Trinity Angles (Discussion Thread)

[dpss]

Ok, pleaseclarify this for me. Is it Shirou or Illya thathas the Four-Tails?
Speaking of Shirou, would he Tracing possibly qualify as a bloodline? Because if so, considering the fact that the Naruto World DOES have incredibly powerful legendary weapons, it might just be the world where he gets Noble Phantasms back even if he still can't use Unlimited Blade Works.

[Kieran]

Ok, pleaseclarify this for me. Is it Shirou or Illya thathas the Four-Tails?

Shirou. Granted, the Four-Tails isn't quite the best match for him, as its defining personality trait is "pride," but it is an Earth/Fire-combination in terms of its elemental aspect, which dovetails with Shirou's own (theoretical, non-Sword) elements.

. . . If I went with the creature whose defining personality trait is "cynical," on the other hand, he'd be the Kyubi's container (which is not an unappealing prospect . . . ).

Speaking of Shirou, would he Tracing possibly qualify as a bloodline? Because if so, considering the fact that the Naruto World DOES have incredibly powerful legendary weapons, it might just be the world where he gets Noble Phantasms back even if he still can't use Unlimited Blade Works.

. . . Truthfully, I'd be more tempted to give him a Sharingan; it seems the closest in-setting match for his abilities.

[Kieran]

After the Battle of Hogwarts








Nobody saw it coming, although they should have.

They had already collected most of the obvious facts involved, after all: Voldemort was fully capable of concocting and executing convoluted plans with backups and fail-safes, often taking years to reach fruition. He was also a vindictive son of a bitch, perfectly willing to destroy what he couldn’t possess—and he’d broken into the Ministry years before—to hear a prophecy, they’d thought at the time, and he’d certainly tried, but he’d also laid a Portkey enchantment as a later trap, allowing him to kidnap Neville’s grandmother long afterwards.

. . . Really, it should’ve come as no surprise that, on his way through the Department of Mysteries, he might’ve made another stop. But it hadn’t occurred to any of them, either at the time or years later—and so Voldemort’s dying curse, a final strike at his enemies, went unnoticed, until it was too late.

With the death of the Dark Lord, the Department of Mysteries ended its lockdown, returning once more to “normal” reality; and the enchantment, sensing the link to its master’s life having been severed, did as it was meant to do—and blew the veiled arch in the Room of Death to pieces.

And it took the world—or at least, a very significant part of that world—with it.








Ilyasviel awoke feeling like the Wicked Witch of the East; in other words, as though someone had dropped a tornado-propelled house on her head.

(. . . OK, so it was a ridiculous simile, and proof positive that she’d either spent far too much time around Galen and his stupid pop culture references, or she’d just seen that movie much too often—she’d liked the colours, as a child—but it didn’t make it any less accurate an observation.)

With that feeling in mind, however, one could perhaps forgive Ilyasviel for taking several moments to realise that A) she no longer had her wand on her person, and B), she wasn’t anywhere near Hogwarts.


. . . One could especially forgive her, she thought, given that the first sensation that registered to her after pain was cold—which made sense, an idle corner of her mind supposed, when she finally realised that she was in a room with ice-brick walls!

Taking a deep breath, Ilyasviel pushed down her alarm, and delved into her head, trying to sort out how she’d gotten here; not to mention where, exactly, “here” was . . .

. . . I’m a princess, now? And no magic, as such, but I am a “Waterbender”—oh, no, this is that Avatar series, isn’t it?

Ilyasviel frowned. No magic meant no Occlumency (though some of the techniques could and did apply to mundane mental activities), which meant that her recall of the series was, to put it mildly, imperfect. It wasn’t really surprising, as she was drawing on memories that really weren’t her own for the knowledge, after all . . . But she did remember “Princess Yue, of the Northern Water Tribe,” because Galen had thought of her fondly—he’d found her name and strikingly white hair attractive (which utterly shocked Ilyasviel; really, it did).

And as such, she also remembered that Yue was supposed to die.

If I needed proof that my adaptation matrix was still working, that would be it, the former Grail thought grimly. Why else would I get slotted into the “highborn sacrificial snow maiden” character’s identity?

Well, she had no plans to die, which meant that she had a besieging army to stop, before they managed to kill one of this country’s patron spirits. And for that matter, she also had no plans to fall in love with a certain Water Tribe boy, either . . .

. . . After all, her husband was far more likely to be a Firebender—and wouldn’t that be a headache, given that they were in the process of trying to conquer the world?








