"Auntie Ellie!"

Achlys ran down the aisle and threw her arms around Elise's leg in an excited embrace. She looked up at the spider woman and gave a big, toothy grin.

"And hello to you, my little bug," Elise replied.

She bent down and scooped the toddler up. After she hugged the giggling girl to her heart's content, she placed Achlys back on the ground. Achlys grabbed Elise's hand and began tugging to lead her towards the altar.

"You are so full of energy today," Elise commented as she allowed herself to be led.

"Ah-ly day," Achlys explained.

"That's right. It is your finding day. And do you know how many you have had?"

The child held up two of her fingers to answer.

"Very good. You are a bright one."

Achlys brimmed with pride.

"Ake?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh course I brought you cake, darling. It wouldn't be your special day without it."

"Yay."

Once at the altar, Achlys released Elise's hand and ran over to her father. She tugged on his robes and chanted "Auntie Ellie" over and over again.

"Yes, Achlys, I see her," Karthus said as he put a hand on her head to calm her down, "thank you for letting me know."

Karthus turned his attention to Elise.

"She has been waiting all day for you, parading around and signing your name."

"It's a name that should be sung more often."

"Did you bring what I asked of you?" Karthus asked, brushing off her comment.

"I did, though some of it is still aboard the ship."

"Good. I had not anticipated that she would outgrow so much of her clothing in such a short span of time, especially her shoes. I swear that her feet grow fastest of all."

"They do grow up so fast," Elise chuckled, "just be grateful that she only has two legs. What do you think, Achlys? Would like to have more legs? Eight is such a beautiful number."

"Eh?" Achlys asked.

She looked down and her feet and only counted two. Desperate for clarification, she held up two fingers.

"Two is all you need, Achlys" Karthus reassured his daughter before turning back to Elise, "I thought I had told you, I want her to have no involvement with your god."

"It was a joke, Karthus. I have no intention of bringing her before the Great Spider. As she is, my god would more likely consider her a snack than a follower and the thought of anything awful happening to this precious child has me feeling positively ill."

Karthus did not approve of the sarcastic tone Elise used but he chose not to chastise her for it. He knew she was trying to get a rise out of him and nothing more. In his soul, he knew that she would not allow Achlys to be eaten and that would have to suffice for now.

"See to it," he ordered bluntly.

"Fah-thah?" Achlys interrupted, "Auntie?"

"Nothing is wrong, Achlys," Karthus reassured, "it is a small disagreement, nothing more."

The young girl nodded, accepting whatever her father told her. Now that there was nothing to worry about, she took Elise's hand again and point to the corner of the altar where a few of her toys sat.

"Auntie play?" she asked.

"Of course, little bug. I will play with you."

Elise followed the small girl over to the toys and sat beside her.

"Well well," she said, "it looks as though my presence in required. Why don't you go and gather some of your spirits and head to the ship? The furniture is there. And do not worry; my pets know not to attack you."

Karthus gave a quick chuckle at the thought of ever needed protection from a bunch of spiders but made no other comment. Instead, he summoned several of his stronger wraiths to himself and prepared to depart. Under the high arching doorway of the cathedral he paused.

"Do nothing that would make me regret leaving her with you," Karthus warned.

"Karthus," she cooed with a smile, "if you truly feared I would harm her, you would not be leaving in the first place. Relax. We are going to enjoy some lady time. There is nothing nefarious to it."

Karthus shook his head.

"Achlys," he said, "I will return as soon as possible so that we may all celebrate your finding together."

"Bye-bye." Achlys waved.

With Karthus gone, Elise could focus her attention solely on the girl. She reached out and curled a strand of Achlys's hair around her finger before letting it fall back to the girl's shoulders.

"You have such beautiful hair, silver as moonlight on a blade. If only it were a little longer, it could be braided in all the intricate styles of Noxian high fashion. You should tell him that you want to grow it out so that I can play with it."

"Ow?"

"Tell him plainly, 'Father, I am lady and my hair should be how I want it.' However, I suppose it would easier to convince him if you knew how to care for your own hair. Would you like your Auntie to show you how?"

"Yeah," she nodded excitedly.

Anything Auntie Ellie wanted to do usually ended in presents, which suited Achlys just fine.

"That's a good girl," Elise smiled.

The older woman looked to the doorway and waved her hand in a beckoning motion. At her command, spiderlings bearing gifts skittered in.

"Ake!" Achlys exclaimed, recognizing the shape of one of the packages.

"Yes, there will be cake, but I have another gift for you first."

Elise picked up a small box from one of the spiders and opened it before Achlys. Inside was a small silver comb decorated with elegant scrollwork. Countless years ago, it had been a wedding gift for her, in hopes that it would be used to help groom the heir of House Zaavan. But that never came to pass. Now Elise was more than happy to give the relic of her old life to young girl.

"Wow," Achlys gasped.

"Come sit by me," Elise ordered, "and let me guide you."

Achlys scooted up to her beloved Auntie and watched intently. Taking a strand of the girl's hair, Elise began to comb out the end and work her way up. She moved slowly so Achlys could watch.

"You must start at the bottom," she explained, "if you do not, any knots in your hair will be pushed downwards where they will combine other knots and form one great tangle. They can be quite painful. But if you show patience and go strand by strand, any tangle can be tamed."

She put the comb in Achlys's hand and guided it along her hair. Together they worked until her whole head of hair was as soft as silk. Elise then grabbed a ribbon and tied Achlys's hair up onto a ponytail with a big bow.

"Is this still your favorite color?" she asked the girl.

"Purp-pull!" Achlys confirmed.

"You are going to adore the dress I bought you."

Elise beckoned over another of her spiders. From this spider's package, Elise produced a dress. It was rich violet in color with puffed sleeves. Around the waist was a sash of dark silk. From the same material, black roses were sewn and attached to the sash in a bunch.

Achlys jumped with joy at the sight of the garment. She wrapped her arms around Elise as far as she could reach them.

"Tank you," she giggled.

"You are welcome, my little bug."

Achlys was beyond eager to put on the dress. She threw her clothes aside and attempted to show her aunt how she could dress herself like a big girl. She got as far as stepping into the dress and pulling the garment up to her waist, but she still required assistance with getting her arms through the sleeves and buttoning up the back. Achlys's face puffed up in frustration at not being able to fully change all by herself.

"It takes practice," Elise reassured, "you will be able to take care of yourself before you know it. Now turn around so I can see how you look."

Achlys did a twirl, finishing with a flourish of throwing her hands up. Elise gave a nod of approval.

"You are almost too cute to eat."

The gathered spiders looked up to their master, expectantly. Their fangs clicked and their ruby eyes all looked eagerly at the small girl.

"Absolutely never," Elise scolded them, sensing their hunger.

"What?" Achlys asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

Achlys accepted this answer and sat back down on the ground to play with Grim along with two other handmade stuffed toys that could charitably be called a fish and a toad. Elise let out a small sigh.

"I wish Karthus would let me take you back to Noxus instead of keeping you isolated here. I have a large estate back home, and you could run around the grounds and play in all the chambers, and when I have business to attend to, my pets can keep you company. You aren't afraid of them, are you?"

"No."

"I knew it and that is why I got you this as your third gift."

A final spider marched over with a delicately wrapped package on its back. Elise took this parcel and handed it over the girl. Achlys didn't pause to appreciate the wrapping, and opened the gift without a second thought. It was a stuffed toy spider, exquisitely detailed at wearing a magenta bow atop its head.

"We weaved it for you," Elise explained, "nobody else could quite capture their charm. So Achlys, do you like Miss Spider?"

Achlys nodded and held the toy triumphantly above her head.

"Der!"

She placed the spider next to Grim and pointed at the two of them.

"Friend," she explained.

"Exactly. All those suitors could learn a thing from you. They would all be so much more tolerable if they weren't always giving such awful looks to my pets," she let out a small sigh, "when you are older I will have to ask your father if I can kidnap you for a month."

"Maybe some time in the sun could bring some color to your cheeks and make you look more alive. I've seen spirits here with more color than you. Although, poor dear, you would probably burn to a crisp at the first sight of sunlight. Your skin is so light you could easily challenge the Pale Woman for that title."

"Okay," Achlys agreed.

"It is settled then," Elise nodded, "someday I will bring you back to Noxus with me."

"Der and ake?"

"Yes, there will be plenty of spiders and cake. Now we just need you to grow a little more."

"Yay!"

Greetings Summoners,

I hope everyone is having a peaceful and safe Snowdown season. I've been busy at work writing a Poppy one shot I hope to have out by the year's end. I also have a Twitter now where I am posting previews of upcoming chapters. I also hope to run polls on it and use it to better collect feedback from you all. Give me a follow if you want. I'm thinking of starting to age Achlys up a little more rapidly from here on out. It's toddler time. As always, I appreciate your feedback. Best of luck on the Rift and may the new items show mercy on your soul.

-Gwoo

Twitter: /StorytellingHy1