Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Bermuda is twelve the first time he gets involved with the new and still forming mafia.
If he's honest, it's not something he had planned- his plans had involved avoiding the whole organization- but when has his luck ever allowed anything to go according to plan? The newly formed Ombra Famiglia was all but begging for it anyway. He wasn't sure how they had managed to capture Jager and if Bermuda was honest, he didn't care. They had hurt Jager, they still had Jager. Had he been a normal child he might have to obey the ransom letter but normal was overrated anyway.
Especially for a wizard that was more than willingly to temporally overlook his morals.
The Ombra Family had never quite expected a small dark-haired child with glowing emerald eyes to show up on their front doorstep. By time they had learned of this miscalculation, Bermuda was already storming down their hallways throwing Avada Kedavras left and right like the spell was spare change. When they had finally figured out their miscalculation it was far too late to do them any good, the halls were flooded with corpses and The Ombra Primo fount himself staring within the unnatural eyes of a twelve-year-old.
"If you hand over Jager now, I will ensure your death is quick. If you do not comply you suffer to the point you beg me for death."
A quick Protego manages to stop the bullet before it ever reaches him, but Bermuda pays it no mind, his gaze solely focused on the man before him.
"Very well then. If that is how you want it. Crucio."
If he had still been Harry Potter maybe he would have been horrified by the screams, maybe he would have played along with the ransom, but he wasn't. He was Bermuda von Veckenschtein and they had foolishly stolenfrom him. He doesn't even blink as the screams rang out into the silence of the once hopeful Famiglia Headquarters.
He doesn't care, they have something important of his and Bermuda will see it returned one way or another.
Bermuda accidentally ends up breaking the man's mind- How was he to know you weren't supposed to hold the curse so long? It was his first time- but that is only a little road bump which is easily solved with a Legilimens. It only takes a few moments to sort through the chaos of the shattered remains that is the man's mind before the emerald-eyed boy finds what he's looking for.
He leaves the drooling mess on the floor surrounded by corpses that had once been his 'Guardians' in favor of heading towards the Dungeon Cells.
It's painfully clear the moment he finds Jager that something is wrong. He has an expression- almost as though he wasn't mentally there- that Bermuda doesn't like. Still, it matters little to the dark haired child. He'll get Jager back home and then he would tear apart whatever- Drugs, Flames, Psion, or Magic- was affecting the elder's mind.
His only regret was there was no one left for him to take that raging fury burning in his veins out on.
Taking a breath, Bermuda forced the fury down in favor of focusing his whole being on the dark haired teen staring blankly into thin air.
"Let's get you home, Jager."
Silence is his only answer.
It took Bermuda two weeks to fully nullify the Mist Flames from Jager's mind. It took Jager a solid month to convince Bermuda to even allow him outside the Veckenschtein mansion's walls and even then it was only under a compromise that took four hours to negotiate.
As far as Jager was concerned nothing really changed; He was already Bermuda's shadow. Why shouldn't he allow Bermuda to be his?
Age: 13
"Jager?"
"Yes, Lord Bermuda?"
"Marry Me."
He choked.
What? It was a perfectly reasonable response. It wasn't due to the fact, a thirteen-year-old boy had just asked him to marry him- People married younger than that these days since few lived to see thirty and only the lucky saw forty- but rather for the fact those words had slipped past Bermuda's lips.
"Lord Bermuda? I'm sorry I don't think I quite caught that."
"Marry Me."
"No."
"Jag-"
"No."
"But-"
"Lord Bermuda the answer is still No."
Jager kept his voice firm as he crossed his arms beneath his cloak. What had brought this about? Why now? Was His Lord sick? Dying? Had someone replaced him with a clone? Bermuda had always made it crystal clear he had no intention of marrying him since they were technically half-brothers. What had changed?
"Jager, please allow me to finish before interrupting me. "
His jaw clicked shut with a clear snap of teeth before Jager allowed himself to slowly give a nod.
"Very well, Lord Bermuda. I am listening."
"Thank you. Jager, I want you to help me stage a wedding."
A chocking noise seemed to come from where Jack had only moments before been eating his breakfast at their Lord's words. For once Jager couldn't find it within himself to blame the younger teen, he had already chocked on thin air; at least rouge had the excuse of food. Emerald eyes locked onto Gold as the other continued explaining himself.
