Woe and Friday's departure had brought about a curious scene in the quad.
Being watched by a concerned Ajax and a curious Needler, Enid had begun to walk around in circles in a manner reminiscent of an anxious canid while holding her hands to her head. Occasional oddly animalistic whimpers escaped her mouth from time to time, drawing quizzical looks from some of the few other students still hanging around the area.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..."
"Enid," Wednesday said, "Relax, Nevermore is a relatively safe area. Nothing will happen to them, especially not if we find them promptly."
"I'm not worried about that, Weds," replied Enid turning to her partner, "I mean, Friday will probably be fine if she's found the hives, but Woe..."
"Woe knows how to take care of herself."
"But the rest of Nevermore's students don't know how to beware of Woe!"
Wednesday paused for a moment, deep in thought.
"You're right," she said, "Depending on the level of idiocy they display, an interaction with Woe could result in a homicidal incident. Possibly deserved, but ill-timed."
"Woah," Ajax interrupted, "I thought she looked a little intimidating, but is your cousin really that dangerous?"
Needler made an indeterminate sound that could either be a giggle or a morbid rattle, "She's an Addams."
Wednesday pinned a sharp glare on the gorgon, "She's like me in her innermost self without having someone equivalent to Enid at her side, Petropolus. What does that suggest to you?"
Ajax gulped, "...how many times did we brush with death just for speaking to you your first year here?"
"More than you'd be comfortable knowing."
"Okay, okay, let's change the subject...," intervened Enid, "Wednesday, you go to the hives. By this time Eugene should be there and hopefully Friday too. I'll go get Woe."
"Do you think you can?"
The werewolf touched her nose gently with one of her fingers, "We don't know where she might have gone and I'm the only one who can track her."
"I wasn't questioning your tracking abilities, mia lupa," said the Addams, "I'm concerned about whether or not you'll be prepared to deal with Woe after finding her in case she doesn't feel willing to be babysat. Remember, we're talking about a highly irritable Addams, estranged from her home, whose ability to adapt is only surpassed by her hostility."
"Look, the crossbow thing when she materialized in our room was because she caught me by surprise. And she's not so bad, don't think these little wolf ears didn't hear a little of your talk yesterday while I was setting up the nest for the sleepover."
Wednesday raised an eyebrow, "Querida, sometimes I forget that you are a master of espionage and gossip. I cannot be forgiven."
"Shush," said Enid, smiling softly, "Let's stick to the plan. You go to the hives and I'll look for our teenage killing machine. Besides, I'm sure someone will have no qualms about lending me a hand."
As if conjured by the she-wolf's words, Thing leapt to her shoulder with an energetic motion and gave a visible thumbs-up as a gesture of affirmation.
"Be it then," Wednesday said, and the two set off in opposite directions, leaving Needler behind with Ajax still seated at the table in the quad.
"Uh... I think with all the urgency they forgot we were here," the gorgon said, "And what did they mean by... materialize?"
Needler stared at him, "Are you willing to push the boundaries of your mortal mind and delve into new frontiers of knowledge?"
"That sounds like a trip. Fine by me."
§§§
Bees.
Specifically, the western honey bee or European honey bee. Apis mellifera. One of the most fascinating and complex insect species one could find and also one of the most common bee species in the world, one of the few insects domesticated by humankind.
For Eugene Ottinger, Nevermore's primary beekeeper, they were much more than that. They were family.
As with any holiday period other than Christmas, Thanksgiving or the summer break, Eugene had opted to remain at Nevermore tending his hives. A laborious and time-consuming job, and one that had long been a solitary endeavor given most of the student body's lack of affinity for venomous insects. But that was no longer the case.
"Eugene, are we going to need the smoker?" asked a voice behind him.
The young man turned, looking away from the hive he had been checking out and focused his sight on the other beekeeper-suited figure standing with him. A young, dark-skinned lycanthrope girl with golden eyes that glowed through the mesh of her suit's headpiece, wearing a nervous and somewhat frightened smile.
"It's okay Lenore, the girls are calm today," Eugene said as he extended his index finger and a bee landed delicately on it, "See?"
