The scene was somewhat comical.
"We're going to the quad. We're going to meet your brother and get him away from the gossipy clutches of my family, and then you two are going to answer a few questions, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Pandora was almost a foot taller than Wednesday. Not only that, the girl was clearly athletic and fond of intense exercise judging by her muscular arms and build. Meanwhile, Wednesday was of much more modest stature and considerably more svelte physique than her daughter of an alternate dimension.
And yet, she was the more intimidating of the two. Zero surprises there.
"It's like a chihuahua bullying a rottweiler," said Yoko. She said it out loud when it might have been wiser to leave that thought inside her head, because the two Addamses turned their gazes on her and... woah.
Wednesday's steely controlled anger was nothing new to Yoko Tanaka, but up until that moment Dora had shown no sign of aggression. But now, on the young lycanthrope's face, the blue of her eyes had turned icy and a grimace had formed in her closed mouth announcing the presence of hidden sharp teeth.
"Measure your words carefully, Tanaka," Wednesday said.
"Comparing a lycanthrope to a dog is not very wise," Dora added.
Enid, with Thing perched on her shoulder, merely cast an unimpressed glance at her best friend, "Sigh... as tempting as it is I'd ask you both not to maim her just because of her bad habit of spouting occasional idiocy."
"You call it occasional idiocy, but you know the truth comes out of my mouth," Yoko retorted, "Look at them! It's like when Wednesday scared the crap out of those Jericho guys on the normie high school football team."
Wednesday merely looked at the vampire with narrowed eyes, before exhaling slightly and turning on her heels towards the classroom door, "Let's go."
The peculiar group left the classroom, crossing the Nevermore hallways in the direction of the quad, receiving the curious stares of students, parents and some teachers. Wednesday was in the lead, with Enid next to her, shoulder to shoulder, and Thing scampering a few steps behind the two. Behind, Pandora walked alongside Yoko. The young lycanthrope's gaze was fixed on the two young women walking in front of her, constantly jumping from one to the other.
Yoko noticed it, "Erm... sorry about the rottweiler thing. I should have done a size comparison with tigers and wildcats, instead."
Pandora shot her a look, but there was no longer the aggressiveness of a few moments ago, "It's okay..."
"So tell me," continued Yoko, "Is there any Yoko Tanaka where you come from?"
"No, not really," Dora replied. Her gaze lit up for a moment and she raised her eyebrows as if something crossed her mind, "But one of Dad's co-workers is named Yamato Tanaka. Maybe he's you, like Enid here is..." her voice trailed off, her gaze settling back on Wednesday and Enid, who were conversing with each other in whispers.
"Yeah... Eamon," Yoko said, "It must be weird for you."
"Well, I'm an Addams, weird runs in the family. But even for us this situation is out of the ordinary," replied Pandora, "It's just that... this Wednesday is very different from my mother and Enid... Enid on the other hand seems a lot like Dad in personality despite the sex difference."
Enid turned her head back, having heard the last snippet of conversation, "What's your mother like?"
"Oh, more cheerful than this one, for sure," said Pandora, pointing at Wednesday, "Although she knows how to make herself respected... she's..."
Once again the young lycanthrope seemed to cut herself off mid-conversation. This time a veil of sadness and worry seemed to take over her. Yoko and Enid exchanged a glance. Wednesday seemed to ignore them but was actually listening intently.
"So... Theo?" continued Yoko, trying to distract and keep the visitor animated.
"What about him?" asked Dora.
"What's he like, is he like you?"
"We're twins, but we don't look much alike physically. I take more after Dad and he takes more after our mother," explained Pandora, "And technically he's the one responsible for us being here... sort of..."
"Magic?" asked Wednesday, without looking back.
"Yes. How did you...?"
"You mentioned a ritual in your panic when showing up in our room," Wednesday explained.
"Ah, that...," Pandora said with a nervous smile as she rubbed the back of her neck, "By the way, you guys haven't had any trouble assimilating that I'm not from around here..."
