Choice 457: [X] Write In: Go flying with Luna amongst the stars.
Choice 459: [x] Join her for breakfast.
Under the circumstances, Shinji couldn't think of a good reason to refuse Miss Huygens' offer of a meal. Certainly, he planned to spend time with Luna, but if the business the American had with him was so important that her paper airplane had led him here, perhaps he should see what exactly she wanted, as he didn't imagine that she simply wanted to meet him. No, there was likely some other reason, and the sooner he took care of whatever it was, the better.
It wasn't as if he wasn't indebted to the Americans anyway, and he imagined that the Special Assistant to the MACUSA President was well aware of this, so he nodded and took a seat. As he did, the proprietor set a menu in front of him - which to his surprise, included rice, miso soup, grilled fish and pickles, part of a traditional Japanese breakfast.
...and incidentally, something he hadn't had for quite a long time.
Certainly it seemed like a small eternity since he'd last had a proper meal that hadn't been thrown together using whatever he (or someone else) had foraged, and the thought of a good bowl of miso soup...it made him weak in the knees.
"Order whatever you'd like," Miss Huygens stated generously. "I'm sure you must be craving something after weeks in the wilderness," she said with a knowing smile. "I know I would be."
The boy murmured his thanks and proceeded to do just that, ordering the Japanese breakfast set, while the Special Assistant to the President ordered a serving of jook, a savory Chinese rice porridge made with pork and ginger, and garnished with scallions, peanuts, and a dollop of sesame oil.
Not something that Shinji had had before, but not something that was particularly western either, which the boy found himself commenting on.
"Do American breakfasts not involve much in the way of fried meats and potatoes?" he asked, recalling the very heavy spreads that Hogwarts always served.
"A traditional breakfast, perhaps," Rebekah replied, "but then, I've never been much of a traditionalist myself. Have you?"
"I...no, I'm not much of a traditionalist. At least, not a British traditionalist," the boy added with a slight smile. He hadn't expected the American official to be of such good humor, given how stuffy many people were back in Britain - and how rigid and strict they were about their laws.
"Well, I for one acknowledge the worth of East Asian traditions," the young woman noted. "But then I was exposed to my fair share of them, since my family has ties to Indonesia."
"Oh? Indonesia?" Shinji questioned, somewhat surprised. "You don't look very...Indonesian."
"I suppose not," Rebekah answered with a demure smile. "I am Jewish by heritage - part of the Sephardim, if you know what that means, and my family was one of those who came to Indonesia when it was known as the Dutch East Indies."
"Ah," the boy noted, blinking. "You are...American though now, yes?"
"It would be hard to have the job I do otherwise," the brunette said with a comely smile, her loveliness making Shinji feel very warm indeed. "Though you are a example of how one need not necessarily be a citizen of a country to represent its interests."
"Heh, you know about me?" He paused, belatedly remembering that she'd said that she had heard about him from the North American Champions.
"A little, though I wouldn't mind hearing your story in your own words," the woman agreed. "Whatever you'd like to share of it, at least. I'm curious about how a boy from the East became a Champion of the West."
"It's...it's not a short story," Shinji replied weakly, though he did rather like her turn of phrase. A Champion of the West indeed. "And I don't think its all that interesting. You probably wouldn't want to hear it."
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, hm?" she asked, looking at him in such a way that his protests all but evaporated.
"...well, if you say so."
And so the boy began to talk about his past, talking a bit about his former family, how his mother had apparently gone to Hogwarts, how one...very terrible day, when it seemed like the world was ending, he'd received a letter, inviting him to Hogwarts. He told her of seeing Mahoutokoro for the first time, of buying a tome on ofuda from The Dust Pile...of leveraging the one or two abilities he learned from that book to pose as a master of the eastern arts.
"In hindsight, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do," the boy admitted. "It did make me seem more important, but...that just made people expect things from me. Impossible things. Or to see me as someone dangerous."
"People do often hate what they don't understand," Rebekah said sympathetically, flashing the proprietor a warm smile as he brought over a fragrant pot of green tea and two cups. "It's a bit of a pity."
"Yeah," Shinji agreed, shaking his head. He talked about his friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived, a figure who was rather less heroic and brave than everyone thought. "He was just another person trying to make his own way in the world."
"So are most people, I find. Especially the ones people think of as high and mighty," Miss Huygens murmured.
"Even your President?" the boy asked, skeptical of the claim.