Shirou, Metalbending swordsman and archer, to say nothing of a key figure in the Earth Kingdom’s rebellion against the occupying Fire Nation, sneezed suddenly.








On finding himself in the robes of a Fire Sage, and with the designation of “Novitiate,” Galen knew he was in trouble.

Never mind the fact that his lore regarding Avatar: The Last Airbender wasn’t nearly as complete as he would’ve liked; he was presently in the freaking heart of a conquering nation that was (maybe) a step or two away from Nazi Germany. Worse, he was of a low enough social level to be somewhere in the middle of the food chain, at best, and of a high enough power level to be noticed.

After all, the ability to Bend lightning, while theoretically available to all Firebenders, was considered a master’s skill. It was part of why Princess Azula was considered a prodigy, having achieved it at fourteen—and while Galen was still sorting through his memories, he was willing to bet that he could outstrip her by a wide margin in its use. Never mind the sheer force he could probably bring to bear; just knowing what he did about electricity and biology suggested some creative uses for the ability.

I hope that my native self has had the sense to hide some of his talent—Ozai’s the sort to use it, but never trust it. I’ll be under surveillance—not that I’m probably not, anyway, since I’m a member of the Fire Sages. They’re basically Ozai’s yes-men now, but their traditional authority carries more weight with the common people.

He sighed. It was going to make escape awfully hard, especially since he had no real idea of where to go. The world of Avatar wasn’t exactly small, and depending on what the criteria were for how his current incarnation had been formed, most of his friends could be scattered to the four corners of it.

. . . And that’s if they’re even still alive . . .

He shook his head, not wanting to think about the possibility, but unable to deny it; Ilya’s working had originally only been cast on the four of them—Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and their families had no such protection. At worst, only he, Ilya and Shirou might’ve survived, as they were all spiritual existences, not mortal beings, at their cores.

Either way, it was going to be a while before he could consider things properly settled enough to even consider trying to fight the Fire Nation—no easy feat, given that they were, in general, a lot more numerous than Voldemort’s forces. There was a reason the Avatar had been needed, after all . . .

Yet another person I can’t be sure actually still exists—or in what form . . .







On finding herself half-buried in a glacier—and biologically twelve—Rin had only one possible response.

“Someone," she said flatly, “is going to die.”

[Reinholdt]

I find I now want to see Rin as a pissed off Avatar.
At least she can be secure in the fact that her standing as an Average One has basically carried over.

[Kieran]

I find I now want to see Rin as a pissed off Avatar.

*Chuckles* Glad you enjoyed it.

At least she can be secure in the fact that her standing as an Average One has basically carried over.

Yeah - I'd originally thought of Ilya in the role, but that made more sense to me (and didn't add even more drama by wrecking lots of relationships in the process).

. . . In any case, I thought this particular crossover had/has a great deal of potential, without being too world-breaking in the process.

[GhostKing 666]

On finding himself in the robes of a Fire Sage, and with the designation of “Novitiate,” Galen knew he was in trouble.

Never mind the fact that his lore regarding Avatar: The Last Airbender wasn’t nearly as complete as he would’ve liked; he was presently in the freaking heart of a conquering nation that was (maybe) a step or two away from Nazi Germany.

Yeah, if he's comparing the Fire Nation to Nazi Germany I'll say his knowledge of Avatar lore could use some work. The Fire Nation is basically a 19th Century Imperialist European empire, with a history of fewer human rights violations(which is ironically funny in its own right, the evil, imperialist empire in a children's cartoon is actually morally better then say King Leopold the Second of Belgium). Heck the century long war was even started over the Fire Nation believing it had the local equivalent of the White Man's Burden and that by being the most technologically advanced nation(and thus the most civilized) on the planet it was therefore it's responsibility to take over, uplift and civilize its lesser neighbors.

Nah, the closest nation to a fascist state like Nazi Germany would be Kuvira's Earth Empire during Korra's time, not the Fire Nation during Aang's time.

[Kieran]

Yeah, if he's comparing the Fire Nation to Nazi Germany I'll say his knowledge of Avatar lore could use some work. The Fire Nation is basically a 19th Century Imperialist European empire, with a history of fewer human rights violations(which is ironically funny in its own right, the evil, imperialist empire in a children's cartoon is actually morally better then say King Leopold the Second of Belgium). Heck the century long war was even started over the Fire Nation believing it had the local equivalent of the White Man's Burden and that by being the most technologically advanced nation(and thus the most civilized) on the planet it was therefore it's responsibility to take over, uplift and civilize its lesser neighbors.

