▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE ▬▬▬

ETHAN BARELY LOOKED UP TO address the three annoying shitheads that stood in front of the table he was sitting at. 

He spent most of his time either in Esmerelda's room or the library doing the same thing as always: reading all these law books and trying to understand how things worked. It wasn't too difficult for him though, most of the terms they used were familiar to him, but the court was just...

Gods, he thought as he flipped to the next page. This is so fucking corrupt.

His biggest issue was the Wizengamot, which was basically a collection of wizards who were set to serve as the judge and jury for any criminal in the UK who broke magical law. What pissed him off the most about this system was that the Minister had some power to select members of the Wizengamot. Obviously, Fudge was going to use this chance to pick his most loyalist members to attend Sirius' trial.

Maybe I should kill Fudge... he wondered to himself, still ignoring the trio in front of him. He was probably going to resign after Sirius was proven innocent anyways since that would've been the last straw to the public, but Ethan didn't see anything wrong in killing him right now. Besides, the idiot already caused a bunch of other people to die by denying Voldemort's return and risked hundreds of other lives too. The corruption alone would be enough to give him a nice spot in the Fields of Punishment, so there was no harm in sending him there in an earlier date...

"Excuse me," Hermione spoke up, her two equally as annoying friends hiding behind her. "We were wondering—"

"—Leave me alone, I'm busy," he cut her off curtly, not even sparing them a glance.

Hermione's jaw dropped at his rudeness, and she could feel Ron tugging at her arm and whispering, "Come on, Mione, we shouldn't bother him..."

But she continued to insist, "We wanted to offer you our help."

These are Essie's friends, these are Essie's friends, these are Essie's friends, he chanted in his head in order to keep his patience in check.

"No thanks," he said in a forcefully calm tone.

"But we know some things," she pressed on. "We've got a lot of information to give you for Sirius' case, like what what happened in our third year—"

"—I already know," he grunted, mentally praying for them to just go away already.

She blinked. "You—you do?"

"Yes. He told me everything I needed to know."

"When?!"

He inhaled deeply, wanting to chuck the book at her face. "When I visited him in Azkaban, okay?"

"You visited him in Azkaban?!" Harry exclaimed, stepping forward so he was in front of Hermione now.

"I literally just said that."

"How?" He demanded. "How'd you visit him?!"

Ethan rubbed his temples. He took another deep breath. "I set up an appointment in the Ministry—"

"—But you're not a wizard, how'd you get in—"

"—Oh my fucking gods!" Ethan finally blew up, and the three of them jumped back, looking terrified. "Would you three let me do my thing peace?! Every fucking day you're here in the library trying to spy on me! Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to NOT kill you?!"

Ron turned white. "How did you—how did you k-know that we were—"

"—You breathe too loudly," Ethan scowled, giving them all judgmental looks. "And you don't even bother to conceal your shadows so I can see you trying to hide behind the bookshelves. Your footsteps are also pretty loud. I've honestly never seen such pathetic attempts at spying in my entire life. You three are the absolute worst."

Harry turned red with embarrassment. "We usually use an invisibility cloak but that's not working anymore..."

"I'd still catch you," he stated bluntly. "And this isn't me bragging. The three of you just suck."

"Oh."

Ethan's scowl deepened some more as he addressed Harry. "And aren't you the one that has to kill Voldemort too? How do you expect to kill anyone if you're this terrible? Sneak attacks are one of the easiest things and you wouldn't be able to accomplish that if you can't even spy properly. Haven't you been training? You look like a twig. The four year old I used to teach could kill you without breaking a sweat."

Harry's jaw dropped. "I—"

"—You'd never be able to kill anyone looking like that," he barreled on ruthlessly. "You can't rely on your stupid luck forever—mainly because I'm gonna remove it soon and even you out. For fucks sake, go to a gym for once and stop eating all that junk. Meat, vegetables, grains, fish, and fruits are what you need, not that fatty shit you like to stuff your face with."

"Are you trying to help me learn how to kill people better?" Harry was horrified.

"No," Ethan deadpanned. "I'm giving you advice on how to not be weak starting with your terrible lifestyle and diet. I doubt you can kill anyone at the state you're in now."

"Harry isn't going to ever kill anyone, how could say that?" Hermione cried out.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. "I thought he wanted to fight in the war. I guess not. If that's the case, then forget what I said Harry."