"Even old Uncle Sam, yes," Rebekah agreed, with Shinji's eyes widening as he realized that she was on a first name basis with the President. Or perhaps something of a nickname basis. He knew that the Japanese Chairman called him Samuel, but they were equals, theoretically. "Though he doesn't especially care for that appellation, since as he likes to say, he just heads up the government - that, and he's not so old. Not by the standards of those who use the Craft, though he's certainly an old man by Nomaj standards."
The informality shown here boggled Shinji's mind - he didn't think the British Minister would tolerate an assistant not using his title, or at least his full name.
"Nomaj?"
"What the British usually call muggles - people who are not born with...the ability to tap into the energy of the world," Rebekah explained. "Anyway, even the President is someone just finding his own way - its just that he's had a few more years than either of us to do it."
"...that's fair," Shinji allowed. He continued the recounting of his first year, mentioning the fight against the troll, the formation of the Stone Cutters, and of course, the quest for the Philosophers' Stone, which had somehow found its way to Hogwarts.
"Ah yes, that's right - I do recall reading of the death of Nicholas Flamel," the young woman acknowledged. "I suppose the Stone was never returned to him, then."
"No," Shinji confirmed. "It was...lost." Yes, lost was probably the best way to put it, as he spoke of the ruins under the school and how the Stone Cutters had encountered something - no - someone far beyond them. Someone who had defeated them. "We never saw it coming."
"Few people do when you fight something so far beyond you," Rebekah observed. "Though the few who survive usually make it a point to avoid getting into similar situations. Not like you."
"Heh," the boy chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I just don't learn, I guess."
"I'm not sure that's what really drives you," the woman countered winsomely. "If you just didn't learn, I don't think you'd be here right now."
"True," Shinji conceded. "I guess, after that, I just knew I had to become stronger." He left out any mention of becoming the apprentice of Aozaki Touko and of his reasons for becoming stronger, since he didn't think the Special Assistant to the MACUSA President would understand his desire to one day reach Sokaris' side. "So I could stand...so I wouldn't fail anyone, ever again. So that I wouldn't shame...anyone's memory."
"You mean the girl named Sokaris," Rebekah asked, with Shinji nodding.
"Yes." He talked a bit about his Second Year at Hogwarts, about meeting and learning from Gilderoy Lockhart, the mention of which seemed to amuse the American representative, about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew and...justice and more.
"Ah, Gilderoy, hm? He's doing well, I assume?"
"Oh, ah, you know him?" Shinji wondered, with Rebekah chuckling warmly.
"You could say that. We've had a few dealings in the past," the woman replied with genuine fondness. "Not that he ever stayed in one place for too long."
"Oh?"
"Always things to do, adventures to have, people to save."
"Ah..." Shinji murmured, as he noted down that bit of information.
"But I think we were talking about you," Rebekah pointed out, brushing an errant strand of hair out of the way, as Shinji smiled and continued his story. He spoke of his journey to find a familiar in the wilds of Japan, of the grueling training he'd gone through in the combined Herbology/Potions classes, how different things seemed in Third Year - the final year that Hillard was alive and at Hogwarts - and of how they'd decided to do something memorable and wipe out the colony of Acromantulae in the Forbidden Forest.
"Maybe we were a bit overambitious," the boy admitted a bit sheepishly. "I know that after gaining the ability to fuse, I often...underestimated how difficult things could be for other people."
"Yet you won, didn't you?"
"Only because Professor Lockhart saved us," Shinji said, shaking his head. "If it wasn't for that..." Well, he might have lived. The others - not so much. "Sorry, I guess it really was just a stupid what if."
"There's no need to apologize. It only makes sense to look at what ifs, because you can't always count on being lucky."
"...you understand," the boy realized. "People try to tell me not to worry about the what ifs, but...if something had gone wrong..." Shinji took a deep breath.
"It is easy to plan things if you assume everything will go right," Rebekah noted sympathetically. "Acknowledging they might not...well, that's harder, especially if only some things go right, and some go wrong."
"You're right," Shinji acknowledged, shaking his head. "Its like this whole year. Becoming the British Potions Champion, yet not becoming one of their citizens. Having people acknowledge my ability in battle, but not to brew or in other fields - seeing them paint me as some sort of irresponsible hedonist...it hurt."
"After you'd given them so much, they rejected you."
"Yeah, and I don't even know why," the boy grunted. "It isn't my fault that werewolves and giants attacked the Quidditch World Cup. It wasn't my fault Fred's family died and he wasn't there. It wasn't my fault all these horrible things happened, but instead of trying to figure out why it happened, the British seem to just be pointing fingers."
