Happy nameday, Ellie! With this little gift, I tried to convey the sense of hope you bring to our little community. I honestly can’t imagine surviving the last year without your positivity and support. Thank you for sharing your talent and cheerfulness with all of us, and most important of all, thank you for being you!
Sharon, it is no exaggeration to say that you got me crying with this gift, and with your words. The same can be said about you, and that without you, that the last couple years actually would have been a darker time to bear, so thank you so much for being there, and for sharing your friendship and talent and light with me–with all of us. You’re a blessing in and of itself, love you sweetheart!!!
Here is a gift short story for @catboy-von-seckendorff‘s Domestic Witches AU, specifically the Baby Anthony sub-AU. For people who have been following the blog, I am Sandy-anon.
Thanks for breaking my writer’s block, catboy.
Note: The girls are 18-19 when this happens.
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Oktavia sprinted through the witch’s labyrinth in search of Mami and Kyoko, following the trail of her waving Anthonies. She mowed through the witch’s familiars with a strength born of desperation and launched her blades at the final door to the center of the labyrinth. She leapt through the hole she made and stopped to quickly look around and assess the situation, summoning more blades as she did so.
The bizarre landscape of sand dunes and boardwalk roller coasters was a wreck from battle. The giant woman-like witch with whirling sand for hair was beating the ground like a kid throwing a tantrum. Oktavia could feel her pain and wished to help her but could sense that she was just too far gone to soothe. Her heart broke for her sister witch. Off to Oktavia’s left, Kyoko and Mami were sprawled out with limbs in awkward positions, beaten down from battle. Oktavia could feel that Kyoko’s magic was strong, but Mami’s was murky. But one of Oktavia’s Anthonies was desperately siphoning darkness from Mami’s Soul Gem like Oktavia did sometimes. Black energy crackled around him but he kept going.
“Anthony, stop!” Oktavia screamed.
He turned his fluffy cotton ball head to look at her, but it was too late. The black energy exploded and a Grief Seed started to form above him. Oktavia screamed and rushed forward, shifting into her true form as she went, hoping to get him away from Kyoko and Mami before they could be trapped in a second labyrinth. She roughly scooped him up in one armored hand and powered herself forward and away as she felt the large spiked ring of the forming Grief Seed condense. The black energy burst forth from between her fingers and a labyrinth formed around her.
How? How was this possible?! Her little Anthony–!
When the unreality settled, Oktavia found herself in what seemed like a small copy of her own labyrinth. Very small. Instead of rows of plush concert hall seats, there were just a ring of various kinds of chairs set in a circle three rows deep. The not-too-distant walls reminded her of the walls of their home, just warped as if viewed from underwater. In the center of the ring of chairs was a miniature copy of her own throne, scaled down to the size of a recliner.
On the throne was a tiny witch. It– he???– looked like a miniature imitation of her own armored mermaid form. He was only the size of… maybe a small toddler? His armor had different decorative patterns on it and his different cape’s bow was long and yellow instead of her short and pink, but he was definitely very much inspired by her own form.
What the hell was happening? She had heard of familiars maturing into witches but had never seen it happen before. Was that what was happening?
Her transformed familiar was not sitting on his throne as she had at her rebirth. Instead, he was flopping around the seat like a landed fish with a toy sword in his hand. Oktavia felt pity and guilt that she had arrived too late to prevent his transformation. This was her fault. But it was early enough that she should be able to bring him back. Probably. Maybe. Would a familiar be different?
“Anthony, do you understand me?” Oktavia tried carefully.
The transformed Anthony stilled for a moment, then resumed his flopping with more excitement and waving of his arms.
Okay. Was that a yes? What now?
After some thought, she said, “I’m going to pick you up, okay?”
He just kept flopping. Okay.
How would she pick up someone so tiny with her big hands? She had been afraid of hurting Charlotte before. She had managed after awhile but still had some issues with more delicate things. Well… the little witch seemed to be a little bigger than Charlotte’s doll form. But he was moving so much. That could make it harder.
“Anthony, can you lay still for me?”
He just kept flopping.
Oktavia sighed. After some thought, she slowly reached forward and carefully broke the arms off the throne. Sides no longer blocked, she carefully brought both hands together from its sides and cupped them to scoop up the little witch. She brought him up to her face to look at him more closely.
“Anthony, do you understand me?”
He flopped excitedly and reached up for her face. His only reply was incomprehensible babble in a very young voice. That might be a no. She sighed and lowered her armored face in disappointment. What to do? How could she bring him back by talking him down if he couldn’t understand her?
The little witch reached up with all his might and managed to touch her chin. He gave a little squeal of happiness. The labyrinth wobbled around her and faded like when other witches were talked down. What? What had happened?
They reappeared in the sandy labyrinth just as Kyoko and Mami struck a final dual attack on the first witch. The original labyrinth wobbled around them and disappeared, leaving them in an alley. Mami sighed and retrieved the Grief Seed before looking up at Oktavia.
“How did it go?” Mami asked.
Oktavia looked down at her transformed Anthony. “He did turn into a witch, but he is very weak. I think I talked him down somehow. I don’t know how, though. He doesn’t seem to understand me.”
“Oh?” Kyoko said with interest.
Oktavia looked down at Anthony and tried again. “Do you understand me, Anthony?”
Babble.
