fifteen years he had changed considerably. Gone was the scrawny teenager and in his place stood a solidly built man of 6'2. His muscular body hardened from countless hours of battle and exercise was riddled with scars typical for his profession. One going across his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip. Claw marks from more than one beast graced his back and a few along his right arm showed where some of them bit him by puncture wounds. One scar even looked like the continuation of his lightning-bolt scar and cut straight through his right eye. He also had a burn scar going down from his neck to his collarbone.
However, the most prominent one was around his neck, where scarred flesh wrapped around his throat as if made by a hangman's noose.
While he did not look older than his early twenties at the most his scars made him look older.
His hair was still messy and as black as a raven's feathers. Though, the most drastic change came in the form of his left metallic arm reflecting the desert sun. He had lost his arm during a mission in Central America in a Mayan ruin. Since then he had replaced it with a magical prosthetic he built himself. Aside from having no sensation of touch it was as good if not better as his flesh and blood one due to its strength and durability.
However his arm wasn't the only part of his body he lost. Behind the black eye-patch over his right eye was an exquisitely diamond instead of an eyeball that acted as a replacement. It didn't have as many fancy enchantments as Moody's, but it let him have depth-perception again, which was enough for him. While he would've preferred to have a normal, unassuming one and not something so eye-catching, it had been a gift from a thankful client and eye-replacements were expensive and he didn't have money to spare.
Most of his clothing was made from all the creatures he killed during expeditions. Dragonhide, Acromantula silk and even the pelt of a Nundu were in his possession. Out of it he fashioned his own clothing, needing to use all parts of his spoils to maximize his profits. At least once in his life the forced lessons of sewing and housekeeping from aunt Petunia were actually good for something. Even when spells designed for the profession of tailoring helped out immensely.
Right now he wore black boots made of Dragonhide, simple blue jeans and an open white shirt with a ruffled neck and rolled up sleeves. His Moke-skin pouch was at his hip. His Invisibility Cloak was inside the pouch. The Elder Wand was secured in a holster on his right arm, while the Resurrection Stone sat on a ring on his right ring finger. Both having helped him immensely in his Cursebreaker career, if one could call it such. Especially the Resurrection Stone. Summoning the spirits of people who built the places and knew all secrets and traps was a big boon. Though, that didn't stop the spirits from lying or being malicious.
'Not that everything was bad.' Harry mused with a soft smile that made him look younger immediately. He even made some friends with a few goblins. Most of the British ones would still hate him for as long as he lived.
However, those memories also dredged up others that contributed to him walking away from Magical Britain. After what happened during and after his death he couldn't stay there. It wasn't just the all the death's the battle claimed. No, that was just one of the many reasons.
One of the biggest being that all his friends and teachers in the Order of the Phoenix knew of Dumbledore's plan and agreed he had to die. At least the old goat had been honest before Harry returned to the land of the living. It didn't matter how hard it apparently was for them or how sorry they felt. The whole lot still schemed and contributed to his death. It didn't matter that he came back. Not when they didn't know he was able to do so due to the weird circumstances of his demise.
'At least it explained some of their behaviour.' he scowled into his drink, gulping it down in one fell swoop a second later.
The biggest surprise was that every kind of magic cast upon someone was lifted with their death.
That included memory charms.
Now, it wasn't like Dumbledore had needed them to achieve his goal. No, Harry had been naïve and gullible enough for them to not be needed. Thankfully, there was only one memory in his mind that had been messed with. It didn't make it better, unfortunately. The nature of the memory made sure of that.
Shaking his head he banished those painful memories. Having relived them enough during the past fifteen years. Time hadn't dulled the edge of the mnemonic betrayal a single bit.
His musings were interrupted by the fluttering of wings and a sharp cry. A look up revealed a Gringotts messenger hawk, used to contact employees. This one even was his personal one. "Hello, Horus. Nice evening isn't it?" Harry greeted the bird with a smile, putting his prosthetic hand out for Horus to land on. It was clearly a magical one with his golden plumage and black beak.
Once Horus sat on his forearm it stretched out one of his legs to give him the message. After summoning a fat sand rat from nearby and throwing it up for Horus to catch, he unrolled the parchment and began to read. The message itself didn't say much, only to appear in the Gringotts branch in London at exactly noon tomorrow.
"Probably wanting to kick me out with as much fanfare as possible." Harry snorted in amusement, crumpling up the letter and incinerating it afterwards. "One way or another, tomorrow a whole new life will begin for me." A life of freedom where he could do what he wanted whenever he wanted.
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Year 2013. Egypt, Cairo.
Unlike in London the magical side of Cairo wasn't located inside the city, but outside in the ruins. Protected in much the same way Hogwarts and nearly every other magical enclave was.
