Even though it was October already, it was still relatively warm outside. Atleast, not cold enough to freeze your bug sisters so the five of you were sitting in the courtyard, appreciating the nice weather that did not happen often late this year.
It was late in the afternoon, Bela was sitting on the ground, reading a book by herself. Cassandra was busy sharpening the sisters' sickles, while you and Daniela were sitting on a bench, resting against your mother. She was reading a story to the both of you. Well, initially it was just for you, but Daniela really wanted to join and Alcina was never one to say no to her dear daughters.
"Little one, do you want to read with me?" Bela called, hoping you'd walk over to her. Your family had recently tried to encourage you to walk. They would call you from wherever you were sitting in the hopes that you would start to walk, but so far all you did was crawl towards them. Today was no different. You let yourself slide off of the bench and crawled towards where your eldest sister was sitting, snuggling up against her.
Bela puts an arm around you, pulls you closer and kisses the top of your head. "Next time you'll get it, right?" She chuckles.
"Yes." You speak softly, as if understanding what she just said. Bela starts to read the page she was on to you.
A little while later, Cassandra decides to give it a try. "Hey Y/N, wanna help me with this sickle?"
You nod and hesitate whether or not you should stand. Bela tries to help you by putting you upright, waiting for your next move. But you decide crawling is better so once again you crawl over to your dark haired sister.
"Shouldn't she be walking already, Mother?" Daniela questions, looking at Alcina.
"No, my dear. It's normal for her to still be crawling. She is in the age range of where she could start to walk, though." She answers, caressing the redhead's hair. "But all in due time."
You made your way over to Cassandra and sat down next to her, putting your thumb in your mouth as you tilt your head. You look carefully at how she sharpens the sword. You release your thumb from your mouth with a small plop. Then you tap on the sickle. "Cassi." You say as you look at your sister.
"When you're older, we will get you one as well." Cassandra answers. You wrap your small hand around hers as best as you can, holding onto the weapon just like her, making your sister giggle softly.
"Do you wanna hold it?" The brunette asks.
"Yes." You answer as you nod. She carefully hands it to you, making sure the sharp blade is turned away from you and keeping her hands under the weapon in case you drop it.
Her eyes never leave you, neither do your mother's, but before either of them can even comprehend what happens, you run your finger along the sharp edge of the blade. You let out a high pitched yelp, causing Cassandra to quickly grab the sickle from your hands so you don't harm yourself further as you start to cry.
With Daniela now also standing up, Alcina was quick to rush towards you, kneeling beside your sister and you.
"How the hell did she do that so fast?!" Cassandra exclaims, looking at you confused.
"I don't know, I barely even saw it myself." The tall woman replies, gently grabbing your finger to look at it. Before everyone's eyes, the wound slowly heals itself, leaving no trace of the injury except for the blood still surrounding it. "Well that's curious." Your mother says.
"Does she have the same powers as you, Mother?" Cassandra questions, frowning at Alcina.
"I don't know… maybe she does?" Alcina replies. "Mother Miranda might know more, I will call her immediately." She kisses the top of your head and gracefully pushes herself upright. "Stay here, my darlings. I will be right back."
She turns to leave, walking away but stops as she hears you call her back. "Mama." You try to get out of Cassandra's hold, wanting to crawl over to your mother to go with her. Alcina gets an idea at that moment.
"Ah ah." Your mother tuts as you were just about to crawl towards her, making you stop. "If you want to come along, you need to walk." She commands with a smirk, arms crossing in front of her chest.
"Walk." You repeat the word softly. Daniela comes to stand behind you, gently holding onto your hands to pull you to your feet.
"Come on, Little One. You can do it." The redhead cheers, walking along with you. You put a few steps forward, slowly starting to understand what you need to do. She helps you until you are about a metre away from your mother.
They had tried this a few times before, but you would immediately sit down as soon as one of your sisters released your hands.
Now, Daniela slowly lets her hands slip from yours, making sure you are still standing. They are surprised to see that you are! Daniela kneels behind you just to make sure you don't fall backwards as everyone waits for what you will do next.
"Come to Mama, draga mea." Alcina motions her hands for you to come to her as she bends down slightly. You stare at her, hesitating about what to do next. You look up at her, then down to your feet and then back up at her again. Bela, Cassandra and Daniela were all cheering for you behind you.
Hesitantly, you put your little foot forward, causing your mother to cheer you on even more. You giggle at her, wanting her to pick you up so you put another foot forward. When Alcina sees you almost lose your balance, she quickly scoops you up before you fall and plants kisses all over your face.
"I'm so proud of you, dragă!" She exclaims. Your sisters rush to her side, also telling you how proud they are of you.
"We knew you could do it!" Bela cheers.
"There were some doubts here and there, but you did it!" Cassandra says, causing her to receive a glare from Alcina.
"Now we can play more games together!" Daniela squealed in excitement.
Alcina chuckles. "Slow down, Daniela. These were her first steps, but that doesn't mean she can walk all by herself now. She will need to practice."
"Then I will help her practice!" The redhead insists, causing both her sisters to roll their eyes playfully.