"I am a Lord, Jager. I am expected by society to be married by fourteen or they will pick my 'Partner' for me. I need you to pretend to marry me so I can stop receiving Notices of my upcoming deadline and Bridal Contracts. "
"Lord Bermuda, you have a Duty-"
"Jager," a heavy sigh left the teen, "Let's be honest. Out of everyone I know you're the only person I can tolerate enough to marry."
It was flattering really, to know he held such a high position with His Lord, but...
"I'm sorry Lord Bermuda-"
"It's you or Jack, Jager."
Well, when he put it that way.
"So when's the wedding and what should I wear?"
There was no way in Hell he was allowing that Mutt to marry His Lord- even if it was only a staged event.
Despite being 'Married' in the eyes of Society nothing really changed.
Jager was still the same sadist angel Bermuda always knew him to be. Jack was still an overgrown- if not rather feral- puppy. The- still trying to build itself from the ground up- Mafia still popped up every now and then. It never did end well for them but Bermuda would grant them prompts for stubbornness if nothing else.
Bermuda is fourteen when Jager attempts to teach him combat with chains. It's rather impressive really, in the whole 'Oops I accidentally knocked out everyone within ten feet of my being and left a bruise the size of a baseball on my own forehead' way. Jager doesn't seem to agree as he kicks Jack's unconscious form out of the walkway.
"Lord Bermuda, I have to request that you slowly put down the chain."
Emerald eyes glance towards the man before nervously darting down to the chain that seemed to all but materializes within the other's hands. Bermuda would swear he could hear an alarm bell shrinking in the back of his head as his eyes moved from the man's hands towards his bruised face.
"Jager?"
"Put down the chain now, Lord Bermuda, and I promise there will be no permanent damage. "
Bermuda would forever swear he saw literal Hellfire ignited within those golden orbs.
Though Jack had kindly informed him countless times before of how 'Creepily Disturbing' it was, Jager liked to watch His Lord sleep.
His Lord was always so busy throughout the day-What with Paperwork, Jack's Antics, Nobles, Society, Mafia, Jack, Lessons, Would be Kidnappers, Flame Users trying to force themselves onto His Lord and did he mention Jack? - Bermuda never really had time to truly relax. Sure there were sometimes His Lord seemed relaxed but Jager could see the gleam in those emerald eyes that all but scream His Lord just waiting for something to happen.
The only time His Lord was truly relaxed was when the younger was asleep.
The stress and anxiety would just melt away like butter left out in the sun leaving His Lord with calm, peaceful expression instead. In all honesty, that expression reminded Jager of when His Lord had been but a toddler looking up at him with those wide emerald eyes and a hand still inside the cookie jar- he still couldn't get the bloodstains out of that shirt. Bermuda was adorable, far too adorable for his own good, so Jager had taken up standing Guard of His slumbering Lord.
There was absolutely nothing creepy about that at all. Jager was just accomplishing his duties to a higher level by protecting His Lord from any possible enemies- coughJackcough- that might strike while the younger slept.
"Jager, stop being a creep for five minutes and tell me where the Hell is the-"
Crash!
Jack's form went sailing out of the room only moments after the rouge had busted inside.
See? His Lord was not even asleep with ten minutes and an enemy had already busted into the younger's room. Golden eyes glanced towards the dark haired teen- sleeping within the too big bed- who hadn't even stirred once. Thankfully he was there to keep His Lord safe or heaven only knew what would have happened to the younger.
Bermuda never did figure out how Jack managed to break both his legs within the four hours he was asleep. When he had finally asked Jager in hopes of getting an answer, the golden-eyed man had just smiled with open satisfaction before continuing in his valiant endeavor at straightening the bird's nest that was His Lords hair into something presentable.
Bermuda is fifteen when he finally sets foot within Magical London again and to be honest, it's absolutely nothing like he remembers.
In his memories, Diagon Alley had been an overcrowded cobblestone street with far too many shops all but piled on top of one another. While the streets are still cobblestoned, the alley itself is the bare bones of what it will one day be- though the place was cleaner then what it had been in his memories so maybe it wasn't that bad- and far less crowded. There are a few shops here and there, some of which he actually recognizes such as Ollivander's, Gringotts, The Apothecary and Flourish & Blott's.
