▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER TEN ▬▬▬▬▬

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YOU'RE going on a quest?!" Esmerelda said excitedly to the son of Poseidon. She had ran into him on her way back to the Hermes cabin and he had just finished a meeting with Chiron and Mr. D. She was glad to see that he hadn't been incinerated by the wine god and was instead given a quest.

"Not like I had much of a choice..." He sighed heavily. "Let me guess, you're one of those kids who wants to go on quests too, aren't you?"

"Of course," she exclaimed. "It gets quite boring here in camp. Sure we're allowed to roam New York, but that's only on the weekends and it gets quite boring. Do you already have the other two campers picked out?" A small part of her hoped that he had picked her.

He must have seen the look on his face because he apologized first. "Sorry, I picked Grover and Annabeth had already volunteered herself."

"Darn," her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "So what's your quest about anyways?"

"Not sure if it's okay to tell you," he said nervously. "But I think I can tell you the prophecy."

"You shall go west, and find the god who has turned,

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,

And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."

She frowned. "So you're going to retrieve a stolen object... but what was that last line? 'You shall fail to save what matters most in the end'? It just said that you'd retrieve it."

She noticed him tense up at the mention of the last line. "I'm not sure," he said, clearly lying.

She decided to let it go. "Well, I hope you guys stay safe. As exciting as quests are, there's a reason not many people come back alive from them—sorry, probably shouldn't have said that. Anyways, I think you'll be fine. You have wicked good sword skills, Annabeth's a brilliant strategist, and Grover's a satyr and all satyrs are good with their reed pipes. Plus, he could smell a monster a mile away and warn you guys."

His shoulders seemed to relax. "Thanks," he said, letting out a breath. "I needed that. I've been worried ever since... well ever since I've been claimed."

He must be terrified out of his wits, she realized. "You'll be okay. And so will Annabeth and Grover. Now go and pack up. I heard quests are urgent."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were long gone the next day, having been starting on their quest. The weather at camp still wasn't very pleasant, unlike when Esmerelda had been claimed. While the storm had been bad, it was gone the next day. But today, the storm had yet to cease.

She had a feeling that the gods—particularly Zeus—were mad about something else that didn't have to do with the broken oath. Percy's existence just added salt to the wound.

"Hope England's weather is better than this." Ethan muttered as he zipped up his windbeater jacket.

"Chiron told me it was in the sixties. He also said that their time zone's five hours ahead of ours." She informed him. "It's seven o'clock now, which means by the time we get there, it'll be 12."

"We still need to find Sweetie's Ice Cream Factory," he pointed out.

"Right... Oh well, let's just go."

They jogged over to the bottom of Half-Blood Hill where the bright orange coach bus was parked with Argus able to be seen through the driver side's window. Around fifty or so campers filed in, Ethan and Esmerelda as well.

Apparently a lot of people wanted to go to the Hamptons because that was the first place Argus drove to. They passed by glittering beaches, luxury boutiques, and large glamorous mansions where wealthy families lived. During a red light, Esmerelda watched enviously as a little girl dressed in Chanel happily greeted her father on their front porch. The mother was back at the doorway, staring at her husband and daughter fondly.

The light turned green and Esmerelda looked away as the bus drove on.

Ethan, Esmerelda, and several other campers were dropped off at 18 Windmill Lane in front of the fire department. From there on, she and Ethan headed north towards Pond Lane where the abandoned factory would be.

"So why'd you decide to bring me along and not your half-siblings?" Ethan asked as they walked through the lavish neighborhood.

"Most of them already had plans for the weekend. Plus, I couldn't just leave you at camp. You'd be bored to death without me." She grinned.

"Haha," he laughed dryly. "I'd argue and say I'll go training, but it's storming there so."

"See? Aren't you glad I brought you along?" Her grin widened.

He snorted but said nothing. His eyes glazed over as he looked at the houses they passed by, and the people that were playing around in the sidewalks. Esmerelda looked around too, feeling like a complete outsider. These people were all wealth and most likely held easier lives compared to hers. She wondered, briefly, what it would be like to live like them. Fully mortal, no monsters or gods to worry about, and money to take care of any worries.

And a family.

Gods, she wanted a family. She loved her half-siblings, but she always wondered what it was like to have a mom and dad. All the foster parents she had never lasted. They either mistreated her and sent her away, or they were nice to her, but still sent her away because of all the weird things happening around her.

