I follow my sister outside. We walk down a cobblestone path to an old house which was made of older grey stones. The hut looks old. At least from another century.
"So what do you know about wands?" Asphodel asks.
"Aside from the pop culture, wave them and watch stuff fly?" I ask in return.
"Oh,, boy." She puts her palm to her face and shakes her head. "Being amongst the eaters has had an impact on you." She says.
"Stop calling them that, would you?!" I say in a huff.
"Look, be thankful I'm that kind." She explains. "The eaters are the reason we hide. Purebloods still hate people like us, let alone eaters." She explains.
"Damn." I sigh. "What happened?" I ask.
"Best you ask mom." She replies and knocks on the door of the grey stone hut.
The door swings without a sound. A middle-aged woman stands in the doorway before us. She looks at me, then sees Asphodel.
"Ah, at last." She says. "First want for Little Annie. I've wondered about you. Come right in." She adds.
She walks into the house and surprisingly it feels four times bigger on the inside. I see shelves upon shelves of little rectangular boxes. I can't help but feel so lost.
"Maybe we will start with something like your sisters..." She clicks as she starts wander towards the back of the shop.
I follow her. Asphodel stays by the door and waits patiently. She doesn't seem phased by the fascination I have.
"Let's try dark oak, spitfire core at ten inches." She says, showing me the handle of an all black rod.
"Sure." I grab onto it. "What now?" I ask.
"She's been amongst the eaters too long..." she utters under her breath. She clears her throat. "You give it a flick, whirl, or wave. What else, child?" She asks rhetorically.
"Uh, okay." I swipe it to the right from my left and watch in horror as shelves start falling onto one another like dominoes.
"Oh, boy... definitely not your kind of wand." She says. I place the wand down.
She steadily moves to another section of the shop. She grabs three boxes and comes back to me. I find myself rather confused. She opens all three and I can see a brass toned wand, a red coloured one and one that has silver along the handle.
"One of these should do it. I hope..." she whispers.
"Which one should I try first?" I ask.
"Listen for the wand." She says.
"But wands can't speak, ma'am." I reply.
"Just listen for it." She says to reaffirm her earlier statements.
I close my eyes. I turn around and wind up against a wall of shelves. I grab a box that seems to be warmer than the others. I open my eyes and wander back to the owner. I open the box and hold the wand, and wait for a moment.
"What are you waiting for?" She asks.
I swing the wand and all the shelves sort themselves out and get back in place. Now that was cool. I think.
"That's... more like it..." she says in a sort of shock. "So much damage and the ability to revert it. There seems to be a lot of potential in you." She says to me.
"Now that's a reaction. Wendall has seen a lot of first timers. A reaction from them is like the odds of being hit by lightning." Asphodel pipes up.
Jealous much? I think. Where is everyone now that I think of it? I wonder.
"Well, I have no idea what I'm doing." I say.
"This is true." Asphodel agrees.
"Well, I'll consider this one on me. You did fix the shop after all." Wendall offers.
"Mom insists." Asphodel pulls a pouch out from under her cloak and hands it to Wendall.
"Seriously?" I ask. Mom was never around and suddenly wants to spoil me? I think.
"Yeah, seriously." Asphodel shakes her head.
"Well then ladies, have a grand evening." Wendall says to us.
We look at one another quietly and smirk together, as if she reads my thoughts. Yeah, let's get lost. This old lady is a kind of creepy. I think. She takes me with her arm wrapped around my back. Asphodel must be reading my thoughts, because we go right out the door and back into the street.
"Wendall was creepy even when I was a kid. She just got older, and it really doesn't help." Asphodel nudges me and lets a small chuckle out.
"I can see why." I reply. The way she acts like she already knows me is odd. I think.
"Some of the coven say she was a great witch with some pretty amazing divination skills." She explains. "So many think she went mad with seeing too much and retired with wand crafting." She finishes.
"I see." I reply.
We begin to walk down the road back to the house. Now that I see it from the outside, it's actually a nice place. Light grey siding, brown shingles and has those old looking pillars on the porch. I Would admit, for an old place it looks amazing.
Asphodel taps my shoulder. "Earth to Annie." She says.
"Yeah?" I ask.
"I asked what kind of familiar you would like." She huffs. I must have been lost in my head when she first asked.
"What can I have?" I ask.
"Traditionally, a cat, owl, or rat. However, lately some have taken to other animals." She explains. "One fella, Ignious Hardman, has a Phoenix. Wonder how he got the jackpot on that one..." She drifts off.
"Well, I guess an owl would be cool..." I think to myself aloud for a moment.
"Yeah, they are. If you want to stray from tradition, I know a local creatures keeper." Asphodel offers.
"Sounds awesome." I say.
"So, when you can talk to them and understand them, you have found them." Asphodel explains.
"So it's like a connection we already have?" I ask.
"Kind of." The wind blows quietly as she replies. "It depends on who you are." She adds.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"A familiar is your magical assistant. They will help you and guide you. Also, pending your match, tempt you." She says.
"Oh. That happens?" I wonder.
"The sad thing is, a witch is only as pure as their heart." Ashpodel grabs my shoulder and makes me see her eyes in line with my own. Tension fills the space between us.
"So, that's how wicked witches come to be?" I ask.
"Well, not exactly. A witch can sway their karma, depending on how they use their magic. However, sometimes people get caught up in emotional turmoil and abuse their abilities." She says.
"So, say I got into healing?" I ask.
"Karma is in your favour. Think like a magnet. You can attract more of the thing you fixate on." She tries to explain. Though I am just lost.
"Uh..." I just stand with a blank expression. "People are magnetic? Are you high?" I ask.
"All energy is attractive to its similar energy." She says.
"I think I understand."
"If I'm a bird, I'll be seeing more birds." Asphodel sighs.
"Yeah. Makes sense." I reply.
We turn to start to walk towards the creature keeper. Asphodel walks confidently in comparison to me. I slouch, half hiding behind her as we walk through the small town's roads. We aren't even in the same town as I was with auntie. It seems the area is totally different. I guess when they knocked me out; they took me a far distance.
"Hey asphodel, I have a question." I say.
"I may be able to answer." Asphodel looks at me.
"Well, where are we?" I ask.
"We are in a separate area entirely. This is an alternative zone, remade to fit us safely from eaters." She says.
"Us safe from them? We can do a lot more to them than them to us." I laugh.
"You clearly don't know why we call them eaters." She says flatly.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"They sap our energy so we die quicker. They demand more, wish for more, so our power gets sapped. Then we become weaker." She says.
"So they are energy eaters?" I ask.
"We don't know how many of them can actually focus that talent." Asphodel sighs.