Nah, the closest nation to a fascist state like Nazi Germany would be Kuvira's Earth Empire during Korra's time, not the Fire Nation during Aang's time.

While I'll be the first to agree that A), it's basically a fantasy Imperialist Asia (China primarily, but not exclusively), and B) it's been a number of years since I watched the series, I also seem to recall Ozai planning to get rid of "lesser benders" by literally scorching the earth.

. . . Depending on how accurate said recollection is, (and noting that Galen's memories will be even more hazy, being over two decades' more distance removed), it's not an unreasonable first reaction.

[GhostKing 666]

While I'll be the first to agree that A), it's basically a fantasy Imperialist Asia (China primarily, but not exclusively), and B) it's been a number of years since I watched the series, I also seem to recall Ozai planning to get rid of "lesser benders" by literally scorching the earth.

. . . Depending on how accurate said recollection is, (and noting that Galen's memories will be even more hazy, being over two decades' more distance removed), it's not an unreasonable first reaction.

From what I remember, Ozai's plan wasn't to get rid of lesser benders specifically but to purge the Earth Kingdom of inhabitants as a means of ending Earth Kingdom resistance to Fire Nation rule. Basically a repeat of what happened with Air Nomads a hundred years previously. And even that's subject to skepticism because we actually know where Ozai tried to start his purge, the Wulong Forest. Which happens to be hundreds of miles away from the nearest major Earth Kingdom population center. In fact, according to the comic "The Promise" there are probably more Fire Nation colonies in the area then Earth Kingdom villages.

And when one takes into account both the limited speed of Fire Nation airships and the limited amount of time of the comet based boost to firebending, and there's some serious doubt over whether Ozai's plan was to actually try to genocide the earth kingdom or if he just wanted to burn a huge scar into the ground and try and intimidate any would be rebels into capitulating. That or maybe Ozai had really just gone so insane by that point that he really thought he could genocide the earth kingdom from where he was in the time he had available and at the speed he was going at and wasn't going to let little things like Reality and Geography deter him from what he wanted to do.

[Xamusel]

Hey, Kieran, what's the status on your updates? Are you going to show us a new chapter of this? Or is there no new chapter?

[Kieran]

Hey, Kieran, what's the status on your updates? Are you going to show us a new chapter of this? Or is there no new chapter?

I have a small snippet (see below). As to the actual Trinity story - it's slow, but I am making progress. After several weeks of "first sentence on first page," I've got almost three pages done. I'm hoping, barring incidents, to be at least close to finishing by the end of next week.

. . . And now, in a slightly more mainstream Narutoverse than my original concept . . .








Land of Demons




There were, Shirou supposed, a number of reasons to laugh for this.

Firstly, there was the fact that he was basically in a setting that really would allow him to achieve his childhood dream of being a Hero of Justice; that was what shonen manga stories were for, after all.

Secondly, his old aria, while not being perfectly applicable any more, was far more accurate now than it had been over the last seven (or seventeen, depending on how you looked at it) years of his life. Steel was his body (at least, if you counted his armour); and fire really was in his blood—fire chakra, to be more specific, or at least an affinity for it.

And while he wasn’t metaphysically made up of thousands of blades any more, he carried a number of swords into battle that, by channelling chakra through them, could mimic a number of effects; a number which, it had to be admitted, had just increased dramatically if he could manage to properly recreate certain Noble Phantasm effects through them. An Excalibur blast on the order of something Saber could produce was almost certainly out of his league, for example—he’d never have the chakra for it—but the ones with lesser effects, like Invisible Air or possibly even Rule Breaker, were potentially doable.

A dark, vindictive part of Shirou grinned. What he could do with that in particular, here, if he was able to use it . . .

(After all, Naruto had been around when he was a teenager, though obviously it had been several decades since he’d read any of it; Ilya, however, remembered more—if not nearly as much as either of them would like—of the series, so he knew there were several seals that just begged for Rule Breaker’s attention . . .)

The biggest reason to laugh, however, was that despite all that, he’d still managed to end up as a Faker, of sorts, in this world: he was a samurai rather than a ninja—and a rogue one, a ronin, at that.

Which means that I have no common ground with most of the people in this world, no support from the ones I do have common ground with, and virtually no authority of my own, he concluded, before adding cynically, In other words, business as usual.

Still, it wasn’t all bad, he reflected. Kiritsugu was in the same boat, so he had some backup in a fight—he more or less dismissed the common guardsmen, since Ilya said their performance against four ninja (albeit enhanced ones) hadn’t been all that effective. And Iris and Ilya had authority, if more spiritual than temporal, as the Priestesses of Demon Country, even if they were a minor nation.

