We took an early break that night to prepare for Ahsoka’s tournament, but we didn’t have to wake up early since the event wasn’t until that evening. Plus, it was a Saturday and this was an older Hogwarts, so we didn’t even have to sneak out. We just needed to wait for evening for one of the thestral carriages to take us down to Hogsmeade.

  Although we did have to wait for two carriages to carry all 12 of us since there was no way that we would all fit in only one. Thea also needed to head back to the shuttle since we had no idea what type of security checks the Goblins would do in their bank. We had already used Ahri’s illusions in the bank to hide her features, and a lot of other hon-human customers probably did the same, but I was sure that didn’t extend to sneaking another entire person into their bank.

  Getting out of the carriages down the street from the Three Broomsticks, we headed in and stopped for a butterbeer before heading over to the floo. Making sure to pay a knut for the use of their floo powder, we were gone from Hogsmeade only to arrive a few dizzying seconds later in the waiting area in Gringotts… and then were forced to step into a line to wait for a bank teller.

  I had considered heading to the Leaky Cauldron and exploring the alley for a bit as another date, but we would have needed to hide Holly’s features to avoid making a scene, and it didn’t seem worth it when most of the items could be found as easily in Hogsmeade where the people had become a lot more used to seeing her around.

  When we arrived at the front of the line, the goblin grunted while not even looking up at us. “Name and business?”

  I sighed, already reminding myself why I tried to avoid goblins whenever possible.

  However, I didn’t need to answer as next to me, and either not as annoyed or better at hiding it, Ahsoka spoke up in a clear, imperious tone. “Ahsoka Tano, I am ready for me and my companions to be taken down for tonight’s competition.”

  The goblin blinked in surprise before a somewhat vicious smirk crossed his face, but his tone was much warmer. “Ah, Miss Tano. If you would follow me.”

  Was that because he knew Ahsoka wasn’t human? Or was it because he was looking forward to her fighting? Or maybe her losing?

  Hopping down from his tall chair, we followed him around the corner. However, once we were out of sight of everyone else, he held out his hand. “A galleon for each companion.”

  I was surprised because Ahsoka and Sabah hadn’t mentioned this happening last time when they settled the fight with the teller.

  However, before I could do anything, Ahsoka scoffed while folding her arms and glaring down at him. Ahri then dropped her and Ahsoka’s illusions, showing their non-human traits, then bared her teeth and flailed her nine tails.

  The goblin, who still hadn’t introduced himself, smirked. “Had to try,” then his face firmed, “follow me and remember the rules.”

  I blinked again. I had to assume that he was talking about the no magic in the bank… or maybe he was talking about the warning about thieves. Really, I was kinda wishing I knew more about the little annoying buggers.

  Once again following the goblin, I couldn’t help but use Anko’s training to notice that he wasn’t waddling like the movies portrayed. Despite being at most 3 feet tall, the teller was packed with muscle and walked with a smooth and careful gait that I was beginning to notice across all of my girls.

  Anko hadn’t explained it this way, but my vague memories identified it as a martial artist’s walk. It was a stance where the feet were kept low and planted wide, while the knees were never locked.

  Most humanoids walked by locking their knees and falling forward. It was incredibly efficient and was partially how ancient humans could run down prey for miles. The problem was that it was an unsteady and vulnerable position, while your knee was easily broken in said position. All of your weight is being balanced on a straight pole, aka your leg, and until you bent it and let your weight fall back down, you literally couldn’t move other than attempting to use friction to throw yourself back. Worse, if you jumped when surprised, then you had even longer before you could move away from a strike. Thus, one of the first things taught in most martial arts was to stop locking your knees and to move down and back when attacked.

  The next thing I noticed in our goblin escort was his hands never strayed far from his belt where I saw several knives. However, his hands didn’t bump into them even once. It made it clear he was familiar with them and their use.

  Finally, I noticed his eyes glancing back, watching us out of the corner of his vision when he could.

  On the other hand, I could see him studying us just as much as I was studying him. In fact, I thought I saw him eye our basilisk hide trench coats, enchanted spider-silk clothes, and the kunai and daggers we were carrying on our belts with approval.

  When I thought I had studied him enough, I turned to study the rest of the goblins we passed. And now that I had seen it, I couldn’t help but notice that every goblin that passed us in the hall was doing the same thing.

  Really, this whole thing was incredibly interesting. The entire species seemed to be warriors. Not in the vague, generic way where there were a large percentage of warriors in their culture and they glorify it like the stories of the Vikings or Romans. But literally every goblin in the bank, including the elderly, had visible muscle on them. So, probably a lot more like Sparta then.

  No wonder, despite being incapable of using normal wands and forbidden from trying to develop their own, they had gone to war with wizards and nearly came out on top.

  That said, the longer I watched, the more I started to believe that I could take him. Highly trained superhuman assassin Anko, this gobin was not, and all of us were starting to notice that she seemed to be slowing down a little each training session.

  Except, she wasn’t… we were speeding up.

  Oh, she absolutely still had some hidden trump cards, but it was the first sign of real improvement we had made despite all of our cheating with Amy reinforcing our gains and my efforts to massage our souls to improve quicker.

  Eventually, our trip down the hall ended, even if I couldn’t tell the difference. Yet our guide did as he stopped at what must have been the correct entrance.

