It was a cold winter night in Ciujaros, when two Harpies finally got what they had wanted... Their first egg. It had been a long time coming, and it had taken more tries than they would have wanted. The nearby leyline had dealt them a misfortune, making their efforts to have a child far more difficult than it should have been. But of all times for them to experience this joy...

Why... Why did the fox-masked bastard have to show up?

One of the many slavetraders who travelled to Eastorea for their merchandise, a salesman and tormentor, whose calling card was a simple yet regal fox mask. His name was unknown to this world, but his actions were not.

Fires raged through the city as its guardians tried to fight off his goons, while the people tried to call for help, and soon, their pleas for help would come to fruition. Daggers fly through the air, gunshots sound throughout the streets, and the sound of bones cracking under silver knuckles reverberates through the alleys...

The Golden Shield of Eastorea, had arrived... Maximillian Silverweave, along with his institution, ARMADA. The slaver's goons knew they had to flee, so they took what they could. A couple dozen civilians were ripped from their homes as they fled, some civilians were killed to be easier to transport, some of these crooks being interrupted and taken down as they tried... a merciless slaughter of fools, to protect the innocent... and yet...

An egg now sits alone.

The golden haired dandy stands over the corpses of a mother and father, his dagger planted into the skull of their killer... and calmly places a hand on the egg. He takes off his coat, and wraps the egg up in it as he walks outside, asking the locals who survived about it. Much like he feared, it was now alone... He could leave it at an ARMADA office to be raised in one of the orphanages... but one Harpy asked him to add it to his family.

In Ciujaran Harpy culture, heroes often become part of the family of those they save. A debt to the hero who saved them, to help them out and provide assistance, and a duty for the hero to care for the unfortunate... In the efforts to save the city, all members of ARMADA present were part of this one big family.

And as a father, he wasn't about to say no. He took the egg home, and treated it as his own.

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Maximillian sat at home, the egg placed on his lap, wound in blankets. He knew much about the exact biology of harpies through his research, but not about how to raise one, and so he read. He read more and more. He sent messages to harpies working for him, asking what to do, what not to do, what to keep in mind, how to care for an egg... He wanted to do the best he could...

His family came to check up on the little egg. Eliza sang to it, Nagisa wrapped her tail around it to keep it warm when Max couldn't, Sarah read stories to it, Kyouko hugged it silently, Cerne took it for trips outside, Aoi made a ball of fire to keep it warm during the night, and Lala kept watch of its progress, reading its lifeforce through the shell.

And a few weeks later... a tiny claw ticked at the shell from within, before a tiny, teal feathered Harpy headbutted her way through the cracks. Maximillian's heart melted as he watched the little one stumble out onto his lap, and quickly checked her for any issues himself, before he wrapped her up in the blankets, and hugged her tight.

"Welcome to the family... Harriet."

He took her to one of his hospitals, and had her checked... everything was fine, save for... a common mutation. She was a Dwarf Harpy. A subspecies born from standard Harpy eggs that have been exposed to too much wild mana... a kind of Harpy that will never grow up. She would be a child for her entire life, in body and mind... a burden for her parent and family... needing to be cared for from birth until death.

But he was unfazed. Harriet was now his little daughter... and she would receive all the care she could need. He hugged her tight as her tiny wings held onto him...

They went home again, and he brought the news to the rest. Some were shocked, some were distraught... but Nagisa... she picked Harriet from Max's arms, and gave her a hug.

"She's a little different... But what does that matter? We all are. We should be happy to have a new little sister... not worry about what kind."

Everyone else is quiet for a moment, looking at each other... before Eliza chuckles and has Gloop carry her over, so she can pat the little Harpy.

"Yeah, you're right. Hi there, Harriet. Welcome!"

The others quickly walk over to her, welcoming her as well, as Maximillian looks on with pride... he cultivated a family of acceptance and love... What more could a father want? Save for... bringing his wife back, of course.

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Years pass, as Harriet grows into a happy, loving child. Her eyes sparkle as she runs through the city, looking at all the stalls in the shopping district of Araheim. The salesmen give her bits of food after Max gives them a nod, making sure she's allowed to eat what they're offering...

Her beaming smile looks back to her father, as she raises a small meat skewer between her wingtips.

"Look! Harriet got for free!"

He chuckles.

"Yes, yes you did. Now be sure to thank the nice mister, and enjoy it."

Harriet turns to the salesman, and does a tiny nod, almost dropping her skewer and fumbling to grab it again.

"Thankies, mister!"

The salesman laughs, and says to enjoy it just the same, as he watches the father and child walk through the shopping district...

But this joy didn't last forever...

An explosion goes off nearby, blowing one of the stands up. Several crooks jump from their hiding spots as they try to grab people in the panic and confusion... one jumps Maximillian, and one jumps Harriet...

And as Maximillian thumps his assailant in the face with his rocket gauntlet... he turns to watch his daughter be pulled into an alleyway... and sees the fox mask left on the floor. He rushes after them, furious... chugging speed potions to try to catch up, hearing Harriet's panic...

But as he turns a corner... a dead end... he feels the sparks of mana tingling at his moustache... they teleported...

He's furious. Livid... He feels a hateful determination boiling up within him that he hasn't felt in a long time...

The determination to find Harriet at any cost.

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It wasn't long before the foxmasked slaver would hear of his encampments burning... and in one of them, the golden haired dandy stood, a belt of knives across his torso, each stained with various kinds of venom.

With ruthless efficiency and hatred, he ripped through whatever location the bastard had control of... the agonizing venom of the Jorōgumo, distilled into it's finest form, made it's way through the bodies of the guards... making their final moments feel like an eternity of agony... a symbol of hatred for their entire being... for all that they stood for...

