There was a clear *pop* before everyone spun into their places.
'I noticed this feeling earlier when we used the portkey, but I can hijack other people's teleportation.' Loki noticed as soon as he stabilised himself after having been teleported so suddenly.
'And note to myself, my own teleportation is much more comfortable.'
Daphne had adjusted easily but Hermione took a few seconds to level her swimming vision.
"Alright, now that everyone's ready. Follow me. Remember always remain behind me until you're explicitly given any orders to do something else." Mr. Ethan said after tapping his thick staff on the ground twice to drive his point home and make it clear.
He was about to walk ahead with the help of his cane but he stopped after placing his weight on it and spoke while directly looking at Loki.
"A word of advice, don't try to pretend like you know something you don't. We all start from somewhere, no need to be shy about what you don't know. And if you actually do know something, don't be afraid to speak up. It'll help everyone."
With his short speech given, Mr. Ethan began to walk with the help of his cane and prosthetic leg, making deep imprints in the muddy pathway towards a depressing mansion in the distance.
Everyone closely examined their surroundings.
They had appeared at the beginning of a small village that was situated at the foothills of a small mountain range on whose summit was a giant mansion that looked like a typical scenario to be stranded in without help from outside along with your killer.
While walking through the village, Loki spotted several people peering through the windows of their wooden houses, they'd avert their eyes once they met the eyes of anyone from the team though.
"Our mission is to figure out exactly what is going wrong in this village filled with muggles.", Ethan explained.
"Muggles?" Daphne asked, "Aren't we supposed to be working on Beyonder cases?"
Ethan nodded and continued explaining, "The person living in the mansion at the top of that hill is a wizard and a registered Beyonder who works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Something's gone wrong with him?" Cedric asked politely.
"Yes. It has. From the day he's stopped exiting the mansion, people have begun falling into a coma in the village. Mysteriously if I might add."
"Then isn't the solution simple? Just ask him to leave the damn mansion? Doesn't he have any work to do?" Zacharias said indignantly.
"And what's with the mysterious part?" Diego asked with a little hesitation.
Ethan looked at the two of them for a few seconds before he nodded and answered them, "He can't leave because he's fallen into a coma according to the reports from the Aurors who were tasked to look into his disappearance from work for the past two weeks."
"And regarding the mysterious comas in the village? Well, the Aurors claim it's the work of a dark wizard using them for a ritual since their bodies have always been found with bruised claw marks around their necks."
"Of course, the Aurors don't know about Beyonders so they suggested that it was something Mr. Prick, the man in the mansion, did and suggested they burn his unconscious body down. Luckily a few Beyonders present in their teams stopped them long enough for us to be informed."
"It has been three hours since the Aurors have been assigned to this case, now it's in our hands to find out what happened to Mr. Prick and this village."
That suddenly caused everyone to become silent as they walked, each thinking deeply about the information presented to them.
'Mysterious deaths? Rituals? Did he really do something that caused the village to be afflicted by a curse?'
Just as Loki was about to take another step and follow behind the group with Mr. Ethan a ball came rolling towards him.
A small girl came rushing out of a house for the ball but she was stopped by her mother.
"Rose! No!! Let it be!! I already told you not to bring things connected to that mansion into the house!!!!" The woman said holding her daughter.
"No! It's Roxy's mom! He likes to play with it!! Nothing will happen!!"
"Did you not understand what I said!?! No means no!! And that's final!! Go back into your room before I make you!! Young woman!!" The woman shouted and pulled the girl back into the house without looking at Ethan or the group of people following him.
Loki bent over and picked up the ball and found that it was a slightly squishy ball, something like a toy that one would use to play with their pets.
"Give me a second. I'll try talking to them and see if I can learn something. Is that alright Mr. Ethan?" Loki asked.
Ethan nodded and said, "We'll go up top, make sure to catch up to us soon or the Aurors will probably chew you up if you're alone."
Loki nodded and walked towards the house while everyone else climbed the hill to get to the mansion.
Loki *knocked* softly and found no one responding.
He waited for a second as he heard the muffled argument of the woman and her daughter from inside the house but no one opened the door for a few seconds more.
Until the door suddenly flew open and the girl rushed out and dashed right into Loki's legs.
"Ouch!!!" The girl shouted as she landed on her butt.
Her mother came out and quickly pulled her in and was about to close the door but Loki stepped in by placing his boot to prevent her from fully closing it.
"May I take a little bit of your time Mam?"
"No."
The woman tried to close the door again, hoping some force would make Loki pull back his leg but he didn't.
The woman looked at Loki with a frown as she fought to keep her daughter inside and Loki spoke quickly, "Is there a reason you hate me?"
The woman's frown only turned deeper but after a short stare-off with Loki, she spoke, hoping perhaps answering his questions would send him off.
"Yes, I have plenty of reason to hate you. I've seen many of your kind come into our village over the last few days. I've seen what you can do. And I don't want my daughter to get caught up in your troubles."
"I understand mam. And your husband?" Loki asked since it was strange for a woman to be alone in a village and have a kid given the current scenario with people slipping into a coma.
The woman's eyes instantly teared up and reddened but she looked into Loki's eyes and spoke in a calm tone, "Could you please leave me and my daughter alone?"
'So he's unconscious?'
Loki frowned but didn't say anything else, he pulled his leg back and the woman immediately tried to shut the door but the little girl poked her head through.
"Give me the ball!! I know Roxy will help bring my father back!!" The girl shouted but her mother pulled her back and tossed her into the house and closed the door shut.
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