  Now that we were here, I couldn’t help but look around. In front of me was a somewhat plain room with a wooden door standing closed with two goblin guards stationed at attention to either side.

  On the door, I spotted carvings of goblins locked in bloody conflict. I also couldn’t help but also note that a large number of the beings the goblins seemed to be fighting and killing were humans.

  Just a little reminder of their past, I guess.

  Before I could get any more distracted, one of the goblin guards seemed to recognize Ahsoka and simply barked out a “Hold on,” before turning and dragging his nail along a stone seam to the side of the door. There was a small twitch of magic, that I was starting to be able to feel, and rumble before the doors opened up slowly.

  Our guide didn’t even acknowledge the guards and simply walked through, showing us into the underground colosseum. Turning, he gestured towards the seats to either side. “Just like last time, your guests may take their seats. The preparation rooms through that gate,” he said while pointing towards a door on the other side of the arena. “You may have one attendant. The match will start in one hour.”

  Nodding, we made our way to the right side, a little way around the ring. Studying the room, I first looked at the benches and counted 11 of them in a circle around a central ring which had been sunk down into the ground.

  For access, there were 8 staircases that came out radially like spokes on a wheel. The ring was filled with sand that had a distinct red hue to it. Around the room, there must have been a hundred torches with a slight eerie green tint to their flames, which lit the arena. All of it adding to the atmosphere.

  Honestly, it sorta looked like a creepier version of the Roman Colosseum, bloody sand and all.

  Turning to Ahsoka I asked. “Is there someone you would like as your assistant?”

  Ahsoka looked at Sabah, “If you would be so kind.”

  I was a bit surprised, but then I remembered that the two of them had been the ones to head down here last time.

  Sabah gave her a small smile and nodded, and the rest of us wished her good luck before the two of them walked up the stairs and around the edge of the room to enter the back door.

  That gave us some more time to study the arena. The exterior walls were a stone circle which seemed to have runes engraved into them, probably for durability. The arena was lit with lamps that were hung down with chains, but the light had to be augmented with magic because, while it wasn’t bright, I could clearly see everything without any flickering or shadows. Plus, I was sure that no one wanted to replace that many torches when they burnt out.

  That was when I looked up and let my mouth drop open in shock… There was a bronze cage that clearly supposed to be lowered down to enclose the arena.

  … We were literally about to watch a cage match in an underground goblin fight club.

  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be impressed or exasperated with how cliche this was… then again, this was very much on brand for the goblins and they hadn’t been exposed to the amount of pop culture I had which made it seem so over the top.

  While I had been looking around, the spectator seats had already begun to fill. Most were goblins who split off into different groups, although I had no idea if it was by clan, family, or just friend group.

  What was constant was that the goblins all looked visibly excited and I wondered how often they held these events. Then my mind went to a darker place and I wondered if they were looking forward to something darker, maybe extorting the losers and I mentally went through my mental contingencies again.

  What I wasn’t expecting was for someone to sit next to us.

  The voice was feminine and dripped with sensuality despite how mundane the question. “Ah, pardon me. Would you mind if we joined you?”

  There was something strange about their speech pattern, but I didn’t have time to ponder it as when I turned my head, I was startled to see two females.

  I didn’t have to wonder long about whether they were human or not, as a wave of lust seemed to suddenly rush through my body.

  Feeling off balance, I reflexively threw up my mental barriers while shaking my head slightly. Next to me, I noticed Amy and Hinata blinking rapidly like they were trying to see again after being blinded by a bright light.

  A few of my girls had a few slight blushes on their cheeks, namely Holly, Hermione, and Lara, but nothing compared to the two clear bisexuals.

  I would have to keep an eye on Sabah as she got back to see her reaction as she was by the far the furthest on that scale. It might be a bit funny even if I wasn’t going to tease her over it..

  Regaining my wits, I cleared my throat and smiled. “Ah, it isn’t a problem, we would be happy to have your company. Please have a seat wherever.”

  The younger one visibly brightened and her speech pattern noticeably improved. “Ah, you speak French. That is magnificent. I was afraid that no one would be able to speak it in this terrible place. It is far, far too cold in this terrible island to be reasonable.”

  It was when the still-silent older one gave her a little tap on the shoulder that the younger reddened slightly before nodding at us. “Ah, where are my manners. My name is Fleur Delacour, and this is my mother, Apolline Delacour.”

  The older woman, who barely looked like she hadn’t even reached 30 yet, smiled before gently nodding at us. “It is indeed wonderful to meet you.”

  The aura that the younger one had was nothing compared to her mother and for a moment, I was tempted to go over to her and go down on a kneel to kiss her hand. However, just as before, a part of me recoiled at the foreign influence and I snapped my mental barriers even more firmly shut.

  When I did I felt like I could finally breathe again. When they had sat down next to me it felt like there had been a halo around them that put Victoria Dallon’s passive aura to shame.

  We hadn’t had to deal with Master effects or magical compulsions while our souls were hidden away. Yet because it was holding us back, we now needed to reaffirm our mastery of our mental defenses. They were certainly already good enough for this, but we hadn’t been forced to rely on them up until recently and this was a good reminder to keep up the practice.

  Now in my proper mind again, I could study them in detail.