None of them wanted to really keep her.

She thought of all the dreams she had of her father. He seemed to care about her. Even when there were monsters attacking them left and right—

She stopped walking when realization hit her.

Ethan turned around. "What is it?"

"S-sorry, I was just thinking about my dad..." She stammered, her heart pounding.

"Is it your dreams?" He asked, having been described of them before.

She nodded. "I just realized something..." She whispered. "Monsters were hunting me down when I was a baby. My dad had to fend them off... I remember the workers at foster care telling me that my mom had left me there—but it couldn't be her since she's not allowed... I think my dad gave me away. I think he gave me to someone else, and she put me into foster care."

His eyes widened at the implications of her words. "Essie, your dad wouldn't..." But he trailed off. He was beginning to see how she could be right.

"I gave my dad a lot of trouble even as a baby. I kept attracting monsters. I put him in so much danger... I don't blame him for wanting to get rid of me." She said miserably. She realized she was starting to cry, so she raised her arm and quickly wiped the stray tears away with the sleeve of her jacket.

"If that's true, then you're dad's a dickhead for abandoning you." Ethan said angrily. His fists were balled and he wanted nothing more than to punch her father in the face. Esmerelda was a great kid, and was sweet and friendly and joyful to be around. In his eyes, anyone who would so willingly abandon her—knowing that she was in danger—was a heartless monster.

"He's just as bad as my dad," he went on. "No—maybe he's even worse. You don't need a dad like that anyways, Essie. You're perfectly fine without him. He'll probably regret what he did if he knew how awesome you are."

She couldn't help the tiny smile that forced itself onto her face. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "And if I ever find out who he is, I'll give him a good punch to the face."

He grinned sinisterly. "You should. And you should take me to him so I could punch him too. I'd let you do the same to my dad, but that bastard's long dead to me anyways."

Now feeling a little better, she and Ethan walked the rest of the way to their destination, talking about shitty dads while doing so. They walked beside the Agawam Lake, scouring the forestry on their right for any tall building.

"You think that's it?" She asked, pointing ahead.

They walked through the forest and reached the factory. Time certainly hadn't been kind to it. All the metal was rusted over, making the building look brownish-red. There was also a bunch of graffiti drawn all over the walls. Esmerelda even saw a satanist symbol which made her shudder. They stopped in front of the door. Two words were written on it.

DEAD INSIDE

It said, in dark red ink that strongly resembled blood.

They looked at each other.

"Well that's not creepy," Ethan said, sucking in a breath.

"How much do you wanna bet a monster's waiting inside there for us?" Esmerelda gulped.

He shook his head. "It would've made a noise already..." He trailed off, sounding very unsure of himself.

They opened the doors and stepped in. The inside was just as bad as the outside. The walls were not only graffitified with crude drawings and satanic symbols, but they looked to be crumbling. The floor was full of odd stains and questionable black and red puddles, and there was broken glass everywhere. All the pipes that were sticking out were rusted and worn, and the many stairs looked unstable.

"Ethan?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"Why do I feel like I just walked into American Horror Story?"

"We didn't. Relax. Diakos said it wasn't haunted or anything..." He said nervously. "Look, let's just look for that polecat statuette and get the Hades outta here."

They ventured deeper into the old factory, but the deeper they went, the creepier it became. It started to grow smellier too. Like there was urine and vomit hiding behind the walls.

They looked through every inch of the bottom floor and couldn't find a polecat statuette anywhere. All they managed to find were half-drunken beer bottles, rubble, and a wallet that Esmerelda picked up but threw away once she found out that it was empty.

"We'll have to go up." Ethan said.

"But..." She looked at the stairs. "It looks... weak."

He sighed. "I'll go first then. If it can handle my weight, it can handle yours."

Very carefully, he placed his foot on the first step and winced when a low creak was released. He added a little more pressure and deemed it safe enough when his foot didn't completely break through. Slowly, he walked the rest of the way up, keeping a tight grip on the dirty railing.

He safely made it up to the top.

"Okay, you're turn now."

With the same carefulness as Ethan, she walked up the stairs and made it to the second floor. Off to the side were a bunch of large, metal doors that contained a small window. She tried getting up on the tips of her toes to get a better view, but still couldn't quite reach. Ethan couldn't reach either. So they decided to just walk in.

