They returned to Nevermore late at night.
The lights of the police cars were already moving away from the academy escorting an armored van where Isadora Laslow was being held. That was what her sense of smell told Enid.
The lycanthrope entered the quad with Wednesday at her side. Friday and Pup still at her back, asleep and clutching her fur in their sleep. Further behind, Needler was carrying a sleepy Shark on her back. Woe closed the march, crossbow over her shoulder and carrying by the other hand a group of unfortunate rabbits that would surely end up as lunch the next day.
In the quad, the only two people to greet them were Principal Barker and the new Sheriff, Ritchie Santiago. The former deputy had been promoted after Donovan Galpin's retirement last year.
The principal merely exchanged a glance and a nod with Wednesday, silently indicating that he would be handling the matter for the next few days.
The sheriff, for her part, could not help but look baffled at the sight. Her relationship with Addams was certainly more neutral than the one the girl had had with Galpin, but even that whole situation seemed a bit of a freak show to her.
How do you put in a police report that interdimensional variants of one of the potential victims are involved? Her salary wasn't enough for that level of weirdness…
The group of girls finally reached their room without further encounters. Thing greeted them with silent gestures of joy. The dismembered hand had spent the last two hours lying on the book of multiversal magic that Yoko had brought.
Deciding to settle back into the nest of blankets, sheets and cushions in the center of the room, the group went to sleep after a very long night.
§§§
The next two days flew by, and everyone fell into a comfortable routine.
Wednesday began her reading of the book, initiating preparations to seek a definitive solution, but both Enid and her counterparts managed to keep the Addams' attention from being compulsively caught up in her study of that ancient pile of pages.
Word had finally gotten out about what the situation was and the resident students at the Academy during spring break couldn't help but contain their curiosity. The barrage of questions was brief, many being deterred by the combination of irritability and homicidal anger emitted by Wednesday and Woe.
The rest of Wednesday's other selves were finding their own niches within the Nevermore ecosystem.
Friday and Pup spent most of their time with Enid: games, manicure sessions, reading stories, walks in the woods, runs with the werewolf, etc. Friday also spent many hours with Eugene and Lenore, learning the secrets of beekeeping. The Addams in pink had a natural gift for dealing with the insects and watching her go about with a small swarm fluttering around her became a regular sight for the rest of the students those days.
Pup for her part was rarely separated from Enid or Wednesday. The sight of the youngest Addams sitting on the lap of her older counterpart reading the same book in the library was also common.
Woe managed a duel with Bianca that resulted in mutual saber scratches on their respective faces. Despite being technically a draw, the siren opted to concede victory when the Addams suggested starting to use morning stars or axes. But aside from the fencing, the young woman managed to put together a little semi-improvised theatrical performance with Shark's help. Only partially improvised because she somehow arranged to create elaborate and gorey visual effects that paid off with the sparse audience in attendance (basically the other variants, Wednesday, Enid, Eugene, Lenore, the Nightshades, Principal Barker and a few other students) ending up covered in fake blood.
It was a resounding success, at least among certain sectors of the public.
And Needler? She had become the new star of the few present members of the science club at the academy. Studying the blueprints of her freeze ray trying to replicate the process they had only succeeded in freezing an entire classroom by accident. Alleged "accident", because Needler's laughter at the result was most suspicious.
And so, two days passed in a breath, the week came to Saturday and a very surprised Divina Watson found herself and her luggage in front of the quad wondering what the hell had happened.
The family matters that had held her back most of the week had been resolved and the siren flew back to Nevermore thinking how to take advantage of the short weekend with her favorite bloodsucker. Her twin, Kent, had opted to spend the last few days of vacation with their cousins in the Mediterranean. Divina didn't expect anything out of the ordinary upon arriving at Nevermore, other than to find the place unusually quiet due to the absence of most students.
She certainly didn't expect to find what looked like signs of battle...
Remains of rubble piled up and cleaning material and some scaffolding that signaled an incipient rebuild, a table split in two and the fountain completely shattered. All of this combined with cracks and strike marks in specific spots on the floor and traces of burns. The newly arrived siren waved vaguely to some of the students milling about, too distracted by the state of the quad.
So distracted that she didn't see the body rushing towards her until they collided and Divina suddenly found herself in mid-air held in a very strong hug.
"MY LITTLE SEA URCHIN!"
"Yoko! Air!"