"No," he said quickly. "I-I want to be a part of the war. Or well... I already am... I didn't have much of a choice. But I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then you can just die," Ethan shrugged heartlessly. "News flash, kid, people kill each other in war. That's kinda what's supposed to happen. Whether you want to or not, as long as you want to be a part of this war, you're going to have to kill someone. Might as well prepare yourself for it now instead of sitting around doing nothing."

"The Death Eaters are killers, not me," Harry said firmly. "I won't stoop to their levels."

Ethan gave him an amused look. "Oh I see how it is... You've got some high morals, huh? Those who kill people are automatically bad in your noble little head, is that it?"

Harry looked at his friends for help, but they were wisely keeping their mouths shut. "Well... yes..." He answered carefully, realizing that he was speaking to a killer right now.

"Essie's killed people," Ethan face darkened as he rose to his feet. The three of them shrunk. "Essie understands that life isn't so black and white, she understands that some people need to die. She understands what war is like. Are you telling me you think she's terrible then? Do you think she's evil? Well?!"

Harry flinched, his face paling when he thought back to the Ministry. He had watched Esmerelda kill a Death Eater who had been chasing Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny. Now that he thought about it, she had killed him without hesitation. She didn't even looked horrified at what she had done, nor did she even bother to look back at the body...

Taking another person's life was horrible, he understood that. But he couldn't bring himself to hate Esmerelda for what she had done, nor could he even feel angry, afraid, or disgusted. His friends' lives were in danger and she had saved them, she even managed to help them all escape before she...

He swallowed thickly, starting to realize that maybe Ethan had a point, but it wasn't as if he liked it (he still couldn't believe he was actually agreeing with him on anything).

"Essie cared a lot about you," Ethan told him quietly. "And she's told me that you're constantly in danger thanks to the target on your back. So here's a piece of advice from me that she'd back me up on: stop categorizing every single thing as 'good' or 'evil'. Right and wrong, good and bad, it's all subjective. You're just limiting your perception of the world and one day, it's gonna screw you over. You're the one that's gotta kill Voldemort and when you finally face him, you cannot hesitate. The second you do, you'll be dead, got it? I doubt Essie would be happy if she were to see your stupid ass in the Underworld just 'cause of your sanctimoniousness. So get rid of your black and white mindset and get your act together."

According to the Daily Prophet articles he read, everyone was putting their hopes and expectations on Harry now that they knew Voldemort was back. He was back to being the 'Chosen One', 'The Boy Who Lived'. The entire wizarding community was relying on a teenager to defeat a powerful Dark Wizard and for once, Ethan actually felt bad for him.

His situation was so painfully unfair. At least Percy had the support of Camp Half-Blood, the nature spirits, the Olympians, and the Hunters. Harry... Harry only had a few people, and they weren't that great either. He was inexperienced. His morals would compromise him. He couldn't fight. He had no idea what was going on or what to do. He needed guidance but people were either keeping things from him or thinking he was this great deity that didn't need any help.

Ethan knew he needed to help the guy. He was Esmerelda's friend and he was clearly in dire need, but Ethan wasn't like her. He didn't have her bleeding heart or her caring nature. He wasn't going to hold Harry's hand through everything and give him false reassurances or promises of his protection.

No. He was going to give him the cold heart truth and that was it. Whether Harry took his advice or not wasn't going to be his problem.

He slammed his book shut and gathered all of his things.

"The same goes for the rest of you," he added. "It may be calm now, but this war isn't gonna be a pretty one. Your Order's barely gotten any progress in fighting against Voldemort. You may be school kids, but you can't hide out in Hogwarts forever. Especially with your little trouble-magnet over here," he jutted his chin at Harry who's shoulders slumped in defeat. "You know how World War II was like, haven't you?"

"Yes," Hermione answered quietly, having seen the startling similarities between World War II and the current Wizarding War.

"The violence is only going to grow worse and worse and the people you love are most likely going to die terribly," the things he was saying weren't very comforting, but it needed to be said. "Essie knows this, but she coddled you too much and decided to leave you be because she thought she could protect you. Well, she's not here anymore so you're on your own. It's time for you all to grow up. Accept the fact that none of you are ready for the war and actually try to prepare yourself for it instead of walking around acting like you know better just because you got involved in a few risky adventures over the years."