They opened the door and several rats scurried out passed them. Esmerelda jumped out of the way, a disgusted look on her face. "Ew!" She cried out.

"Wait 'till you smell the room," Ethan grimaced, standing in front of the opened doorway with his nose plugged.

She sniffed and gagged in disgust, covering her nose as well. She searched the room with her eyes. It was like some sort of freezer. There were shelves all over where a bunch of ice cream tubs were stacked. They looked full, but the factory had been abandoned for decades now so whatever was in those containers was no longer ice cream.

"I don't see the statuette." She said, voice nasally.

Ethan shut the door and breathed out. "What if it's really small? She never told you how small it was, did she?"

"She never mentioned it to me, only wrote about it in the note. Come on, let's try the other freezers." She suggested.

They tried each and every one and received the same results: no polecat statue to be found.

"Last one..." She sighed, plugging her nose before opening the door.

They stepped inside and quickly searched around, not wanting to stay in the room for a second longer. They walked through the first aisle, with Ethan looking left and Esmerelda looking right.

Her eyes drifted from another carton of ice cream to a pair of angry black eyes.

"AH!" She screamed, jumping back only to crash into Ethan and make him crash onto the shelf, causing it to go toppling down.

"Esmerelda!" He groaned, rubbing his head from where he had bumped a piece of metal.

"Sorry!" She squeaked, getting back on her feet and helping him up. "Think I found the statuette though." She pointed to the owner of the angry black eyes. It was an almost life-sized figurine of a polecat, painted with good detail.

"About time we found the gods damn thing." He grumbled, walking towards it. "What'd Diakos say this was again?"

"She said it was a portkey. Apparently we just touch it and takes us to London." She explained.

Ethan eyed with distrust. "Really? That's all we have to do? Just... touch it?"

"Yeah I guess." She shrugged.

He turned to her. "On three?"

She nodded and stood beside him, their hands now hovering over the statuette.

"One... two... three!"

Simultaneously, they grasped the statuette. In an instant, the most uncomfortable sensation happened to them. It was like a hook had sunk into their navels and was currently sucking them into a vacuum. Esmerelda heard herself scream through all the noise and she was pretty sure Ethan was screaming too.

And abruptly, it all ended. With a loud THUD she crashed against concrete nose-first and heard it break. The same had happened to Ethan too.

"Ouch!" He complained loudly, slowly getting up to his feet. He snapped his nose back into place.

"Uuugh..." She moaned in pain, gripping the brick wall to help her up. Suddenly, her stomach lurched. Bending over, she opened her mouth and and spilled out her breakfast.

"Essie..." Ethan sighed in disappointment.

"You know I don't do good with—blargh!—sudden, quick movements!" So she had portkey-sickness now? Wonderful.

After hacking her guts out, she wiped her mouth from all the vomit and blood. Blood was freely running down from her nose to her mouth and chin. She glanced at Ethan and saw that he was in the same situation too.

"Your nose is all crooked," he informed her.

She snapped her nose back in place. "You got blood all over you too."

"She couldn't have given us a warning about that stupid portkey?" He growled, trying to wipe the blood off his face.

"Whatever... Where are we?" She asked, looking around. They were in some shady looking alleyway. It wasn't much of a looker, but it was better compared to Sweetie's Ice Cream Factory. Smelled a lot better too.

"We must be in London now, I hear the accent." Ethan muttered, giving up on his wiping. "Come on, let's get outta here and look for—the Leaky Cauldron?"

"But our faces! We look like we just brawled against each other!" She cried out.

He shrugged. "Who cares what they think."

"Aw, fine." She sighed in defeat and followed him out.

Immediately, they garnered a bunch of stares, which was no surprise. Two kids just walked out of an alleyway with matching bleeding noses. It was enough to raise questions, but thankfully nobody bothered to bug them about it. They started getting impatient around five minutes of being unable to find the Leaky Cauldron and started asking around for directions.

That only earned them more stares.

"Sorry, the what? I never heard of that place."

"Are you two kids lost? Where are your parents?"

"What happened to your faces? Oh no, did somebody hurt you?"

