3.2 Ottoline and Algernon

When Algernon became a child, a true fairy spirit started to sprout. He always was trying to get the better of everyone, and it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise with the traits Snob, Loves the Cold, and Evil.

Pierette was always on to him, though.

Ottoline’s first memory, however, is not of Algernon – but of playing with her xylophone, a simple pleasure she later sought to capture.

It’s her next memory that sets the stage for things to come.

Ottoline knew from the moment Algernon ripped candy out of her hand…that it was war.

 

3.1 There’s Something Odd About Them Slender Kids

An exempt from the personal diary of Hugh Spengler:

Dear Diary,

I’m starting to suspect that the Slenders are keeping me prisoner in this basement.

I’ve highly debated whether or not to send out a message in a bottle, the only problem being that there isn’t a lake around in which to throw the bottle in.

No one really comes down to talk to me, much. Cadmus will come by once in a while to complain or talk about something, but mostly he says he just checks to see if I’m still alive. I suppose it’s comforting that I’m being so much compassion. After all, I don’t really have to go outside and if I feel like socializing I just get on the internet and start chatting up the locals. That’s how I hear most of the news about what’s going on with the Slenders, since I’m supposed to be chronicling their lives, but they don’t always tell me everything.

Everyone knew when Ottoline was born that there was another fairy in the family. Her parents adore her, but Pierette’s in close second. With four kids all growing up together they’re most likely going to think of each other as siblings rather than an odd assortment of cousins and half-siblings.

And when her wings sprouted, Cadmus smiled sadly at the birthday party and remarked how much she reminded him of Carmen.

No one’s seen or talked to Carmen in years. None of the Slenders know what happened to her. Last we heard she adopted a human child, but no one’s certain beyond that. They can only hope that she’s well.

Jessamine – now a child – is a witch, apparently. Some of the other witches in the family sensed it when she was younger, but it’s confirmed now. No one will be surprised if her brother, Jackson, also possesses magical blood. Jessamine certainly has the demeanour of a witch! She’s made friends with Lizette and Shad Maldano, both of whom appear to be…vampire-fairies.

I didn’t know such a thing was possible. I think I’ll write a book about it.

I guess it’s not that big of a surprise. Her mother makes Simbots for a living, so I suppose that Jessamine’s odd choice of friends is relatively normal in retrospect.

She also witnessed her first death when Bianca Crumplebottom died. She said a friendly hello to the Grim Reaper. Cadmus says he’ll have to talk to her about conversing with the personification of Death.

Someone sighted Robin Slender at the beach. It’s the most anyone’s heard from him in years; he’s aged into an Adult and he’s balding. Still not married, though.

And Algernon? Looks normal. Acts normal. Eyes everyone maliciously, but he’s only a toddler, so maybe he’ll grow out of it.

Something’s not quite right with these kids, I know it.

I think I might ask Cadmus to install a security system so I can monitor the situation. I just tried opening the door and I’ve just realized – they’ve locked me in!

I’m sure they wouldn’t actually keep me prisoner, though. They’re not that crazy.

 

Epilogue: To Build a Home

Cadmus once told me that he liked to think that he’d won.

It was a fight perhaps doomed from the start, and there were problems, to be sure. What family doesn’t have their share of internal conflicts? But he told me he believed wholeheartedly that he’d succeeded in the task he’d undertaken when his father died and his mother all but disappeared from the earth: the task of ensuring that each of his brothers and sisters were happy in whatever they did.

Although Pierette had faced her share of obstacles, ultimately she was content and became much wiser in the process.

And with the emergence of the Third Generation, Cadmus became obsessed with providing his own children, as well as his niece and nephew, with a better environment than the one he’d been raised in. He wanted better for them.

They won one battle, now it was time to face the ultimate battle of them all: raising children.

~ “To Build a Home”, the Cinematic Orchestra