Enchantyon: Welcome Home
Chapter Fifteen: The Old Normal

Lalauri Imafenduwell

The Old Aureate Wing

Imafenduwell Hall

“You know what the girl needs?” said Grannie as she began fixing herself a pipping hot cup of tea. “Someone who could help you give her some guidance and enforce structure: a father figure. ”

“Lord, strike me now.” Lalauri muttered softly under her breath. Her head laid flat on the kitchen table in exhaustion. “Just smite me now and get it over with, before she really gets started…”

“I can hear you just fine from here, you know,” Said Grannie crossly. “And I’m serious too. What ever happened to that one you were interested in a hundred years back? Tiger? He was nice.”

“Tiger? Tiger Vamaul? I haven’t seen that elf…yes, probably a hundred years ago. And that would not be a good pairing, Grannie.”

“And why not?”

“Because…he’s just too young. He’s only…by now Tiger must only be around two hundred years old. I’d feel like a cradle-robber if I were to allow myself to be courted by him…wherever he is now.”

Grannie sighed. “Lalauri.”

Lalauri raised her head to look at her grandmother. “Yes?”

“You are over four thousand years old. You and I both are two of the eldest beings in the entire world. Which means that if you ever hope to replace yourself a suitable husband in this day and Age…you’re going to have to rob somebody’s cradle.”

Soothingly rubbing her temples, Lalauri sighed dramatically then asked, “Speaking of immortals…any luck regarding…Volostrodamas?”

Grannie suddenly stopped what she was doing at the counter and just stood there for a moment, frozen in place—or perhaps just frozen in thought. “…No.”

“No? Nothing at all?”

“No…I’ve looked everywhere for him, Lalauri…everywhere.” Grannie said, her voice cracking slightly for a second. “Nobody who knows that he should still around seems to have any idea of where he is or why he hasn’t been seen or heard from in a hundred years. And I’ve asked all the others that I could think of. All the ones that I could anyways…I’ve lost him, Lalauri. Again. And after all this time searching for him, I don’t know if I’ll replace him this time…damned prophet.”

It was at that moment that Lalauri was about to offer Grannie some comfort to ease the void left by the missing prophet in question. But then Grannie said, “But, enough about that. I didn’t come all the way here to talk about him. Tell me…what young men do you have your eye on around here? Surely there must be someone, yes?”

“Ugh.” Lalauri once again slammed her forehead back onto her kitchen table. “Grannie…help me with Keridwen, please.”

“Ah, yes. Indeed.” Said Grannie. “Let’s talk about the little imagebearer some more.”

Lalauri then told Grannie about the conclusion to her quest to help the Church with the most recent werewolf hunts, and how that led to her taking Keridwen into her care.

“Hmm…well, to be honest, dear, it sounds like the whole magic bit of this is only a small part of this—a symptom, if you will. Really, it sounds like you’re having a parenting problem. Have you been praying about it?” Grannie asked as she started working away at the mess of dirty dishes in the sink.

Lalauri frowned. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time she had read any scripture. It would have been when she first returned to Aureate with Keridwen, which would have been weeks ago by that point. “No…” Lalauri finally responded. “But this isn’t really a scriptural issue…I’ve just been struggling with…well, everything with Keridwen is a struggle! On the one hand, I feel like I’ve been incredibly hard on her so far when trying to communicate what I don’t want her to do. And on the other hand, this little girl has proven to be incredibly frustrating in how she sometimes refuses to do what she’s told…I feel bad for the nulliwumps too.”

“The nulliwumps? Why?” Grannie asked.

“Because Keridwen has turned out to be quite the bad influence for Cecil’s grandson, Thumper.” Lalauri then told Grannie about their most recent instance of skipping their classes and how it ended in Junction Point being utterly trashed and a wild tale being told about a rogue, rampaging brasshulk built by the dwarfs.

“Well,” Grannie sighed, taking the story in. “That’s quite the incident. Although, I don’t know if I can say I’m entirely surprised by all that you’ve been going through, frankly. She’s been through a terrible tragedy, regarding what happened to her home and her people. And children who’ve been through loss and hardship like that are prone to trauma, just like anyone else. No…even more so than anyone else, I would think. That being said—as frustrating as I know this will be to hear—perhaps taking it easy on her is the best solution for the time being. You mentioned that she’s been having nightmares? I know you’re trying to do your best with her, but perhaps a rigorous schooling agenda wasn’t what the child needed right out of the gate once you arrived here. I would suggest putting all of that away for now—or at least lessen it—and try to focus on helping her process and deal with…everything that she has been through.”

Lalauri said nothing. She merely scratched away at a spot on the table absentmindedly as she listened.

“To be honest,” Grannie continued. “I’m a little surprised at you, Lalauri. Given the trauma that you yourself experienced in the past, I would have thought that you’d be a little more receptive and understanding to someone else struggling with a similar trauma.”

“But that’s why I’m trying not to have her focus on it, Grannie! Taking her mind off of it all should be the goal, shouldn’t it?”

“My dear, what helped you was not simply taking your mind off your trauma, but also talking it through—addressing it, working through it, as well as replaceing something specific to focus on instead. Meaning the White Faun. And so again, I suggest that you—”

“Lalauri?” Keridwen’s shouting reached them in the kitchen. “Lalauri? Are you still here?”