Those were the most common questions they received whenever they asked.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later did they finally find it squished between two other stores. The Leaky Cauldron turned out to a tiny, grubby looking bar. There was nothing special about it, nobody even bothered to look at it as they walked by. There eyes would be drawn to the book shop or record shop beside it. It was as if the bar was being hidden by the Mist.

They walked inside and all the inhabitants stopped to stare at them. No—at her. Their eyes were all blank like they were in a daze. A second later, they all blinked in confusion and resumed to whatever they were doing.

Esmerelda and Ethan stayed rooted at the doorway.

"What... was that?" He whispered to her.

"I have no clue." She whispered back, a little unsettled. "Let's just look for whoever 'Tom' is."

They walked up to the bartender. "Excuse me," Esmerelda began politely. "Can we speak to the owner, Tom?"

The man peered down at them curiously, eyeing the blood on their faces. "That's me. Can I offer you kids a rag to clean up?"

"Oh! Yes, please, that'd be nice. But we were also hoping you'd show us how to get to Diagon Alley?"

"Ah, just a second. I take it you kids are Muggle-born?" He asked, conjuring up two wet rags and handing it to them.

"...'Scuse me?" Ethan stared at him weirdly. Muggle meant 'cigarettes of marijuana' and neither of them were born high on weed thank you very much.

"You don't know?" He raised a brow. "Muggle-born, as in you came from a non-magical family."

"Oh, uh, sure I guess." Esmerelda said lamely as she set her bloody rag down. She had finished cleaning.

"She's the witch here, not me." Ethan said.

"Ohh, so you're a no-maj them. That's what we call Muggles—non-magical folk—except Americans use them. Say, you wouldn't be out here looking for Hogwarts supplies would you? I never knew they were starting to accept foreign students... Ah, forget what I said. Here, follow me, I'll show you the way to Diagon Alley."

He walked around the counter and led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard full of trash and weeds (the plant, of course). He took out his wand and started tapping the wall above the trashcan. He tapped on it three times and the brick began to quiver and wriggle. A small hole appeared at the center of it, and it grew wider and wider until it created an archway large enough for people to walk through. On the other side of it was a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, kids." Tom grinned.

"Holy Hera." Esmerelda blurted out.

Tom motioned for them to go through and they did. The archway shrunk back and turned into solid wall.

"That was kinda cool." Ethan admitted. He looked around. "Oh but this is even cooler..."

To the left they saw a shop selling different types of cauldrons. To the right was an Apothecary.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the Apothecary. "Oooh, Ethan, let's go there! I wanna see if they have any ingredients that I might need!"

He tugged her back to his side before she could sprint away. "Later. You need to get a cauldron first and I'm pretty sure that store with the huge pots sell them."

She sighed in defeat and let him drag her away from the Apothecary. In the cauldron shop, which she was pretty sure was named Portage's Cauldron Shop, they grabbed one pewter cauldron, size two.

Esmerelda squinted at the price tag. "It says that it costs 15... gu... galleons? Am I reading this right?"

"Diakos gave you a coin purse right? She said to use it to buy your supplies..."

"But it's empty." She finished.

Ethan looked around and muttered into her ear. "Should we steal it?"

"What? No, we can't risk it," she frowned. "Maybe the coin purse is enchanted or something."

"Enchanted to do what?"

"Let's find out," she said, walking over to the counter with the cauldron.

"Fifteen galleons." The lady behind the counter said curtly.

Esmerelda took out her coin purse and prayed to gods that something good would happen before sticking her hand in the little bag. All of a sudden, she felt her fingers grasp coins.

Oh no way, she thought in pure amazement, pulling out a golden coin. She set it on the counter and began grabbing more coins from the purse until she had enough.

"Thank you for shopping at Portage's Cauldron Shop, come back again." The lady said, but Esmerelda was too distracted by the coin purse.

"It is enchanted!" She hissed excitedly to Ethan as they walked out. "I stuck my hand in and the right amount of money came out!"

Ethan stared at the floral purse with wide eyes. "You think it can do that with regular cash?"

"I hope so. Come on, let's go to the next store!"

The next store was Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, where she bought her brass scale, telescope, and set of phials. Like last time, the coin purse conjured up the money they needed. Then they went to a clothes shop where she got fitted for robes (she really didn't want to wear them).The next store they went to was full of books (Flourish and Blotts the sign may have read). That was where they ran into their first problem.