The young woman nodded, with a slightly calmer smile. Lenore Talbot was hardworking and capable, but she seemed to have a pathological fear of being stung by bees. Eugene couldn't quite understand why of all the new volunteers who had joined the club in the last two years, spurred on by the popularity boom after the affair with Crackstone and Gates, only she seemed to insist on accompanying him even during vacation periods or the more complicated activities, such as the nightly check-ups, transfers of new queens to new hives, etc. Despite her fear Lenore was always there, at his side.
Why his friends seemed to find the situation funny or “cute” was also beyond him.
"It looks like we're going to have a relaxed morning, without much trouble to extract the honey," Eugene said, "How's the situation in the other hives?"
Lenore turned, taking in the array of hives with her eyes, "Hum... Hive 3 is still very active, the ones in 4 seem to have increased in number again, and the ones in 2 are completely engulfing from head to toe what appears to be a little girl..."
"Good, good... Wait, what!?"
Sure enough, in the middle of the hives was a small human figure standing with arms outstretched horizontally like a cross or a letter T, completely covered in bees from head to ankles, the only thing visible being a small nose surrounded by the mass of insects covering her face.
"Oh my God! Lenore, go get the smoker!"
Before the alarmed lycanthrope could run towards the shed, a childlike, cheerful voice interrupted them, "It's okay! They're just greeting me!"
The mass of bees on the face had moved revealing a smiling mouth underneath, "Hello!"
Eugene couldn't help the stupefaction he felt. He could sense in the bees the... eagerness? They were joyful, excited by the presence of that new person. They were actually greeting and examining her without the slightest trace of aggression.
The shaking of Lenore grabbing him by the arm brought him back to reality.
"Eugene! Eugene! We have to do something! The principal is going to give us an earful for this!" the frightened apprentice beekeeper exclaimed.
"Oh, no," said the figure, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble for anyone. Well, unless you asked nicely."
The figure cocked her head to one side and there was some kind of communication that Eugene did not quite manage to discern, though it was distinctively different from the bond he had with the bees. The swarm took flight returning to its hive and leaving the newcomer in sight.
She was a girl of short stature, about eleven or twelve years of age, dressed in a simple costume of a showy pink color. Pale, with a smiling, gleeful face and black hair pulled back in two pigtails. She looked much, too much like...
"Wednesday?" asked Eugene, incredulously.
The smile seemed to freeze for a second on the girl's face. Something like surprise shone in her eyes. It was all in a brief instant, but Eugene could sense it before the open smile returned to the girl's lips and she responded.
"No, I am Friday. Friday Addams."
"Friday Addams," Eugene repeated, not taking his eyes off her. There was something about the child that...
Behind him Lenore let out a gasp, "Oh! Are you related to Wednesday?" the lycanthrope asked, her nervousness of a few seconds ago seemingly forgotten, replaced by the hero worship she felt for the Savior of Nevermore.
(Needless to say, Wednesday HATED that title.)
"I'm one of her cousins," replied Friday, maintaining the cover story arranged by her counterpart, "We've had a few of us come to see her this vacation."
"It seems that...hum... well, it seems that like your cousin you're good with bees," Eugene observed, trying to push away from his thoughts the crazy idea that was sprouting in them.
"I like all arthropods," said Friday, "But my favorites are spiders. I had a colony of black widows at home, and my best pet is Homer. He always plays with me to be a yo-yo by using his web to jump from my finger."
"Ah...," mused Lenore, not knowing whether to find that adorable or horrifying. Or strangely enough, both equally.
"Wednesday has told me similar stories," said Eugene, with a glint of curiosity in his eyes, "You two are very much alike."
"Oh, we get that a lot," replied Friday.
"Certainly, you should see the others," added a new voice joining the conversation.
Wednesday Addams went into the hive area without a protective suit and without any fear of being stung. The bees knew her, respected her, loved her and feared her in equal measure. If Eugene was to their insectoid minds a God of Care and Good Fortune, Wednesday was the Righteous Fist of Retribution.
"Wednesday!" exclaimed Friday running over to the older Addams, "The bees have greeted me! They're so nice! Why didn't you tell me there was such a place around here?"
