"Remind me again why I'm with you guys?" the pink-haired girl named Megan, Billy learned, asked.
"You just have to accompany me where you last saw the cat and you'll be on your way." Beth asked, walking with a slight hop on her step.
Billy looked around: the group was composed of him, Megan, Beth and strangely Bob. Mirajane, before being pulled away by an average-looking man with almond-colored skin, ordered Bob to accompany the group because his expertise might be needed – whatever that meant.
As for Billy…
"That's very nice of you accepting this job." Beth asked, voice husky and hoarse.
More like coerced into it. "Does Mirajane always do that?"
"Pay people for doing errands? It depends. Ever since Mirajane, bless that soul, became the de facto leader of New York, she's been trying to give people like us a means of earning money."
"People like us?" Billy tilted his head. They were still relatively in one of the safer places of New York but in a place where he rarely visited.
"Denizens of the [Kaleidoscopic World]."
"…huh?"
"In any case, Mirajane's existence, exalted she may be, is outside the scope of us plebeians." It was odd hearing Beth articulate herself with these highfalutin words with that smoker's voice. Like she suddenly didn't look like a stereotypical chain-smoking New Yorker from 90s B-class sitcoms. "But I will be the first to admit that she is one of the most benevolent rulers our city's ever had. Her [Guild] business is very, very community-friendly too."
"I thought she was just a waitress. I mean, the last time I saw her she served me a tall glass of milk."
"Such is life. One moment we are this and the next we are that. Why years ago I was–" Beth stopped because the people before them stopped walking.
"This is the last place where I saw that cat." Megan turned to the group. They were in an alley, far away from the street and situated between two buildings. "There, can I leave now?"
Beth nodded, "Sure, sweetie. Thank you very much with your help."
Billy noticed that Bob was in deep thought. His head was hung low, staring at something far away. His voice cut the murmurs of the group, "Ms. Beth, can you give me something that has the scent of your cat?"
Scent?
Billy looked at Bob with curiosity. He also noticed that Megan too seemed to be looking intently at the man.
Beth nodded without issue before pulling out a blanket from her bag. "This is from her little cot, she likes these particular fabric so I make sure to always buy stuff made from this."
Bob, without much fanfare, ran his fingers over the fabric before exhaling. Deeply.
"haaaaaaaaaaaa…"
It was instantaneous. Electrifying. Stupefying too. One moment Bob was normal and the next, he's suffocating. Like his presence was everywhere; his very existence cloaking the entire place.
"Wah, that's a pretty strong aura." Beth said, impressed.
Bob's back was facing Billy but it was as if he was staring right into you. He then saw someone collapse on the floor: it was Megan.
Beth, surprisingly took the reins after that. And Beth took everything in stride. It was as if her entire charade was centered around the idea of being 'underestimated' because she appeared to know more than she lets on.
"This poor girl's in shock." Megan was picked up bridal style by Bob as Beth's face loomed over the girl. "Must be her first time running with an aura like yours Bob."
"Must be…" came Bob's lame reply. Billy could now look at the Bob. He still looked the same. But... he was passably human – it was as if he was even more beautiful to look at. Scarily so, in fact. There was not attraction, but he was beautiful. A deadly, alluring kind of beautiful.
Beth searched for something on her bag but stopped when she locked eyes with Billy. "I think I remember seeing you with an amulet."
"You mean this?" Billy fished for the amulet that was in his pocket and showed it to Beth.
"Yeah."
Billy handed the amulet while the woman seemed to regard it with caution. "Sanctorum-class. This is some serious stuff you're packing, boy."
"It's Billy," the boy corrected, "and what do you mean?"
"Whoever gave this to you was personally trained by the current Sorceress Supreme." She dismissed Billy's curious stare and made Megan wear the amulet.
"You're pretty frail considering you're fairy folk." Beth commented as Megan tried to compose herself. The pink-haired girl has finally regained consciousness, though slightly flustered.
"I'm a mutant."