  Fleur was probably about 20 in this timeline, and she already had that mature, seductive look. Her blond hair was much more of a gold when compared to Luna’s platinum. She was tall and thin, but much more curvy than in the movies. Not as much as Ahri or Hinata, or Amy, who probably had D cups, but said curves were proportionally huge on her slender frame.

  Yet it was her eyes that seemed to best show her Veela heritage. Her eyes seemed to have flecks of gold swimming within the irises and her pupils were already slightly slitted. That and despite not doing anything, she already had an air about her that made her seem like a world-class seductress while just sitting still on a stone bench.

  Her mother was even more so. If Fleur was a gorgeous woman dripping sex appeal, then her mother was that turned up to 11, while barely looking older than her daughter, late 20s at most, despite being at least 40.

  Pushing away any other thoughts about the duo, I decided to start the introductions. Smiling, I pointed to myself. “My name is Max, I am currently using the surname Alcott, but it is just borrowed. I haven’t quite yet picked one for myself… maybe Hunter since it is what I seem to do.”

  Turning, I pointed at each of my girls in turn. “That is Amy…”

  Amy interrupted me before I could continue. “No last name either… yet.” she said while winking at me.

  Huffing, I rolled my eyes and just continued despite a slight blush, “Taylor…”

  Who huffed out a “Same…”

  At this point, Fleur was giggling while her mother gave us an amused look. After waving it away, Fleur smiled at us. “I would not mind being on a first-name basis with you all. Please just call me Fleur.”

  Shaking my head, I just gave up and pointed to each of the rest. “Ahri, Hermione, Holly, Ginny, Hinata, Lara, Chell. There is also Sabah, who is helping Ahsoka prepare down below. There is also Thea, but she was unable to come.”

  Now visibly amused at me being surrounded by women and our dynamic, Fleur and her mother were all smiles as they gave their well wishes to each of us.

  I waited for everyone to say their “Nice to meet you” and “Likewise”. But, as the polite introductions tapered off, I had to ask. “We don’t mind your company, but may I ask… why have you have come to a place like this?”

  Apolline tittered while Fleur blushed. Yet, after a moment, Fleur cleared her throat. “I wish to work as a curse breaker when I graduate next year. So I have been attempting to make connections with Gringotts.”

  I blinked as that made complete sense. If she wanted connections to get into the extremely prestigious curse-breaking field, she would need to make some inroads first. I shouldn’t have assumed there was something else going on.

  Turning, I pointed towards Lara and Hermione. “I think you might enjoy a conversation with Lara and Hermione. Lara is already an archaeologist and already has a few expeditions and discoveries to her name, while Hermione seems to be angling for a mastery in enchanting with the way she is going.”

  That lit of Fleur’s face, “Ah, really, that is magnificent. What have you been researching recently?”

  There were a few minutes where I was able to step back and let my girls socialize while I watched more spectators file in. Most of which were goblins.

  Her mother finally shook her head like she was in a fashion magazine and interrupted the discussion. Probably to tease her daughter in front of her new friends. “Yes, we already seem to be making excellent connections. This trip has certainly been a success. The competition will just be icing on the cake at this point. And what great icing it will be… after all, my daughter does not mind the beautiful examples of the male forms we generally see here. However, if I might ask you in turn, why have you come?”

  Fleur blushed heavily and turned to scowl at her mother. “Mother, why would you say such a thing?”

  Apoline simply tittered behind her hand. “There is nothing to be ashamed of, my dear. We are simply enjoying the show.”

  I blinked in surprise before I chuckled quietly, and so did most of my wives.

  I supposed if this world continued its trend of clinging closer to the mythological side, the veela would also be closer to their Fae ancestors. However, it made me wonder if the

  I also wondered if being a veela bred true. It was something that didn’t make sense in the books. Saying someone was quarter or half veela in a all female race wouldn’t make sense. That wasn’t how genetics worked. If it did the traits would be gone in only a few generations

  So Fleur was probably a full Veela just like her mother and grandmother. On the other hand, claiming she was a half or quarter veela might be a defense strategy to make her seem more human.

  That thought then made me curious about the feedback they got from their aura. Was it an empathetic link like some fanfictions said? That would make sense if Veela, or Vila as it used to be written, were the Slavic version of a succubus that other fanfictions had pointed out.

  Deciding to ask the question, I voiced my thoughts after answering her question. “I think it can be summed up by saying Ahsoka decided she wanted to test herself and figured she could get something out of it while she was at it.”

  That got the two veela giggling again, but I continued. “However, I didn’t get an answer as to why us? I will admit that the hint you gave about your natures was interesting, but why come here and why share?”

  Apoline simply shook her head, before turning pointedly to look at Ahri who was not hiding her tails or ears, “We are creatures of passion. We need not hide our nature among people who do not discriminate. After all, you all have experience with the non-human aspects of magical beings like us, do you not?”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise as that made sense, but it was still incredibly blunt and yet still didn’t actually answer any of the underlying questions. But then again, while there seemed to be a lot more cultural interchange among the non-human magical beings of this world based on this fight club alone, I hardly could expect them to give us a thesis on their species or their entire life story and motivations.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Deciding not to push anymore, I focused on the rest of the people arriving through the doors.

