Evelyn rushed as she placed the stone in a jewellery pouch she had saved from a Christmas present and ran towards the portal, and clapped her hands.
"Hecatia City, Caleste."
The lights she had seen earlier glowed brightly as Evelyn ran through quickly. Now back in the capital city and kingdom of the Hecatia Realms, Evelyn ran out of the Portal Station and onto Spells Parade, and ran down the street, the auburn girl noticed a cafe and ran inside it and towards the counter, where there was a female barista with tattoos and a blue pixie cut hairstyle serving.
"Hi, welcome to the Brews Cafe, what may I get for you today?"
"Did you see a girl pass by? Blonde hair, pale to fair skin, she was wearing a star jumper and boots?"
Luckily for Evelyn, she had the memory of an elephant and remember anything that she thought of. In some ways, that was a perk of autism, especially now.
"Oh, yeah. I think some girls took her to Lady Hera Hospital."
"Where's the Lady Hera Hospital?"
"It's on Wand Avenue. Take a map, it's free."
"Thank you."
The auburn haired woman walked towards a stand to take a map and leaves the cafe. As soon as she was outside, Evelyn looked to see if anyone was in earshot, but the streets were empty, and the Australian woman spoke softly to herself.
"Okay, Spells Parade..... go up and turn left on Mirror Drive, then turn right onto Wand Avenue. Claire, here I come."
Evelyn ran in the direction she observed on the map and slowed down as she approached the hospital, which was identified by the huge sign saying LADY HERA HOSPITAL. It looked like any modern hospital in a capital city. Evelyn noticed a doctor and ran towards him.
"Excuse me, was a blonde girl admitted here? Claire deLuna?"
"No, no one here was admitted here by that name."
"She might've had two girls with her? Please, it's important."
"Look, I don't have time to worry about some kids, okay? I have to heal all sorts of injuries and cure illnesses."
The doctor walked away, making Evelyn growl loudly and angrily as she sat on a bench by the hospital's bus stop.
"Where did you go, Claire deLuna?"
All of a sudden, the citrine star began to glow brightly, almost burning Evelyn's hand as she yanked it out of her pocket and looked at it.
"Claire deLuna's whereabouts."
The star glowed brighter as Evelyn got up and began to walk, following the glowing of the star.
"Where are you leading me, little star?"
Evelyn walked from Wand Avenue to Potter Lane, where there was a shop with a sign reading CALESTE MAGICAL ANTIQUITIES, the star glowed so brightly, Evelyn had to put it back in the pouch and back in her pocket, before entering the shop to see a kind well-dressed gentleman standing behind a desk.
"Hello, what may I do to assist you today?"
He was probably hoping for a sale as it hadn't been visited by a shopper for ages, judging by the dust and cobwebs... at least Evelyn hoped they were forgotten Halloween decorations.
"Would you happen to sell little hand mirrors, the ones you can hold in the palm of your hand?"
"Yes! We do sell those. Finally, I've been wanting to sell those little things since I purchased them from a dealer. How many would you like?"
"Give me... 2."
"Okay... and would you like them in a pouch?"
"Oh definitely."
"I've never seen you here before? Which kingdom are you from?"
"Earth."
"Oh, Earth. Lovely land, they have some nice stuff there."
"Yep. Great land, although this place is trying hard to top that."
"What part of Earth are you from?"
"Australia."
"Oh, Australia! What is with those hats with the bottle lids?"
"Keeps the flies away, saves your hands doing all the work with the unofficial Aussie wave. How much?"
"$10 dollars."
Evelyn looked at her small purse that she hid on the inside of her jacket pocket her mother had sewn into for safety. Evelyn opened the wallet and was relieved when her mother taught her to keep a small amount of money. The Australian did indeed have ten dollars in her purse and she took it out of her wallet and handed it to the shop owner
"You accept Earth currency? It's all I got."
The owner looked at the girl before him and could tell she was distressed, but at least was gracious to still be polite.
"Keep your money. It's on me."
"Thank you so much. Caleste Magical Antiquities."
Evelyn began of memorise the name for reference and perhaps future shopping. She smiled before walking outside and pulled out one of the handheld mirrors, and looked at it intensely.
"Show me Claire deLuna."
The mirror's reflection went from Evelyn's face to Claire, kept unconscious in an abandoned shop front
"Show me her exact whereabouts."
The mirror showed a map of Hecatia City, including where Evelyn was and how far away she was from Claire. 10 buildings away. Evelyn sighed and went back inside the antique shop and to the owner.
"Hi. Me again. Are there any abandoned shopfronts in this street?
"Yeah, there's one 10 buildings away. It used to be a pawn shop but it was shut after the owner committed theft and accessory after the fact. Why?"
"My friend is being held there"
"I'll notify the Imperial Police."
He grabs a phone and dialling the number for the Imperial Police.
"Would you happen to have blueprints? Or anything like that?"
"Luckily for you, I'm an L-FAM graduate. Class of '88."
"That's super helpful, thanks."
The owner, who Evelyn noticed wore a badge with the name Leonard, pulled out a basic oak wand and conjured a blueprint of the pawnshop, tapping his wand on the small mirror as the blueprint now popped onto the mirror's face.
"Thank you so much!"
Evelyn exited the shop and looked further down Potter Lane.
"I'm on my way, Claire."
Meanwhile, inside the pawnshop, Claire was still unconscious, hovering up and down, whilst the brunette was searching her bag and pockets, including her wand, whilst the raven haired girl was looking to see if any bystanders were looking in on the abandoned shop front.
"Six more stones and I will be the Empress."
Her brunette accomplice walked up angrily to her mistress.
"She doesn't have the stone!"
"What?!"
"The Citrine Star is missing! It's not anywhere on her!"
"We need that to get the Grim Grimoire open, you idiot!"
"I know, I'm sorry..."
The sound of a glass being smashed and a door opening stopped the two villainesses as a familiar auburn-haired young woman entered the room.