Master of death

Chapter two~

It was a surprisingly short time before the family had adjusted to Malikai's presence and quirks. In return Malikai embraced the oddities of being an Addams relatively quickly, completely at home in the creepy and cooky atmosphere. He could frequently be found giggling happily as he clambered around the guillotines, the acid pits, or the iron maidens like they were jungle gyms. The alligators found themselves quite unnerved when he started riding them through their moat like they were pool floats. All of this fit right in with the Addams Clan, barely raised an eyebrow. Even things flying about when he wanted them, was nothing worth noting: they had a poltergeist cousin who'd taken up residence in some old castle in Britain that stopped by every few years, of no fault of his own, apparently, his time sense was thrown off by something in the castle, which was why he didn't show every year like he was supposed to. The one thing that did catch them off guard had to do with Wednesday. Apparently, Henri was dedicated to being a good big brother, which was nothing to get upset about.

It was his methods that raised eyebrows and caused confusion at first. It didn't matter where he or Wednesday were in the hous. The moment Wednesday fussed and Henri wasn't observed, Henri would be at her side comforting her, much to her pleasure. At first, everyone fussed whenever Henri went missing, desperately searching for him..but eventually they realized that he would always appear either by Wednesday or whichever family member was closest to her where he could appear unobserved. He liked to appear on their backs.

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Fester was the first to start shrugging it off. "He's been touched by Death directly," he explained to Gomez after the seventh time it had happened in the first week of his being there. "The power of Death runs in his blood and magic.  Of course he's going to be able to do odd things." Fester proclaims. "Death is always just over your shoulder when you least expect him," Morticia allowed thoughtfully as she went to check on Wednesday. Gomez let that turn over in his mind for a time, then shrugged it off. "He is an Addams," he finally allowed. "What did I expect him to be? Normal?" At that, all three shared a warm laugh.

As such, whenever Malikai fondly called Kai, pulled his disappearing act, whoever had been watching him would immediately look in on Wednesday. Nine times out of ten, he'd be right there. The tenth time, he'd be clinging to the small of the back of whoever had been watching him to play hide-and-seek. It was when it came to toys for him in his crib that Gomez and Morticia actually came close to a fight. However, "A sword?" Morticia asked her husband archly.

"Really?" She asked cooly. "But of course!" Gomez replied assertively. "Why not a sword?" He was scandalized by even the notion of his son not having a sword. "Do you really think it's appropriate for a child his age?" Morticia replied with a hint of coldness in her voice. Gomez glanced into Henri's playpen at the spiked steel ball, the dolls with razor sharp teeth, the flail, the cannon, the miscellaneous bubbly things he'd managed to swipe from Granny's potion making that ate away at their containers unless watched, the chained creature that was only fully there if you weren't watching, and Gomez' backup foil in its sheath that Kai was presently gripping by the hilt while teething on the guard. "Should I treat the blade with poison first?" Gomez asked uncertainly. "I was going to let him make that choice when he was old enough to think it all through." Gomez continued calmly as if talking about the weather or what's for dinner.

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"And you don't think waiting until you can teach him to use it might be a good idea?" Morticia pressed. "He'll learn as I did!" Gomez declared proudly. "Besides, people want him dead! He must know how to defend himself!" Gomez cried offended. "If he starts swinging that around, he's as likely to wound a friend or family as an enemy," Morticia pointed out reasonably. Gomez returned a blank look. "...yes?" he asked with uncertainty, failing to see where in Morticia's logic she was presenting a problem. Morticia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "He's not big enough for a full sized foil. He can't even get it out of the sheath without some help." She sighed out. "Oh!" Gomez declared in understanding. "He needs a weapon sized to him! What a dunce I've been, beloved! I shall forge it right away!" With that, he dashed off to the forges, Lurch following slowly along.