Wednesday folded her arms, staring at her younger counterpart, "Because the plan was to take you all on a tour around Nevermore to see this and other Academy locations. But someone decided to explore the whole place on their own instead of just the quad, as should have been implied."
"Oh, I guessed as much, but it's just that hearing about this place..."
"I figured. I would have done the same. But as soon as we meet up with the others the first thing you'll do is apologize to Enid. She's worried."
That seemed to give the young girl pause, her smile fading for a moment, "Oh... I didn't mean to worry Miss Enid," she said, her voice almost as monotone and expressionless as Woe's or her own.
That didn't feel right.
Inside Wednesday's head a battle was raging over how to proceed. Inhaling deeply and closing her eyes to concentrate, she decided to apply a similar but opposite reasoning to what her girlfriend had used on occasion.
W.W.E.D?
What Would Enid Do?
With an effort more Herculean than it appeared to the eye of the beholder, Wednesday reached out and placed the palm of her hand on Friday's head, patting her hair with unusual gentleness.
"It's all right. No harm done. You just have to apologize and Enid will forgive you. She's not even mad."
"You sure?"
"I'm always sure."
"Oh. My. God," Eugene's voice interrupted the moment, "I feel like I just witnessed something I wouldn't believe if I were told."
Wednesday fixed her gaze on the beekeeper, perhaps the first real friend she had made at Nevermore. Even before Enid.
Wednesday had not exaggerated in describing Eugene as someone who reminded her of her brother. The boy had become almost an adopted sibling figure to the Addams heiress.
He had also been the first to discover the signs of the growing romance between her and Enid. Despite his feelings for the lycanthrope, Eugene had always supported them, under the reasoning that Enid's happiness was the most important thing and that if that happiness was with Wednesday, he would have no problem.
Of course, in his eagerness to ensure the well-being of his lost beloved, Eugene had threatened Wednesday with serious consequences if the Addams broke the young Sinclair's heart. Eugene had not only become one of the few individuals who had threatened Wednesday Addams and lived to tell the tale, but he had earned her respect and genuine admiration. That day Wednesday stopped seeing Eugene as a child, his place being taken by that of a young man.
And that young man had needed only two words.
Bees. Lungs.
Clear. Simple. Thorough. Ruthless. Worthy of an Addams. Wednesday couldn't help but be proud.
Leaving her reminiscences behind and returning to the present, Wednesday nodded slightly, "Eugene. I'm sorry for any disruption my cousin may have caused."
"It was nothing, just a little scare. And the bees like her, that's always a seal of approval for me," replied Eugene with a smile.
The Addams nodded again, before her gaze fell on the figure next to Eugene, who appeared to be bowing her head in greeting.
"Lenore, you don't have to bow to her," the beekeeper said.
"I'm just showing due deference to an apex predator, Eugene," the young lycanthrope replied, nervously.
A hint of a smile brushed Wednesday's lips, "You've found a good one Eugene, you'd better take care of her," she said.
"Ah... yes, of course... Erm... Lenore! Do you think you could entertain Friday a little by showing her around the hives? I need to talk to Wednesday alone for a moment."
"Oh, sure," the lycanthrope said before turning to the two Addamses, "If there's no problem..."
Friday looked up at Wednesday, "May I?"
"As long as you promise to follow all of Talbot's instructions and not disappear from her sight."
Friday nodded, her usual smile back on her face and ran over to the young apprentice beekeeper, leaving Wednesday and Eugene alone.
"So... your cousin huh?"
"Indeed."
Eugene looked at her, with a smile that appeared to be a futile attempt to hold back a laugh, "Wednesday, it doesn't add up. I figured out exactly what she was soon after I saw her."
Wednesday raised an eyebrow inviting Eugene to continue his reasoning. The beekeeper had always been one of the most brilliant minds in Nevermore... Was it possible that he had figured out Friday's true nature on his own?
"Say," he continued, "When were you planning to tell me that the future daughter of Enid and you had traveled back in time to this time period?"
Wednesday Addams did not facepalm.
She didn't.
She was very, very tempted to do so, though.
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