"Look here... They have a German copy, an Arabic copy—but no Ancient Greek..." Esmerelda huffed. "There's no way I would be able to read any of these books if they're not in Ancient Greek."

"What seems to be the problem here, children?" The manager—a man—came up to them.

"The language we're looking for isn't here." Ethan answered.

"Ah, English isn't your first language, is it?" He asked knowingly. They shook their heads. "Well, luckily for you, I have a solution. There's a glasses shop around here—Respectable Spectacles—they sell these glasses that translates whatever language you see, into whatever language you can read in."

"That sounds amazing!" Esmerelda gaped. "Where is it?"

"Just a few stores away, not too far I think. Anyways, is there anything else I can help you with?" He asked kindly.

She shook her head and he dismissed himself. Quickly, they started grabbing the books she needed—in which they made sure to carefully read each title to make sure they had the right ones—and bought them.

They hurried out of the store and began looking for 'Respectable Spectacles'.

"You want one too?" Esmerelda asked her friend.

"Nah."

"What? Why not?!"

"I'll look like a total nerd in glasses." He scowled. "So no thanks. Besides, the entirety of camp would try to steal them if they found out what they could do."

"Oh alright, then. I just hope this shop sells glasses that translates English to Ancient Greek..." She muttered to herself.

The shop was very easy to spot since the sign was a pair of bright red glasses with cursive writing on the lenses. They were pretty sure it read Respectable Spectacles and went inside.

"Young customers," the man behind the counter said. He was surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of glasses, all of different styles. "How may I help you two?"

"Hi," she greeted nervously. "Um, I'm looking for these glasses that translates writing...?"

"Ah, my Translator Specs. Very popular with foreigners. What language do you need it in?"

"Ancient Greek." She answered, and he stared at her.

"Ah," NBC he blinked, leaning closer. "Sorry, dear, I don't think I heard you right...?"

"I need it... in Ancient Greek." She repeated.

He stared at her, not blinking. "Ancient Greek, you say?"

"Yes."

"You can read Ancient Greek?"

She nodded. "I'm fluent in it, yes. It's the only language I can read in, by the way, so I really need it before school starts..."

He frowned deeply, and her stomach twisted. "Unfortunately, dearie, I have yet to create glasses for that language. I wasn't expecting a customer to require that... Fortunately for you, I can make them but it'll take some time."

Hope bubbled in her chest. "R-really?"

"It'll take a few months... I'm afraid I might finish it sometime after your term starts."

She tried not to look too deflated. "Oh... That's okay though. As long as I get those glasses."

He nodded and pulled out a clipboard. "Put your information on here. Also, you'll have to pay a little extra for the shipping and frames."

She nodded and did as required. Once all that was finished, the glasses maker promised to have her product finished as quickly as possible and bid her goodbye.

"Where to next?" Ethan asked.

"A wand and... a pet." She answered. "Owl, cat, or toad?"

"Not a toad," he said automatically. "I don't know about cats, but I see an owl store right over there."

They walked into the shop and immediately smelled owls and only owls. It didn't smell terribly per say, but the scent was strong enough to tell them that there had to be at least a hundred owls inside the store.

"Excuse me," she called out to an employee. "Do you know why students might need to have an owl?"

"Why, to send letters of course!" She exclaimed. "It's our way of communication. You kids must be Muggle-borns if you didn't know that. What is it Muggles use? Telly-funs?"

"Telephones..." Ethan said slowly, staring at her as if she was an idiot.

She snapped her fingers. "Ah, yes that! Where are your parents by the way? And, oh, what happened to your noses...?"

"Oh we're fine." Esmerelda smiled. "And our parents are outside buying the rest of our supplies."

"Ah, I see. Well, have a look around the store and you're free to call any one of us if you need help."

"Did she seriously not know what a phone is?" Ethan whispered to her.

"Maybe she was just kidding." She said, but she wasn't so sure. Everything about the wizarding world seemed dreadfully Medieval... The Leaky Cauldron didn't even use proper light fixtures. Just torches or lanterns...

Maybe they're just fond of Medieval-themed stuff. She told herself.

As they explored the store, they began to hear loud rattling. Curious, she followed the sound where she saw an angry owl aggressively thrashing around in it's cage.

"Oh no, poor guy. I don't think he likes cages." She frowned, cautiously reaching out to pet it.