"Jager?"
"Yes, Lord Bermuda?"
"Where is Jack?"
A heavy sigh left the dark haired man as his cloak billowed around his ankles with a slight moment Bermuda had long ago learned meant the other was exasperated.
"He's eloped with the Shrunken Heads, Lord Bermuda."
Bermuda opened his mouth for a moment before closing it when his voice failed him. He blinked slowly as the golden-eyed man's words registered within his mind.
"Eloped?"
With a shrunken head?
"Yes, Lord Bermuda, " The corner of Jager's lips twisted upwards as the other began to explain the situation, "When we passed the shop one of the Heads started screaming at Jack so being Jack started screaming back. One thing led to another and well." Jager shrugged his shoulder while placing on his best smile. "Jack has decided he does not wish to part with his one true love nor does he wish to remove the Head from the rest of its family. As Jack's family we should support him and his choices- no matter how strange and unusual they are."
If Bermuda is honest, he might have believed Jager had he not caught sight of that diabolical gleam- which was becoming all too familiar in his opinion- hidden within those golden eyes. It takes the emerald eyed teen an hour to find Jack sealed inside a golden sarcophagus accompanied by serval shrunken heads- someone having used the Heads' hair to confine and gag the redhead man- that all but deafening him the moment the lid is removed.
Strangely enough, neither Jack nor the Heads will speak a word concerning how such a situation could have transpired. Bermuda pretends not to see the disappointment in Jager's eyes when Jack is finally free from his confinements.
His Lord was turning sixteen today.
"Jack is you so much as breathe near that cake, I will kill you. "
Sixteenth birthdays were important.
"I'm only trying to help."
It was proof of growing from boy to man and only even came around once.
"Then find something else to help with and stay away from the food."
His Lord would only ever be sixteen once, he would not allow that redhead to ruin it.
"And what the hell am I supposed to help with?! You won't let me wrap the presents-"
Jager had let him at first only to come back five minutes later - due to screaming profanities- to find the man himself wrapped perfectly instead of the presents. Apparently, he had tripped which caused him to roll across the room and accidentally wrap himself.
"-You won't help me help decorate-"
Jager had only turned his back for a second- literally- before the curtains and half of the dining room was on fire. The redhead had just stood there frozen, staring at the flames rapidly consuming everything around them before giving a sheepish 'I meant to do that' excuse. The golden-eyed man was not amused.
"-won't let me help cook-"
Everything the man cooked- or attempted to- came to life before striving to eat them. His Lord still couldn't look at pudding the same way. Nor could Jager for that matter.
"-and you absolutely refuse to let me distract Bermuda-"
Like Hell would Jager leave Jack alone with His Lord.
"-So what am I supposed to do?!"
"Go to town and buy the strongest liquor you can."
"I thought so. You never let me- wait, what?"
Sometimes Jager wondered if there was anything within the crimson eyed man's head or if it was just as hollow as he always suspected. Taking a breath, the golden eye man spoke slowly.
"You. Go to town. Buy liquor. Which is alcohol that you drink-"
"I know what Liquor is!"
"-Do not come back without it."
Hopefully, that would keep the younger man out of the house long enough for him and the servants to finish setting everything up for His Lord's Party.
"Jager?"
"Yes, Lord Bermuda?"
"Why are there Inferi in the living room?"
"Jack."
"Jack?'
"Jack."
"How exactly did Jack cause this?"
A heavy sigh left the golden-eyed man as he glanced down at the war zone that was once a living room.
"I sent him to get liquor. While he was out though he met and I quote 'Shady as hell looking man' who offered to sell him a potion vial under the pretense of 'Just one drop of this onto the earth and the party will be one to die for'. According to Jack he 'Couldn't resist the temptation' and actually bought the thing."
Honestly, if he wasn't trapped on a rafter with Jager- and there wasn't a hoard of Inferi below- Bermuda would have banged his head against the nearest wall until he gave himself a concussion thanks to the Gryffindor stupidity of his Storm Guardian.
"Are the servants safe?"
"They locked themselves into the steel Panic Room you had built. "
Well at least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about- they could survive for years in there- but still there was one other thing bothering him.
"...And where is Jack?"
"..."
"Jager, where is Jack."
"Live bait, Lord Bermuda."