Ethan couldn't see what Esmerelda ever saw in these people. Why she kept coming back here after everything that happened, how she could bear being in a room with any of their uppity attitudes or holier-than-though morals. But then again, she always had the best patience, and she always latched on to people so tightly that she could never let them go even when they weren't worth it.

The Order, at the rate they were in now, was a lost cause. Their soldiers weren't soldiers (did Wizarding Britain even have an army?), they had no strategist as far as he could tell, and to make things worse, their Ministry still wasn't doing anything about Voldemort's return other than confirming that he was back.

"Wait," Harry said hastily as Ethan pushed the chair back into place. "You... you know a lot about war, right? Can you help us then? Please?"

"No. I'm sorry," Ethan said, looking away from him. "The only thing I'll be doing here is winning Sirius' case and that's it. I don't want to get involved in another war."

If Esmerelda had asked, he would've agreed in a heartbeat. But she was gone now. There was nothing to soften his cold heart anymore.

"Oh," Harry said softly, wincing a little at the insensitivity of his request. "Right. I, um, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Ethan shook his head. "Just heed my advice, alright? Now if you need me, don't. I'm going back to my room to continue working on the case there."

The trio didn't say another word as he left the library.

The second he returned to Esmerelda's old room, the first thing he did was collapse on the bed. He knew he said he was going to focus on Sirius' case, but he was too tired to do anything right now. His hand was cramped from all the notes he took, he had ran out of post-its, and there were ink smudges all over his skin.

He tensed up when he heard a loud noise coming from somewhere, only to relax again when it sounded like a bunch of cheers instead of tortured screaming. He had no idea what they were celebrating. Did Voldemort die?

"Kreacher?" He called out.

There was a snap and the elf appeared. "Yes, my lord?"

"Do you know what's going on downstairs?" He asked curiously.

His wrinkled face turned into a sneer, "The mudbloods and traitors are celebrating because their magic has returned to normal."

"What?" Ethan's brows furrowed in confusion. That was weird... Gods had the tendency to stay angry for years. Esmerelda had only been dead for a month, that wasn't enough time for Hecate to get over her loss. Why did Hecate choose now to calm down?

He laid his head back into the pillow and groaned. Great. Now his laptop and cellphone were going to stop working as long as he stayed in Grimmauld Place.

"Thank you, Kreacher. You can, uh, go back to what you were doing now," he told him.

"Do you have any preferences for dinner, my lord?" Kreacher asked.

"...I think I'll skip." Ethan mumbled.

Kreacher's already frowning face frowned some more. He looked like he wanted to insist that he eat, but his loyalty to his duty kept him from speaking up.

"Yes, my lord." Kreacher said with a bow, before disappearing.

Ethan quietly slipped his eye patch off and tossed it over on the nightstand that was full of little trinkets that Esmerelda collected.

He turned over on the bed and tried to fall asleep, a heavy feeling in his heart.

He slowly fell asleep, wondering how much longer he could keep doing this.

He dreamed of the ruins again. When he saw the familiar hilly distance and broken down Greek columns, he knew he what was coming next.

No... no not this again, he thought once he heard Esmerelda's sobbing.

His dreams have been all the same lately, and it was driving him crazy. Every night he would dream of these very ruins and every night Esmerelda would be here, always calling for him.

And he would always be too scared to approach.

There was something wrong with these dreams, but he just couldn't pinpoint the problem.

But now though, now his feet were finally moving forward until he slowly broke out into a run.

"Essie!" He shouted, nearly skidding to a stop when he heard a muffled scream in response.

He quickened his pace and saw one column still standing. There were ropes tied around it, but he could see them moving as if someone was straining against them. He went around to the other side and finally saw her.

Esmerelda was tied up against the column, a gag around her mouth. He could see rope burns already forming on her skin, and her face was wet with tears. She stared up at him with an expression full of terror.

He quickly dropped to his knees and ripped the gag out of her mouth.

"Ethan! Help me, please," she rasped, her breaths heaving. "Please, you have to get me out of here!"

Ethan didn't reply right away, too busy scanning her up and down as well as the surrounding area. This seemed like more than a regular dream. It had to have been real, but he still couldn't help the feeling that something was really off about this.

"Is this—is this real?" He asked aloud. He turned his attention back on her. "You should be dead."