"Essie!" Ethan hissed, but it was too late. Esmerelda's fingers went through the gaps between the bars and she began stroking the top of it's head.

"He's calmer now, but he still looks pissed off." Ethan commented, looking mildly impressed at how easily she managed to tame the angry little guy.

"He's cute," she smiled. "I think I'm going to adopt him."

"Do whatever you want, but I think we should get a second one that'll stay at camp. You know, in case we need to contact you. It's a bit slower, but we might not be able to Iris Message you since you'll be surrounded by mortals all day and night." Ethan suggested.

"Good idea." She gingerly picked the screech owl's cage. It resumed thrashing again but stopped when she cooed, "Hold on, we're gonna get you outta here soon."

They found a nice, chubby, wide-eyed tawny owl that was the complete opposite of the screech owl. This particular owl was as still as a rock, and didn't even move when Ethan grabbed his cage.

They went over to the counter to buy them.

"You're going to get that one?" The man said, eyeing the screech owl in distaste. He seemed to glare back and lunged at him only to be reminded of his cage.

"Something wrong?" Esmerelda asked in a tight voice.

"Devil, that one. Glad to have it out of our hands. That'll be twenty five galleons."

Esmerelda handed him the money and walked out of the store with Ethan.

She first released her screech owl. The first thing he did was peck the closest person—which happened to be Ethan—before resting on Esmerelda's shoulder, nuzzling her head.

She laughed. "Hah! You know what? I think I'm gonna name him Ethan Jr."

"Why?" The namesake hissed, releasing the tawny owl from his cage. He clutched his head, rubbing the spot Ethan Jr. had angrily attacked.

She smiled slyly. "Because he hates everyone, but me. Just like you."

"Oh, you're a bitch." He rolled his eyes. "What're you naming this one?"

"You can name it." She offered.

"Wish I can name it Essie Jr, but it's a dude." He muttered. "How about Stylianos? He's kinda like a pillar: never moving. 'Cause he's lazy and all that."

Esmerelda knew what he was talking about. Stylianos meant 'pillar'.

"Well, all that's left is a wand." She stated.

They started searching for the wand store, with Ethan Jr. and Stylianos flying around (and Ethan Jr. occasionally pecking whoever got too close). They found a dingy looking alleyway between some bank and another shop whose sign neither of them could read.

"Maybe it's over here." She said aloud, and they walked in. The stores there were a lot different compared to the stores in Diagon Alley. They all sold pretty creepy things. They passed by one store selling dead spiders, another selling what looked like body parts, and some shop with blood stains on the windows. Even creepier were the people walking through. They were all dressed darkly with pointed hats that covered up their faces.

"People here are pretty shady." She commented lightly. Just where was the wand shop?

"I know right? And you know what I noticed? They're clothes. Look at what they're wearing. It's like they've never lived in the twenty-first century... It just got me thinking. That lady back at the owl shop didn't even know what a telephone is, what if it's because all these witches and wizards are stuck in some old time period?"

She rose a brow.

"Not literally, of course." He clarified. "Don't you think it's a little weird though?"

"You've got a point..." She agreed, eyeing the bags in her hands. "I mean... They still use parchment and quills... Quills, Ethan."

"Lowkey sucks."

She nodded in agreement.

After another half hour of walking around, they reached a dead end and still didn't find a wand shop. They turned around to walk back only to find an old wizard standing in their way. She didn't like the look on his face. Esmerelda looked around stiffly. There was no one nearby.

The old wizard smiled at her, showing her all ten of his yellow teeth. "Pretty lass," he crooned. "Shouldn't be in here, I say. Bad place to be, for pretty things. Always end up broken."

Ethan Jr's wings ruffled angrily and he was about to fly off to peck the creep's eyes out until Ethan stepped forward.

"Get out of our way." He said firmly.

"Dumb brat," the wizard chuckled gleefully, looking amused and not threatened at all. "Don't even see a wand on you. What're you gonna do to me, eh?"

Ethan reached out for his earring, and his sword was instantly in his hand. The wizard stared at it with brief astonishment.

Esmerelda's eyes widened and she grabbed the back of his jacket. "Ethan!" She hissed. "We don't even know if that works on them!"

"Guess we're about to find out," he muttered to her before returning his hardening gaze at the old wizard. "Get out of our way. I won't say it a third time."

