Magical Storm: Chapter 8

[matsu1nino]

Title: Magic Storm
Pairing: Matsumiya, hints of other pairings
Genre: AU, Dark Fantasy
Disclaimer: Arashi is not mine.
Summary: In their fifth year at Hogwarts, amdist the buzz and excitement of the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament, Jun discovers just how far he will go to salvage his relationship with Nino.
Author's Note: I do like to torture you. Really, I do. No point in denying it. I don't know if this is the continuation you were hoping for in this next chapter but regardless this is it, so enjoy!

Chapter 8

Crowds of people swarmed the bank of the Black Lake, herding down to the boats that would transport them to the floating platforms built upon the surface of the dark waters.

Jun was restless as he walked down the shore to the boat with Toma and Shun. The two of them had helped him track down an ideal spell that would allow him optimal breathing ability whilst completing the second task in the depths of the lake. However having not been able to test the duration of the incantation for an entire hour before the second task came around was causing Jun to become high anxious.

“Jun!”

The sound of his name of his own name made him jolt, turning to catch sight of Sho and Aiba jogging down to the shore.

“Did you and Nino clear things up?” Aiba shouted as the boat Jun had just boarded started to head out further onto the lake. Jun furrowed his brow in confusion. He had seen Ohno on one of the earlier boats but as far as he knew Nino was a no show.

“I haven’t seen him since the ball” Jun called back honestly. He secretly wished Nino had been around but his boyfriend, or rather former boyfriend with how it felt like these days, was still acting like he’d disappeared into thin air.

The shore shrank back into the distance but Aiba’s question was still ringing in his head. The sudden thoughts of his out of sight boyfriend only made him more fidgety.

“You’re going to make the boat tip at this rate” Toma remarked. Jun paid no heed to his words and continued his restless behaviour, rocking slightly and jerking at every tiny wave that hit the side of the boat as they drifted towards the middle of the lake.

“Would you sit still already?” Shun sighed. “It’ll be fine.”

“What do you think Aiba meant by if I’d cleared things up with Nino?” he asked before he could stop himself. Toma and Shun both sent him an incredulous look.

Toma laughed. “Do you really think that’s the right thing to be thinking about now? You’re about to face who knows what a hundred feet underwater.”

Shun gave him a hard shove that shook the boat. “That’s not helping.” He turned to Jun. “But he is right. You need to be focusing right now. Too much stress could lead to over inhaling, which will definitely shorten the time frame of the charm. That’s not something you can afford.”

Jun shook his head clear. “You’re right.”

“You’ll be fine” his friends patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Just try not to think about him.” Knowing they were right, Jun pushed all thoughts of Nino aside and focused his attention on the makeshift islands they were approaching. As their boat made berth and the three climbed onto the platform, Jun took his place with the other champions while Shun and Toma joined the ranks of the Hogwarts crowd. Sho and Aiba soon arrived, cheering alongside them and Ohno. Even as Jun removed his outerwear, he couldn’t help scanning the ranks of the Hogwarts students for any sign of Nino. Despite how hard he was trying to listen to Shun’s advice and not think about him, Jun could not prevent his little lover from climbing back into his thoughts. He wanted to know where he was and struggled to keep his mind focused even when Johnny-san’s voice cut through the air to announce the beginning of the second task.

“Welcome to the second task. Last night something was taken from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These three treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that they'll be on their own.”

As he spoke, Jun stepped up to the edge of the platform in preparation to dive. The charm had already been cast on him and would take effect as soon as he entered the water.

The canon was fired to indicate the start of the challenge and at once all three champions dove into the lake, dividing as they swam deeper in search for the lost treasures they were supposed to recover. Exhaling, the bubbles of lost oxygen shaped together to form a pocket of air surrounding Jun’s mouth. It was suffocating at first as he grew accustomed to the sensation. Half of this charm functioning properly for the full hour was having the psychological strength to convince the mind the body could breathe underwater. He recalled Shun telling him as much when they first uncovered the spell. His body still went into a temporary state of shock at the use of the enchantment however, despite having practiced with it before. Jun shut his eyes for a moment to recollect himself, thinking calming thoughts to slow his breathing. His air would run out far too quickly should he start to hyperventilate.