She shook her head furiously. "I came back to life through the Doors of Death, but Gaea—she—she sent people after me! They took me here! I'm at the Acropolis of Athens!"

The Acropolis? He thought.

"I don't have much time, Ethan," she begged him, tears falling down her face. "They're going to kill me soon, I know it. They're using me as some sort of sacrifice to Gaea."

Ethan wanted to tell her that he wouldn't let that happen, that he was going to get her out of there and bring her back home, but the little hairs on the back of his neck rose, the telltale signs of danger. His instincts were trying to tell him that something was wrong here, but he just couldn't figure out what. Were they being watched? Was a monster hiding somewhere around here? Was this dream... just a figment of his imagination?

"Ethan did you hear me?" She said desperately. "Please! You have to hurry."

He gulped audibly. "I—"

Suddenly the world seemed to darken around him, an indication that he was about to wake up.

"Ethan please," Esmerelda said one last time. "The Acropolis, okay? That's where I am! Go there! And hurry!"

Finally, he woke up, sweat beading down his face and his heart hammering away at his chest. He sat up, breathing heavily as he gripped the bed sheets.

"The Acropolis..." He murmured under his breath, an uncertain look in his eye.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"What are you doing?!" Regulus hissed under his breath, leaning against the wall of the alleyway they were hiding out in.

Esmerelda was hunched over a stolen cellphone, her fingers rapidly tapping around the screen.

"I didn't really pay much attention to the First Aid Amputation Class camp gave me," Esmerelda admitted sheepishly. "So now I'm trying to Google how to properly cut someone's arm off." She mumbled in reply, her eyes laser-focused on the task.

"You're trying to what? Google? Is that even a word?" Regulus had no idea if he heard her right. He probably didn't to be honest, since he felt as if he was going delirious from the pain. Only about fifteen minutes had passed since the pain began and the burning sensation had already grown ten times worse.

"Google's basically this search engine that lets me—oh!" She suddenly gasped. "I found something that could help! Hold on... oh... oh fuck, this article has so many words, oh my gods, I can't read a thing!"

He let out a loud groan. At this point he was ready to just gnaw the damn arm off.

"Can't we just cut the skin off instead?" She asked feebly when he let out another cry of pain. 

He laughed deliriously. "Are you kidding me? Voldemort would never be so kind as to give any traitors an easy way out. No, the skin isn't the problem, the mark is affecting my whole left forearm. I can literally feel it's Dark Magic all over it. I need this thing off so PLEASE just get to it!" 

"I-I'm trying, but this article's just really—" 

He released another sound of pure agony. 

"I'll just watch a YouTube tutorial instead!" She suggested nervously, her fingers hastily tapping away on the screen once more.

He had no idea what 'YouTube' was either but he was in too much pain to bother asking.

Esmerelda tapped on the first video she saw, only to let out a muffled cry when an ad for granola bars popped up instead. Even worse was that it was fifteen seconds long and there was no 'skip' button.

"What is that horrible music?!" Regulus seethed, gripping his left forearm.

"Sorry, it's an advertisement," she said in a small voice. Of all the times for an ad to appear... "Oh! Oh, finally! It's done. Okay, okay, shh shh shh! I need to listen."

"This is an educational video on how to amputate a limb. Amputations are risky when done alone and should be avoided. Contact emergency services—"

"—Oh this is useless!" Regulus cried out. "Just cut the damn arm off already!"

"Can't we go to a hospital instead?" She squeaked.

"We're in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere," he snarled. "And I haven't apparated in years, let alone with a side-along, and you're too tired to Mist travel us either! The only choice we've got now is to cut it off ourselves!"

"Okay, okay, fine!" She panicked. "Just, um, let me finish watching the video at least! I don't wanna mess this up!"

"How long is the video?" He asked.

"Um," she tapped on the screen and immediately grimaced. "...Four hours..."

He snatched the phone from her hand and threw at the other end of the alleyway.

"You're cutting it off, now." He ordered. He held out his wand. "Use the severing charm."

"Ohhh this is gonna end so badly," she whispered under her breath, sounding hysterical. Nevertheless, she took his wand and held it tightly. It felt heavy in her hand, and she had no idea if it was because it was made out of Celestial bronze or because she was just that nervous.