. . . More importantly, while they had been blown out of “the Harry Potter world,” the links between them all had allowed Ilya’s adaptation spell to cover them all, meaning that Ai was here—not gone, or dead, or nonexistent. And as icing on the proverbial cake, they all retained their memories of their past existences; if nothing else, Kiritsugu was curious to see if he could recreate Time Accel to add to his iaido techniques.

Still, Shirou wasn’t blind to the potential threats, either. Big events were going to be happening in their new world—potentially world-ending events—and they hadn’t the resources to stop them. Hell, they didn’t even know the whole story, let alone how much of what they knew was correct . . .

And after their experiences in Hogwarts, everyone was well aware of the danger in taking the written canon as immutable.

They needed contacts; for allies, supplies, and above all, information. That meant dealing with a ninja village, who were not historically well-disposed to outsiders, much less samurai, rogue or otherwise, poking their noses around things the ninjas deemed a secret. And that was just the everyday type—it didn’t even begin to factor in the number of secret conspiracies, cabals and plots that were involved with the Naruto storyline . . . Still, they had no choice, really: they had to go to Konohagakure, The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Shirou just hoped they’d all survive the experience.








Konohagakure, Hyuga Compound








“All right,” Takara sighed. “Here we go again: good, and bad.

“Good: we’re all still alive, even if our entire history has been changed again—surname included, this time.” She scowled in annoyance at that. At least she’d been allowed to still be Takara Aozaki as a witch . . .

“Bad,” she continued, “I have no idea where we are, really. Or when.” This was true; she had a general idea that she was in the Hidden Leaf village, but that was mainly because she’d been unable not to know certain things about Naruto as a child. It had been one of those things that were just too popular to avoid completely, even if she’d tried.

Still, while she’d caught a few episodes (and movies) here and there, it had never been a series she’d counted as her favourite—and that was close to a decade ago, minimum, in terms of her life experience, anyways. Without her Occlumency to really sharpen her memory, she couldn’t say with certainty where she was in its timeline, or what would happen—and that was if this timeline was supposed to match the canon one in the first place.

“Good news,” she began again, “I’ve got some nifty new powers, including one that makes me a little more than the standard-issue Hyuga . . .” She scowled again. “And the bad news is that I’m a walking icemaker, and my eyes look weird.”

Honestly, the latter bothered her most. She looked blind, for heaven’s sake! And the less said about the network of bulging veins that sprang up across her face when she actually used her Byakugan, the better.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Nanaya,” Takara whined. Sure, she’d been a homicidal personality with yandere tendencies towards her boyfriend, but at least with the eye-powers she came equipped with, only their colour changed . . .

. . . Which brought her to the rest of the “bad.”

“I have no idea where anyone other than my parents is, and while Dad remembers everything, he never watched the series, either—which means no way of confirming my information, no backup—”

. . . And no Shirou or Neville to train with, no Hermione or Galen to cuddle with, no Ginny to distract her, or Luna to make her laugh . . . She was honestly and truly alone.

And it was terrifying.

A sudden puff of smoke caught her attention, sending her body into a Gentle Fist stance instinctively (one of the many new reflexes she was integrating)—only to freeze when it cleared.

The revealed figure was large, for a cat—it looked like a housecat in appearance and but the size of it was closer to a bobcat or similar wild feline. Its fur was black as night, glossy and silken-looking; its golden eyes were wide, and gleamed eerily for a moment. Oddly, it wore a forehead-protector that appeared much like hers, though it was adorned with the kanji for “loyalty,” rather than the stylised leaf that symbolised the village.

Takara couldn’t bring herself to speak for a moment—couldn’t bring herself to breathe. Adrenaline, inflamed by an almost frantic hope, closed her throat. Then, through sheer desperation, she forced herself to whisper shakily, “. . . Mirai?”

The cat responded by leaping at her, crying wildly, “Myine!”

[hatori]

Still waiting patiently for the next installment of Trinity

[Kieran]

Continuing . . .




November 2016








To borrow her husband’s turn of phrase, calling Takara Salvatore an unhappy woman was an understatement that was very nearly criminal in scale.

She had never particularly been a fan of the way things had been run in Nihon; given the prejudice she’d faced in her childhood, there was no other possibility. Add to that the problems that had come about a result of the Tohno feud, to say nothing of their near-lethal encounters last year, and to say she’d be perfectly happy never need to deal with Nihon and its politics again was another nearly criminal understatement.