"It wouldn't be the first time. Britain hasn't historically cared about whys," Rebekah spoke up, nodding to the proprietor as the man delivered their food personally, and asked if there was anything they needed, and hearing no requests, left the room. "They didn't care why the Tohunga wouldn't abide by the Statute before they massacred them. They didn't care why Grindelwald in other countries, so long as he wasn't in theirs. And so they didn't care about the ICW needing time to investigate the matter before just deciding to blame all foreigners, as they have done in the past. It's simply a shame you got caught up in their politics."
"...yeah," Shinji mumbled, shaking his head. "And now, after everything, after I got on the winners podium, I'm not sure how they'll react. Not when Slughorn is dead. Not when there are pictures of me throwing around the Killing Curse." He sniffed. "I don't know if they'll give me a medal or kick me out of the country."
"It's rather a shame, given all the things Nyx has mentioned about you, Ishmael."
"Yeah, it really--" And then the boy's words died in his throat, his eyes widening as he looked at Rebekah Huygens, startled. How had... 'No, Elesa probably reported to her...that has to be it.' "The things she's mentioned?"
"How you are braver than most your age would be, and how you are always trying to do the right thing," the Special Assistant to the President said. "Even if it means facing things no one should be exposed to."
"One tries." Which was all the boy could do, really.
"Indeed. Which is part of why I asked you to meet me, as I wondered what kind of person you were," the beautiful brunette told him, with some part of Matou Shinji feeling very flattered that someone so beautiful and intelligent would be curious about him. "You are the youngest of the Champions, having experienced much in your years, and you proved worthy of standing on the same field as the others."
"T-thank you," Shinji stammered, his cheeks reddening at the praise.
"Not that your actions haven't caused a few inconveniences, but you are to be commended, all the same."
"...inconveniences?" the boy asked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, things like being in Ramona's shape when you killed the Champion of Tamirsthana, losing or wrecking expensive equipment that was lent to you, and a few other matters that both Ramona and Nyx encountered."
"Ah," the boy noted, looking down. "I'm sorry."
"These things happen sometimes, and as they say, victory washes away any number of sins," Rebekah noted, with Shinji rather liking the sound of that. "So...congratulations."
"T-thank you!"
"That said, I was wondering if you hear me out about something," the brunette asked.
"Of course," Shinji said. She'd listened to him and his story, so it was the least he could do to listen to her.
"What you may have learned from visiting the representative of the Centre of Alchemical Studies is that you are listed as the co-creator of both the Elixir of Restoration as well as the Potion of All Potential, alongside Ramona," the brunette summed up.
"Right..." Shinji noted, though he did feel somewhat guilty about being listed as a creator of the Elixir of Restoration when he hadn't actually had much to do with it, other than finding - or being given, maybe - some Thaumatagoria to pass to Ramona, who had done the hard work. "I...I didn't have much to do with the Elixir of Restoration, really," he admitted. "I just...found some ingredients for it."
"I see," Rebekah noted with a slight smile. "That's still impressive - before this year, Thaumatagoria was only a myth, many thought, so you are to commended for finding that it was not."
Shinji felt a flush of pleasure at her words of praise.
"Thank you," he said, shaking his head.
"I'm curious though, how did you go about creating the recipe for the Potion of All Potential?" the President's assistant questioned. "You've mentioned that you were much more proficient at combat than brewing, so how did you come to be able to craft such a potent brew?"
The boy sheepishly admitted that the first time he'd made it, he'd been under the effects of Felix Felicis, and had effectively been in a trance.
"It wasn't until later, while working with Lestrange, that I managed to get a proper recipe," Shinji voiced with a sigh. "I still have so far to go compared to many Champions."
"Mm, I see," Rebekah nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. "Tell me, how much do you know about intellectual property rights?" Rebekah asked, with Shinji just looking at her blankly. "Things like patents and the like," she clarified.
"Not very much," Shinji admitted.
"Ah, that's about what I thought," she murmured sadly, with the boy feeling quite bad that he'd caused her to lose her smile. "You see, the current situation you're in is...a bit complicated."
"Complicated? How so?" the boy asked.
"Well, under the current arrangement, you and Ramona jointly hold rights over the potion recipes you are listed as inventing," Rebekah clarified. "And while that doesn't matter much if you are just planning on brewing potions for your own use, or to give to others, it isn't the best state of affairs if you want to do more."
"More?"