"...I see..."
Though he was tempted to ask, Bermuda wasn't really sure if he wanted to know if Jack had willingly chosen to be such bait or had Jager thrown the man into the hoard. Instead, the dark-haired teen chose to distract himself by taking another bite of his Death by Chocolate Birthday cake. A soft moan left the emerald eyed teen as the cake all but melted in his mouth while the divine flavors caused his taste buds to sing. Gods he loved Jager's cooking.
"Thank you for the cake, Jager. You did wonderful."
"Thank You, Lord Bermuda. "
Flames, they learned that day, were rather effective upon Inferi- as in 'turn to dust' effective- and though Jager and Bermuda were willing to help put down the Inferi both outright refused to aid in the necessary clean up afterward. Jack had caused the mini-apocalypse not them. The servants, it would seem, was of similar minds as they were more than happy to shove a broom and mop into the rouge's hands before retiring early in the day.
Chapter 6
Bermuda eighteen the first time he ever meets the man- no abomination- known as Checkerface.
The day had started like any other in all honesty: he could hear Jager in the kitchen making breakfast- no doubt hoping to have everything done before Jack finished his bath and attempted to 'help'. He could hear his storm's screeching- he absolutely refused to call it singing. Rock music currently didn't exist after all and until it did that singing would forever be screeching- from the baths.
Bermuda had only just set a foot onto the cold wooden floor, the fire having died sometime during the night when Jager seemed to materialize by his side only to manhandle the younger into the washroom. The teenager could recall the feeling of tepid water against his skin as Jager went about his daily valiant battle with the nest Bermuda called hair. Emerald eyes had closed as he allowed Jager to jerk his head this way and that until the elder man had managed to do something most had considered impossible- so many people had tried and failed that most of the magical communities believed it to be apart of a curse- for centuries:
Jager had tamed his hair.
If he was honest, Bermuda though he looked ridiculous with his hair parted and smoothed down like that though a single glance to Jager's smiling face was enough to silence the teen. He had dressed within one of the multiple matching suits he had before heading downstairs, Jager following at his heels. Jack had apparently finished his bath and had already been at the table, his crimson lock dripping like they did every morning, and just like every other morning, Jager had scowled before crossing the room while yanking the towel from his shoulder.
The dark haired teen could remember smiling softly in amusement at Jack's colorful protest as Jager strived to either dry the rouge's hair or set alight using friction from the towel. It was just another morning, just another day.
And then It had materialized- literally- within the middle of the dining room table.
It had appeared to be a blond-haired man wearing a strange helmet- really Bermuda suspected it was more mask then helmet seeing how much of his face it hid- part of it covered in a checker pattern, a dull grey suit, checkered gloves and the era traditional cloak. Then there was the cane- that reminded him a bit of Lucius Malfoy's future wand- which briefly led Bermuda to wonder if the other was a wizard that had accidentally Apparated into the wrong area.
The thought dies a quick death as Jager's chain moves through the creature as though it is not even there.
"I am in search of the strongest and you are three of the seven I seek."
He had allowed the humanoid speak- as was polite- but every word that left the man's mouth had made something within the back of Bermuda's mind stand on edge.
"The Storm-" He could all but feel those eyes had moved to Jack.
"-The Rain-" Then to Jager.
"-and The Cloud." Before finally settling upon his own being.
He refuses the offer at first. Something about it doesn't sit right with him but the humanoid just smiles.
"All you have to do it meet the others. Then you may part ways whenever you see fit."
The Humanoid vanishes as quickly as he arrives, leaving no sign he had ever truly been there.
When the day comes for the meeting of the Strongest, Bermuda's instincts all but scream at him not to go, that there was something wrong with the whole thing. He voices his concern to Jager who smiles at him.
"Its just a simple meeting, Lord Bermuda. What's the worst that can happen?"
The first time Bermuda took the time to think back on those words, he had laughed until he had cried before he had screamed until his throat bleed and no sound would leave him.
He should have kept his mouth shut.
The other four of the Arcobaleno turn out to be apart of the would-be mafia: A freelance hitman, A scientist with questionable morals, a black widow of a woman and a Healer that also serves as a Mafia Don. Jager doesn't bother to remember their names as he doesn't truly get a chance to. The meeting place Checkerface is on top of a mountain, Jager hears rumors and whispers about the place being cursed but he brushes it off as superstition.