"Oh, three months ago we were visited by five dimensional variants of Wednesday who were brought to this reality by accident," Enid said, smiling.
Dora looked at her in shock, "That's... wow... Theo is going to bombard you with questions."
"Why perform a dimensional travel ritual?" asked Wednesday.
Dora flinched for a moment, "That's... maybe it's better if Theo explains it all when we're with him..."
"Ah, let me guess," said Yoko, trying again to lighten the tension that was once again building up in the air, "He's the nerdy twin and you're the sporty twin?"
"That's a terrible oversimplification," replied Dora.
"Well, it's just that you seem more inclined to physical activity. Certainly more so than Wednesday."
"May I remind you that I'm on the fencing team, Tanaka."
"But that doesn't count, Wednesday. Fencing is fancy stuff! It's obvious that Dora is more of a traditional jock type... football, basketball, that sort of thing..."
"Uh, no jock stereotypes, please... although I am on the basketball team."
"See?" the vampire replied, "Ha, a werewolf on the basketball team, the joke writes itself..."
Finally, after crossing one last threshold and the academy's reception area, the group reached the quad. Nevermore's inner courtyard had already been restored after the events of three months ago, which resulted in several broken tables, a demolished central fountain, cracks in several columns and minor burns.
Wednesday was the first to notice her family among the crowd of individuals filling the place, parents and students preparing for the graduation ceremony in just a couple of hours. The young Addams could see Morticia and Gomez seated at one of the tables, with Pugsley standing next to them, listening intently to a slender, dark-haired, pale-skinned young man dressed in a purple plaid suit and a long black trench coat. From his position, the young man saw them coming, a surprised expression adorning his face as he rested his eyes on Wednesday and Enid. Surprise turned to relief when he noticed Pandora walking behind them.
"Dora!" he called.
The young lycanthrope girl took off at a run, nearly knocking over her parents' dimensional variants, and launched herself at the boy who had come out to meet her. She wrapped him in her arms and lifted him into the air in a very tight embrace.
"Theo! I thought I'd lost you! When I arrived you weren't there!"
"I'm glad to see you too sis, but if you keep this up I'm afraid my ribs are going to suffer painful consequences," Theo said.
Dora released him, resting her hands on his shoulders and looking at her brother with a fond smile.
Then she began to strangle him and shake him as if he were a rag doll.
"You said you knew what you were doing, asshole!" she shouted. "Do you have any idea how scared I've been!?"
In response, Theo pulled a knife from his sleeve and held it up to Dora's throat, "Silver, little sister. Relax," he said. baring his teeth in a grin.
Dora released him, snorting and folding her arms, "I'm a minute older than you, you prick," she retorted, albeit with a good-natured tone.
A loud voice interrupted the encounter.
"Ah Tish, look at them, they're wonderful!" exclaimed Gomez Addams, visibly moved by such an expression of sibling affection, "They remind me of Fester and I when we were their age."
Morticia nodded, a serene smile on her face, "Always greeting each other with sharp objects," she said. Her attention then turned to Wednesday, Enid with Thing on her shoulder and Yoko, who were approaching the table, "Greetings girls, it's a pleasure to see you again."
"Mother," Wednesday greeted, in a formal manner though without the vitriol of times past.
"Hi Mrs. Addams!" greeted Enid effusively. Yoko limited herself to a wave of her hand and a "Hey!"
"Enid, dear," said Morticia getting up and approaching the young she-wolf for a hug, "How many times do I have to repeat myself? Just call me Morticia. You're family, my child."
"Sorry, it's...it's habit," Enid replied, returning the hug.
Thing hopped off the werewolf's shoulder onto the table, positioning himself in front of Gomez.
"Thing, old man!" the Addams patriarch greeted, clasping the dismembered hand in a firm handshake, "It's an auspicious day, isn't it?"