"Really? Not even a year and you are already claiming her, as always?" Cassandra huffs. Bela elbows her side quickly. "Ow! What? I was just joking!" The brunette scoffed, rubbing her side.
"Of course you can help her practice, Dani. We all will!" Bela replies, putting an arm around Daniela. "Can we, Mother?" She quickly adds, glancing over to Alcina who nods in response.
"Y/N is blessed to have such wonderful and caring sisters." The matriarch of the family smiles. "Now if you'll excuse me, I shall contact Mother Miranda."
The triplets nod, going back to their previous activities as mother carries you with her to her chambers.
She sits down on the nearby chair, putting you on her lap with an arm around your waist to keep you from moving. You look up at her in the mirror as she gives you a warm smile. Picking up the phone, she waits for it to be answered.
"Mother Miranda." Alcina begins. "I'm sorry to bother you today, I know how busy your schedule is. But something quite remarkable happened today and I was wondering if you could perform some more tests on Y/N?"
It stays quiet for a moment, before a smile spreads across your mother's face. "Thank you, Mother Miranda… Yes, we will be there shortly."
The tall woman puts the horn back down, snuggling you closer as she speaks. "No need to worry, Micuța mea. I will be right there with you." Truth be told, it's more to comfort herself than you. After putting your coat on, because it was now starting to go dark outside and it had become chilly, Alcina carried you downstairs. She quickly informed her eldest daughters, who were now sitting in front of the fireplace to stay warm, that she and you were about to visit Mother Miranda.
A short while later, the two of you arrive at Miranda's lab. Alcina curiously glanced around, she had only been here once when she got the Cadou. Since then, the lab had changed significantly; there were now drawings all over the walls, books and notes scattered across the room, and a huge amount of jars, bottles, tubes and other trinkets placed on several desks in sight.
"Ah, there you are, my dear." Miranda said, looking up from the note she was writing and putting the pencil away.
"Mother Miranda." Alcina said, bowing her head slightly. "Thank you for making time for us."
Miranda waves her hand dismissively and smiles."It's no problem at all. Now, come over here and tell me what happened." She's standing behind a bench, tapping on it. Alcina strides towards it, gently putting you down on the table top.
"There was a minor… accident, which led to Y/N getting a small cut on her finger. My daughters and I all saw it healing again before our eyes, although it seems her regeneration is slower than mine. It took about a minute or so to fully heal." Mother states as you grab onto one of her fingers with your tiny hand. She doesn't want Mother Miranda to think that she is a bad mother that would just let their children get themselves injured, so she doesn't mention how you got the wound or how it was actually a pretty deep cut.
"I see…" The blonde haired woman replies, studying you. "Then my assumptions were right, she does have your powers." She muses.
Alcina nods. "It appears so. But she has no desire for blood, perhaps she was lucky enough not to inherit my… disease." Your mother grimaces at the word.
"Or it just hasn't presented itself yet." Miranda bluntly states. "Symptoms usually start later in life, I'd say we will know more when she is a young adult."
"You know best, Mother."
"Now, let's begin testing." The priestess swiftly moves to a nearby desk, gathering a needle, a small knife and some other supplies.
"First, I will see if what you say is correct. Then, I'll take a blood sample which I will analyze. Last time it had traces of your Cadou already, perhaps now it has developed even further."
Alcina hums in agreement as she watches Miranda ask you for your hand. You comply and she turns it around so that your palm faces upwards.
"This might hurt a bit." Miranda informs.
"Just look at me, dragă mea." Mother says, gently grabbing your chin so that you look at her and she gives you a warm smile. Miranda proceeds to rapidly and easily make a cut in your palm. You shriek at the stinging feeling, but mother quickly soothes you. The two older women look at the wound as it slowly starts to heal itself.
The priestess hums to herself, writing something down in a notebook and looks back at Alcina. "72 seconds, significantly slower than you. But maybe it will increase as she gets older."
Alcina nods her understanding and turns back to you. "You were so brave, Y/N." She whispers, caressing your cheek.
"And she has no desire for human flesh and blood?"
"No, Mother Miranda." Alcina answers. The blonde keeps writing down the notes.
"Alright. Let's proceed to the blood samples."
After having performed all the tests, Miranda tells her daughter it would be fine if they went back to the castle, as she had to analyze the samples carefully and that could take a while. Alcina complies, saying her goodbyes to Mother Miranda as you and her leave for the castle.
-----
A few hours later, back in the lab, Miranda is still examining your blood. It didn't have to take this long, but she wanted to be sure she wouldn't miss anything.
She started to notice something. Yes, the Cadou traces were there and they were getting stronger, but there was something else. Something she couldn't identify… yet.
On the other hand, something that she could identify this time was that the HMGA2 gene was not affected by the cadou remains running through Y/N's body, unlike her mother. This meant that she wouldn't grow quite as tall as Alcina, but she did have her regenerative powers and she didn't need sustenance for it.
'Will require more research and testing… and patience.' She thought to herself as she wrote down her findings. Miranda decided to inform Alcina first before continuing, the woman had probably waited for the results this whole time.