  The assumption that this would be more multicultural than I would have first thought seemed true as I watched several shaggy men make their way around the edge of the room towards the back. Based on their appearance this close to the full moon, they must be werewolves.

  The next group to appear was five centaurs, none of whom seemed inclined to join the ring.

  They were followed by what was obviously two vampires in old-fashioned suits with fangs hanging out of their lower lips and a hag in tattered medieval clothes. Honestly, they couldn’t have been more stereotypical if they had tried.

  It made the next three vampires, two females and a male, to arrive seem downright avant-garde in comparison. They were decked head to toe in goth, complete with ripped jeans and a skull T-shirt for the male and faded black dresses, fishnet stockings, and chokers on the females. It was even funnier when the male vampire took one look at the ancient ones and promptly put an arm around both girls before leading them around the arena to be as far away from them as possible.

  The next non goblin to arrive was a man with the legs of a goat, followed by two beautiful women companions. He must have been a satyr as he kissed what were probably nymphs before bounding around the corner towards the box.

  I thought about asking, but before I could comment on the increasing number of non-human visitors and compeditors, I spotted about 20 wizards and witches who broke into two groups.

  I immediately noticed the human groups made a point of sitting away from everyone else, including our group.

  I wasn’t sure if they avoided us because they didn’t know we were primarily human or if it was because of Ahri and the Delecours.

  Regardless, their attitude made me suspect they were purebloods and only here to bet on the outcome.

  Turning to Ahri, I whispered. “Any chance you could hide our faces?”

  Shaking her head, Ahri grimaced. “I don’t think it is a good idea. They monitor magic here. Even if they can’t sense me casting it, I doubt they will hesitate to throw us out if they notice our faces have changed.”

  Next to me Apolline smirked. “Don’t worry, you will notice that you can’t recognize any of them, right?”

  I blinked before I squinted at them, while Hermione spoke up impressed. “Yeah, you are right. I can’t even make out their faces.”

  Nodding, Apolline continued. “It is a privacy enchantment. Unless you come in together, you will only recognize another if you go up and introduce yourself.”

  Taylor looked thoughtful, “That is useful…”

  I nodded in agreement, but before I could say anything else, the torches suddenly flared brighter to get our attention.

  Out walked a goblin wearing a full suit, leading what turned out to be 12 contestants. Around the ring, there were three werewolves, Ahsoka, six goblins, the saytr, and an unknown man who looked somehow inhuman.

  Each of them was wearing a grey shirt and trousers that were made of plain cotton. No armor at all. They were all also barefoot, only holding a single bronze weapon each. Everyone had chosen a sword of slightly different lengths, except for the goblins and Saytr, who had all chosen spears.

  Amy asked the question. “Who is that last one?”

  Apolline tisked. “An Ifrit, a jinn that focuses on physical strength and illusions.”

  I swallowed. This might be harder than I had thought.

  Even the chosen goblin warriors looked a lot stronger than the “normal” ones we saw around the bank.

  Still, Ahsoka would only need to fight at most 4 of these competitors in a standard bracket of 16, assuming a single-stage knock-out.

  Clearing his throat again, the announcer smirked up at the audience. “I would like to welcome everyone. Tonight will be a free-for-all, last one standing wins. Get your bets in, battle will start in 10, 9, 8….”

  I couldn’t help but blurt out a “Bloody hell…” while most of my girls did the same.

  Turning to Apolline, a little shocked at both the format, brutality, and lack of introduction. “What?” But I trailed off not sure how to phrase it.

  Instead, it was Fleur who answered us. “You don’t think that goblins would waste time with pleasantries, do you? Plus, they have half the contestants this time so they are probably planning to group up and take out everyone else.”

  Rubbing my forehead, I groaned. “Of course they are…”

  As the announcer scurried out the gate before it shut, still counting down while the cage was magically lowered to seal the competitors inside.

  Yet despite my frustration, I couldn’t help but agree. This was exactly the type of thing I should have expected the goblins to pull.

  As the count reached ‘1’ and then the announcer yelled ‘begin’, I watched as Ahsoka pulled up the sword she was holding to parry away one of the werewolves who had jumped for her while the rest of the contestants threw themselves at each other.

  Ahsoka tilted her sword and let him fall to the ground before spinning and kicking him towards the Ifrit. Yet before she could follow through, she found herself cornered by three goblins carrying short spears.

  Dancing back, she ducked and weaved, but the three worked in unison to drive her towards the wall. Their coordination was impeccable, and I was momentarily worried about her before I saw her smirk.

  That made me smile, we really hadn’t seen much of Ahsoka’s story ourselves while we were in Star Wars, but she was the padawan of Anakin and probably became just as much of a battle junky as he was. She had also probably reached the level of master with her lightsaber and using the mundane sword didn’t seem to be slowing her down much, if any.

  I wasn’t disappointed when Ahsoka suddenly turned towards the wall and ran up it for several steps before falling back down behind the center goblin and giving him a chop across the back hard enough to put him out of the fight.

  It was clear that the weapons were dulled, maybe with additional enchantments to protect the competitors, because otherwise that swing would have cut him in half if the blade had been sharp. That said, they were still clearly metal, and that goblin almost certainly had broken a rib or two.

  However, before she could potentially capitalize further, she suddenly twisted out of the way from the satyr, wielding his own spear and lunging quicker than I had seen anyone jump besides Anko and Hinata.