Regulus looked around and dragged a metal trashcan over to her before pushing up the sleeves of his coat and setting his bare arm over the lid.

She stared down at it in mild disgust.

This is so unsanitary, she thought. Her father was usually a clean freak, but he must have been in a lot of pain to willingly put his arm over a literal trashcan.

She really didn't want to do this, couldn't they just wait and get help from an actual professional first? But the pure agony on Regulus' face made her stomach drop. His face was slick with sweat, and his skin was so pale that he almost looked like a ghost again.

He really was in a lot of pain thanks to that gods damn Dark Mark... But to cut off one of his own limbs? That was a really traumatic thing for people to go through. Sure he was in a lot of pain now, but the repercussions of this were going to be serious.

He saw her hesitate and gave her a pleading look.

"Esmerelda please," he said shakily. "This pain is never going to end, it'll only get worse. I can't deal with this any longer. You have to cut it off."

"What you want is... is really serious," she tried to make him see reason. "I don't know how to help you after I amputate your arm. What if you bleed out? Or—or what if I mess up?"

"Then I'll deal with it," he replied, breathing heavily and growing paler by the second. "I'll deal with it, alright? I know some spells that could help me once the arm's gone, but as long as this arm is still attached to me, I can't do a thing."

Esmerelda closed her eyes, breathing in and out.

Gods, she couldn't believe she was really doing this.

"Alright fine," she breathed out shakily. "Let me just make a tourniquet..." She removed her cardigan and quickly tied it around his arm, a few inches below his elbow and a few inches above the Dark Mark.

Once that was done, she stepped back and held up the wand. She gave him another worried look.

"Are you really sure about this?"

Her father looked like he could pass out at any second from the pain, but he blinked and his eyes cleared up momentarily. "Yes. I'm sorry for having you do this. I take it you've never cut off a limb before?"

"Well, I have, but those were mostly in killing scenarios," she mumbled.

"Ah," he said weakly. "Well... at least you've got some experience."

She wiped her sweaty palms on the sides of her dress before aiming the wand at his arm.

"You should probably look away," she suggested.

He nodded wordlessly and turned his head to the side, his eyes tightly clenched shut.

Esmerelda took a deep breath, her eyes zeroing in on his forearm.

One... two... three!

She did the quick slashing movement with the wand, and it was like an invisible knife slicing through his flesh.

Regulus had no idea what happened after that. He remembered his eyes flashing as the burning sensation blew up across his left side. He remembered his jaws prying open as he screamed until his voice went hoarse and he nearly ripped his own throat up from the volume. In one second, he had his arm propped up and in the next second he was suddenly on the ground, his vision going hazy and a loud ringing in his ears.

"—ad! Dad! DAD?!" He saw his daughter's panicked face hovering over him. But her movements were sluggish and her voice was slowly fading away. She could feel him trying to shake him, but his head fell limply at the side and that was when he saw it.

His left arm. Just passed the elbow was... nothing. Everything below his elbow was all gone now. He had expected this, but seeing it in person him made him grow sick.

He saw blood leaking out from where his arm had been chopped off, and the sight made him become even more dizzier than before. He felt bile rise up from his throat. He threw up, only to immediately pass out afterwards.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

When Regulus woke up with a groan, he was met by a blinding white light. After several seconds, he blinked and the blinding white light ended up coming from a muggle light fixture over his head.

"Oh. My. Gods." He heard Esmerelda's stupefied voice and weakly turned to the side to see her rising up from a cheap looking chair, her eyes wide with astonishment. "You're awake?! The doctor said you were supposed to be out for a whole day, are you fighting the anesthesia?!"

"The what...?" He slurred. "What's... going on...?"

"Anesthesia," she repeated. "The doctors—which is like a medi-witch or medi-wizard by the way—basically knocked you out so you wouldn't wake up or feel anything during the, uh... procedure."

"Procedure...?"

She gulped nervously. "Um... you know... your arm? I cut it off?"

Regulus turned his head to the other side and fought back against the lightheaded feeling he felt after seeing the state of his arm. Just a couple of inches below his elbow was nothing but a heavily bandaged stub. The Dark Mark, at least, was all gone now and so was the agonizing pain it gave him.

He lifted his arm up weakly, but could only manage to bring it a few inches off the bed he laid on.

