Trick or Treat
"But Moooom," Bona Dea whined, "Claude gets to go out trick or treating by herself." She stamped her feet on the ground.
Maia sighed. "Bona Dea," she started, "Sweetie, Claude isn't going alone. She'll have Cecilia with her. She'll also be coming with us." She reached out to straighten the witch's hat on her daughter's head.
"But what about Miss Nightingale?" Bona Dea asked trying to struggle away from her mother's fussing. She huffed. "Mom I can fix it myself!"
Maia sighed again and pulled away. "Well then hurry up," she said. "They should be here any minute."
Bona Dea ran off to her section of the cave. She couldn't wait for Claude and Cecilia to arrive. Mercury walked in and up to Maia. "I think I saw them coming up the mountain," he said to her. Maia's eyes grew wide. "Are you going to be ok here?"
Maia nodded and smiled. "Who would come up the mountain looking for candy?" she asked with a light chuckle.
"Alright," he said giving her a light kiss on the purple stone between her horns. "We'll be leaving Krystallos with you." Maia nodded in acknowledgment. He smiled back at her before walking passed her to find where Bona Dea had run off to.
After a few quiet moments, a curious sounding chirp came from the opening of the cave. Maia jumped at the sound. Krystallos ran passed her to investigate. She chirped in excitement seeing Cecilia and Claude standing right outside the cave. Cecilia chirped back. The two continued to chirp at each other as Claude fiddled with the wings that were strapped onto her back. Maia slowly walked up to them. The three stopped and looked up at her. Cecilia sat back on her haunches getting ready to translate for Claude. "You t-two look great," she said. Cecilia translated for Claude.
Claude smiled up at Maia. "Thank you," she said. "We're Spinel Sun-" she pointed to herself "-and Ruby Moon." She pointed to Cecilia.
"Claude!" Bona Dea screeched from behind Maia. She ran up to the group getting between her mother and her friend. "Claude! Claude! Look!" she exclaimed as she stumbled to sign what she was saying. "I'm so glad to see you!"
Claude's eyes grew wide. She looked over to Cecilia. Cecilia sighed what Bona Dea had said confirming what she had signed to her. "You're learning sign?" she asked out loud as well as signing it. Bona Dea nodded. Claude started bouncing out of joy and Bona Dea started bouncing with her.
Maia took a couple of steps back accidentally bumping into Mercury. He put a hand on her back to steady her. "It's alright. It's just me," he said. She glanced back at him. "I'll take the girls now so you can relax for a while." She nodded gratefully for the reprive. Mercury stepped forward. Cecilia poised to start translating again. "Alright girls. Let's go trick or treating!" He jabbed a fist in the air and the two little girls squealed in delight. They turned and ran outside. Mercury chuckled as he followed them with Cecilia running to try to keep up with the two children.
Once down the mountain, the girls ran up to the first house. Cecilia knocked on the door for the girls. "Trick or Treat!" Bona Dea called out as Claude signed. The katragoon at the door cooed over how cute they all looked and gave a piece of candy to Claude, Bona Dea, and Cecilia. Claude and Bona Dea took off to hurry to the next house. Mercury just chuckled following along.
After a few houses, Bona Dea paused between houses. She had picked up on how a few of the humans had treated the two of them differently since Claude was using sign language. So at the next house, she watched Claude's hands as she spoke out loud. After receiving their candy, the two ran to the next house like they had been all night. Cecilia knocked on the door for them. This time when someone answered the door though, both girls signed "Trick or Treat." Claude looked over to Bona Dea to see if she was ok as they received their candy. They walked down to the sidewalk where Mercury was waiting for them. "Everything ok, girls?" he asked them. Cecilia signed to Claude what Bona Dea had done. Claude's eyes began to water a bit as she dropped her bag of candy. She threw her arms around Bona Dea and hugged her tight. Bona Dea hugged her back. Once the two girls pulled away from each other, Cecilia was poised to translate for Mercury. "We should be heading back. It looks like things are winding down for the night." The girls nodded and they all started back the way they came towards home.
"Maia," Mercury called into the cave as they approached, "we're home!" Krystallos ran from the cave screeching. "Woah! What is it?" Krystallos started jabbing her finger towards the path that led farther up the mountain.
Cecilia signed to Claude what Krystallos was trying to tell Mercury. Claude stepped forward and tapped on his shoulder. "She says she's up the mountain," she said trying not to stumble over the word mountain.
Mercury sighed and then chuckled. "You girls wait here and I'll be back," he said. Cecilia translated for Claude. Krystallos led the girls into the cave where Claude and Bona Dea poured out their candy and started trading with each other.
Mercury made his way up the path. "Maia?" he called out hoping not to spook her any more than she already was. He caught sight of her tail poking out from behind the boulder she was hiding behind. "Maia," he said again as he approached. The tail disappeared behind the boulder and a nose poked out the other side. He chuckled again. "What happened?" he asked.
"K-kids," Maia studdered. "S-so many kids." She crept out from behind the boulder and looked up at Mercury.
He just smiled down at her. "Well now the only kids you'll see for the rest of the night are Bona Dea and Claude," he said warmly. "So why don't we go home?" Maia slowly nodded and followed Mercury down the mountain to their cave. When they got back they found Bona Dea and Claude eating the candy they traded and Cecilia sharing her's with Krystallos. "I think they had a great time." Maia just nodded in agreement.