"Could be, but no mutant I've ever met could sense magic like you do."
"Well I'm specia…" Megan stopped. Nope, not going for that special snowflake trope. I'm better than that.
"The cat's nearby." Again, everyone stopped and looked at Bob who face was looking directly on the ground.
"A manhole? Here?" Billy asked walking towards the man. His 'aura' or whatever you call it still permeated around him but it was less pronounced, like it was kept in line to just Bob's personal space.
"So how do we open it?" Beth asked appearing beside Billy.
"This is really weird." Megan summarized. Sure she's seen mutants with superhuman strength but they weren't cloaked with something that hummed in the air. The hot guy named Bob lifted the manhole cover like it was a bottle cap.
"No one is forcing you to accompany us down here, you know." Billy hissed under his breath. The group was now in the sewers being led by Bob and the flashlights of their phones.
"I heard that." Megan looked at him harshly. She could go back to the Academy but it's too early, or she could have return to the café but that meant asking for the directions but she felt shy. Megan didn't need to be here, but it's not like she had anything better to do.
"Well whose info got you down here in the first place? Mine. Come to think of it, shouldn't I get a cut of the reward too?"
"Well, that amulet you're wearing is mine, so I'd like that back now."
"What," Megan grabbed it in her hand, "this thing? Well you can have it bac-ack!"
"Will you two please keep it down?" Beth looked back at them and rushed to Megan as the pinkette collapsed on the ground. "Don't remove it. You're not yet ready to circulate all that magic in your system." Forcing Megan to wear the amulet, she looked at the two kids.
"I don't need to tell you to behave because I ain't your parents but I could send you both back if you're distracting us." Billy and Megan looked at Beth before nodding apologetically, "Sorry."
"Good."
And the journey resumed again.
"I'm still staying," Megan whispered to Billy as they trailed a little behind the adults.
"Whatever, just don't get in our way."
Her reply was grumbled words.
They walked for a couple more minutes before Megan asked, "I know we're in the sewers but it doesn't smell like one." Considering how when they were descending down the stairs the scent was unbearable but once they landed it was as if the stench vanished.
"Magic?" Billy asked. Also odder was the fact that while they were in the sewers, there was literally no sewage water here.
"You keep saying that as if that explains everything." Megan shot at Billy. And it's more spacious that what google pictures might seem. For one thing, all four of them could fit here no problem.
"But it does, right Beth?"
The adult woman ignored them both, "Any news, Bob?"
"You're cat's nearby," he said looking around. He looked at the people behind him, "I say we're close."
Megan saw his eyes and tried to not squirm. His pupils were not human. And were red. And glowed in the dark.
"How close?" Beth asked.
"Pretty close." He pointed a finger into the abyss, "right there?"
Three sets of flashlights were flashed to Bob and then to the direction he pointed.
"Speaking of, I need to file the [Quest Form] in Mirajane's office," She turned to Bob, "Are you sure my baby's nearby?"
"Positive."
"Well, I guess I'll be right back. Paper works can be a pain if done poorly. Tootles…" And without much ado, with a snap of her fingers, Beth vanished from thin air.
"Woah…" Billy was astonished. That was teleportation. True to life, see-it-to-believe-it, #NotFakeNews teleportation. One moment Beth was there, the next she's gone like a puff of smoke.
"I've seen better." Megan murmured.
"You seem to have accepted magic as true easily."
"I'm a mutant. We have flying iron armor over at Stark Labs. One of the Avengers is literally a mythological figure. I've been desensitized since even before the Chitauri Invasion."
"I didn't know Beth could use magic." Billy noted.
"She could have teleported once we found her cat." Bob said with a sigh. "Now we have to walk home."
There was a purr in the background that made Bob alert.
"Is the woman finally gone?" There was a sigh.
"Show yourself." Bob stood protectively behind the teens as he faced the direction where he came from.
Megan might not feel it because of the amulet she wore but Bob's aura was again suffocating.