  Apparently, those goat legs weren’t just for show.

  Behind him, I realized that two of the werewolves and one more of the goblins had been knocked out. Seeing this, the two remaining goblins that Ahsoka had been fighting quickly retreated and joined their brothers while the satyr tried to blind side the Ifrit.

  Yet the Ifrit was also not messing around and he ducked the first and second swings from the Saytr’s spear.

  That was when the Satyr overstretched and, as he bounced back and then jumped off the wall while attempting to take the Ifrit by surprise.

  However, instead of being taken out, the Ifrit ducked while swinging his own sword in a rising slash, causing the Satyr to catch a sword to the face.

  I grimaced as his head twisted and I saw several teeth and a lot of blood spray out from his face before he faceplanted into the dirt.

  The nymphs cried out, obviously distraught, but I was focused back on Ahsoka. With the satyr going down, that just left the remaining seven other combatants to circle each other.

  I watched as the Ifrit was favoring his left leg, the werewolf was protectign his right side, and the five remaining goblins looked a little winded. It was Ahsoka who was clearly the best off out of the group.

  I wasn’t the only one to notice as before I could shout out a warning, all of the other combatants turned on her, not wanting to leave a relatively fresh enemy at their back.

  Quickly pulling up her sword to block, she had to rapidly backpedal as she was surrounded on all sides, backing up towards the wall again.

  I bit my lip as my eyes followed the strikes.

  Up until now I might have been able to do something similar, but with so many simultaneous attacks coming from superhuman reflexes from these non-human races, I realized this was when I would have completely lost in pure martial skill.

  I grunted. “Damn, I have to keep training, I wouldn’t have been able to handle that.”

  I saw several of my girls nod, but I was momentarily distracted by Fleur and Apolline glancing at me, surprised.

  Ahsoka's smile, on the other hand, just seemed to grow wider.

  Weaving back and forth, she waited and watched before, in a moment where the werewolf overswung, she reached out and kicked him back while jumping towards the Ifrit.

  That seemed to surprise everyone, as no one had challenged the Ifrit to a contest of strength in any way and won.

  Yet it worked wonderfully as she got out of range of the goblin spears, but within the guard of the Ifrit’s sword, catching the hilt and holding it still. Not waiting for the Ifrit to back up or get his bearings, Ahsoka reared back her head and then rammed it forward, right into the Ifrit’s nose.

  Now that the Ifrit was blinded by the blood and reeling back, she wasted no time in swinging again, connecting with his arm. We all heard the snap of bone in his forearm before the Ifrit went down, this time for good.

  The biggest group of wizards suddenly threw themselves to their feet as they started cursing.

  Yet, that moment to finish off probably her most dangerous competitor cost her as she was forced to take a spear to the back. She obviously knew it was coming, and I saw her attempt to roll with the blow, but it still caught her and threw her forward.

  I couldn’t help but yell out “Ahsoka!” while most of the girls did the same or made some sort of dismayed wordless yell.

  However, once again, she proved more than an equal for this fight as, despite the back injury, she ended up throwing herself into a roll across the ground to gain space.

  As she got back to her feet, I couldn’t help but notice she already had a massive bruise purpling under her right shoulder blade, maybe a cracked rib. It should have been worse, but she had mitigated it by moving with he hit.

  Yet, I couldn’t help but analyze that exchange. I felt like she should have known it was coming, and I wondered why she had let it connect.

  Maybe she wanted to take a wound so people didn’t think she was cheating. Or maybe she just thought it was worth it to remove the most dangerous opponent.

  Regardless, despite all that, she just smiled her slightly sharp, mostly carnivorous teeth.

  Nearby, the werewolf tried to get up, only to have one of the remaining goblins smack him across the face with the butt of his spear.

  However, to our surprise the Werewolf near instantly got his revenge because as he fell he jumped and swung out, nearly snapping the goblin’s leg.

  So, in a matter of a few seconds, three more competitors were down.

  Now that it was a 4 on 1, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed by the rules the goblins had set down. It had obviously been weighted in their favor from the beginning. Hell, the only reason they had limited themselves to only 6 goblins was to give the appearance of playing fair.

  Backing up away from the bristling spears, Ahsoka took a moment to roll her shoulder and let out a wince of pain while trying to lift her right hand. Unfortunately, she struggled to lift it above neck height.

  Behind me, I heard more irritated and slightly worried murmurs from my girls.

  Glancing around, Ahsoka visibly considered for a moment before she ran back and grabbed the short sword one of the werewolves had been using before switching her longer sword into her left hand.

  Now, dual wielding swords like she preferred with her lightsabers, her smile that had begun to fall once again grew.

  However, the goblins were undaunted as they marched in lockstep towards her.

  Yet instead of waiting for them to arrive, she surprised everyone by dashing towards them.

  As they lowered their spears to impale her, her smile grew wider, almost manic, before she kicked off to the left.

  Now having to reach past their rightmost member, she was able to swing her left hand and smack the goblin’s arm hard enough to get him to drop his spear.

  Yet before the others could capitalize on her finished swing, she swung out and released the short sword in her right hand, throwing it towards the group.

  Not expecting it, the middle remaining goblin took the sword to the forehead, unable to duck quickly enough and was instantly knocked out.

