Shopping

Cross walked on the street with Marcus, who asked "Cross, are you okay?" Cross felt warm and nodded saying "The Goblins are actually very nice." Marcus smiled and patted his head, not speaking further.

Cross looked at Marcus and said curiously "Dad, you don't want to know what happened?" Marcus shook his head and said "These are your secrets, I won't pry." Cross teared up and wiped his eyes as she smiled warmly. Daphne smiled on the side and Marcus ruffled his hair.

Cross took out the bag and said "The Goblin King gave me some gifts." Marcus was shocked and quickly stopped his hand saying "Cross, not here." Cross said "But I have something for Daphne." Marcus smiled and said "Later." Cross nodded and put away the bag, Marcus nodded and brought them to the wand store saying "Here we are. You both ready to get your wands?"

Cross and Daphne nodded excitedly and Marcus smiled as they walked in.

An old man was sitting behind the counter and Marcus smiled as he said "Mr. Truss! How are you?" Mr. Truss smiled and said "Marcus, it's been a long time!" he looked at Daphne and Cross and smiled "Yours?" Marcus nodded with a smile as he said "They're here for their first wands."

Mr. Truss smiled gently towards the kids and said "Custom wands?" Marcus nodded and Cross said "Ah wait!" Mr. Truss looked at him and Cross pulled out a big block of black wood from his bag before putting it on the counter.

Mr. Truss was shocked silly and said "African Blackwood!?" Cross didn't stop there and took out two feathers. He handed the red one to Daphne and took the blue one for himself as he said "Can you use these?"

Mr. Truss was almost stunned into retardation as he said "WHAT!?" Marcus was also shocked silly and was glad that he stopped Cross before. Daphne was shocked as she looked at the Phoenix feather in her hands, she looked at Cross and smiled beautifully.

Cross just smiled and Mr. Truss said with a shaky tone "C-Can I s-see those?" Cross nodded and gave him the Ice Phoenix feather, Daphne handed the normal Phoenix feather. Mr. Truss held the Phoenix feathers very carefully and looked at them in a daze.

Marcus coughed and said "Mr. Truss." Mr. Truss woke up and said "Excellent! There's enough wood for two wands here! Perfect!" he was extremely excited, he never had the luck to use African Blackwood or Phoenix feathers before. Mr. Truss said seriously "I will make the best wands for you two."

Marcus smiled and said "Then, I'll thank you Mr. Truss." Mr. Truss smiled and nodded before leaving to the back room as he said "Come back after you've got everything else! This requires patience and delicate hands." Marcus just nodded and said "Next stop, pets!" Cross and Daphne cheered and followed him.

Cross followed Marcus, Daphne scooted over and said softly "Thank you.." Cross smiled and said "You're my sister, it's only natural." Daphne smiled with a blush and didn't reply. Cross said to Marcus and Daphne "If anybody asks, just say I'm a Metamorphmagus."

Marcus patted his head and said "Good idea." Cross smiled happily and Daphne nodded at Cross, albeit shyly. Marcus saw her actions and shook his head with a smile. Cross naturally saw them too but he didn't think about it much. They were siblings.

Marcus brought them to a pet shop and let them loose. Cross followed Daphne as she walked to a black cat and said "This one." Cross pet the cat and smiled, Daphne smiled up the cat. Cross walked around and couldn't find anything that interested him.

He kept walking around before stopping in front of a cage, the cage bars were extremely think and the animal inside was black with white fur on top of his head to just before his tail. It looked extremely aggressive and snarled at Cross, who chuckled.

He picked up the cage and the animal inside smashed against the bars angrily.

Daphne said "Are you sure you want that one?" Cross nodded and said "He's pretty cute, no?" Daphne looked at the seemingly crazy animal and smiled wryly as she said "Uhh, sure?" Cross nodded in satisfaction and they both went back to Marcus.

Marcus looked at Cross' animal and said "A Honey Badger? Are you sure?" Cross nodded and said "Of course! He's cute!" Marcus felt his lips twitch and said "Sure..." he paid for the animals and left the shop.

The rest of the time, Marcus brought them to the rest of the stores buying up all their school supplies. Marcus got Daphne a bag with an extension charm from his pocket. He already had two for the kids but Cross unexpectedly got one on his own!

Cross put all his stuff in the storage bag and put it in his pocket.

Marcus brought them back to the wand shop and Mr. Truss was waiting around anxiously. He saw Marcus and waved over as he said "Come quickly!" Marcus smiled and walked over with the kids.

Mr. Truss said "Here you are, kids. These are my masterpieces." he took out two boxes and handed one to each of them. One was blue and the other was red.

Cross opened the blue box and saw a pitch black wand with 3 dark blue rings near the bottom. There was also a dark blue Phoenix carvings in the spaces between the three rings. The dark blue Phoenix flew through the clouds in the first space and froze the forests in the second space.

Daphne's was the same but instead of dark blue it was dark red, the second space carving was of a Phoenix burning a forest.

Mr. Truss said proudly "They are separate and unique wands. There has only been enough Phoenix core wands made to barely fill a whole hand!" Cross was shocked and Daphne looked at her wand in a daze.

Mr. Truss said "Especially yours, young man. This Ice Phoenix wand has never been seen before. At least, I've never heard of anybody having an Ice Phoenix feather as a core." Cross held the wand it his hand and the wand buzzed before the dark blue parts started glowing.

Cross was amazed and the glow died down, as soon as the glow disappeared he felt like the wand was apart of him. He waved the wand excitedly. Marcus smiled and patted his head as he said to Mr. Truss "How much do I owe you, Mr. Truss?"