. . . And then her husband got caught up in them.

For the last six months, half a year, she had no idea of where he was or what was happening to him—and she wouldn’t know him if she literally tripped over him in the street. And it was still better than the alternative: if they’d had anything less in terms of political pull, he would have been executed outright.

I saved—no, we saved—the country from a goddess and they’d still have killed him. Thank heavens that Elise was at Hogwarts for all of this . . .

When the request had come, Takara had very nearly turned it down, giri be damned. She was Japanese at her core, yes, but she was also a wife and mother who had grown up in a country with very-often-different standards and the people who were ordering her to help now had attacked her family . . . To hell with duty, had been her initial response; let them suffer.

But when she’d calmed a bit, other facts had asserted themselves in her mind: that innocent people, unrelated to her troubles or the running of the society responsible for them, were in danger. One person, innocent or not, had already been killed. She was possibly the only hope they had to survive whatever it was behind the Phantom Thieves—and Galen would hold himself responsible if they died.

Guilt had overpowered anger, and gotten her to the Portkey. From there, reactivating her cover identity within the Public Security Intelligence Agency was easy; in point of fact, it had been maintained for just such scenarios. She kept her with her qualifications, did no paperwork but drew no salary, and her existence as an agent was classified within the Agency itself—but the credentials were there, when she needed them. She had a similar setup with Britain’s security services, as well, and to an extent, both countries were aware of it.

(In terms of her security clearance level, this meant that she was strictly “need-to-know” on a case-by-case basis as a result, but both agencies found having a liaison useful, from time to time.)

It wasn’t until she was on her way to the operation area, however, that Takara had received her first reason to want to be there—and it came from a simple phone call . . .

“I’m not what I used to be,” Mariko’s voice had said, in a “sorry/not sorry” tone. “And what I am still mostly limits me to Inaba, as far as power and influence go—but we have a bond, you and I, and I can still remember how Long-Nose used to tell fortunes. I’m not as good as him, but I’m good enough to tell a few things, for certain.

“He’s there, Takara. Shrouded in lies as thick as any fog, he’s somewhere in the place that you’re going, waiting to be found—and still being who he is . . . And Takara? Please, be careful—you’re not the type to get your heart stolen, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be destroyed . . .”








. . . And that message had led her to here: standing on a rooftop outside a casino that didn’t quite exist. It wasn’t precisely the same as Izanami’s TV World, but as Teddie had once described a similar environment, it was “in the same neighbourhood.” Or, as Rin had put it, “It’s just a different facet of the same jewel.”

That had her both a little more and less wary; more, because Persona-users could pull off ridiculous feats, such as these Phantom Thieves were allegedly capable of, and less, because most Persona-users lacked the sheer versatility of a witch or wizard—with the natural exception, of course, being those who were, like herself, both . . . Or at least, she used to be. Whether or not she could still call upon Kushinada in this world, she couldn’t be certain; however, the fact that she was more aware of her surroundings than her “colleagues” implied that she was still a Persona-user.

And just in case her quarry was a witch or wizard, she put up Anti-Apparition Jinxes and Portkey-blocking Charms on her location (specifically, a “roach motel” version that allowed people to Apparate in, but not out), just in case. This was an ideal Apparition point for overseeing things without actually being seen, making it an excellent escape route, as well.

From high above, the Japanese witch watched as a virtual army of policeman waited to corner the Phantom Thieves. Oddly enough, they hadn’t seemed to notice the shift between layers in reality; and she’d have the sudden appearance of a casino in the courthouse block ought to have drawn some comment. Was it like the “Dark Hour” Shirou and the others had encountered in Iwatodai, Takara wondered, and therefore only noticeable to Persona-users? That would explain how the Phantom Thieves had managed to accomplish what they had and remain wholly unseen—

The radio earpiece she was wearing buzzed to life, and her supernatural vision spotted movement within the casino. From the accompanying chatter, to say nothing of the faint, quick bursts of gunshots, the Phantom Thieves—no, Thief, singular—had the police all engaged in quite the chase.

Then the figure of said thief burst through the upper window in a swirl of leather and glass shards, before landing easily on the asphalt below . . . And directly into the path of a floodlight.

Takara squinted, doing her best to pick out what detail she could from her current vantage point. From what she could see, the target’s general appearance was something like The Shadow crossed with the Phantom of the Opera; whether that was deliberate, her own biases showing, or an aspect of this particular plane of reality, she couldn’t say. She didn’t have time to really consider the possibilities, however, as the Phantom Thief quickly vanished from the street in a burst of black smoke—

Only to Apparate into view on the rooftop, not more than six metres from her.