"This is... weird," was all he could really say. His left arm felt so much lighter now, but it still felt like it was there... like he could move his fingers around despite them being all gone. "What exactly happened? I remember you cutting it off, but after that..."

"You threw up," she finished bluntly. "And then you passed out. I panicked, naturally, so I went out in the streets to get some help. I think I freaked out the first mortal dude who found me since I was covered in your blood, but I explained the situation—"

"—You told him you chopped off my arm?!" He exclaimed, feeling wide awake now.

"No, of course not!" She looked mildly offended that he would believe she'd do something so stupid. "I told him that you got attacked and you were already bleeding out when I found you. He called 999, paramedics picked us up and sent us here. You kind of woke up on the ambulance ride to the hospital, but they knocked you out. Then the doctors proceeded to, uh, fix you up? They said something about removing diseased tissue and smoothing out the uneven bones and sealing off your blood vessels and nerves. I don't know. I wasn't really paying much attention, I was too busy freaking out."

Regulus, now that he was of somewhat clear mind, realized that he probably shouldn't have forced his daughter to chop off his arm—something that must have really traumatized her indeed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized earnestly, though it was far too late for that. "I shouldn't have pushed this on you."

"No, it's fine!" She said brightly, clearly lying through her teeth. The poor girl was still drenched in his blood and she looked like she hadn't slept in hours... Even the bows in her hair no longer looked as perky, they were droopy and sad just like her.

"What time is it?" He muttered, looking around. "Is it late already...? You ought to get to bed..."

"It's 2: 44 AM," she answered, glancing at the clock on the wall. "The doctor said you were supposed to wake up a lot later though..."

"Go to bed," he told her.

"I'm not sleepy," she mumbled stubbornly, looking down at herself and siphoning the blood off her dress with her finger.

He sighed in defeat. The anesthesia or whatever she had called it had completely worn off of him, leaving him feeling perfectly awake. He doubted he would be falling asleep soon, so maybe he could just stay up until she fell asleep. She really looked like she needed it.

Esmerelda reached out for a rectangular looking device and pressed a button on it. The—what did muggles call it again? TV?—television screen on the wall lit up.

"What story did you give these, er, doctors, anyways? Did they even ask?" He asked curiously.

"They had a lot of questions for me after the procedure," she said, sighing heavily. "Like who we are, where are our parents, how did this happen... I told them that you were my brother and that I found you like this in an alleyway. They kept pressing me for more information about our names and our 'parents' so I had to use the Mist on them to keep away... I don't think it's gonna last long though, I'm exhausted..."

"You really should go to bed," he said worriedly. "I doubt we'll be staying here for long."

"Yeah... you're right," she finally agreed, but for some reason, rose back up from the chair. "Remind me when I wake up to find a payphone... I want to try and call Ethan."

Regulus didn't even bother to hide the disgusted look on his face at the mention of her demon boyfriend. He still didn't approve of their relationship and he didn't think he ever would. He could never, in his wildest imagination, ever understand why or even how those two got together. She had cried to him about the boy! And then one war later, they were together?! It just didn't make sense.

Instead of voicing any of that, he kept quiet and watched as she quickly started to doze off. Her head leaned back against the wall, slowly dropping down to her shoulder. He waited a few more minutes, listening as her soft snores were blocked off by the voices coming from the television.

Once he was certain she was fast asleep, he sat up. He spotted his wand peeking out from Esmerelda's discarded, bloody cardigan she had tossed on the seat beside her.

He reached out for it and murmured, "Accio wand."

It flew into his hand. His arm jutted up to reach for it out of instinct until he remembered—with a troubled shiver—that his left arm was no longer completely there.

He pushed it to the back of his mind before glancing back at his slumbering daughter. Slowly, he raised his wand to aim it at her. 

"Legili—"

"—the two Mafia siblings have somehow managed to flee oversees and ended up in Southend-On-Sea, England after an anonymous tipper, who recognized the two teenagers from the American News, reported seeing them check in the Southend University Hospital: Emergency Department," the newscaster announced.

Regulus quickly lowered his wand and whipped his head towards the television. At the same moment, Esmerelda stirred awake, eyes blinking as she stared at the screen.

"Los Angeles Police Department have used video feeds and ran their faces through a facial recognition database and recognize the female criminal as Esmerelda Black—"

"Oh shit...!" Said girl gasped, wide awake now.