“What timing.” Said Grannie. “You know what? Regarding the two of you starting things fresh, I see no time like the present.” Grannie then began somewhat forcibly pulling Lalauri out of her seat, onto her feet, and pushing her towards the doorway of the kitchen from which Keridwen’s voice was coming from. “Take some time now and try having an actual conversation with her. You said her parents took her to church, right? Well, talk to her about that! Or try replaceing out what she’s interested in. I’m not saying that talking about either will fix things with her or cure the girl of her nightmares overnight—odds are, it’ll take much more time than that. But just stop trying to talk to the girl and start trying to communicate with her and relate with her a little!”

And with one last shove, Lalauri found herself standing alone in a hallway, listening to the sound of Keridwen calling after her.

Once alone, Lalauri sighed to herself. “Give me a monster and I would hack it into pieces.” She muttered to herself, remembering a phrase she would often say in a bygone era. “Show me villainy and I would serve it with righteous annihilation.”

But instead, the Holy Faun saw fit to give her a child.

And so, she but on the best smile she could, and awaited for the little imagebearer in question to turn around the corner and replace her.

Keridwen of Khar Vell

The Old Aureate Wing

Imafenduwell Hall

When Keridwen finally caught sight of Lalauri after calling after her, her guardian was standing just outside the kitchen. She did her best to keep her smile natural and not at all suspicious, like the stuffed moose toy suggested. This proved to be easier said than done, as the thought of springing a trap on the elf at all amused her greatly. Keridwen couldn’t help but imagine the frustration and shock Lalauri would show when the prank was flung.

“What are you giggling about?” Lalauri asked when Keridwen walked up to her.

Keridwen placed her hands behind her back and swung back and forth on the tips of her toes as a wide grin beamed on her face. “Nothing!”

“Nothing…alright then. Well, seeing as you’re in such a good mood then, I’m sure you’ll not be too bothered by me wanting to have a talk with you about some—”

“Can you help me with something?” Keridwen interrupted. She did her best to put away the smile and replace it with a natural-looking pout. “I lost something in a closet back the other way and I can’t…I can’t get to it. It’s too scary for me…”

A strange mixture of confusion and annoyance made its way onto Lalauri’s face. “A…a closet? What closet? What toy? Why did…how did you manage this?”

***

After much persuading, Lalauri finally agreed to help Keridwen replace her lost stuffed animal. The closet that Keridwen had taken her to was like any other broom closet that could be found in Imafenduwell Hall. The talking toy had explained that it was important that this be the case for their trick to work. Standing next to the door when they had arrived was none other than Thumper, who was more than happy to be enlisted by Keridwen and the talking toy to help with their fun.

“Thumper,” said Lalauri in a questioning tone. “You’re here too. You’re telling me that the two of you both tried and failed to replace Keri’s toy?”

Thumper nodded. “It’s too dark.”

“It’s too…dark?”

Keridwen then went to open the closet door to show Lalauri exactly what they had meant; the closet was in fact pitch black, and the light-bulb that would ordinarily be there to light it up was shattered, with some of the glass still on the ground.

“What in the world happened here?” Lalauri whirled around to look at the two of them with an accusatory look.

Lalauri’s accusatory gaze only strengthened Keridwen’s resolve to see the joke through. Although, the elf probably couldn’t have known that just by looking at her. The little girl didn’t trust herself to give an answer, though. Not quite. She couldn’t for fear of bursting out in a fit of giggles. And so, when no answer came forth, Lalauri sighed at them and stood at the threshold of the dark closet.

Keridwen watched as the elf’s body shivered ever so slightly as she stood there, taking in a deep breath, and closing her eyes as if trying to mentally prepare herself for the moment of crossing said threshold.

“The stuffie was right,” Keridwen thought to herself, referring to the words of the talking moose toy. “She really is afraid of the dark and small rooms.” Keridwen had never known a grown adult to be afraid of the dark before. That was when she knew that this was going to be worth it.

Then finally…step by step…one tiptoe after the other…Lalauri made her way into the broom closet.

Thumper looked sideways at Keridwen, a slight smirk on his face. She didn’t glare at him for this, though. Lalauri was too transfixed on replaceing the toy in the dark closet to focus on their reactions.

“Focus,” she mouthed to him. “Be ready.”

They would only have seconds to act once Lalauri was firmly inside.

Keridwen crept up to the closet door just as Lalauri had bent down to pick up the stuffed animal toy that was sitting against the back wall of the small closet.

“How were you two unable to replace this?” Lalauri said, a notable tone of relief in her voice. “It was literally just sitting here.”

Keridwen shut the closet door abruptly, trapping Lalauri inside. Thumper’s help was invaluable as they worked together to keep the door shut while Keridwen worked her magic. With Lalauri pounding on the door and demanding to be let out, Keridwen quickly conjured up a glowing indigo lock made of pure magic onto the door handle, remembering the technique she had learned from the stuffed moose.

“Keridwen!” Lalauri bellowed through the door, her voice already becoming strained. “Please, please, please let me out of here! Keridwen! Thumper! Keridwen!”

Keridwen and Thumper laughed and gave each other high-fives over a job well done.

“We’ll be back in a bit, Lalauri!” said Keridwen. “That’ll teach you to get at me for magic when you used it yourself!”

With that, the pair went running off and giggling themselves silly amid Lalauri’s demands to be released, as well as her sobbing.

However, it was upon hearing the elf’s sobs that Keridwen looked back at the closet for a minute or two, despite herself.

“It’ll be fine.” She told herself. “It’s just a joke, like the moose said. She’s just overreacting…Lalauri will be fine.” And with that, Keridwen and Thumper went off to enjoy themselves, knowing that the only one that could really stop them from having their fun now was safely locked away.