Nearly the same way Levi had come to Amityville Academy was the way she left. Well- nearly the same; she lacked the giant pack of items initially hurdled over her shoulders now that everything was settled into her dorm and she had no need for it all back home. This was to be a vacation period for the students and Levi needed to head home; she had an important mission to undergo.
The essentials kept on the ghoul were likely in her canvas shoulder bag, complete with candy corn appliqué decorating the front panel. The other thing visible on the tatzel was a black urn with her minipet Popcorn inside. Popcorn was her trusty Candy Corgon who her parents considered a pest to be watched over by Levi every moment. The Corgon had a taste for candy corn… which was always somewhat tricky to handle when you live on a candy corn farm. She pet the top of the urn with the tips of her fingers, nuzzling it to the nook over her hip under her arm as she walked out of monster dorm and back out the path. Through the ornamental holes in the design of the urn, white smoke puffed out in small bursts, allowing the scent of melted sugar to trail the ghoul as she walked. Down the path she went, ready to walk her way back home to the foggy mountains back south of the academy.
It was pretty soon.
She hadn’t been at the school that long.
Some things had happened to her at school, though, that she was sure her folks would be interested in knowing… other things were going to be required that she ask in return. Thinking back, she replayed the skelephone conversation she’d had with her Ma leading up to this trip back home…and the sudden urgency of what was going to be discussed.
*A few Days Back*
Gathering up papers off of her desk, Levi sighed looking at her Lepus Guide, Read. The Lepus muttered something in jibberish as if it were telling her something critically important and informative. Alright, Read, timer tag git tha homework done. Yer right. It wasn’t so much Levi understanding what Read was saying as her taking the little critter for being pretty smart it its knowledge base. Whenever she had a book open in her dorm, Read was there with her looking onto the pages like it was reading everything line by line too. Propping the pile of papers back onto the desk in a neat stack, she bounded over the steps leading to the elevated area where her fuzzy bed was along with her skelephone. Dragging the cord of her skelephone, she dropped down onto her bed and placed the device in front of her crossed legs. Read tried relentlessly to climb up the fur blanket of the bed clump-of-fur by clump-of-fur without much success. Smirking, Levi dipped a hand down over the foot of her bed and gathered up the Lepus into her lap.
There wasn’t much technology back home, but they did have a skelephone hanging on the wall. Levi knew the how- it was just the matter of the why that concerned her. Taking a deep breath, she dialed and waited for the responding tone, curling a finger into the spirals of the phone cord.
ring ring, ring ring
ring ring, ring ring
ring ring, ring ring- chhrk-…
“Aye”
Levis recognized the voice of her Ma on the end of the line.
“Aye, Ma”
“Eh- Luvvie! Ghoulie ‘a mine! How’s schoolin’ goin’, puddin’?”
“Good…good… eh- how’ya’ll holdin’ up over thar? Crops coming out?”
Of course the crops would be coming out; Levi just wanted to make some small talk before jumping into the main discussion.
“Yea, yea. Same ‘ol up ‘ere, Luvvie. Ya playin’ nice with yer comrades? …Ain’t been rilin’ up them boils, have ya?”
“... Ma always told me never ta lie ta mah elders”
Levis chuckled then at answering her Ma with what her Ma already undoubtably knew she was going to say.
“Weeeeell… Luvvie’ll be Luvvie no matter where she is, ai’guess”
It had always been a blessing in the young tatzel’s mind that her mother was someone who accepted her unghoulie behavior. Through damaged overalls and scraped knees, they were almost friends rather than a mother daughter team. It had been said before by kin that Levi was the spitting image of her mother, only coated in white rather than the traditional tatzelwurm coat of black. Feeling a bit more at ease now, Levi summoned her courage and got to asking her Ma about what she really wanted to know.
“Ma…listen… ‘member me years n’ years back..askin’ ‘bout auntie n’ uncle gettin’ tha pumpkin?”
“Yea…”
“They were mated already then, yea?”
“Uh-huh…”
“………. tha school-… teacher asked me ta explain matin’ n’ I couldn’t answer. Was part ‘a class, Ma.”
“I see…”
“n’… well, since I couldn’t answer none, teacher dun givin’ out homework fer findin’ out, ya see”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before the older tatzelwurm spoke up.
“…Luvvie…”
Levi waited for a let-down despite never being told no before. This was a subject none of her other kin around her general unmated age knew about. It was just not taught to those who weren’t designated to be mated. Biting at her lower lip, she awaited the next few words with as much understanding as-
“… dangit all, Jackin’ candy ‘a tha corn …if it’s fer yer schoolin, puddin’………..I’ll give ya tha scoop”
That was when Levi stared forward and nearly let the receiver fall from her hand. She was going to be told the secrets of mating.
“… ya’ll ‘ve met plenty a different types ‘a folk, I reckon by now, aye?”
Obviously, her Ma knew about critters such as ghost, demons and reapers…? It led the ghoul to wonder just how much of the outer world her folk had been keeping secret beyond just the rituals of mating. Furrowing her brow, Levi tried to dismiss this for now and continue listening to the details.
“Well, ya’ll best come in yer small body ta learn this part… you’ll be needin’ it”
