Private Tales To Auntie’s house we go.

[Desiminla Mendrev]

“Why does SHE have to come. I thought Gran Gran only invited me...” Desi was brewing up a potion of bugs and nutrients for her pet skull crawler tarantula Francesca.

She had nested in Desi’s hair for a few months now and cobwebs that used to be part and parcel with them being so often in the archives now occurred far more frequently, and a little chillingly.

Desi remained incredibly clean most days, but once they got working on something things like hygiene, food and sleep took a back seat now and again.

Normally Francesca could simply leave her hair and roam about the house to hunt for mice and rats or lounge in the sun with the cat.

Or gods forbid begin playing with Unity whom she seemed to have a soft spot for spinning webs and chasing about.

Francesca was intelligent and understood about a bit more than a dog. But She also had a highly corrosive venom that even if used on accident during rough play could result in some serious consequences. This Desi drained her fangs daily. And rewarded her with this bug mush sense she couldn’t use her venom to dissolve much.

She ate rats and mice whole and raw, but bugs had hard shells she needed to melt to get what she needed. While her jaws were powerful enough to crush them she simply didnt. Seemed it simply wasn’t wired in her brain. She was only a tarantula after all. So Desi fed her and finished packing.

The others were asleep this early but Desi had already been up for 3 hours. No one was getting in the way and Desi would like to keep it that way. Marching downstairs with her rucksack and satchel.

“Alys! Get down here or I’m leaving with out you! Gran Gran said we need to be there by the blood moon! And I will not be late because you-.” Desi being distracted slipped and began to almost fall down the stairs before a hand caught theirs and steadied them.

 

[Alysandra Mendrev]

Alysandra awoke to something fluffy squirming in her arms. "...I SAID LET GO OF ME, FOOLISH CHILD!" a voice echoed loudly through her mind. Her eyes opened drowsily as she felt a light nip on her hand. "Sorry Ceres..." Alys mumbled releasing the cat who promptly darted off to sit at the far end of the bed.

"Why did you wake me up so early?" Alys asked noticing the darkness outside her window. "What?! What do you mean 'Why did I wake you up-' You do know the difference between a 'familiar' and a 'secretary' don't you?" Ceres sulked. "You're to take that horrid child Desi and go visit your great grandmother." Alysandra scratched her head thoughtfully. "Oh right..." she mused. "Hey! Desi isn't a "horrid child". They can be bothersome at times but not horrid."

Alys quickly got dressed and packed an extra set of clothes into a small leather satchel. She walked to the other side of the room she had been sharing with Unity, and made sure she was still tucked in. "Alright Ceres. Let's go!" She exited the room, Ceres trotting at her heels.

Descending the stairs, Alys heard Desi yell something up at her. She reached a landing just in time to see Desi stumble. Grabbing their hand, Alys steadied Desi and pulled them into a hug. "Careful there! You won't be able to visit Gran Gran if you're hurt!" Knowing how much Desi loathed physical contact, Alys quickly released them.

"Ready?" Alysandra asked and marched out of the manor and onto the road to Gran Gran's house.

 

[Desiminla Mendrev]

It was a nice moment.

Desi was indeed no fan of close contact but the relief of not tumbling down the stairs and the true love they had for their sister combined forces in such a way that Desi even returned it with a light squeeze before coming to their senses.

“I know that!” Desi snipped struggling to wriggle from their sisters grip before they were released.

“I didn’t need your help anyway... I would have caught myself..” (About six steps down maybe..) Their honest logic chimed in rather unhelpfully.

“Besides..You know how I feel about touching...and..Hugs..” They spoke the last word as if it caused them physical pain to say aloud before turning on their heel and marching out the door. “I thought you’d be leaving the furball at home. It doesn’t like me anyway.” They said dryly eyeing their older sisters familiar.

 

[Alysandra Mendrev]

Alysandra stiffened slightly in shock as Desi returned the hug. She was overjoyed and wanted to squeeze them back. Not wanting to push her luck, Alys just smiled happily to herself.

Frowning with slight annoyance at Desi's words, Alys rolled her eyes. She had come to accept that Desi was always going to distance themselves from her and there was little she could do about it.

"Are you bringing that nasty creature with you?" Alysandra snipped back playfully referring to Francesca. Already knowing her siblings answer she continued. "Francesca doesn't like me either, yet here we are!" She glanced down at the cat sitting paitiently beside her who was currently occupied with bathing herself. "Of course Ceres is coming with us!" Alys said, feigning shock at Desi's remarks. "She wouldn't be much of a familiar if she didn't follow me wherever I went, now would she?"