It was a mistake on his part, one he would openly admit to.
He should have taken His Lords concern as more than just nervousness, he should have listened to the whispers and dragged His Lord elsewhere- Jack, on the other hand, was more than welcome to go up there- but he didn't. The golden-eyed man couldn't quite explain it but he felt like he had to go there.
Everything goes to Hell the moment all seven of them reach the peak.
Jager could remember staring at the glowing light before his eyes had managed to drift towards His Lord. Every instinct in his mind is screaming at him to leave, to grab the younger and run but he can't. His body does not move no matter how much his mind screams for him too. He has to stay here. He has to see things through. He has to accept, you cannot run from a trail. He has to do this. Jager doesn't know why but he has to.
The light overtakes him and the world fades to black. When he wakes again it's to a worried face he has not seen in sixteen years hovering within his vision. In all honestly, Jager had never woken up so quickly in his life as he did that day. It does not take the dark-haired vassal long to discover His Lord is not the only one who seemed to have rapidly de-aged into a toddler.
The Seven Arcobaleno, The Seven Strongest in the World, are now toddlers.
Worse, in Jager's opinion, they cannot take off those damn pacifiers.
Checkerface had deceived them, cursed them and now wanted them to live together with people they didn't know let alone trust. It's no surprise when four of the seven attempt to attack the humanoid creature. Jager, on the other hand, gathers His Lord- he looked more like a one-year-old than two- into his arm before gesturing for the menace to follow.
No one bothers to stop them from leaving, Jager doubts the Mafioso even noticed they were gone.
The Veckenschtein Staff- having lived through the previous Lords Madness and Dark Magic- never questions it when Lord Bermuda, Jager, and Jack return as toddlers instead of the grown, or in Bermuda's case: growing men they had once been. Jager thanks every deity he knows for the small miracle. Later he curses them all into damnation when he finds he can no longer go about his usual routine of caring for His Lord. Jack laughs that annoying laughter of his calling it 'Karmatic Retribution' until one of the maids take the bottle of whiskey from the infant sized man citing it was improper for toddlers to drink liquor.
Jager cannot help but laugh at the horrified look upon the menace's face.
Karmatic Retribution, Indeed.
He tears apart his Private Study attempting to locate a cure for their curse but no matter where he looks or how many books- on both Light and Dark Arts- he buys; there is not so much as a whisper of an 'Arcobaleno Curse' or anything similar.
Bermuda cannot help but find that difficult to believe.
The curse feels ancient, far too old for someone not to have noticed by now. The thought leaves an uneasy feeling in his gut as his mind whispers to him: What if someone had noticed? What if someone had studied the Cruse before? What if someone erased all evidence it ever existed? What if someone made anyone connected to it disappear?
There are far too many 'What ifs' for Bermuda's liking but he cannot deny all of them are realistic possibilities.
A strangled noise of protest left the chibified teens lips as a pair of arms plucked his small form from the ground he had previously been residing on.
"Jager, I'm trying to work."
"It can wait till after you eat, Lord Bermuda." Glancing up, the emerald-eyed boy froze at the 'challenge me on this and you will suffer' gleam to the chibified man's golden eyes," You have already missed Breakfast and lunch, I refuse to allow you to miss dinner as well."
"Ah," It was ironic really, he could face Dark Lord and their minions, mythical creatures that could easily tear him limb from limb, Mafioso armed to the teeth without batting an eye; yet here he was unable to shake off the chill that raced down his spine at the look a toddlerized Jager was granting him, "My apologies. I had not realized it was so late."
"I figured as much," a sigh left the taller of the two as he tightened his hold and began to make his way towards the Dining Room, "Honestly Bermuda what would you do without me?"
'The Mafia needs Law.'
Jager was more than aware the first time those words had ever been spoken was in jest.
Lord Bermuda had been annoyed after having to throw a certain Mafia Don, who thought he was entitled everything due to being the Sky Arcobaleno, out of their home. How they ever fount them was beyond Jager but he strongly suspected Checkerface-After all, the wards surrounding the property were anything but weak and more than capable of deceiving those of both Mist Flames and Non-Magical origins- to be involved. The creature was rather determined to ensure they all lived together under the same Sky, it was a shame- not- that the humanoid didn't seem aware His Lord was a Sky.