For her part, Wednesday merely approached the twins after greeting Pugsley with a slight nod of her head. She positioned herself directly in front of Theo, who returned her gaze nonchalantly, examining her in a calculating manner.
"The similarities are uncanny, but the differences..."
"Don't waste your time. The level of similarity and differential nuances are always remarkable. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that an Addams is an Addams," said Wednesday.
"You certainly have a more serious character than our mother," Theo pointed out.
Wednesday shot a glance at her parents, "I have multiple questions waiting for answers, but first... Have you briefed them?"
"No. But Uncle Pug immediately deduced my nature and I suspect nana Ticia knows what we are even though she hasn't said anything out loud."
"It's so strange to see her and papa Gomez without white in their hair," Dora whispered, “And Uncle Pug is so tiny!”
"Better get the thorn out as soon as possible...," said Wednesday, "Father, mother!" she called, attracting the Addams' attention, "You already know Theo. This is his sister Dora. They are your grandchildren from another dimension, children of a variant of me and a variant of Enid who was born male. Try not to make a fuss."
They made a fuss.
Luckily it was brief and contained to their table, although many of the other visitors that Nevermore was having on the quad couldn't help but watch the spectacle of Gomez Addams crying his eyes out mumbling something about vipers being mommies.
After only a few minutes, a certain calm settled in again. Morticia watched with amusement her daughter and the young duo who were her grandchildren from another reality. They might not be in this one, and only time would tell what the future held for her Wednesday, but the matriarch of the Addams family could not help but feel a certain pride in their presence.
"Another dimensional travel situation, daughter of mine," said Morticia, "And only after a few months. This could become a habit if you're not careful."
"It's funny, when I arrived instead of dimensional travel I thought things had turned out even worse and I had time traveled," laughed Dora.
Theo looked at his sister as if she had grown another head, "Ouch. It was a rite of transit between realities. Do you have so little confidence in my abilities that you thought we time traveled?"
"Well, technically we did..."
"It's 2024 here," Wednesday added.
"Oh!" said Theo, "Of course, the time stream between universes is..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, save it for later," interrupted Dora, "The thing is, I showed up in front of this Wednesday and at first I thought I'd already found Mom, but I realized the age didn't add up so I figured it must have been her teenage self during a goth phase or something..."
"A goth phase. Mom," Theo repeated, letting out a short laugh, "Dora, you know as well as I do that Mom has never worn anything but pink in her entire life."
"Uh, excuse me...," Enid interjected, "Your mother... Are you saying your mother is a Wednesday who only wears pink?"
"Uh... yes, why?", asked Dora.
"No way...", muttered Yoko.
"Pandora described her as cheerful," added Wednesday, exchanging a look with Enid.
"Weds, it can't be..."
"We know very little about how the flow of time between realities works. It could just be coincidence, but..."
"It's only been three months since we met her and she was eleven years old, Weds!"
"And in her reality it was 1972," Wednesday said. She turned to the twins, "Pandora, you said in your reality it's 1999, right?"
"Er... yes."
"I think I see where you're going with this," said Theo, "We're seventeen, born in 1982."
"Which would put her at age twenty-two when you were born," said Wednesday, "Young, but not far-fetched for that decade. Time runs differently between realities and what has been three months for us has been two decades for her."
"Oh dear," Enid whispered, locking her eyes on the twins. Looking at it... she could see it. Theo could have a sharp smile and Dora's was similar to her own. But it wasn't so much the look of the smiles as the ease and nonchalance with which they had emerged as they greeted their grandparents a few minutes ago. That sincere cheerfulness, that emotional warmth...
"Friday," Enid said, almost to herself, "Your mother is Friday."
And another thought crossed her mind. Pandora Enid Addams. That middle name of Dora's... of course. But no, it wasn't just that, it was something that Dora had just mentioned.
At first I thought I'd already found Mom.
Enid stared at Pandora, her eyes shining with the golden glow of the guardian wolf.
"What happened to your mother?"
No comments:
Post a Comment