The Contractors
"The secret of the dimensions must stay a secret between us and Suliman," Moirah said to Howl. "Else we won't stop Penran – else we can't stop it."
With the coming of massive war between Ingary, Strangia, and Penran – an industrial province home to the most feared magic-practitioners- tension has risen higher than ever between the once alliance provinces. Desperate to win the war, Penran's corrupted kings have resorted to using wizards and witches – against their will. Bound by a contract which was thrust upon the magical beings upon discovering their magical talents, they are forced to fight a pointless battle, where thousands of citizens are killed in the fray, even their loved ones.
Moirah Fray is a formidable witch, serving the province of Penran, when her family was killed in the cross-fire; from the on, she has sworn never to exploit her magic, nor serve for her province. When the kings demand her capture and life for breach of contract, she escapes to then-neutral Ingary, adopting an anti-war stance against the rising tensions.
Soon, Moirah will find out she can't stay on the sidelines forever – that if Ingary falls to Penran, than millions of lives will be lost, and Penran can continue its ascent to world domination, jeopardizing the peace of humankind. She'd end up in their clutches again, and the king had gotten his point across- the next time they find her, she will be dead before dawn. But first, she has to confront her Contract, uncover Penran's master plan and its master weapon, and make peace with her past – with the help of a cowardly and hopeless wizard and his fire demon.
Disclaimers:
The fanfic is loosely based upon the original DWJ novel and on Miyazaki's movie. I'm sort of taking the novel's characters and placing them in Miyazaki's movie setting, but the boundaries are really undefined. Some of the major plots in the novel do exist – such as Howl and Calcifer's contract – but the premise of the fanfic lies in a pre-war era like it sort would be before the war in the movie. The Wales (the black-down knob) portal will exist, because it's a key factor in the fanfic. The characters are in there, but Sophie/Hatters take a side part, but nevertheless become important in the end. Most of this fanfic is a hypothetical / philosophical guess and inspiration, but I'm going to try and keep the characters (Howl/Calcifer/Michael) as OC as possible, despite the many changes in plot and the introduction of another OC. Also, Megan appears in this!
There won't be any serious romance or fluff in this fanfic – so if you were looking for that –I suggest you find some other lighter fanfic to read! This fanfic sort of explores the effects of war, society, and of course, the concept of destiny and dimensions. The fanfic has more of a steampunk feel to it, especially with the introduction of the Penran province, who lives on industrial manufacturing and processes.