The old man looked at the sword, to Ethan, then back at the sword before letting out a loud laugh. "You think that muggle weapon's gonna—Ack!" Within seconds, Ethan had him pinned against the wall with a blade against his throat. The wizard raised his arm—with the wand in hand—but Ethan easily grabbed his arm with his free hand and forced it up—
       
"AAAARRRRGHHH!" He screamed as his shoulder was swiftly dislocated. His wand clattered uselessly on the ground. The screaming fit caused his adam's apple to bulge too close to the blade and a thin line of blood was freely flowing down.

"It... works," Esmerelda said dumbly, feeling like she could breath again.

Ethan grinned mockingly at the wizard. "What're you gonna do now, old man? You don't have your stick to protect you anymore."

Esmerelda placed a delicate hand on his
shoulder. "Oh, just let him go, Ethan. Please? I think he's learned his lesson. He's bleeding already anyways."

Sighing in annoyance, Ethan pulled back. The old man didn't even think twice once the blade was off of him. He dashed out of the scene as fast as his elderly legs could take him. He didn't even bother to grab his wand.

Esmerelda watched him go and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Ethan, beaming. "Thanks for that!"

He nodded wordlessly.

After that slight issue was solved, the four of them returned to Diagon Alley and resumed their search for the wand shop. Stylianos hooted softly at a black-bricked shop near the end of the alley.

Esmerelda tried reading the sign.

UVIOLADNSRY

"I'm pretty sure that doesn't say wand." She said.

Ethan nudged her. "Look through the window. I see a bunch of people holding sticks."

"Wands." She corrected him, but went in anyways.

A bell chimed above them as they stepped inside. The shop was a little tiny and only looked packed because a family of five was inside, but they left once they got their wands. There was a single spindly chair that Ethan could've waited on, but he mumbled something about the owner looking like the creepy old wizard they ran into and decided to stay by her side.

The store was full of shelves packed high with boxes that almost reached the ceiling. Esmerelda could sense the magic radiating from each box and had a feeling that the wands were inside of them.

"Hello there," the old man greeted them. He didn't have the same croaky voice as the predator from before thankfully.

"Hi." She returned.

"My," he murmured, leaning down. "What peculiar eyes you have."

She shot a discreet look at Ethan, who looked ready to slice him in half. "Uh, thanks...?"

"Quite a deep shade of green. Very unnatural."

"Um, got it from my mom." She said, which was the truth.

"Ah," he finally pulled away. "Was she a witch? Perhaps I remember her. I remember all of my customers and the wands I give them."

"Yeah, but she got her wand from somewhere else." She lied.

"And your father?"

"...Never met him."

He seemed to realize the topic was a sensitive one and quickly went to business. "I see. Well, you didn't come here for a chat. Please extend out your wand arm."

Her right arm shot out, and he measured it without even needing to touch the tape measure. He then started to measure her from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and so forth. The tape measure dropped to the floor and he began rummaging through the boxes. He returned with one.

"Try this one. Mahogany wood and dragon heartsting. Ten inches. Very flexible. Give it a flick."

She stared at the wand as if it was ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Warily, she took it and flicked it. A bouquet of daisies popped out.

Ollivander looked disappointed. "Why, that was very simple!"

"That's it?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes. I've never had a customer have a wand pick them so quickly... Come forth, I'll have you pay it here."

She plucked the flowers from the end of her wand and handed them to Ethan, only for Ethan Jr to destroy them with his vicious beak. She paid for the wand and finally left; their shopping trip now officially over.

"Well," Ethan said. "Guess it's back to camp. I'm sure the Athena kids'll be happy about the owls."

Meanwhile, back at the wand shop, Ollivander was watching the pair of them walk away, his eyes glued onto Esmerelda's back. He turned around and faced the shelves full of wands. He can still feel their magic reverberating in the air, as if wanting to call the girl back.

"How curious," he murmured. "The wands have never reacted so strongly to someone before."

— author's note —

Most of you are probably disappointed about the wand scene, but since Essie's the daughter of Hecate, I figured that all wands would respond to her well. Basically, Essie could've had any of the wands at the store, but she got the mahogany wood one because it was given to her first.

TWO MORE CHAPTERS AND ESSIE FINALLY REACHES HOGWARTS!!!! GUESS WHICH HOUSE SHE'S GONNA BE INNNN :D