Strolling through the magical side of the capital Harry took his time to arrive at Gringotts, enjoying the ambience of the sounds of the bazaar and the mass of people trading and haggling. Harry was used to everything having a set price, but here negotiating was part of the shopping experience. Especially on the magical side.
Much like Diagon Alley, the streets here were also narrow and fully packed with people, making it an ideal place for pickpockets. Fortunately his Moke-skin pouch gifted from Hagrid would not grant access to anyone else but him.
Exactly at 11:30am sharp he arrived at the London Gringotts branch by using Gringotts Apparition points inside each branch. Goblins valued efficiency and punctuality, which meant being early was a good habit to acquire. Time was money as they say and this was true here most of all. From the outside the building looked identical to every other branch Harry had seen. It was the interior which varied greatly each time.
Once inside he walked past the tellers, already knowing the way to his destination and not needing to go through that procedure. Instead going to the employee manager. There he waited before knocking at the door once the clock struck 11:45.
"Enter!" commanded a guttural growl from the inside.
Entering slowly but respectfully, Harry said. "You wanted to see me, Gornuk?"
Giving Harry a grotesque grin the goblin answered. "Ah, Mister Potter. I indeed wanted to see you. Some unexpected business popped up."
"With that I sincerely hope you don't mean some unexpected fees you forgot to mention?" Harry drawled in amusement, sitting lazily in the chair provided for him. It was meant to be uncomfortable, but Harry was used to worse. In reality he knew they wouldn't just pull some bullshit. While the goblins were greedy by nature they also honored contracts.
The pure black eyes of the small being twinkled with malicious humor. Barking a laugh, Gornuk replied. "No. Quite the opposite actually." he pulled out a parchment from his desk and slid it over to Harry. "This arrived yesterday for you." before Harry had a chance to even glance over it Gornuk explained. "It's a will which leaves you the benefactor of quite a large sum."
A laugh erupted out of Harry's throat at that. "Good one." he laughed heartily, knowing goblin humor to be a little more sadistic than normal. It'd be quite the cruel irony, not to mention pretty fucked up, to receive a large sum of money now, after he paid off his debt in full.
Not hearing the goblin laugh, Harry asked. "You are joking, aren't you?" Still chuckling a little.
"Did you ever see me laugh about matters pertaining to money?" Gornuk replied seriously, fingers steepled together before him on the desk.
Not able to stop, Harry laughed even harder. It wasn't a laugh of amusement or joy, but more like that of a madman. "Only my fucked up luck could manage such a feat." Just so able to calm himself down, Harry asked. "Who died anyway?" Truly not knowing what kind of situation would make him benefactor of a will. All close friends of his family were dead already. He doubted the Dursleys would give him money under any circumstance.
Riffling through some papers, Gornuk pulled out another parchment. "A Squib named Tatsuoki Furumizu. He was related to you from your father's side of the family. From the now extinct Black Family to be exact." the goblin began to explain the matter further. "Furumizu's ancestor disagreed with the Black Family's teachings and stance on purity of blood. Therefore he was blasted off the family tapestry and thrown out of the family."
Nodding that he understood so far Harry waited for the goblin to continue. After all, it was no secret that the Black Family had been quite insane and prone to throw anyone out of their family who disagreed.
"That very same ancestor settled in Japan, married and so on until Furumizu came along who apparently was incapable of having children of his own. Meaning, there are no direct heirs to his line." putting the papers back into the drawer, Gornuk elaborated. "His will stated and I quote, 'Everything is to be given to my next living male relative.' end quote." looking at Harry directly, the goblin's lips turned upwards. "Which is you."
Still not knowing if this was real or not, he inquired "Anything else I need to know?" when there was one thing in his life that always held true, then it was the fact that there's always a catch.
Gornuk told him. "Due to it being done in the Muggle World you will need to go to Tokyo, Japan. If you want to claim it, that is." here the goblin shrugged. "The Muggles will take it from there. We are only aware of it due to Furumizu being Squib and his father having had an account with us in the past." with that the goblin turned back to his work.
Knowing a dismissal when he saw it Harry took the papers and left the office. While the timing couldn't be worse he supposed it didn't matter to look into it.
'Japan huh?' Harry mused. Excitement coursing through him. While he had worked in Japan from time to time and could speak Japanese proficiently, he hadn't had time to explore. 'Could be fun.'
While the timing couldn't be worse, by now Harry long since learned not to cry over spilled milk. 'What's done is done.'
Not having much in terms of possessions and having all of it on his person, it took Harry very little time to prepare for the travel.
One portkey later and he arrived safely in Japan.