Jun caught a glimpse of the other competitors and the enchantments the two of them had used to aid them in this task before they vanished into the murky waters. Sakamoto’s mouth was concealed with a bubble of oxygen just as Jun’s was, albeit without the consequential suffocation that Jun had suffered. Clearly he’d had far more experience with the spell than Jun did. Takeuchi’s charm was far more eye catching. Her lower half had been transfigured into a smooth single limb that resembled a dolphin’s tail, allowing her to move through the water in a streamline motion. He could see no gills or air pocket, so Jun could only assume the transfiguration spell also provided her with the prolonged lung capacity of a marine mammal.

Jun swam as swiftly as he could through the water, reaching a thicket of dense seagrass obscuring the view ahead. He weaved his way in and out of the vegetation extending from the seabed. Faint singing identical to the ones that had been contained in the egg sounded all around him. The water amplified the music and made it impossible to determine where it was coming from. Movement caught his eye. Glancing over his shoulder, he barely had time to register the fishlike creature swimming at him before he was knocked effortlessly to the side by his powerful and scaly form. It let out a wail as it swam off. Jun stared after the grime merperson that held no resemblance to the beautiful mural in the prefect’s bathroom, following where it had gone in an effort to track down what they had supposedly stolen from him.

Emerging from the seagrass, he found himself at the edge of a wide and open clearing filled with algae covered ruins. The light shining down from the surface only reached halfway down to the lakebed. Jun knew this was the middle of the lake.

With a quick glance around, he saw neither of the other two champions and assumed he was the first. He swam in the direction of an underwater arch where he could make out the blurred outline of three black figures. As he drew nearer, he could make out the details of the silhouettes. They were bodies tied to the seafloor. A girl Jun had seen with Takeuchi-san a few times, assumedly a close friend, a young man Jun was fairly certain was Sakamoto’s younger brother, and Nino.

Jun gasped, choking on the air being magically held around his mouth. He wasted no time in swimming over to Nino. Grasping his boyfriend’s face, he almost forgot to breathe at all at how cold his skin felt under his touch. He forced himself to look away, swimming down to where he had been bound at the ankle. He hastily got to work freeing him, barely taking any notice of Takeuchi’s arrival at the arch. She streaked through the water over to her ‘treasure’, removing her wand from her thigh to fire at the weed coiled around her friend’s leg. With a small explosion of sparks that sizzled in the chilling waters, the girl was free. Takeuchi seized her arm and started to swim to the surface. Jun watched her go before taking Nino in his arms with the intention of following her when he spotted a couple of stray grindylow trailing her. With no hesitation, he ripped his wand from his leg band and fired at the creatures on her tail. Takeuchi stopped in the water when a small explosion occurred beneath her tail. She saw the remains of the grindylow and glanced back at Jun who was only now starting to swim after her. She gave a quick nod of gratitude.

Jun had just started his ascent when Sakamoto appeared. He had barely made it into the clearing when an onslaught of grindylow swarmed him. They clawed at his limbs, his body vanishing under the mass of scaly infantile creatures. Jun had stopped, gaze flickering up to the surface before being drawn back to where Sakamoto was struggling against the flocking beasts.

