Chapter 9

"Nothing's wrong with starting young." by Cana

Several weeks after the Harvest Festival, Fairy Tail had more or less returned to normal. The guild members spent more hanging around the bar rather than on a mad job rush before the festival. Apparently, a rumor had been going around that the S-rank exams were coming early this year which sent the Fairy Tail's mages rushing in and out of missions to increase their chances of being chosen for the test. This rumor was nothing more than a rumor, the exams were still being held at the same time as they had always been every year. Many were disheartened but at least many civilians received the helpful (read destructive) assistance of Fairy Tail.

With more members loitering in the guild, Fairy Tail returned to their normal routine and back to what the townspeople knew them well as: destructive noisy peace-breakers. After such a long period of silence, the locals were almost glad to hear the sound of a table flying through a window or disorderly ruckus that made the entire town shake. The key word is 'almost'. No matter what, Fairy Tail will always be a not-so-slight annoyance to Magnolia.

{~~~}

Cana chugged down another keg of beer before throwing casually aside. It had been a great relief and disappointment that the rumor about the S-rank exams had been false.

The abandoned beer keg had bounced off Natsu's head before landing in Erza's cheesecake. No one had seen where the keg had come from. Natsu had accused Gray of throwing the keg which the ice mage had fiercely denied and had broken out into a trade of insults that quickly turned physical. Erza had mourned for the unfortunate end of her strawberry sweet before turning on her guild mates with a demon's rage. Seeing the start of a good fight, the others soon joined in and officially starting one of Fairy Tail's infamous bar fights.

Lifting another beer keg to her lips, Cana prepared to scull its contents when she felt a tap on her back. It was too light to be anything thrown at her and was voided of any perverted or foul intent. She turned to find a little boy with reddish-maroon hair and a large stick, probably a wand of some sort, on his back. At first, the staff appeared to be strapped to the boy's back but on closer inspection, the staff was actually floating just above the fabric of his black shirt. Cana was sure she had seen the boy somewhere but she couldn't remember where.

"Um… hello Miss." The boy's voice was uneven and his mismatched eyes portrayed his nervousness.

"Who are you kid?" It came out a bit rougher than she first expected but the boy didn't shrink away.

"Negi, mam." Ah, now Cana remembered. The little kid Laxus took as his apprentice.

Elfman crashed onto the table next to them, turning it into a pile of splinters. The large man got up unfazed and shouted, "A REAL MAN ALWAYS GETS UP AFTER A FALL!" before throwing himself back into the fight.

Negi winced as several more crashed were heard and more furniture was smashed to pieces. Cana remained unbothered, she had lived in Fairy Tail since she was a child and was used to the ruckus they caused.

She sipped some beer from her keg before slamming it down on the table. "What do you want?"

The boy shuffled a bit. "You're good with card magic, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why are you asking?" Cana really wanted the boy to leave so she could drink her beer in peace.

Negi thrust a deck of cards in front of the local drunkard. "Do you know what these cards mean?"

Cana took the deck from the boy's hands and began to shuffle through the cards. Her eyes widened. Pactios. The cards were pactios, and not just normal contract cards, they were artifact cards. Every single one of them. All of them were the master copies except one that depicted the boy before her. Cana inspected the card; it showed Negi in a tattered cream-colored cloak with his staff in one hand and a leather-bound notebook in the other. A blurry smudge was in the place where the name of the Minister Magi was supposed to be.

"Where did you find these?" Cana asked.

Negi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I found them in my pocket when Teacher Laxus found me. He didn't know what they meant and said to ask the lady that drinks from barrels about them when I have the chance."

Cana didn't know what was more surprising: finding a little boy who was in over a dozen contracts or learning that Laxus of all people referred her for something he knew nothing about.

"Do you know what they are?"

The card mage nodded. "They're pactio cards. A pactio is a… contract between two people where one person, the Magister Magi, lends power to the other, the Minister Magi. In exchange, the Minister protects the Magister in battle. If the Magister of the contract is strong enough, an artifact is created." Cana omitted to tell Negi how the contracts were sealed. If his previous contracts were to say anything, the boy would attempt to make a contract with every person he knows.

Luckily, the boy seemed uninterested in how pactios were made, believing that they were formed similar to stellar spirit contracts, though the artifacts seemed to take his interest. "What are the artifacts for?"

"An artifact is a magical item created from a pactio; they are based off the personality of the Minster and the magic of the Magister. The Magister will generally summon the artifact for the Minster though the Minister can summon it themselves if they are given a copy of the contract card."

"How are they summoned?"

"A Minister can call forth their artifact with the incantation adeat and return it, abeat." Cana passed the cards back to Negi. "Though they are more common in places like the Megalomesembria Confederation and the Hellas Empire, they are not things that are to be taken lightly. Use them with the utmost caution."

Negi nodded and pocketed the cards. He watched curiously as Cana grabbed a mug from behind the counter and pour herself an orange-ish drink from the keg. "Can I try some?" the boy asked, believing the drink was orange juice.

Cana paused, Negi was still underage but then again, "Sure, why not." She answered, passing the mug. She was about his age when she started drinking, maybe even younger, what's the worst that could happen?

{~~~}

"CANA!"

The mage in question turned to see a very pissed Evergreen storming her way. Freed and Bickslow were flanked either side of their female teammate, attempting to restrain her.

"Take a chill pill Evergreen." Bickslow said.

"Bickslow's right. You need to calm down, it's not that bad." Freed added in a soothing tone.

Cana took a swig of beer. "What did I do this time?"

"You…you-Grrr!" Evergreen fumed then pointed to a nearby bench. A very drunk Negi was crying his eyes out on Arika's lap with Loke gently patting his back.

"You got a child DRUNK!" Evergreen screeched.

"I only gave him a little bit." Cana reasoned, taking a step back.

"YOU CALL HALF A KEG A LITTLE BIT!" Evergreen lunged at Cana, knocking over several items, including Erza cheesecake, on her way.

Another bar fight was started.

"I'M USLESS TRASH! NO ONE NEEDS ME!" came the drunken cries of a little boy.