Mr. Truss shook his head frantically and said "What?! Nonsense! You gave me the opportunity to make the best wands of my life! I couldn't charge you a single Galleon." Marcus was stunned and said "Huh?" Mr. Truss nodded seriously and said "I'm serious, Marcus. Plus I kept the rest of the Blackwood. Consider that my compensation."

Marcus sighed and smiled as he said "Thank you, Mr. Truss." Mr. Truss smiled happily and said "Anytime. Come back again." Marcus nodded and said "Let's go kids."

Marcus brought the kids back home and took their robes with him before leaving them to their devices saying "We'll be leaving in a month."

Cross went back to his room and looked at the Honey Badger in the cage. The Honey Badger looked up and glared at Cross angrily, Cross opened the cage and let it free.

The Honey Badger came out and looked around before snarling at Cross, who chuckled and reached his hand out. The Honey Badger growled and jumped at Cross, who didn't even flinch and slapped it in the head, smashing it to the ground.

Cross laughed and patted its head softly, the Honey Badger groaned and tried to lunge at Cross again, only to get smacked down again. This was a first for the Honey Badger, he had never faced such a challenge in his life! He was determined to get a victory against Cross, no matter what.

A few days later

The Honey Badger had given up. He couldn't do it. Even when he tried to run he felt something tie around his body and drag him back. He was depressed, why was he so unlucky? Cross actually quite liked the Honey Badger and named it Carl.

Carl wanted to find a lake and jump in, that's how sad he was. Cross laughed at Carl's depressed look and stroked his fur as he read a spell book he found about changing the size of things.

Another week passed

Cross pointed the wand at Carl and said in Elven "Shrink!" a light surrounded Carl and he shrunk to the size of a palm. Carl was stunned and jumped around in shock and fear. Cross laughed and swung his wand again as he said in Elven "Revert!"

Carl went back to normal and let out a breath, Cross laughed again and said "Grow!" Carl got as big as a lion and was once again stunned, but he liked this form better as he nodded. Cross shook his head with a smile as he said "Revert" and then "Shrink" before placing Carl on his shoulder and drawing on the ground with a piece of runic chalk.

Cross placed his robe in the middle and started mumbling in Elven "Tree of Life, grant me thy power and bless these robes." the rune circle lit up and gained a green hue before sinking into the robes.

Cross smirked and put the robes on, putting Carl on the desk. Carl looked curiously and Cross chanted "Change!" The robe glowed and the sleeves gained golden flower patterns around the cuff. The hat changed into a blood red crown.

Carl was so shocked he directly played dead.

Cross looked in the mirror and smirked, he looked pretty good! He had cut his hair shorter and displayed his face completely. He was extremely handsome, if not beautiful. His hair was silky, his red eyes were bright, and his skin was white and smooth.

He almost looked like a girl. That was just the way Elves looked, however. Cross was fine with it, he thought he looked good! The crown and sleeves made him seem even more handsome. It gave him an earthly feel.

Cross smiled slightly and said "Revert." the robe and hat changed back to normal but kept the blessing. The ritual Cross just performed was an Elven ritual for clothes, they protected his clothes from any tracking, charms, and most curses. They were also constantly kept clean.

Cross smiled and changed out of them before stuffing them in his storage bag. He also took out the egg he got at the same time. He held the egg close to him and his hands felt a little cold. Which was a good thing, because if the egg was warm it would be considered dead.

Cross put the egg next to his wand and left it on his desk before going back to reading books and playing with his strings.

Finally, a month since they came back from shopping.

Marcus called Cross and said "Cross! Let's go!" Cross picked up Carl's cage and brought him with him as he went down the stairs.

He saw Daphne smiling at him, Marcus doing the same, Astoria was crying, and Alyssa had a warm smile on her face. Cross smiled and joined Marcus, Astoria hugged him tight and cried loudly as she complained "Who's gonna play with me now!?"

Everyone felt their mouths twitch.

Cross hugged Astoria and whispered "You have to grew up quickly and you can come to school and play there." Astoria nodded and said "I'll see you tomorrow, I'll grow up over night!" Cross laughed and nodded with a smile.

Alyssa fixed Cross and Daphne's clothes with warm and watery eyes.

Cross and Daphne smiled and Marcus took them with him out of the house.

A while later

Cross was walking holding a cage with Carl in it as they stood in a train station. Cross looked around and was confused, Marcus smiled and led the two through a pillar and the three disappeared.

Cross got through the pillar and saw a new train station. Cross was absolutely stunned as he said loudly "How did nobody see that?!" Marcus looked at him and smiled as he said "Magic." Cross felt his mouth twitch as he said "Oh. Right."

Daphne giggled and Marcus laughed as he brought them to the train door.

Daphne saw a friend and waved as she ran over and started talking with the girl. Cross looked at Marcus and smiled wryly, Marcus laughed and said "Study hard, Cross. I hope you'll become a great wizard."

Cross smiled and nodded as he said "I will, dad." Marcus smiled softly and ruffled Cross' hair as he said "Now get in there, hopefully you'll come back looking like a man." Cross' face turned black and Marcus laughed loudly, before sighing and adding seriously "You also have to make friends." Cross' face fell and he said "What."

Marcus nodded and said "Don't think I don't know you don't like talking to people. You have to make at least 4-5 friends." Cross complained "But I-" Marcus said "No. You will make friends. Try and be friendly..." Cross was about to nod when Marcus added "Even if they aren't interesting."

Cross grumbled, nodded reluctantly, and got on the train before finding an empty room and sitting down. The train whistle blew and the train started moving.