"—who is wanted for a multitude of other crimes around the world like stabbing her foster father at age nine to being suspected of blowing up a part of Ozark mountains, and many more. She was also once considered a victim of kidnapping several years ago but mysteriously came back and refused to say anything more about what happened. She also appears to have ties with other questionable teenage criminals like Percy Jackson who was once suspected of being a terrorist, Travis and Connor Stoll who are wanted for numerous theft and attempted murder charges, and—"

Esmerelda groaned at that part.

"They make me sound so suspicious!" She complained.

"—identity of the other boy is unknown, but he has been confirmed to be Esmerelda's older brother despite there being no records of her having any biological family," the woman continued. "Police force are already surrounding the hospital the siblings have barricaded themselves in and—"

"—Barricade?! They're talking as if we're getting ready for a shootout!" Esmerelda exclaimed.

"This is bad," Regulus sat up. "We should leave before the Aur—policemen get here."

Esmerelda rushed to the window and peeked outside of it, cursing under her breath when she saw the multiple police cars entering the hospital's parking lot. "Too late. They're already pulling up."

At least they got a heads up. She was pretty sure the British media weren't supposed to announce that, but it benefited them anyways.

Quickly, she hurried over to her father's side and carefully pulled the IV out while helping him to his feet. She tossed a bag of his clothes at him and urged him to get dressed while she checked out the hallway.

It was entirely empty now, unlike before. The whole floor must have been transferred over somewhere else for when the police came to get them. The cops were probably heading up right now...

Regulus joined her outside, all dressed in his modern clothes once more. The left coat sleeve hung limply, having nothing inside of it.

"I checked outside," he said urgently. "There's twenty of them there. Maybe more already inside. We should take a—what was that box called? An elevator?"

"But they'll be waiting for us right outside," she pointed out.

He pulled out his wand. "I'll kill them."

She stared.

"Stun them," he corrected.

She winced. "Okay. Since I'm with you, the Mist might make it look like you're trying to shoot at them. I'd change it, but that's too much work."

"That's fine, save your energy for when we get outside," he said as they hurried to the elevator.

The elevator music didn't really set the mood for the chaos that was about to begin, and Regulus felt so annoyed with it that he silencio-ed the dreadful music.

"Terrible taste," he said scornfully just as a soft ding was heard.

The elevator doors opened and as expected, a group of cops were already outside waiting for them. She was almost surprised to see that they didn't have their guns out, but then remembered that they were in a hospital and this wasn't America.

Regulus stunned the first officer down and that was when all hell broke lose. The hospital lobby was lit up by the bright streaks of red light shooting out from his wand as he stunned the officers one by one.

Esmerelda used that chance to run out, with her father following suit. There were still other cops dashing after them, and some were speaking through the radio and warning everyone that they were 'heavily armed'.

They're definitely going to be shooting us once we're out, she realized.

There were a bunch of armored police carriers waiting for them once they pushed through the entrance, and she could see the officers hiding behind their car doors, guns out and aimed at them.

Okay, she thought. My turn.

She stopped at the center of them, Regulus skidding beside her and shooting her a questioning look.

"PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" One of the officers ordered.

Esmerelda put her arms up to show that she was unarmed... until they glowed green. Then she thrust her hands out, a green wave of telekinetic energy circling outwards and pushing everything back. The police cars careened away and officers tumbled over, even several lamp lights exploded and their poles bent back.

"Yes!" She hissed under her breath, fist pumping when she didn't feel as exhausted anymore. Looks like her body was finally getting used to being alive again.

Regulus watched the scene in awe. "That was amazing."

"Thanks," she replied, grinning brightly. "Now let's go!"

Regulus kept his wand out as they fled the area. They didn't stop running until they were a sizable distance away from the hospital and found themselves hiding in yet another seedy looking alley.

"They're worse than Aurors," Regulus panted out. "Aurors can't find people for shit. Why are those people so persistent?"

"Language," she grumbled. She still couldn't believe that they were having more trouble with the mortal police force than with monsters. "And it's their job to be persistent. They probably consider us an international threat now that we're out of the States. What if one of the Death Eaters finds out you're alive again?"

He snorted. "They'd actually have to look at a television for once. Trust me, they're never going to find out. They wouldn't dare to even look at any muggle contraption. And if muggle-borns see it and talk, they wouldn't bother to believe it either because that meant relying on muggle object."