The vampire released her girlfriend and proceeded to cover her face with kisses, causing a giggle to escape from the siren's mouth.
"I've *kiss* missed you so *kiss* much! My queen of the deep! *kiss* My abyssal darkness! *kiss*"
Divina cupped Yoko's face in her hands and silenced her with a long kiss on the lips. When they parted, the vampire was grinning from ear to ear. The two stood for a moment in silence, embracing, their foreheads touching.
"I've missed you too," Divina said, "I have to ask though... What happened here?" she asked, gesturing with a nod of her head towards the quad.
"Heh, guess."
Divina stared at Yoko and her mischievous grin, raising an eyebrow.
"Addams?"
"You got it right on the first try... Oooh, you won't believe it when I tell y..."
"YOKO TANAKA!"
The shout echoed throughout the quad with a primal fury. Many students, Divina included, couldn't help but jump a little in their spots, startled. Yoko let out a high-pitched "Eeep!" and hid behind Divina. The siren saw a figure entering the quad and walking straight towards them like a guided missile.
Enid Sinclair, partially transformed and with her normally affable face flushed with fury.
The lycanthrope stopped before them and her fury seemed to vanish as soon as her eyes fell on Divina.
"Divina! Hello!"
"Uh... hi Enid... What's wrong?" the siren asked, nervous. Enid was a sweetheart, but Divina had seen her furious before and the little ray of sunshine could be terrifying if she put her mind to it.
"Tanaka," Enid replied, focusing her gaze on Yoko and with fury returning to her face.
"Honey, what have you done," Divina asked her girlfriend, "Enid is calling you by your last name, you must have done something."
"I haven't done anything!" whispered Yoko, still hiding behind the siren.
"Nothing? NOTHING?" burst out Enid, "Pup and Friday have been repeating swear words for two hours!"
"Come on! I'm not the only one who has let slip a swear word in front of them!"
"But yours are the ones they've found funny!" retorted Enid, "A six year old shouldn't go around chanting things like cuntybollocks, McFuckknucle or cuntasaurus rex!"
"Er... oops... my bad, I guess?"
"Yoko, seriously?" asked Divina, turning around with her arms crossed, "Sigh... I disappear for a week and you're back to behaving like you're a decade younger," said the siren before turning her attention to Enid, "By the way... Friday and Pup? A six year old? What have I missed, really?"
"Oh, uh...," Enid calmed down again. The lupine features disappeared from her face and her voice regained a normal tone, "It's a very long story. Surprisingly long for having been only a couple of days..."
"As I was telling you," Yoko said, resting her arm on Divina's shoulders, "You won't believe it until you see it..."
§§§
"You've got to be kidding me," whispered Divina.
Yoko and Enid led the siren to the lycanthrope's dorm room, where she encountered a curious scene. In the middle of the room, two little girls under the supervisión of Thing were playing with Enid's stuffed animals, in what appeared to be a reenactment of some sort of witch trial. That may have been curious in itself, as it was unusual to see such young children at Nevermore outside of periods like Parents' Weekend, but what was truly odd was that the two little girls looked a great deal like...
"Yep, they're Wednesday," Yoko said.
"What?" asked Divina, "But how...? Clones?"
"Interdimensional travel," Enid continued. She said it as if it were the most mundane thing in the world.
"Courtesy of a witch who tried to kill them all two nights ago," explained Yoko.
"Which is why the quad has turned out the way it has," Enid finished, shrugging.
The little girls became aware of the presence of a new person before them at that moment. Friday stood up as if propelled by a spring and moved in front of Divina.
"Hi, I'm Friday!" greeted the girl of about eleven years old in front of her. Pale, with dark hair pulled back in braids. Dressed in pink.
"This is...this...," Divina murmured, looking at the young Addams with fascination. Distracted, she barely noticed the slight tugging at her pants. Looking down to the right she saw the other replica of Wednesday, even younger. If the pink-clad one seemed strangely giggly, this girl had an expression of seriousness in which Divina recognized a shadow of the imperturbable Wednesday she knew.
But without the sternness or the aura of permanent irritation that only Enid manages to break, she thought.
"I'm Pup," the little girl said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hi Pup...," Divina replied, waving gently with her hand and smiling despite how surreal the situation seemed to her.
"I know it's a shock," said Enid resting a hand on Divina's shoulder, "If it's any consolation at least they didn't try to manhandle you like they did when they met Yoko."