But they were arguably the lucky ones... As the traders and managers at each site were subjected to the wrath of a father, with every tool at his disposal... and not a fuck given about their wellbeing nor ethics...

The torture would go on for weeks in their perception... Cuts all over their body, the silver rocket fists cracking their bones again and again, being healed back from the brink of death again and again, until they spilled everything they knew... and even then... it didn't stop. The scourge didn't have his vengeance yet... in his eyes, they were all guilty of taking his child... The fear felt by each of the foxmasked slaver's employees was immense... as each and every one was doomed to an eternity of suffering if they saw the blood-stained golden hair...

Camps burnt... cruelty was delivered unto cruelty... and with every single camp... Maximillian's rage grew, as a mask was present with a note... "Your Harpy is at another location. Try again!"

He was being toyed with...

But his determination did not waver.

He went on to the restaurants owned by the foxmask. A cover operation... that sold secret menu items, that went against everything he stood for... including Harpy eggs.

He knew they'd try to use her for that... even at this age... and it disgusted him. He wished to snap every bone in the bastard's body, only to heal them back, and do it again... and again...

And again.

He burnt the restaurants... he handed over the client and employee lists to his employees to deal with... but those present, he tormented himself... screams were heard from the barricaded buildings as the fires raged, and the hatred of the father within burnt even hotter...

With each taunt... with every location he burnt... his rage grew more focused... his hatred burnt brighter... and his concern grew into paranoia.

He went on to torch dozens of establishments... tormenting tens of thousands in his pursuit for the next place to torch... the next place that could harbour his child... Until he happened upon a higher ranking crook than usual.

"She's in the restaurant just outside of Araheim! Hidden in the forest! You get in through the southern plains, follow the marks on the trees, it's an illusory wall! Just don't Ki~"

Maximillian let his head roll onto the floor as he pleaded for death... He made it swift... it was all he needed to hear.

He took off to his home city of Araheim, and followed the trail given by the crook... and just as he said...

An opulent restaurant... With the mask as it's signage... in the middle of the woods.

He chugs several bottled potions, and tosses a couple vials around the restaurant, sprouting vines that barricade the windows and doors... and drops one behind him as he enters through the front... They were trapped in there... with him.

Three guards charge him, one even skewers him through the stomach... but he cares not. He grabs the guard that hit him by the head, and crushes it between his metal gauntlet... before ramming a dagger into the throat of the second guard, and firing a shot from his knuckles into the chin of the third. He rips the dagger from his gut, and the wound seals shut rapidly... the healing brew doing it's work perfectly.

He walks to the kitchen... glaring at the customers trying to leave... He will deal with them later...

He kicks the barricaded door down with his amped up strength, and snaps the arm of a chef coming at him with a butcher's cleaver, before slamming their face into the corner of the counter, dropping them limply onto the floor... He fires a couple rounds from his revolver into the others approaching him, as he steps over their bodies...

He makes his way to the back of the building, and when he gets to the supply area... Two dead Lamia, ripped to shreds... a Centaur that had likely recently passed away, seeing the blood and carved-out chunks of meat...

And a Teal Harpy... whose solemn look is swiftly replaced with a beaming smile as she sees her father from within her cage.

"Dad! Harriet is here! Harriet was so lonely! The creepy man took Harriet here!"

It had only been a week... but so many had died for this crusade of his... Tears flowed from his eyes, as he rushed towards the cage and ripped the bars apart... pulling his child out of it and hugging her...

But as he does so, a dagger finds its mark between his ribs from behind... Though... unlike was his assailant might have expected... a golden glow beams from one of the bottles on his waist as it empties, a symbol of a rewinding clock visible on the liquid's surface as it lowers... and the knife is pushed out of his body.

He covers his child's eyes, and turns around, grabbing the last remaining chef by the neck, and snapping it...

His wrath subsides, as his crusade for his child was over... but the war against this cruel foxmasked asshole was long from finished. He opened the back entrance, poured a bottle out over the vines to burn them away, and left... as the entire building was lit ablaze by the burning vines... collapsing on the trapped customers.

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It was a miracle...

Harriet understood nothing of what had happened... her mind simply wasn't able to comprehend any of it... She barely remembered any of what happened... only that someone took her away from her dad.

Her innocence beamed from her smile and her eyes... as she joyfully dashes through the park outside of their home aboard the Ironsides, playing with her sisters, her aunts, and her mother...

But Maximillian... he was forever a changed man... He knew what kind of rampage he went on... and his paranoia... He was forever fearful of what would happen to his family...

Years have passed... Decades, even... Harriet stopped growing at around 8... forever his little girl... and he cherished her as his own daughter...

His... Innocent, little, Harpy.

He sits there... watching them all... Before Harriet walks over to him with a couple flowers clutched between her wings.

"Harriet picked flowers for you, Dad!"

He gently takes the flowers in hand, smiling as he pats her on the head.

"Thank you Harriet. Dad likes them a lot."

"Come on! Harriet wants to play with dad too!"

https://preview.redd.it/ypmeo2vl9e7g1.png?width=832&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb5a1eb2f25bd376f13caf9f6cb153b8a58f71c7

Harriet tries to pull him from his chair, and he gets up, slowly putting the flowers in his front pocket, as he joins the rest in the park.

No matter his paranoia... no matter the tragedies they've all faced...

This would always be his safe place... with his family...

With his wife... with his sisters... and with his lovely daughters and son.

And he would always be reminded of this...

By his little Harriet.

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/uw

Been a while since I posted, but I finally had the inspiration for this one. Hoping to get more posts out again soon!