  That left Ahsoka to dodge a spear from the furthest away goblin, who had circled around, struck out at her hurt shoulder using the spear’s longer reach, while letting the goblin next to the one she had attacked attempt to box her in and stop her from retaliating.

  I watched as Ahsoka winced at the hit to her bad side, but she turned it into a spin, striking out with her left hand and finishing knocking the goblin she had disarmed by swinging the sword back across his face, knocking him unconscious as well.

  Now, not waiting for the two remaining goblins to strike her again. She continued her twist and then threw herself forward and with a savage kick into the knee goblin who had struck her arm. He went down with a snap of bone that made me wince.

  Knee injuries were hard for even magic to fix.

  Unfortunately, that left her kneeling on the ground with her back towards the last remaining goblin, who was pulling his spear back, snarl on his face, in order to run her through.

  I held my breath, but just when it looked like it was all over, in a move that must have come out of nowhere for people who didn’t know about the Force she ducked and rotated her shoulders around like she was trying to shrug off a jacket.

  It shouldn’t have worked. She couldn’t see her attacker, and if she was even a quarter of a second off, it would have made the impact with the spear even worse.

  Yet she had a deep connection with the Force and instead the spear seemed to just drag along her back, making my theory she had taken the first hit to her shoulder at least partially on purpose.

  Now the goblin’s spear was out of position and her sword swung out and hit his hand, and we all heard the crunch of bones breaking. The second swing took the recoiling goblin across the forehead.

  And with that, despite it feeling like hours but must have been no more than 90 seconds, Ahsoka was the last one standing.

  Our entire family had been on the edge of our seats, but as the last goblin fell to the ground, all of us jumped to our feet with a cry. Mostly a combination of “Yeah!”, “Wicked!”, and “Go, Ahsoka!”

  Ahsoka seemed to be coming out of her battle high as she startled before looking around at us, before smiling and nodding.

  Not waiting for the match to be officially called, we all went down to the ring now that the cage was being raised up.

  The announcer was trying to grudgingly announce the win to Ahsoka, while the goblin who had woken up after taking the thrown sword to the face was complaining.

  The announcer proved that their gruff exterior was at least partially universal as he didn’t bother listening to the complaints and simply shook his head before gesturing to Ahsoka. “Champion, you may receive your winnings as you leave, now… get out.”

  If I had had any questions about whether they had been trying to stack the deck against her, the grimace they gave her answered it. Really though, it was also completely on brand for them and we should have expected it.

  I was also glad I wouldn’t need to use any of our contingencies yet. I wanted to keep them for when we needed to get Helga’s Cup out of Bela’s vault.

  Still, it was a bit amusing to see that no one was wasting any additional time with the ceremonies for the victory.

  Not waiting any longer to rejoin us, Ahsoka bent down and focused for a moment before she leaped the 5 feet up to the edge of the ring.

  Amy rushed forward to deal with her injuries, but Ahsoka held up her hand. “Wait until we are outside. We don’t want anyone to claim we cheated, and they probably would if my injuries magically disappeared here. Or at least cause a ruckus about using magic inside their bank.”

  Behind us, Sabah came around the corner holding Ahsoka’s regular armored clothes and boots.

  Turning to leave, I saw Fleur and Apolline giving our group a careful inspection.

  Apolline was the one to speak first. “It seems I was not mistaken. You are an extremely interesting group.” Then, giving her daughter a nudge, she smiled. “We will look forward to the opportunity to see you again, at the Quiddich World Cup this summer, perhaps? Until then, I am sure that Fleur wouldn’t mind some discussion on any archaeology you come across.”

  Nodding, I smiled. “It was nice to meet you. We will look forward to seeing you there. Please send us a letter if you ever want to talk.”

  Behind me, I could hear my girls agreeing, especially Amy and Hinata. That was when, Sabah had finally noticed the two and suddenly stopped to gape at them.

  A part of me would have liked to tease the three about this right here and now, as they looked more affected by the two’s aura than I did, but I wouldn’t embarrass them like that in front of our new friends, and we had more pressing issues.

  Specifically, I had noticed that the wizard’s group was looking at us angrily, so I tilted my head at them slightly. “Don’t look, but I think they bet against you, Ahsoka. Probably best to bounce before they corner us.”

  Seeing no disagreements, we all filed out of the colosseum room quickly, only to be stopped by a goblin in a heavy apron. Not even saying anything, the goblin simply slapped a small note into Ahsoka’s hand before turning around.

  Opening it, I felt my eye twitch as I read it over Ahsoka’s shoulder.

  The note simply said “purified Mythril ore 7/10, 1/4 by weight with activated electrum, and 1/20 fortified star metal.”

  Glancing around and furious, I rashly decided that I wouldn’t let them get away with this. Reaching out with my abilities, I forced a tiny portal open on the blacksmith’s apron despite the wards in the bank.

  Around me I felt the Gringotts wards flex and I felt a chill of regret run down my spine. That was rash, and we might have to see how fast I could open a man-sized portal to leave.

  Yet after a moment of waiting, nothing happened. The Goblins seemed tense but also seemed unable to determine what had happened.

  Not wanting to draw any more attention to us with the pureblood wizards angry and the goblins potentially on alert, I found our guide. He had stayed and watched the match as well, but hadn’t left yet.