Years of practice had her blade in hand almost as swiftly as the impulse went through her mind. It was time to do her duty—and get this over with . . .








“. . . GALEN?!”

Takara would deny to her dying day that she’d yelped; she had an image to maintain.

“. . . You broke it . . .” He sounded shocked, ecstatic and relieved all at the same time.

Takara shook her head. “I was thinking of you as the Phantom, not—”

“Not as me,” he concluded, “or as my alias—which is the only way to break that damned ritual.” He chuckled. “It’s not easy, is it?”

“No,” she growled, even as she increased the concealment and protection spells around them. “Anata, just what is going on here? How on earth did you manage to go from probation in the mundane world, to this?”

He sighed. “It’s a long story, and here and now’s not the time or place to tell it.” He waved his hand, conjuring a slip of paper. “Meet me there when you can, all right? You won’t know me, but I’ll know you; and I’ll tell you everything I can, Taka-chan.”

Saying that, and with a roar of thunder as he shattered her preventative measures, her husband Disapparated.

[fsnfan]

Err... I'm not sure what just happened. Can anyone explain this to me? Why can't Takara recognize Galen?

[Kieran]

My own fault for following the game's in media res start, I suppose . . . *Shakes head*

Per the Persona 5 storyline, Galen would've been arrested and charged for assaulting a politically-powerful individual who was in the midst of an attempted rape. As a result of several compromises, Galen has been placed "on probation": to wit, he has to maintain himself as a law-abiding citizen of Japan for the period of a year and a day. As part of his punishment, his identity is sealed under the same ritual Kohaku used to infiltrate Hogwarts; as if under a Fidelius Charm, he has no connection to his actual identity, and no one can make the connection.

. . . Needless to say, several people aren't happy about this, least of all Galen himself.

And while trying to pretend to be "an ordinary high school student," he finds himself in the midst of yet another Persona incident - this one a bit more broad (and containing Fate/Stay Night parallels) than the serial murders of Inaba . . . However Rai Burnout feels (and I tend to agree), that if any of the Persona games are built with Galen in mind as the protagonist, this one is it.

[fsnfan]

... That doesn't make much sense. I don't care how influential the guy was supposed to be is. Without magic, there is no way that Galen (and his cohorts) would've let the charges stick. One dose of veritaserum and the guy would be admitting his own crimes in court.

I' d believe it if Galen was sent in undercover to investigate some anomalies detected around the area of Persona 5's setting but the current premise has too many holes in it to be believable.

[Kieran]

... That doesn't make much sense. I don't care how influential the guy was supposed to be is. Without magic, there is no way that Galen (and his cohorts) would've let the charges stick. One dose of veritaserum and the guy would be admitting his own crimes in court.

I' d believe it if Galen was sent in undercover to investigate some anomalies detected around the area of Persona 5's setting but the current premise has too many holes in it to be believable.

Persona 5 is a bit different, compared to the other two games; its plot isn't nearly as random, which means that while there is some leeway, avoiding the initial setup virtually voids the entire story.

The way I chose to handle it was this: while it certainly is possible to prove his innocence via magic, it is not possible to do so without breaking the Statute of Secrecy (which, despite being more integrated into the mundane world, Nihon still does adhere to). By the same token, however, it's not really possible for a mundane prison to hold Galen, either - and that's without getting into the diplomatic pressures Britain and its allies can bring to bear. But at the same time, the victim is too powerful to simply dismiss all charges - and as previously noted, Nihon in general doesn't really like foreigners . . .

As such, a compromise was reached: he would serve probation for a year, under an assumed identity, which would be set up to be the one responsible for the assault; memories and trace evidence can be altered or fabricated as necessary. If Galen can serve out his time, he'll be acknowledged to be a legally responsible individual, and face no penalty from the magical side of Japan for the attack - and the alias can quietly vanish into the system, justly punished for "his" crimes.

. . . Of course, as the plot of Persona 5 progresses, you learn that that one incident actually serves as the foundation for a much bigger conflict . . .

Does that make more sense?

[fsnfan]

Sorry for the late reply.

Anyway, I still think that the premise is still insufficient. Like I mentioned, Galen and his cohorts wouldn't have let the charges stick. Statute of Secrecy be damned, especially since the guy who's framing Galen was an attempted rapist. Like hell they'd let the guy get away with it. They would've found a way to circumvent the magic detection. A combo of the Invisibility Cloak, veritaserum and a cup of coffee/tea/alcohol would do the job nicely.