Billy, out of curiosity, and in his head, in order to help Bob, shone light to the direction where he thought the voice came from.
There were soft pat, pat, pat sound that reminded him of–
"Paws." Megan whispered. "It sounds just like Professor McCoy's footsteps but… it's not bipedal, isn't it?"
"Walking on two feet is counterproductive, girrrl." The voice sounded feminine but also… feline?
Billy's weeb knowledge made him recall of the talking cat tropes from animals–there!
What they saw was definitely feline, alright but bigger than the average. Billy's been to a zoo and it was not as big as a tiger. But…
"Isn't that the cat Beth's looking for?" Billy asked.
"Excuse me?" The feline asked. "Do I look like I am some pet?"
"It talks." Bob said.
"Of course I talk, you abomeownation, I'm the city's rrrrruler of cats." The being wagged her tail. "I'm a sidhe. Notice the marrrrk on my chest."
"That's so cute…" Megan whispered as the cat puffed out her chest and showed a white spot on her chest area's fur.
"Thanks… I'm Jenifurrr. I'm the city's king of cats!"
"But… aren't you a female?"
"Alpha's probably the more correct term," Bob said lowering his defense.
"Alpha," Jenifurr purred, "you sound like one of the older cats around: he was Aegean."
"Was?"
The cat twirled for a moment, stomped her paws, and stretched her limbs. "A power vacuum was left after the prrrrevious king died. All the cats who serrrrved that king fought for who would inherrrrit the line of succession. Of course, they were just power hungry because the marrrrk of the Sidhe doesn't work like that. It passes to who the meowst qualified person is. And apparently that's me-ow. Doesn't help that I am one of the oldest cats around here."
"So does that mean you're not the cat we're looking for?" Billy asked.
"Nope, that's definitely the cat we're looking for." Bob said.
"I am currrrrently preoccupied."
"So do we, like, just grab her and go?" Megan asked to Bob.
"Meow-fully rude of you to ignore me." The cat yawned before turning around.
"Well, is there something we can do to help you? In exchange to returning with us?" Billy asked nicely.
"I might, but the concerns of cats should be settled between cats. That's always heow it's been."
"At least let us accompany you then? Billy spoke, taking a step forward, before looking at Bob for reassurance." The man merely shrugged as if giving Billy the reigns.
"Well, if you insist." The cat began to walk away which was a signal for the three to follow.
"Can you tell us more about what you're doing here?"
"I'm here to visit one of my meowst trusted retainerrrs. I've known him since we were kittens."
"Why?"
The cat was silent for a moment, walking with the group before answering, "Someone is targeting the key players of my kingdom."
"Huh?"
"One by one, someone is killing off my wards. It's too much of a coincidence that meow people are slowing being picked off one by one."
"And that retainer of yours lives here?" Megan asked, surprised that she accepted that story so easily.
"Yes, he lives in a human settlement nearby?"
"People live in the sewers?" This was the first time Billy's hearing this aside from badly written creepypasta stories.
Megan had a sneaking suspicion about who these people are because the older kids, and the professors, knew something suspicious about the sewers. There were rumors that a lot of fights broke out in the sewers during the 90s. Times like this she wished she listened more to Jubilee's gossip and wistful reminiscing.
There was a moment of silence when the group simply followed the cat before the cat stopped and actually hissed before jumping away.
Billy didn't get to see what flew into the cat's direction so he shone his flash light onto it.
"Is that a stick?" Billy walked to the direction before being pulled by Bob from his collar.
"-ack! Bob?" Billy's eyes looked at Bob who stared ahead. "What's the matter?"
Megan shone her light into the dark tunnel.
There was a silhouette of a person. But there were things sticking out of the person's back and sides. It was a girl, a woman to be precise.
She had pale skin and red hair. Billy thought that she looked like a titan from that certain anime but without the somewhat inaccurate distribution of muscles all around.
"Those are… spikes?" Megan wondered.
"Get out of here."