She took a deep breath and spoke in the language of witches. “D̶̫̍o̴̩͆ ̷̦̀y̸̫͝o̴̍ͅȗ̴̬ ̵̫̏ù̶͉n̷̘̏d̴̞̄e̶͓̽ŕ̸̝š̴ͅț̶̈ȁ̷̰n̷͎͠d̷͍́ ̷̺̚m̷̹͒e̵̳͝,̸͚͂ ̷̠̌Å̵͔n̴̘̈́t̵̲́h̴̤̾o̵̥̓n̴̘̉y̸̧̍?̵͔̿”
He flailed and squealed. Then he spoke his first word. “M̵̗̤̘̟̒͘å̵̖̼̙m̸̩̜̥̽̂͋͝a̸̤̯̦̬̓.”
Oktavia almost dropped him. “What?”
“What? What did he say?” Mami asked.
Oktavia ignored her and stared in shock. “Å̵͔n̴̘̈́t̵̲́h̴̤̾o̵̥̓n̴̘̉y̸̧̍?̵͔̿”
Anthony wiggled and repeated, “M̵̗̤̘̟̒͘å̵̖̼̙m̸̩̜̥̽̂͋͝a̸̤̯̦̬̓!”
Oktavia just stared in silence.
“You’re freaking us out, now, Tavi,” Kyoko said. “What’s happening?”
Oktavia shifted to human form, shrinking down so she was holding him out in front of her by the armpits. He really was the size of not quite a toddler. He giggled and waved his tail forward and back in excitement. His head tilted as though curious. Looking at her closely, Oktavia thought.
“Oktavia,” Mami prodded.
“He… he keeps calling me mama,” Oktavia said numbly.
“What?” Kyoko said incredulously, the hint of a laugh in her voice.
Oktavia looked up at her. “Mama. He keeps calling me mama.”
“Mmmm,” Anthony said. They all looked at him. He suddenly shifted into human form and Oktavia found herself holding a baby. “Mmm aaa. Mmmama!” he said with a big smile as he waved his little legs forward and back like he had his tail.
“What the f–” Kyoko started.
Mami smacked her up the back of her head with a scowl. “Little ears!”
Oktavia kept holding up her now-a-baby Anthony and staring at him as her brain struggled to reset itself. “Mama?” she wondered to herself.
“Mmmama!” Anthony said.
“I can’t be a mom!” Oktavia shrilled.
“You’re Mama to Yuma and Charlotte,” Mami reminded her.
“I can’t have a baby!” Oktavia specified.
Kyoko’s lips quirked into a smirk. “Think you’re stuck.”
Oktavia whipped her head to glare at her. “You mean we’re all stuck! We live together!”
Kyoko’s face sobered. “Oh. Right.”
Oktavia could feel her face shifting into panic. “Do you know how to take care of a baby?!” she shrilled. She turned on Mami. “Do you?!”
Mami and Kyoko stared at her in blank surprise before looking as panicked as Oktavia felt.
Oktavia raised her voice and continued, “We have nothing for a baby! We can’t feed him! We need stuff like… like… oh my god, diapers. And… and… oh my god what do babies need?!”
“Mmmama?” Anthony said uncertainly. His face wavered into being a little scared. His lip quivered and his eyes teared up. “Mama?” he squeaked.
“No shouting!” Mami shouted.
“You’re shouting!” Kyoko shouted.
Anthony started to cry.
They all panicked even more. Oktavia’s mind flailed around trying to think of what she had seen other people do with babies. She brought him close to her chest, near her right shoulder. He buried his face in her neck and whimpered.
“No… don’t cry,” she said, struggling to stay quiet and keep the stress out of her voice. “It’s okay, Anthony. It’s… okay. I’m sorry for scaring you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry.”
He kept whimpering. Oktavia tried rocking. He settled down some and stayed nestled in her neck.
Oktavia looked back to Kyoko and Mami and panic-whispered, “What do we do?!”
They all looked at each other in desperation for a bit. Then Kyoko perked up.
“Madoka’s mom and dad will know what to do!” she said.
Mami turned to her and hissed, “It’s two in the morning!”
“Do we have any other options?” Kyoko asked.
Mami pursed her lips and turned to Oktavia. Oktavia kept rocking and considered. After a minute, she whispered, “I really don’t see any other option. What if we do something wrong before they get up?”
Mami put her head in her hands, bent over, and heaved a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. Then she stood upright, not any calmer, and said, “Let’s get going.”
Kyoko sighed and leapt up fire escapes in preparation to hop rooftops. Oktavia hissed, “No!”
“What?” Kyoko asked.
“What if I drop him off a rooftop?!” she asked, frightened.
Kyoko blinked and stared. “Oh.”
“I guess… I guess we take the trains,” Mami said warily.
Kyoko dropped to the pavement with a sigh. They started walking toward the nearest stop. A few blocks in, Oktavia stopped in her tracks and went still. Mami and Kyoko turned back.
“He… he stopped moving,” Oktavia whispered in worry. “What’s wrong with him? Is he unconscious? Is he okay?!”
Mami walked around her and peered over her shoulder. “I think he’s just asleep. I think.”
“Okay. Okay.”
Fifteen minutes later, a janitor getting off graveyard shift stared at the tableau of three young women sitting together on the train, one holding a sleeping baby, all of them looking terrified. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to know what was going on with them.
“This is a disaster,” one of them suddenly blurted.
He turned to face away and decided that no, he didn’t want to know.