Alys followed Desi out the door and they walked in silence for a while. She hadn't spent much time alone with them as Unity was almost always glued to one of them. "Umm... Its been a while since we've seen Gran Gran hasn't it?" Alys spoke up trying to break the awkward silence. "Knowing her, I'll bet that she'll be very intrigued by Francesca!" There was no response from Desi. "Well I guess I could always talk to Ceres..." she mused to herself.

Deciding to give it one more go, Alys spoke up once again. "So... Uh... How'd you find Francesca anyway?" She hoped talking about something that was important to Desi would spark conversation.

 

[Desiminla Mendrev]

Desi was already tired of their sister. After listening to her desperately try to start conversation she relished in the awkward silences her sister so dreaded, but it was a long journey and there wasn’t much else to do so finally at her last question Desi relented hesitantly.

“W-what do you care. You don’t like her anyway.” They said their eyes narrowing in suspicion. Like an animal weary of an ambush. “Besides. You’ll just laugh or be disgusted. So..” But there was a chink there.

A small blush across their cheeks of embarrassment at their enjoyment of thier sisters interest. Desi did love their sister deep down..But she was so much like..Mother.. It was why Desi always avoided her as much as possible and why this trip was so dreadful.

No where to run.

Wether her sister or their grandmother had planned this was questionable. Her grandmother had the wicked sense of humor and her sister had just the right amount of annoying good intentions....

 

[Alysandra Mendrev]

Alysandra trudged along, the only solace from the deafening silence of her sister being small occasional quips from Ceres. Curse that brat! she thought to herself. Alys was a social butterfly, and Desiminla knew that full well and was using to her advantage to make her sister uncomfortable.

Her head turned at the sound of Desi's voice. "Hmm...? Why do I care? I'm not really sure..." In truth she cared because it was clear that the monstrosity known as Francesca meant a lot to Desi and was very important to her. But Desi already looked uncomfortable having to spend time alone with their sister, so Alys didn't dare to bring that up. "Mostly out of curiosity I guess..." she said looking at Desi with a small smile.

Alys glanced down At Ceres. As far as she could tell, Francesca wasn't a familiar. Not any kind that she had seen or read about at least. There seemed to be no two-way communication between them, with Desi almost taking to the spider like an owner would talk to a pet. Francesca appeared intelligent enough, not as much to the degree as Ceres, so maybe she was some sort of lesser, low-level familiar? If that was the case, did that mean Desi had been practicing summoning?!

She returned her gaze to Desi, a friendly smile on her lips. "C'mon! C'mon! Tell me! I really do want to know! And I promise not to laugh!"

 

[Desiminla Mendrev]

Desi bit their lip. Clearly weighing their sisters honesty... "Fine..I will..I will..S-stop.." She said trying to play off her pleasure with a grumpy huff.

"She's an eastern skull crawler. They were a species brought to the east and used for their size and silk. many escaped as often happens. in the east it made its home in caves and tombs in the spine. Cave trolls were their prey. Two would attack and after paralyzing their prey they enter through the eye socket to feed from the brain down."

Desi would say with a smile her eyes lighting with the interest the topic gave her. "But during mating season...Instead of feeding on he brain the mate and form a nest around it. They control the brain and move it back to its den and pack. When the babies hatch they have plenty of food around them." Desi sighed.

"Sad thing is that when you wipe out half a den every mating season...The species does not tend to survive." Desi frowned. "They died out soon after." She walked silently for a moment before she smiled as a clicking sound came from her hair.

"She knows I'm sad..So shes vibrating on the spots on my head she feels are tensed." She giggled causing the clicking to halt.

"Come here dear.." She would say holding out her hand to have the massive tarantula crawl out of her hair and down her arm settling in her hand.

"Your venom sack will be full. Go eat. I dont want to trip on a root and get a skull full of your venom you little snug bug." Desi said with a cutesy note entering their voice that they quickly regretted shooting Alys a warning look not to call attention to it if she held this moment dear. It was short lived as she her gaze saddened once more as Francesca crawled off into the woods. The skull imprint on her abdomen being the last thing to see before she vanished into the bushes.

"We went to a silk farm on a school trip last summer.. Before.." Desi bit their lip again. Their expulsion from their another school...Fighting..Pranks..General creepiery.

Though particularly bright, Their teachers were always baffled by how difficult someone so gifted could be. So while her academics were very choice Desi's social behavior.. Well most suspected that desi simply wanted to be home doing their own thing.

"Francesca was a silk spinner in a silk farm.." Desi was getting nervous as they finally gave a glance into their sisters eyes. A nervousness clear in them that reminded Alys of her place as oldest with her younger sisters. Unity went to Desi to see cool relics, plants, creatures and to play, Unity went to Alys to do her hair, hold her for a cry or bandage an injury she incurred during her many rampant adventures on the grounds.

Desi was worried about what she thought of them.