"Well, that was with Woe and Needler," the vampire said.
"Wait... how many are there?" asked Divina.
"Not counting our Wednesday, there are five of them”, said Yoko.
"Five Wednesday Addams in the same place," said Divina, "It's a miracle only the quad was damaged."
"Wait till you meet the others," chuckled Enid, "Girls, where are your sisters?"
"Hum... Needler said she needed Shark for an experiment, but I'm not sure where they've gone," replied Friday.
"I think to the lake," Pup said, "I saw them with harpoons earlier..."
"And Woe?"
"I'm here."
The sharp voice charged with fierce self-control came from the doorway of the room. Yoko and Enid turned without a problem but Divina couldn't help a slight startle. The new Wednesday had stood at their backs without making the slightest noise. Of the few she had seen, this one reminded her most of the regular Wednesday, even if her facial features were totally different.
"Woe!" said Friday, "Weren't you in the secret spooky library with Wednesday?"
Ah, so they're aware of the Nightshade Society’s chamber, thought Divina, I shouldn't be surprised.
"I was," replied Woe, "And she's the one who sent me to find you, the others and Enid. We need to get together."
"What happened?" the werewolf asked, suddenly serious.
"She thinks she's found a possible way to get us home."
§§§
After a detour around the lake to pick up Needler and Shark (who were convinced of the presence of some kind of giant prehistoric fish in its waters and intended to hunt it) and introduce them to Divina (who suddenly found the Wednesday of her own universe to be a considerably more normal individual), the group bid farewell to the vampire and the siren before proceeding with their meeting.
"Knowing Wednesday she will want to keep it within our particular circle," explained Enid.
"Typical," replied Yoko, "Anyway, if you need anything..."
"I'll ask Divina, who doesn't teach swear words to little girls, for help."
"Oh, come on!"
And so, Enid walked along with Thing and the rest of the Wednesdays to the access point at the Edgar Allan Poe statue. Enid closed the march, observing the group of young people who in a few days had carved a place in her heart. She saw them as family, as part of her pack. She knew they had to find a way to get them back to where they belonged, but a part of her would feel the pain of their absence for a long time, she was sure.
And so will Wednesday, even if she hides it beneath her stoicism, she thought.
Inside the Nightshade Society chamber they found Wednesday Addams in the recreation area adjacent to the central room. The young woman was seated on one of the armchairs, with the multiversal grimoire open before her. She looked up when she saw them coming.
"Welcome," she said, "I think I've found the key. At least in part."
They spread out among the other chairs and couches around the little table in the center of the room.
"Well, how is it?" asked Needler.
"There is no way to be able to determine which step of the spell Isadora made her mistake on," Wednesday began to explain, "The book for the most part is a listing of different spells and rituals to propitiate travel between dimensions or contacting versions of oneself from other realities. But any mention of dimensional travel determines this dimension as a starting point and not a receptacle for travelers from others."
"So by failing her spell, Isadora accidentally created a new one or broke the rules," Woe observed.
"I think the former," said Wednesday, "Now, the interesting part is the second half of the book. It's basically...instructions concerning space-time and the fabrics of reality. A step-by-step to crafting dimensional magic from scratch."
"Oh! So theoretically we could create a spell to bring the girls back home," said Enid.
"Yes mia lupa... the problem is that none of us have the skills to do it. For something like this we need our own witch," Wednesday said, looking at her counterparts, "A powerful witch, experienced, fearless, and certainly a little kooky to dare to play with these forces of the universe."
"Heh, I know a witch," Woe said, with a half-smile as sharp as the knives hidden in her clothes.
"Me too!" said Friday, "And she's powerful, for sure!"
"And experienced," said Needler, "Older than you can count."
"And fearless!" added Pup, jumping up and down in Enid's lap with excitement.
"And kooky," finished off Shark, "I think we all know a witch like that."
Enid could almost feel the charge of energy that had begun to fill the room. All the present incarnations of Wednesday Addams looked at each other, smiling.
And then they spoke the same word at the same time.
"Grandmama!"
NOTES
Divina has no last name in canon so I opted for one of her actor's last names which she also shares with that of the actor playing Kent. I know her appearance may fall short (she doesn't have a "connection" moment with any of the Wednesdays... there's just no time), but I always intended for her to have a cameo at least. Yoko deserved her girlfriend back.
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