❝𝐏𝐔𝐏!❞

014

“auntie, there's a monster inside the closet.”

—

     “WHAT'RE YOU LOOKING AT, BARBARA?”

(NAME) questioned the scared child, who was holding unto her pants. She was staring at her closet, seemingly terrified of it. The older female was confused and carried the young blonde, leaving the area at once...

     "Auntie, the closet is scary..." She sobbed quietly, hiding her face on the elder's shoulder. "Monster... Scary..."

     (Name) sighed, "There is no such thing as monsters inside my home. That's probably one of the puppies," she assured the child. Yes, there were dogs inside the house, "They're playing inside the closet. Or maybe hiding from their siblings," she shrugged.

     "No, no. There's a monster inside the closet!" She tried to convince (Name), who isn't in the mood to believe ghosts or monsters exist inside her home. "Please believe me, Auntie! I saw three pairs of eyes peeking at the lids... And... And THEY'RE GLARING AT ME!" She sobbed, quite worse than the first one.

     The Professor rubbed her temple, clearly having a headache from the child's nonsense, "Are you sure there's a monster in my house? You know that I possess hydro vision, pup," she remarked and placed Barbara on the ground. Her vision was placed around her neck, serving as a necklace, "Now. Let's see if there's a monster," she grabbed her riding crop.

Taking the small one's hand, she carefully entered the guest room. Her vision was glowing cautiously and followed by her trying to search for any elements nearby—there were hydro-elemental traces inside. It could be hers, but the traces were quick and panicking as if they were trying to run away from her...

     "Auntie, I'm scared..." Young Barbara murmured, peeking behind (Name)'s leg. She was avoiding looking at the terrifying closet, "... I wanna go home."

     "Too bad, your Uncle Crepus left you with me," the older woman grumbled. She's sure none of the puppies (the actual ones) are inside of the children's rooms, they have a room for themselves after all, "Barbara, are you sure you're not lying to me? I swear to Barbatos I'm gonna kick you out my home," she threatened.

     "No, Auntie! I'm not lying!" Barbara quickly denied it, waving her tiny hands. She was gonna cry again from fright, "I don't want to disappoint Uncle Crepus..."

     (Name) scrunched her face and pulled a tissue from the bedside table, immediately wiping the snot and tears from the little one's face, "Ugh... Children... Yeah, yeah. I'll check if there's a monster inside my closet," she assured and took her catalyst.

Her feet made their way in front of the closet and followed by her hands grabbing the knob. Barbara was hiding behind the bed, ready to protect herself if someone pounces even though it's obviously (Name)'s gonna be the first the monster will pounce on. The latter's riding crop was shaking in warning, ready to poke someone's eyes out...

     "BOO—AH! SO COLD!" It was Diluc and Kaeya inside the closet, and she accidentally washed a large amount of water. They were drenched along the clothes inside the closet, making her twitch an eyebrow from annoyance, "... Um, hi Auntie (Name). Were you surprised?" Kaeya asked, his hands clasped together while smiling oh-so innocently.

     She started to mimic Kaeya's voice, making both of the Ragnvindr kids flinch from her actions, "Hi, Auntie (Name). I was trying to scare Barbara and BLAH, BLAH, BLAH... UGH, YOU TWO!" She pointed her riding crop at them. "IT WASN'T FUNNY! YOU THINK I WAS SCARED?! BARBARA WAS CRYING BECAUSE OF YOU TWO!"