"She was too small and they were going to feed her to the others. They...They wouldnt...So..I..I stole her..."
Desi admitted.

 

[Alysandra Mendrev]

Alysandra wracked her brain as the pair walked in silence. There had to be something, anything, that could break this awkward silence. A story perhaps. A poem to recite? A song! That was it! She had heard the mothers in the village singing a new song last time she visited, and it had quickly become one of Unity's favorites.

Taking a breath to begin singing, she was pleasantly surprised by Desi's voice. A warm smile spread slowly across her lips as Desi told the tale of how she had found Francesca.

"She was too small and they were going to feed her to the others. They...They wouldnt...So..I..I stole her..."
Desi admitted.

Aww... That's so sweet! Alys thought with a smile. Desi was always a quiet, detached child, so Alys had assumed that she didn't care for anything. But seeing how their face lit up as they talked to and about Francesca, warmed Alys' heart.

Despite the moment they were sharing, a quick bout of giggling could be heard from Alys. She wasn't laughing at Desi, though to them it might seem that way. In truth she was only laughing at herself and her own stupidity.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm not laughing at you! I promise! Its just that, there I was thinking that you - you of all people - had actually managed to summon something!"

She stifled another wave of giggles that threatened to break free. This was the same Desi who couldn't even figure out how to brew the simplest of potions. And there were only two ingredients! Of course she hadn't summoned Francesca!

Alys covered her mouth with her hand, as they continued to walk through the forest, doing her best not to let out anymore laughter.

 

[Desiminla Mendrev]

Laughter…Desiminla’s eyes narrowed. A blush of pure shame flooding their cheeks. How could they have trusted Alysandra..Of course she would laugh.. Desi turned away to not allow their sister the pleasure of seeing how much damage had been done as they walked a short distance further.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm not laughing at you! I promise! Its just that, there I was thinking that you - you of all people - had actually managed to summon something!"

Desi stopped at those words. "Whats the matter Desiminla..Can't summon a mouse!" The cackles and snide giggles in class when they struggled. Just because they were intelligent and baffled their academic instructorsTheir magic had always been lacking.

Desi used to be quite good at magic when they were younger, but sense mother...

"I cant understand it.." One teacher had commented. "He...She..They.." He had struggled for a moment with the proper way to describe Desi.

"Were perfectly capable not two years ago but now they struggle with the simplest summons. An potions genuis in the making now fails to produce anything that doesnt melt or rust out the bottom of their cauldron. We knew they would be a problem chid but this..I'm nit sure any if us would gain anything from having Desiminla in attendance next year. Least of all Desiminla themselves. I have never seen such a reclusive young person in all my years. She was like a ghost. Once I found her in the woods on the edge of the grounds speaking with something in the woods. gods only know what it was.." Desi had been passing her office. The words stung. The pain of their classmates and schooling pooling up inside them.

"Shut up!" Desi would respond as their sister finished, spinning around on her suddenly.

"You promised not to laugh!" Desi would growl shoving their sister hard. Desi began summoning a curse to their hand as it spluttered out half way forming.

"N..No..D-don't..." Desi would whimper watching the spell pitter and die. Desi would look disappointed for a moment allowing Their sister a chance for a remark. Whether one came or not their fists would clench and she would dive into their sister.

While certainly angry Desi was a good bit smaller than Alys.

Thus resulting in the fight not going particularly their way from the start.

 

[Alysandra Mendrev]

Alysandra's eyes widened in shock as Desi shouted at her to shut up and shoved her roughly. Had she gone too far? Her teasing was all in good fun. She hadn't meant to upset desi, she really hadn't. Alys' eyes widened even further as Desi began casting a curse. "H-Hey! Wait! I'm sorry! It was only some lighthearted teasing! I Swe-"

Loud laughter exploded from Alys, and her face softened as her sister's spell fizzled out. "What was that?!" she teased.

"Des, listen... You need something to focus the spell. There's now way you'd be able to cast a spell without one with your current ability." She bent over and picked up a small stick off the ground. "Look I'll sho-"

Unprepared for her sister's sudden attack, Alys became entangled with Desi as they crashed to the ground. Her breath was knocked out of her and the world spun around her. Alys caught her breath and shoved Desi roughly off of her. She had been having fun teasing Desi, but now she was becoming angry herself.

Alys stood and raised her hand towards her sister. After a short incantation, a ghostly green glow formed around Desi's lips, that quickly faded.

The spell wasn't anything dangerous, in fact Alysandra found the intended effect to be hilarious. Nothing would have seemed to happened at first. But Desi's speech would degrade to that of a toddler the more she spoke.

Fine. If Desi wanted to fight, they would fight.

"C'mon sis! You'll have to do better than that!" Alys called in a singsong voice.