"Hi, um... have you seen a beast in the woods?"
The woman summoned her courage and asked the stranger who had appeared in the woods.
A neatly dressed, handsome young man seemed strangely out of place here.
"A beast?" John looked at the oddly dressed woman, though this was the United Kingdom, where just about any outfit was perfectly normal.
Hadn't Dumbledore once swaggered down the street wearing wizard robes and a woman's hat without anyone thinking he was a wizard?
Granted, this wasn't his original world.
John studied the woman, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You're dressed like a Slytherin."
"A Slytherin?" The woman had no idea what that was, but she politely said, "Thank you."
The corners of John's mouth lifted. "Looking for a beast? The woods are a good place to start."
The woman thought he was mocking her and grew a little angry.
John held out his hand. "John Wick."
For a moment, the woman failed to react.
Then, out of politeness, she hurriedly extended her hand. "Anathema Device."
It occurred to her afterward that casually telling strangers her name probably wasn't a good habit.
John paid it little mind and pointed in the direction the children had gone. "Head that way, and you'll find an incredibly ferocious beast. He came from Hell, bearing his destiny, and follows at his master's side."
Wasn't that exactly what she was looking for?
As a descendant of a great witch and seer, Anathema had inherited little of what a witch ought to possess.
But she did have a book of prophecy passed down by her ancestor.
"The nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter"
The book had accurately predicted the enormous fortune brought by an apple that couldn't be eaten, earning Anathema's family a staggering amount of wealth.
Yet the