Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K Rowling and associated owners. Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and associated owners. Any other series that you might recognize belongs to their respective owners as well.
Cover Image is courtesy of animatedcartoon21
~~8~~
Chapter 12: Disinfect
Three years later
Harry Potter knocked on the door of their client's house.
"Excuse us, we're Harry Potter and Cana Alberona, Fairy Tail mages. We're here for the mission you posted?"
He could hear the client yell "Coming!" from the inside. A few seconds later, the client herself emerged.
She was a blond woman wearing a red shirt with matching red pants, along with a set of beautifully crafted keys hanging from her belt. Her clothing was simple, but she carried herself in a way that seemed as though she was a noble herself. She looked at the two young mages in front of her and started to open her mouth.
"Aren't you…?"
"Yes, we know we're a bit young, but we're eleven years old and we've been doing missions for Fairy Tail since we were eight. You can count on us, we promise!" said Cana, showing her guild mark for proof.
Harry said nothing, but nodded nonetheless.
The woman furrowed her brow. "I see. Come in then," she said, beckoning them inside.
The inside of the house was lightly furnished, with a small living room that is connected to an equally small kitchen. It still carried an air of extravagance to it, despite its seemingly bare-bones interior.
The woman motioned for the two mages to take a seat while she prepared some tea. Cana sat on an armchair while Harry made himself comfortable on the couch. A minute later she returned with a pot and three teacups.
"I suppose introductions are in order," she said. "My name is Esma, and I am a fashion designer."
She waved her hand to the kitchen table, where there was a large stack of papers filled with drawings of clothes, along with several kinds of pencils and an even larger stack of scrapped fabric.
"I design clothes and accessories for civilians and mages. Of course, my goal is for my creations to be both fashionable and practical."
"Are they expensive? Where can we buy them?" asked Cana.
"Heart Kreuz, and a few other clothing stores," replied Esma, "Sad to say that my designs tend to be on the pricey side, but if you complete this mission I'll give you a set for free."
"Cool," said Harry. Then he remembered the keys. "Oh yeah, Miss Esma, are you a celestial spirit mage?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
Harry pointed to the keys on her belt. Esma noticed the keys and smiled. "You have good eyes," she said.
She patted her keys carefully. "My spirits are very valuable to me both as friends and partners," she said. She took one of the keys and palmed it on her hand. "I don't know where I would be without them."
The two mages smiled at her, and the house was silent for a few moments. All three took the opportunity to drink some of their tea.
A minute later, Esma finally spoke again.
"Anyway, the mission," she said. She set her tea down to the table. "There's been a rat infestation in our neighborhood lately."
"What happened?" asked Cana.
"It started a few weeks ago. We didn't have rats before, but all of a sudden they popped up everywhere," said Esma. She crinkled her nose. "Just this week I had to kill six of them that I found roaming around the garbage."
"Do you have an idea of where they might be coming from?" said Harry.
"The sewers," replied Esma. "A few days ago I used my spirits to track them down, and they led me to an opening to the sewers. We tried to follow them down, but we lost them in the tunnels."
"That's where we come in, right?" said Cana.
"Yes. With your help, we can hopefully cover more ground, find out where they hid their nest, and get rid of them for good."
~~~8~~~
The three of them stood outside Esma's house, right beside a manhole cover.
"You're coming with us, Esma?" said Harry.
"Yes," replied Esma. Her delicate slacks were replaced with a more rugged pair of pants and boots, along with a pistol and a sword. On her hand was a silver key.
"We'll lead you to the last place before we lost track of them."
She held out the key at arm's length.
"Gate of the Hunter, I open thee! Orion!"
Smoke puffed all around them, and a man stepped out of it. Harry and Cana expected to see a heavily muscled warrior wielding all manner of weaponry, covered in heavy armor, and with a full beard. Instead, well, the warrior wasn't exactly human.
If Harry were to accurately describe what the hunter Orion looked like, he would say cat-people. Besides being quite lanky, the yellow-skinned Spirit standing in front of them had a very (intimidating) feline-like face, complete with cat ears, and a tail. He carried a dagger in his left hand and a sword on the other, along with a very large throwing star on his back.
"Everyone, this is Orion," said Esma, gesturing to her newly summoned Spirit. "He will be our guide on our way down the sewers."
The Spirit flicked his dagger and put it into its holster.
"Pleasure's all mine," he said in a low but raspy voice.
"Listen, Orion," continued Esma. "These two are Harry and Cana, two mages from Fairy Tail and from what I hear, their best trackers. They're here to help us track down the rat's nest."
"I won't be responsible for their safety," said Orion.
Esma started to protest but Cana beat her to it.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Just because we're kids doesn't mean we can't take care of ourselves! I'll have you know mmpph mpphh-"
Harry covered her mouth, an apologetic look on his face.
"We've been in dangerous situations before," he said.
"Fair enough," shrugged Orion.
He opened the manhole cover and jumped down.
"Orion's primary concern is making a profit," revealed Esma as she went after her spirit. "He only became my spirit when I agreed to pay him a small fee whenever I summon him."
"I thought you only needed a contract to summon them?" asked Harry.
"It's not against the laws of the Celestial Realm to make your own rules on how you could be summoned," replied Esma. "In his case, he can be summoned at any time, but I have to pay him when the job's done."
The two mages looked at her to continue, but Esma decided to tell them later, and followed after her spirit.
~~~8~~~
Author's Note: Esma is not an original character, but I did borrow her from a video game. Orion is an OC, but he's based on a video game character too. Three points for guessing which one.
Thank you for reading!