I'm so glad they're stupid, she thought gratefully.

"How far are we from Grimmauld Place?" She asked. "I don't think I'm ready to Mist travel yet."

"We should rest up then," he said in concern.

"No," she shook her head. "I want to get to Grimmauld Place as fast as we can. I can handle it, dad, I'll be fine. What about you? How's your arm?"

"Numb," he murmured, glancing down at it. "They must have done something to lessen the pain, but I can deal with it if it ever comes back. As for how far we are... It would probably take us over ten hours to reach London if we go on foot."

"We'll steal a car or something," she decided before her eyes trailed off behind him, spying a bright red telephone booth. "But for now, I need to make some calls."

Regulus nodded in understanding (though he scowled when he realized she'd be trying to contact Ethan too) and let her go off while he kept an eye out for any incoming police cars.

Esmerelda stepped inside the booth and inserted the appropriate amount of coins. Unfortunately, she forgot Sirius' phone number, so the first person she tried to call was Ethan. She punched his number in and waited hopefully to hear his familiar voice on the other end of the line.

Please answer, she prayed. Please, please, please...

It went straight to voicemail instead, which meant his phone was either off or it wasn't working. It was probably the former. It was way past midnight now—probably four o'clock in the morning—so he must have turned his phone off before going to sleep.

Either way, he must have had a reasonable explanation, but she still ended up crying inside the telephone booth when she tried calling him several more times only to get the same results.

Rather than hanging up, she spoke into the voicemail:

"Ethan...?" She whispered. "It's me. Essie. I... I got out of the Underworld. I'm—I'm sorry for taking so long." Her voice ended up breaking at that part. "I miss you so much. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, I know you must have been in a lot of pain... I never meant to—"

She choked on a sob, and she felt her hand reach up cover her mouth. She let out a shaky inhale before pulling her hand back.

"I brought my dad out with me," she said, knowing she needed to hurry up and get straight to the point. "We're here in England now, but we're going to Grimmauld Place. And Ethan, my mother told me that you're in danger, so meet me there, okay? Go to Grimmauld Place. We'll see each other then. Stay safe. I love you so much."

She stopped the voice mail after that and rested her head against the side of the wall, trying to keep her cries quiet and her breathing in control.

They would see each other again. Soon.

— author's note —

Hmmmmm, I wonder what spell Regulus was trying to use on Essie and why he did that??? Hmmmmmm 🤔 🤔 🤔

Here's a timeline of what's happened so far cuz I know it might be confusing

* Essie's been dead for a month now, but she and her father came back to life sometime at the start of April (let's say April 6th).

* Hecate promises to stop lashing out at the wizards and magic goes back to normal for them. Even though that happened at around noon time, LA is behind England by eight hours. That's why here in this chapter, it was already dinnertime when Ethan found out about the wizards' back returning to normal.

* Essie and Regulus end up in LA and literally get into some legal trouble within one hour of being alive lmao. #justblackfamilythings #fatherdaughterbonding

* So yeah, they fuck up a communication tower, steal a car, and then go to some fake Italian restaurant where Essie angrily rants about the pasta, which then leads people suspecting them of being part of the Mafia. Get chased by cops, blah blah blah. Essie steals Regulus some modern clothes and then they Mist travel to Grimmauld Place!

* eeeexceeeeept Essie's been dead for a month and her body isn't quite used to using magic again. She exhausted herself mid-travel and end up in some random English village, but hey! They find the cave Regulus died in! Yaaaay! Anyways, at this point, it's still April 6 but since England is eight hours ahead, it's around nine or ten-ish.

* Essie gets the wand after like an hour or so, then tries to get to Grimmauld Place but Regulus' Dark Mark starts bullying him :(

* they hide out in a random alleyway where she proceeds to chop that bitch off. Regulus passes out like a baby and Essie had to go to some rando in the streets and ask him to call 999 (that's the emergency number btw).

* Fast-forward a few hours later, sometime passed midnight (so now it's April 7th), Reggie wakes up in the hospital. Their crimes transfer over to England, cops come, blah blah blah.

Aaaaaand that's it!

Here's a Buzzfeed thing I made 😂:

Essie's search history:

From LotusFruity:

From -kaylaa:

From LARVVIE: 

From cindy: