A Grim Bond 9 - or 'The Grim Adventures turns into Broken Tales' (Grim Tales from Below, OC!Brother to Mandy)

Jeff had to be left home for this visit.

It wasn't like we were going too far from home, but the one we were visiting had a bit of a yucky approach towards spiders, regardless of their intentions. I couldn't blame her, but I really didn't want to cause issues as we were going there with a single purpose alone: get some divine help in handling Mimi's unique situation.

I had thought about visiting Danny again, but the man was a ghost specialist with a knack for some basic supernatural stuff. Nothing that would directly translate in what felt like a 'specific kind of exorcism'.

While I didn't know many in the list of acquaintances and friends with that sort of knowledge who were still alive, I managed to find someone that fit the bill. The issue was, however, hoping to not have to deal with her sister too.

So, while I was confident we were to find some answers out of this trip, I was wary of the kind of depravity that may be hurled at us from a certain blonde nymphomaniac of the magical kind.

Luckily for us, said nympho was out of town as her motorbike was not visible and on display outside the manor's garage and because there was just a sense of calm and peace as we walked up to the front door of the large building.

I had contacted this friend in advance, but she had been quite 'curt' on the call as she had been busy with something and wanted me to just come by and tell her myself what I wanted from her.

So, as I went to ring the doorbell, I wasn't expecting for the first greeting from someone I remember as a refined and quite introverted individual such as Stocking Anarchy to be-

"Bwaah! I missed you, homework buddy!"

This.

Stocking barely showed her age, both in personality and appearance. It has been two full decades since I last saw her, and while we weren't close early on, I did help her while we were going through High School.

It wasn't a surprise I managed to be a close friend of hers when I was one of the few guys that actively dodged Panty, her sister. After all, I had heard enough of the sex-crazed blonde to not approach that argument without some good reasoning with Stocking.

Still, she was someone I barely kept in contact with so I didn't expect her to change into… this. I wouldn't say the old Stocking was gone, but she had severely suffered the trouble of going through puberty, never getting laid, having trouble socializing due to how difficult it was to find friends that didn't want to bone her sister by using her to get close to Panty, and actually-

"Hitting my 30s and never once taking the steps to have a family for myself."

Mimi blinked at the scene with a hint of skepticism and a slightly greater display of amusement. Stocking was literally sitting on my lap, nuzzling my shoulder to wipe her tears while bawling like an utter crybaby.

I just held back from doing anything too awkward as the girl was reacting in a way that never once I expected her to. Sure, from the stoic young girl that spent her time in Megaville Elementary to High School she went through a few changes but… never once I thought it would have gotten this bad.

From my understanding, Stocking had gone through a rough few decades as Panty got more independent and tended to leave her alone in the manor for lengthy frames of time. Once disappearing for two full years and yet being quite active on Instagram- never a single moment thinking of checking back home.

So… yeah, this was depressing as fuck. And I had to waste around twenty minutes of this visit just to calm her down enough.

She managed to 'muster her strength' and find a seat on another couch as Mimi moved to take her 'throne' for herself. From there, I started to explain the situation that brought us to look for her and she provided us with some hope.

"Devil Essence? I did get the chance to study some a while ago," Stocking confirmed with a tiny smile, yet that faltered as she stared at Mimi. "But the way that she looks at the moment is an indicator that she can't be properly purged by it. Her energy core, her magic, is firmly controlled by the Essence."

"I… I have been told that some had theirs removed, what is different in this case?" I pressed on, surprised by this dismaying news.

"Well, there are many factors. Two relevant ones that have deeply extended the effects and severity of the Essence: the time period which saw it mature within her, and the way it was forced on her body. Her magical pattern has been scarred to… fit better with her current form."

"I see… but what would be the implications of trying. I am not going to push her to do it but-"

"It's not advisable. Her body is tuned with the Essence and a forceful removal would leave her mind unstable together with her magical core. She would grow belligerent without any major reason and lose her wits the moment her temper is even so tickled with," Stocking interjected, sounding genuinely apologetic. "Removal is not something I would even perform myself as I know that the Essence has a tendency to stick to the closest source of magical force if not properly contained, and I don't have the means to do so."

I looked at Mimi and saw her lean on my chest and huffed as I hugged her close. It was a loss for sure, but not a complete one as… Just because we couldn't remove it, that didn't mean we couldn't do something else to fix the situation. So, I decided to try another approach altogether.

"What about sealing the worst bit? Like, this urge to be bad… can it be contained?"

Stocking smiled again. "It can be done. The point of the seal would be to permanently isolate the 'independent' factor of the essence which tends to be the real issue for those people suffering from it. In a sense, I believe that should deprive any bad actors from using the Essence's individualism to manipulate you, Mimi."

The girl perked up at this, looking hopeful once more, but I wasn't completely sold on the matter as everything usually had a catch or something like that.

"Is it a long or tedious process?"

"Not really. Not when… Well, can I be honest?"

I nodded, and Stocking dropped an unexpected answer to a question I had been wondering about- the one in regard to why Mimi had it easier to control the Essence while around me.

"It seems like the Essence if afraid of you. Something about your own energy pattern is enough to frighten it to submission- hence why it is refraining from expanding its mental reach with Mimi. How, I can't say but… Yeah, that's about it."

I slowly nodded at this, realizing that my Stand may be behind this sort of circumstance. It was even possible the reason Mimi was able to find sleep easily as a baby with me around was also due to my Stand as she could have potentially felt it close to her in a protective manner.

Still, despite the topic, we were soon back on the sealing prospect. As Stocking stood up and carefully used her magic to apply the seal on Mimi's right shoulder, I could tell the girl felt slightly better as the woman was done with the process.

"And it's done. You should be able to train your power at home within the right safety measures without worrying of a takeover."

Mimi nodded happily, smiling eye-to-eye and I saw Stocking… deflate a bit.

"I-I guess you are done with this visit, so-"

"Stocks," I interrupted, using her old nickname to get her full attention. "You can visit whenever you want if you call me beforehand. And, if you want, I don't think Mimi would mind having you join us for dinner."

"Yes," Mimi added in agreement, and we both eyed Stocking perk up and beam a bit… before crying again.

"I-I don't want to impose."

"You would not. You are a tough lady, but you can't just spend your existence alone in this big manor."

She bowed her head. "Always my best homework buddy."

"I was your only homework buddy, but I will still accept the compliment."

There would then be some issues with Stocking trying to kill Jeff due to him being a big talking spider but… it wasn't anything horrid to endure. After all, I could tell Stocking enjoyed some company after so long. She was never one for big crowds, but the small family-kind of group always got her to show more of her true self and emotions.

And while I slowly helped Mimi find her own peace in life, I also had to deal with an invitation from Aku, Ruler of City of Aku, and 'mother' of Chi, the Underworld Idol and friend to Mimi.

Ugh, this is going to be a new headache and a half… At least I know from Mimi that this 'Chi' is not going to be trouble for us and that Aku has mellowed.

Also, why did he describe himself just as mother and not father?

—-d-d-d-d—-

AN

Peace and Jack's passing have mellowed Aku in more ways than one would expect. After all, 'he' is a doting mother for 'his' only daughter.