  Speaking up, I asked, “Is there a private floo we could use?”

  Smirking, the goblin held out his hand. “One galleon per person.”

  I felt my eye twitch again but, after another moment of hesitation, I nodded and handed him the money. Twelve galleons was a small price to pay to ensure we got out of here without more issues.

  On the way back, Ahsoka and Ahri put back on their glamor rings, and we entered a small room before filing through the floo and finding ourselves back in the Three Broomsticks.

  Now free of any restrictions, Amy practically threw herself at Ahsoka to begin to heal her as we walked back to our cottage.

  After a dozen seconds or so, Amy leaned back and smacked Ahsoka’s arm. “Try not to get so hurt next time, jeeze.”

  Smiling, I noticed Ahsoka looked happier than she had in a long time. Was that because she felt needed, or was it because we hadn’t been able to go full out against anyone in a while?

  I was starting to believe that she was missing her past a little. Anko was primarily focused on ambush tactics, so Ahsoka might have been a little pent up without a full-blown battlefield brawl since she had pretty much spent her entire life on one.

  It was as we walked into the path towards our cottage, where no one was around, that Ahsoka finally unfolded her instructions and handed them to Hinata to pass around.

  I listened as the girls instantly started to complain.

  Hermione was perhaps the most vocal. “I have been studying metallurgy in the room of requirement and I know that electrum is half gold and half silver. Mythril is found around tin deposits and is generally thrown away as slag by Muggles because they can’t melt it. Star metal is refined meteorites, which you can find relatively easily if you go to Antarctica as any rock on the surface of the ice is a meteorite…”

  Her huff was incredibly offended as she practically stamped her foot. “but this gives no detail. It is practically useless. How are we supposed to purify the mythril ore? I know of a dozen ways of activating electrum. What are they fortifying the star metal with?”

  Yet not seeing anyone around I let my smirk grow. “I agree, that is why I opened a portal on that blacksmith’s robes. We are going to get all of their secrets now that they tried to cheat us.”

  That got a variety of amused smirks as we finally arrived back at our cottage and filed inside. Then, now that we were secure, I opened up the portal to our shuttle.

  Yet, instead of a quiet shuttle, I was practically ambushed by a distraught Thea. “Thank goodness you made it back. The interference was terrible once you entered the arena room. I could hardly tell what was going on.”

  Again, I winced, gesturing for everyone to sit down. “I am sorry, Thea. We will need to look at more protection runes for whatever they were doing. Still, did you catch the rest of our discussion?”

  Thea huffed and then nodded. ”Yeah, I spotted the portal you opened here and I already have a camera watching already… there is still a lot of that magical interference, though.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, we will bump up the priority of those protections.”

  Then I eyed her again. “Thea… I have been thinking of trying to find you a world that would give you a humanoid body. But I think I need to ask you directly. What would you prefer?”

  Thea’s processors hummed for a moment before she responded. “What do you mean?”

  I smiled. “I am saying we should go out and find you a body. It shouldn’t be too hard. There are a lot of different versions of Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs across the multiverse.”

  I tapped my hand on the central table as I sat down while the girls each found their own seats. “On the low end of threats, we could visit Cyberpunk 2077 where everything is chrome, guns, augments, and cyber warfare.” I grimmaced “Truthfully, I don’t really want to be anywhere near that dystopia, but it could be just long enough to get you a body. However, admittedly it isn’t too much more advanced than what I saw Dragon make back on Earth Bet, but it is an option.”

  I shook my head. “A more appealing option that does pretty much the same thing is Ghost in the Shell. It is a slightly less dystopian future and is a little more advanced techolgocially speaking, but it is still very much not a nice world either. Plus, I really wouldn’t mind meeting Major Kusanagi.”

  I saw Amy perk up and nod in agreement.

  Thea made her eve drone bob its head, and I continued. “Another option that is very near the top of the metaphorical threat rating, but is unbelievably powerful, I mean practically reality-breaking, is Dragon Ball Z. Getting you a copy of Android 18 could be crazy. She is strong enough to punch demigods in the face, but it would be crazy dangerous too.”

  I tilted my head. “Somewhere in between those two is a new world I heard about recently. We would just need to copy the androids from Stellar Blade… strong, incredibly beautiful, but I know very little about their story.”

  I rolled my hand in a circle to demonstrate how many options she had. “Then there is Penny from RWBY.” Then I lifted up my finger, like I was making a point. “We probably want to head there anyway to get our aura’s activated since it is a soul based free powerup and shield.”

  Then I paused and grimaced. “Although I don’t think I should get get my aura unlocked until my soul is properly healed and finally whole at the very least. So that part will have to wait.”

  Internally I was annoyed. I was getting annoyed that this was becoming more and more of an issue. I really needed to finally fix this issue. It was about time that I tried to figure out how to heal my soul and how to create a soul core.

  Shaking my head, I continued. “The next location is perhaps my preference. Nier Automata. Those androids are very near god-tier, almost as strong as Android 18. Hell, in the game you kill what are clearly demigods. Their speed and strength are probably above everyone here at the moment… maybe even Anko. Not only that, but the vast majority of the androids in that world would be thrilled to help us the moment they found out we are humans. It was literally programmed into them. Unfortunately, humanity is extinct in that world, and I am not sure what to do after making contact. Plus, the rest of that world and a few rogue androids would probably try to kill us on sight.”