Maybe then the Sky Arcobaleno would stop trying to force his Flames down their throat?
His Lord had not taken well to the trespasser within his Sky and had proceeded to make his point in a rather bloody fashion- Jager could not stop the swell of pride in his chest upon watching His Lord 'work'- before throwing the other outside the property line once more. Jager had carried the other back, watching how the frown twisted upon the other's lips at emerald eyes seemed to spark with annoyance before His Lord had uttered those words onto him.
It was a ridiculous thought, in all honesty.
No criminal organization despite how new and underfunded it was would willingly obey any Law yet the idea seemed to stick in Jager's mind. It wasn't a bad idea- just without anyone with the strength and means to enforce the Law- it was impossible. Despite knowing that fact, Jager gathered an inkwell, quill, and parchment before dragging the Menace and His Lord towards his study.
They may never be able to enforce the idea but it wouldn't hurt to at least write the Laws.
...Now, what type of Laws did one grant the Mafia?
"No wearing white."
Of course, the menace was no aid in the matter. Why had he even brought Jack along anyways?
"No."
Jager spoke firmly giving the rouge a stern look. Could he not take anything seriously?
"What if we created an Omerta?"
Golden eyes quickly moved from where they were trying to burn a hole through the redhead on towards Bermuda.
"Omerta?"
If he wasn't a cursed infant, Bermuda would have been twenty when the Sky Arcobaleno dies.
The Sky Pacifier seemed to just disappear into thin air for a time being before reappearing two years later in the hold of an eight-year-old. Her name is Olivia Atticus, the child had platinum blond hair and silver eyes that always seem to see everything at once yet nothing at all. Though he doesn't voice it aloud, Bermuda secretly suspects the child is a Seer and somehow related to the 'yet to be born' Luna Lovegood. It would explain oh so much if that turned out to be the case.
Olivia wants to be an Inventor when she grows up. She'll never get the chance to though.
Olivia is the Sky Arcobaleno for eight months before the pacifier begins to kill her.
Despite his best efforts, nothing works and Bermuda can only watch as that cursed artifact slowly steals the child's Flames and her life. She lasts for all of three weeks. The Sky Pacifier disappears without a trace.
Bermuda would have been twenty-five when it shows up again in the hands of an egotistic Mafioso Heir that could barely be twenty at the most. When the dark-haired man shows up and attempts to force his flames upon His Storm, Bermuda personally throws the man out after a mild warning- who cared if he broke a couple bones; the bastard was begging for it.
Later Bermuda would learn he wasn't the only Arcobaleno to throw the new Sky out with a warning.
On what should have been his twenty-six birthday, Bermuda opens his door and finds himself vastly unimpressed at the sight of a shiver five-year-old dressed in rags and wearing an all too familiar orange pacifier. For not the first time, he curses Checkerface into the darkest pits of Hell.
"Jack, go grab a blanket from the closet. Jager, we're going to need hot chocolate."
He wants to pick up the child but his small stature will not permit it, so Bermuda guides the other towards the kitchen instead.
Elias is a five-year-old orphan with dark chocolate hair and earthy brown eyes. He used to live at the orphanage before it had been condemned when he was three. When the other children where relocated, Elias had hidden due to older children telling him it was a game of Hide and Seek. He's been a street kid since.
The child likes listening to storytellers and hates blueberries. He wants a large family when he grows up.
Bermuda does not have the heart to inform the other he likely isn't going to grow up. Though he knows Checkerface is behind it, he allows Elias to stay. The Staff take a shine to the newest Sky Arcobaleno and all but adopt him into the fold. Elias lasts ten months and dies three days before New Years.
Jager no longer allows Bermuda to answer the door on the off chance there will be another child having been chosen to be the Sky Arcobaleno waiting on the doorstep. He refuses to watch His Lord get invested into any more child Skies only to be torn apart when they die prematurely. It takes three years for another Child Sky to show up on their doorstep, this one is even younger than the last at the age of three. Jager instantly hands it over to a maid with firm orders for it to never cross Bermuda's path.
For once, Jack agrees. Both are certain they are doing the right thing and their belief only solidifies when the child dies less than a year later.
Once more the Sky Pacifier disappears.