A dazzling sphere of light was released, firing the grindylow in every which direction off the Durmstrang champion. He made a move in the direction of the remaining treasure before the merpeople who had been scattered throughout the clearing surrounded him, their trident-like weapons aimed at his throat. Jun couldn’t make out any words but he could hear the vicious hissing of the sea-folk. He looked on in horror as the water around Sakamoto clouded with the distinct shade of human blood. Momentarily cursing his conscience, Jun released Nino and pushed him up towards the surface before swimming as quickly as he could over to where the merpeople were attacking his fellow champion. He pointed his wand at the creatures and fired an array of hexes, sending a spark back towards the tie keeping Sakamoto’s brother fastened to the bottom of the lake. The merpeople snarled and spat at him, chasing after him just as he’d intended. Jun caught sight of the wounded Sakamoto weakly swimming towards his brother to help ensure they both reached the surface. It was the last Jun saw of them as he was swarmed by the merpeople. He felt himself being crushed between their bodies, their heavy tails slamming into him with bone-shattering force. With every passing moment he could feel his air supply running low.

Gripping his wand tight, he fired towards the attackers below him. “Incendio” he cried out as the last of his oxygen was used up. The blinding inferno propelled him higher through the water as it burned a great number of the merpeople. Struggling to remain awake under the lack of oxygen and crushing force of the depths, not the mention the many injuries he was sure to have acquired from the merpeople, Jun felt a cold rush of air hit his back as he finally reached the top of the lake. He stretched back, his head breaking the surface. Oxygen flowed into his lungs almost painfully. Only half conscious, Jun barely registered the arm that wrapped around his chest to pull him back to the safety of the floating platform. He has hauled onto the deck, coughing as he struggled to breathe. He was surrounded by people even before he was fully out of the water.

“I want all the judges over here now” he vaguely heard Johnny-san yell as someone else demanded they bring another towel for him. Jun gazed up at those around him with his still slightly blurred vision, dwarfed by the massive white towels that had been thrown around him. Sakamoto was kneeling next to him with a stunned expression.

“You saved me” he said, full of gratitude and shock. He glanced up quickly to his brother who was drying himself off beside him. “You saved us both. Thank you.”

Jun dipped his head in acceptance of his gratitude, knowing he would be currently unable to speak even if he were to try. There was not much time for him to finish catching his breath before he was dragged into a crushing hug by his friends who Jun was fairly certain weren’t supposed to be outside the spectator stands, not that they seemed to care at all.

“Jun, you must be freezing!” Toma exclaimed, though Aiba refused to release him as though trying to transfer his own body heat into Jun. Sho practically buried Jun as he covered him with a third towel, bickering nonstop with Ohno about how risky what he had done was while their sleepy friend protested it was very admirable. Jun wasn’t listening. Instead his exhausted gaze was focused on where Nino was crouched nearby, draped in a towel himself while his wet hair was sticking out in all different directions. Combined with the slight pout formed on his lips, Jun thought he gave off the impression of a drenched puppy.

“Attention, attention” Johnny-san announced, and everyone on the platforms fell into a hushed silence. “The winner is Takeuchi Yuko.” The Beauxbaton girls cheered loudly before the Hogwarts headmaster continued. “However, under the consideration that Matsumoto-san would have finished first if not for his determination to rescue not only the treasures, but his fellow champions as well, we’ve decided to award him joint first place.”

The cheering from his friends around him and the other students in the stands were muffled as his ears numbed to the sounds, Johnny-san’s words echoing in his mind. He could see Sho looking thoughtful as he calculated the numbers in his head, adding the points earnt from the first task and coming to the same conclusion Jun. He was in first.

Comments

[nekom1ya.livejournal.com]

YAAAAAAYYYY GO JUN!!!! wow so many nice alterations here! I thought he would rescue takeuchi's 'treasure' but no turns out to be sakamoto's lil bro heheh.. thank god that sakamoto or his bro didn't kiss jun XDD
A wet puppy!! Nawww I can sooo imagine that heheh :3 how cute when jun grasped his face >< and was freaked out feeling nino's cold skin.. well I would be too tbh
BTW I LOVE HOW YOU DESCRIBED ACTION SCENES!!! I realised I never commented on it before but I just wanna let you know that they're awesome!
Btw do you know what's the spell that mcgonagall used to do that to the 'treasures'? I can't find it anywhere..