  Then I shrugged. “Or we can just try to sneak into Earth Bet and get some of your mother’s Plans for her suits. They may be more like small battle mechs than proper android bodies and I seem to remember Dragon feeling trapped and wanting to experience human sensations, but they are still powerful and could be something to hold us over until later. Plus, we really need to have a… talk with Alexandria again anyway.”

  My original Earth Bet wives along with Hermione all scowled as they remembered the hypocritical asshole, but Thea interrupted us. “I have been messaging back with… mother and she would like us to visit when we get the chance. And you are right, she would love to have a full human body that is capable of feeling the world as you do…”

  I just nodded in agreement. It was something I didn’t mind doing for one of the better heroes on that bloody mess.

  There were a few more seconds of processing before Thea hummed in affirmation. “I have processed your recommendations, they all seem interesting, but while I have no information on this Stellar Blade and Cyberpunk doesn’t have a 2077 installment as of 2016 on Earth Bet, I understand the basics. If you would be willing to give me some time to consider, I will return with my thoughts soon.”

  Nodding, I watched as Thea turned most of her processing internal before Lara spoke up. “I didn’t want to interrupt Ahsoka’s preparations, but last night, I think I found Trinity’s next target. It seems to be a temple in Syria.”

  I hummed. “That does seem familiar, let's make preparations, and then one or two of us will take a portkey to get us close enough for me to send a portal directly there. We don’t want anyone knowing we are coming.”

  That was when Ahri spoke up. “While you are doing that, we can probably finish purchasing that Scottish manor house we found.”

  I nodded. “That all sounds like a plan. We will buy the manor on Sunday, tomorrow, and be prepared for a quick insertion into Syria next week.”

  I then paused before I decided to commit. “When we get back from that, we will make plans for a small jump or two. Most important will be Thea’s body, but I have also been considering worlds that might be able to help me with my soul, and we should be able to combine the trips.”

  There was a chorus of nods and hard, determined faces.

  Interlude Ahsoka:

  Ahsoka felt like she had finally started to belong, which was weird.

  The harem thing had been incredibly strange.

  Not because this sort of relationship was strange across the universe. It was actually incredibly common across her universe, especially in primitive or dangerous worlds.

  However, she had always been on the outside looking in.

  Hell, she had left the Jedi temple fairly early and grown up in barracks, space ships, and battlefields. She had never had anything that could be called family besides clones, Sky guy, and later the rebels.

  Yet, as she walked around and looked at the manor that would soon become their new home she couldn’t help but think back to how nice it had felt to be welcomed back from her battle by what she was starting to feel were her actual sisters.

  Max had also promised they would go back to try to right some of the wrongs the empire had committed.

  Looking down, she squeezed her hand into a fist and marveled at the power in her arms and hands. Darth Sidious would be in for a rude awakening if he thought she would be the same girl who left.

  But there was still much more training that she needed to do.

  She tilted her head as she ran a hand across the marble countertop in the new kitchen.

  Maybe she would ask Max to finally look at the holocrons he took from Tatooine. She couldn’t fall behind with her Force training either..

  Then her face hardened.

  And if Sky guy couldn’t get his head out of his ass then she would have to deal with him as well.

  Turning she saw the Earth Bet wives giggle as they came down the stairs from the master bedroom.

  She might not be ready for the… bedroom activities, but she would still admit that she was happy she had come with them.

  Not least because they had told her that Vader would have caught and killed her within a few years.

  Seriously… she might just have to punch Sky guy in the face a few times even if he could be saved.

  Interlude Chell:

  Chell could admit that she was aimless.

  She didn’t know what she was doing as she sat in her new bedroom.

  A room that was all hers.

  A room they had just finished furnishing before Max dragged the entire manor and grounds into a second, interior pocket dimension.

  It made sense.

  The first and primary pocket dimension was soon going to have a decoy manor house with its own defenses.

  Instead Max was going to hide the vanishing cabinet in a small shed to the side of the path to the decoy manor. A second vanishing cabinet would be in the closet of the decoy manor. Both would be hidden with a Fidelius charm.

  That would be the two ways to get into their real home.

  Max had said something about hiding the inner home somewhere even more safe, but she had lost track of the magical plans at that point.

  I mean, all of that was interesting, but it didn’t bring her out of her funk.

  In truth, at the core she could admit that she didn’t feel like she was accomplishing anything.

  Hell, she had requested to study the portal gun, just so she had something she could focus on.

  But everyone else had projects they were working on and they were making progress…

  While she wasn’t.

  She had always been the smartest growing up with her family.

  When Glados had captured them all, she had been the one to always survive… the only one she knew

  But now…

  What was she supposed to do now if she didn’t stay with the Family?

  Sighing, she rolled back over to look her notes on the portal gun and then up at her armor.

  She didn’t want to be left behind… so she would just need to step up.

  Author notes:

  1) Sorry, took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I will admit that I was re-reading Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar (which is really good), then got a really bad review… and became pretty self-critical which made me not want to work on it and just play some games.

  2) I am not sure where it came from, but I love the idea of goblin fight club.

  3) If you have recommendations for Max’s last name, leave a comment or review. I am conflicted about something simple like “Hunter”.