Disclaimer: The people who own Harry Potter and Trinity Blood are rich and dead, respectively. I am broke and very much alive, last time I checked.
Chapter 1
The Mission
A sister in Rome is quite a common sight. A sister who, upon hearing the chiming of the city's many bells, screams "I'm late!" and begins running at breakneck speed- well, that might get a few laughs. Or pitying glances, if the onlookers knew just what the sister was late for.
Esther Blanchett is this particular sister's name. She's a petite redheaded girl of eighteen, with large blue eyes. Between her size and her eyes, which give her an aura of youth and innocence, she is often mistaken for someone much younger. But don't be fooled. Those eyes have seen quite a bit, and not all or even most of it is pleasant.
Esther is quite fast, the result of five months harsh physical training. Her skirts billow out around her as she runs, and she smoothes them down quickly before someone sees the sawed off shotgun strapped to her thigh. Despite the distance she's run, her breath still comes easily as she enters Palazzio Spada.
Palazzio Spada is a conspicuously beautiful castle, standing on the opposite bank of the Tiber River from San Pietro. It's decorated with statues of ancient heroes and goddesses, making it reminiscent of an ancient pagan temple. Esther approaches the building and ducks into a side door marked 'Do Not Enter'. Disguised to look like stone is a small metal panel. She opens it, revealing a key pad and a slot. Esther punches in a code and swipes her ID card, and hears the click of a lock being unlocked. She opens the door and enters and there's another click as it locks behind her.
Now, had Esther entered through the front door she would have found herself inside a well-kept but deserted building. As she entered through a side door, she entered a hive of activity. People walked this way and that, arms empty or full of papers, in groups or alone. One thing they all had in common was that they were dressed in the uniform of the clergy. Esther smiled as she walked the brightly lit halls, waving and greeting the people she passed. She is an orphan whose surrogate mother was killed nearly a year ago, and the people of the Vatican's Department of Foreign Affairs had become her family.
Except the Vatican doesn't have a Department of Foreign Affairs. At least, on the surface it doesn't. Just like the Inquisition was supposedly dissolved centuries ago. There are many layers to the Vatican, and the public is only exposed to the first. There is even another Pope, called the True Pope, and another college of cardinals. It is one of those cardinals that Esther is going to see.
Cardinal Caterina Sforza is a Milanese woman of royal descent on her mother's side and the daughter of the previous True Pope. You see, it is only in the public layer of the Roman Catholic Church that clergy are required to take vows of celibacy. It is much easier to recruit people to a secret organization if their parents are also part of it. But back to Her Grace. Both of Caterina's parents died when she was still young, her father suffering from cancer and her mother victim of a vampire attack. She rose through the ranks of the inner Vatican through her own political genius to become the first female cardinal, despite the obstacles placed in her path by her elder half-brother, another cardinal. The only thing the half-siblings have ever agreed on is the election of Caterina's younger brother to the True Papal throne.
Today, the 'Woman of Steel' as Caterina is sometimes called, sits behind her large, imposing desk waiting for the sister three years her junior. There are two chairs opposite the desk, and one of them is occupied by the man who just recently visited the Leaky Cauldron as a representative of the AX. The AX, or Arcanum Cella Ex Dono Dei, is the Vatican Department of Foreign Affairs Special Operations Section. Members of the AX, known as deputy enforcers, are responsible for keeping the peace in Catholic countries, in situations too dangerous for the average Foreign Affairs Officer. This means they deal with vampires, magic users, werewolves, particularly dangerous humans, and all other manner of creatures. Though he appears to be a mostly average man, Father Wordsworth, codename Professor, is a dangerous individual, and not just because of his razor-sharp intellect.
Esther finally reaches the hall leading to Cardinal Sforza's office. The secretary, a sister by the name of Loretta, ushers her in. "Sister Esther Blanchett. So you finally deign to join us."
"My deepest apologies, Your Grace," Esther replies with a curtsy. She wilts under Caterina's ice-blue stare. "Very well Sister. In the future, please try to be more prompt. You may be seated."
"Yes, Your Grace. Your Grace, may I ask why I have been summoned?"
"You may, Sister Blanchett, but first I would like to ask you a few questions. Why did you join the Department of Foreign Affairs?"
Esther takes time to consider her answer before speaking. "I suppose you could say I joined because of Father Nightroad, Your Grace. After the Gyula bombed the church, there was no place for me to go. But I truly admired Father Nightroad and the work he did, so I came to Rome, intending to work towards becoming an AX member. I hoped to find the answers here."
Caterina almosts asks Esther what answers she hoped to find, but stops herself. Instead she says, "Sister Blanchett, I have read over your application for the AX. After your success in the Empire, I seriously considered it. But you lack one thing. Experience. If you wish to change that, there is a mission Father Wordsworth thinks you would be well-suited for, and I happen to agree."
For a moment, Esther is too shocked to speak. Then an expression of absolute determination and happiness comes over her face. "I'll take it!" she announces.
"Easy there, Esther. You haven't even heard the mission details yet," says Father Wordsworth with a chuckle. The girl blushes. Caterina doesn't smile, but her eyes grow warmer. "Sister Esther, what do you know of the magical community?"
"The 'magical' community is a hidden society full of people who were born with the dormant section of their brain awakened, and are thus able to use the brain's latent power. Though they believe they are using a force known as magic, we recognize it as a science. Hence, we don't prosecute 'magical' peoples anymore," Esther recites.
"Correct. Now, what about the magical community of England and its recent history?"
Esther wracks her brain for an answer. Because England is largely Protestant, she hadn't studied it closely. "A dark lord going by the name of Voldemort was vanquished in 1981 by a child named Harry Potter, afterwards known as the Boy-Who-Lived. Voldemort was a supporter of the 'pureblood' supremacy faction. With his death, the purebloods took a blow, but they still control the majority of the legislative body, the Wizengamot, and one of the Minister of Magic's closest advisors is a suspected Death Eater, as the followers of Voldemort were known."
Father Wordsworth spoke up. "Correct, though 'vanquished' and 'death' are not words I would have used. Recently I met with the head of the Wizengamot, a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore. He confirmed rumors we've been hearing about Voldemort's return, and asked for our help."
"In hopes of improving relations between the Vatican and magical world, as well as England, we have agreed." Caterina finishes. "Your job, should you choose to accept this mission, would be to act as a bodyguard for Harry Potter."
"I will gladly accept this mission…but why me?"
It is Caterina who answers Esther's query. "Three reasons: your record, your age, and your looks. Your record is exemplary, so we trust that you will do your duty well. You are only eighteen and look younger, so we can disguise you as a student at Hogwarts, the school which Potter attends. Also, you are a redhead, the same as Potter's mother and his surrogate family. You will be a lost relative of one or the other."
Esther nods, she understands their reasoning even if she doesn't like being chosen for her looks…but there is one thing she doesn't understand. "How will I attend a school of magic? I'm normal."
The Professor's eyes light up. "Well you see, just recently I have stumbled upon the most wonderful invention- a special gas that releases the limiters on a person's brain, allowing them to become 'magical' for months at a time. There are a few unpleasant side effects, but I'm sure I'll have that straightened out in no time!" He beams.
Esther's eyes filll with determination once more, and she reiterates, "I'll do it!"
AN: Thank you for reading my story. I live for reviews, you know. I also know that my explanation for magic was short and possibly confusing, but I'm trying. And how would you like it if I mixed in some Fullmetal-style alchemy? Thanks for your input!
Edited October 14, 2009. Shadowmaiden3, is is better now?