[MWkillkenny84]

Sorry for the late reply.

Anyway, I still think that the premise is still insufficient. Like I mentioned, Galen and his cohorts wouldn't have let the charges stick. Statute of Secrecy be damned, especially since the guy who's framing Galen was an attempted rapist. Like hell they'd let the guy get away with it. They would've found a way to circumvent the magic detection. A combo of the Invisibility Cloak, veritaserum and a cup of coffee/tea/alcohol would do the job nicely.

I second the objections.

Sorry Kieran, but the only way the Trinity can get in Persona 5 without an excessive dose of Reality Ensues-based opposition would be for them to be in the Post-BtVS phase or a "Voldemort pull a 'I die, I will take you with me!' contingency plan" (like the Naruto and RWBY scenarios). Meaning, it has to be a complete change.

P3 and P4 have backgrounds that are removed from the (greater) public eye (boring and sleepy inland-town Inaba for P4 and the Dark Hour in Tatsumi Port Island for P3), and thus they can be placed in the Scarlet Seven part of the Trinity Angels saga.

P5? Too in the open. Can't work under the premises.

[Kieran]

Sorry for the late reply.

S'OK - I've been dealing with carpal tunnel flare-ups all week; no chance to write. Still not 100%, so my answers will be short - sorry.

Anyway, I still think that the premise is still insufficient. Like I mentioned, Galen and his cohorts wouldn't have let the charges stick. Statute of Secrecy be damned, especially since the guy who's framing Galen was an attempted rapist. Like hell they'd let the guy get away with it. They would've found a way to circumvent the magic detection. A combo of the Invisibility Cloak, veritaserum and a cup of coffee/tea/alcohol would do the job nicely.

I second the objections.

Sorry Kieran, but the only way the Trinity can get in Persona 5 without an excessive dose of Reality Ensues-based opposition would be for them to be in the Post-BtVS phase or a "Voldemort pull a 'I die, I will take you with me!' contingency plan" (like the Naruto and RWBY scenarios). Meaning, it has to be a complete change.

P3 and P4 have backgrounds that are removed from the (greater) public eye (boring and sleepy inland-town Inaba for P4 and the Dark Hour in Tatsumi Port Island for P3), and thus they can be placed in the Scarlet Seven part of the Trinity Angels saga.

P5? Too in the open. Can't work under the premises.

Fair enough, guys.

[Kieran]

Konohagakure, “The Village Hidden in the Leaves”








Minato Namikaze was many things. Among them, he was a master of sealing ninjutsu, the newest holder of the title “Hokage,” leader of The Village Hidden in the Leaves, a man renowned for his speed and battle prowess. Indeed, the latter was so great that he had slain half a Hidden Village’s shinobi in a single battle, earning him additional the title of “Yellow Flash,” by virtue of his blond hair.

(The fact that he was blond-haired and blue-eyed, a colouring more commonly associated with Westerners than someone who bore a Japanese name, features, and lived in a Japanese-themed society, was an anachronism that no one seemed to remark on. One of many in the world . . . But I digress.)

At this particular moment in time, however—when his wife was giving birth to their first child—he was a man under attack.

The identity of his attacker was unknown; the shinobi was dark-haired, but wore a full orange face mask, decorated in a spiral pattern that centred on a single eyehole. That the eye peering from it was one of the renowned and feared Sharingan eyes certainly narrowed the possibilities, but hardly eliminated them. The entire Uchiha clan had dark hair, and Sharingan were common, albeit not universal, among them. Moreover, the Sharingan itself was fairly uniform in appearance—barring certain evolved exceptions, of course; but Minato was hardly aware of that.

In truth, if he had been, it wouldn’t have changed a great deal. The unique patterns of the Mangekyo Sharingan were only useful as identifying marks if you knew who the marks belonged to, and he did not. However, it was a testament to Minato Namikaze’s skill as a ninja that he was able to battle a wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan on more or less equal terms, even when caught by surprise—any wielder of it possessed abilities that made them capable of killing ninjas of the Kage rank; in some cases with horrifying ease. Minato, however, was a certified genius in his fields of specialty, and no slouch in any others, either—he wouldn’t have achieved the rank he had at so young an age, otherwise.

. . . All of which only made the situation all the more frustrating for him, because he was still losing.