"If you ever want to give someone else the right to make the potion, make a potions business based on these recipes or such," Rebekah noted. "Legally, since you are a citizen of Japan, you would need Ramona's consent if you were to give someone else access to either recipe, as she would need yours. There are also accounting questions, depending where you operate out of."
"Oh."
"Oh indeed," Rebekah noted, shaking her head, her lustrous hair seeming almost to dance as she did. "It would be much simpler if only one person was held ownership rights over the recipe. And by your own admission, Ramona did much more work on the Elixir of Restoration than you did, and you needed Rachelle Lestrange's help to come up with the actual recipe for the Potion of All Potential."
"That's...true," the boy admitted, shaking his head, though...
"Given the circumstances, would you be willing to relinquish your claim on the Elixir of Restoration?" she asked. "If so, we would instead provide you with a very broad, royalty-free non-exclusive worldwide license," Rebekah noted. "Effectively, you would still be able to use the potion for personal or business purposes, and grant sublicenses as needed, but would no longer bear the responsibility for enforcing the patent or need to obtain consent from Ramona to sublicense."
"...and what does she get out of it?" the boy wondered, as this sounded too one-sided in his favor.
"Your agreement that if you make any improvements to the recipe, or any derivative works related to the recipe, you will license the rights to these back to Ramona or her entity of choice," Rebekah stated simply. "It's a fairly standard arrangement, though one best handled while we're on the island, as there is a CAS representative here."
"Ok," Shinji said, closing his eyes. It didn't seem like a bad deal. "That's...probably fine," he agreed.
"Glad to hear it, and I'm sure Ramona will be, too," Rebekah replied, flashing him a dazzling smile. "The other thing we should discuss is the Potion of All Potential."
"What about it?" the boy asked.
"There are similar issues with the joint ownership of that potion, only exacerbated, given how potent the effects of the brew may be. Especially now that someone has developed a potion that can nullify a person's magical ability, with the Potion of All Potential being the only known antidote."
"Oh."
"And with Britain being on the brink of war with the rest of the Continent, unless something is done to stop it, I feel...uncomfortable with the current arrangement," Rebekah noted.
"...what do you mean?"
"Given the current issues in Britain, it isn't unlikely that the Ministry will seek to gain control over the Potion of All Potential, either as something to make their armies deadlier, or as an antidote for...let us call it the Potion of Nullification."
"I can see that," Shinji said. And he could...
"As a joint owner, you would be unable to grant them access to the potion by license, since again, that would require the agreement of Ramona. Which leaves a more unpleasant alternative."
"...and what would that be?"
"If they deem you to have violated a law that would result in some sort of fine, and you are unable to pay it, they may attempt to seize your ownership rights over the Potion of All Potential's recipe."
"...they...they could do that?!" Shinji asked, looking like a poleaxed steer. He...he'd had no idea such a thing was even possible.
"I am unsure if the Centre for Alchemical Studies would honor it, given Britain's withdrawal from the ICW, but yes, it is not uncommon for someone's assets to be seized in such a case," Rebekah related, not unkindly. "Still, if you believe you have nothing to fear from Britain, then you needn't worry."
...this statement did not reassure the boy at all, given that he technically had violated British law any number of times, with his Vanishing Cabinet connection linking Britain and Japan being perhaps the most egregious of his offenses, though little things like turning their propaganda over to Durmstrang might also count.
And of course, since he'd...ah, misplaced the Book of Potions, he could see how the British Ministry might spin it as Shinji having lost (or caused the destruction of) a priceless cultural artifact, leading to them desiring reparations of some kind.
'Shit...I didn't think things would be that bad...'
"What are you suggesting instead?"
"That before they can do that, you sell your ownership rights to Ramona," Rebekah explained. "In return, the US government will forgive the costs incurred from your destruction of an outfit normally given only to our agents, allow you to keep the current outfit you were granted as a replacement, as well as re-adjusting it as per your specifications. In addition, as per our arrangement with the Elixir of Restoration, you would receive a personal, non-exclusive license to use the IP. However, this one would have an added clause - that no matter the situation, it cannot be transferred to the British Ministry or those acting as its agents. What do you think?"
Choice 460: What does Shinji think?
[ ] Its a deal!
[ ] Perhaps a bit more negotiation is possible?[ ] Could he add a license for someone else?
[ ] Perhaps he could be taught the method to readjust the outfit himself
[ ] (write-in)
[ ] He would like to speak to the CAS representative before agreeing, but it sounds reasonable
Originally Posted by Malorius
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