Finally, the masked bastard pulled a trump card: his newborn son, less than a minute old, wrapped in explosive tags. It would take barely a twitch, barely a spark of chakra, and the boy he hadn’t even held yet would be in pieces . . . And Minato was neither certain enough of his speed to risk it, nor certain enough of his strength to endure i—

Between one eye-blink and the next, the string of paper seals wrapped around son’s body vanished.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Minato was in motion.

In the space of a breath, the blade in his hand tore through the arm of the man holding his baby—

The room trembled, suddenly, violently; what was meant to be a severing stroke that carried on into the heart was thrown off, incomplete. He still managed to carve the man’s arm off straight through the bicep, but it took all Minato’s reflexes and strength to do anything worse than shave off one of the precious golden hairs from his son’s head in the process.

. . . And by the time he caught his falling child, the bastard was gone.

The room shook again, a terrible indicator of just how much damage was happening beyond the walls. With the strain on Kushina, despite all their precautions, the seal had been broken—the Nine-Tailed Kitsune was free and ravaging Konoha.

“Minato,” moaned the redhead, as though summoned by his thoughts.

He set the child down next to her; they both deserved that much comfort. He wished he could share in it, but if the Nine-Tails was free, then there was only one thing to do. One thing only he could do.

“Just wait here, Kushina,” he said, plastering a smile on his face for her benefit. “I’ll be right back.”








Kushina Uzumaki was many things.

Among them, she was one of the last of the mainline Uzumaki bloodline, a clan renowned for its longevity, vitality, red hair and proficiency in sealing ninjutsu. She had been, until moments before, the jinchuriki, or living jailor, of the Nine-Tailed Kitsune, most powerful and terrible of all the Tailed Beasts. She was personally renowned for her temper, which had earned her the nickname of “Red Hot-Blooded Habenaro” at an early age, was secretly the wife of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and most recently, mother to their son.

One thing she had always been, however, was a very skilled ninja.

And as such, even though she was exhausted, mentally and physically, she wasted no time in lashing out at the presence in the corner of the room—conjuring a golden chain of chakra, one of her signature techniques, to bind it.

“You’re very good at hiding,” Kushina said honestly, making no effort to hide the edge in her voice. “Very good. If you weren’t so close, and if I wasn’t me, I might’ve missed you.” She narrowed her eyes, and sharpened the aforementioned edge. “Especially if you hadn’t done what you did—and so, because you saved my son tonight, I’ll give you one chance to tell me who you are, and what you’re doing here, before I treat you like any other intruder in my village.”

The voice that emerged from the encircling chain was younger than she’d expected, as it answered with a tired sigh, “. . . Would you believe I have a soft spot for children, and a weakness for redheads?”








Shirou sighed, but did not say aloud, “You idiot.”

There was no point in revealing the existence of the communications mirrors, nor the fact that one was active, after all.

Tearing himself away from what was liable to be Galen’s brutal and messy death at the hands of an enraged new mother in the next thirty seconds, he focussed on the task at hand: specifically, the several-stories-tall fox made out of orange-red flames that was presently stomping around the village.

. . . Well, actually, that wasn’t true; there was such a fox, but his task was to get the masked guy that had set it loose and then mind-controlled it into going berserk in the first place.

He was no longer the Heroic Spirit Archer, and magic didn’t quite seem to work the same way in this world (as evidenced by the fact that Galen’s Anti-Apparition Jinx hadn’t stopped the bastard from teleporting out of there, or maybe it was his technique), but his eyesight was still pretty damned good. Picking him out didn’t take long, and the fact that his face looked like a bloody bull’s-eye just made aiming for his target all the easier.

He didn’t use a bow. According to Galen and Ilya’s information, there were maybe a dozen Noble Phantasm-quality weapons on this world, none of which he had seen, and he still couldn’t Trace worth a damn. Besides, arrows were a common weapon in this world, and so was the tactic of throwing around big, flashy bolts of energy—ninja knew how to dodge them.

With the schizoid technology levels around here, making this particular weapon had been difficult; he’d had to use magic to cheat. But if the tactic worked as well as the weapon had, it’d be worth it.

From nearly a mile away, Shirou steadied himself in front of the sniper rifle, aimed, and took his shot . . .








Writer's Notes: From "adapted to an AU," to "adapted to a more canon universe," to "straight-out crossover" - I think that's all the major routes.

. . . I would've liked to have the next actual chapter done, but between work and carpal tunnel issues (which are finally easing up a little, on both fronts), this was all I could manage.

Darn it - it's Harry's birthday tomorrow, on the 20th anniversary of the series - I really wanted it done in time!