NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: The First Obstacle
Lucillia
About two weeks have passed, each of which consist of eight days from what I observed. Two nice, long, peaceful weeks. Nothing bad happened; no crazy attempted murders by my sisters, no planets blown up, nothin'.
No seriously. I spent most of the time in Big Sis Luna's arms and the rest of it in Mama's.
See? Nothing bad could possibly happen under those conditions~
As for what did happen, hmm, let's see...
Well, Mama couldn't keep putting off her work and had to leave me a lot more. *Sniff* Actually, everyone had to go back to their work, so it was just me and the blue haired maid sometimes. I think she said her name's Mira or something. But on the bright side, Big Sis Luna was apparently so efficient with her work that she would finish several days' worth ahead of time juuust to babysit me.
When she first came back, she gave me this squishy fox thingie that's white and has nine tails. I think it's called a plushie. It's really cute and soft and best of all: REALLY WARM! For the first time in my new life, something that wasn't alive gave me warmth.
Okay, maybe second time, but does it really count if I was hatching the first time?
Meh.
Either way, that plushie or whatever you call it quickly became my new best friend, and with it, I was able to fall asleep without anyone holding me for the first time. Hm, I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about that.
Anyway, I got to spend a lot more one-on-one time with each of my sisters, especially Big Sis Luna. For around two or three days, Mama was apparently swamped with work, and I barely saw her at all...I didn't miss her, nope, not at all...kay maybe a lottle.
The plushie Big Sis gave me really helped. Apparently, she modeled it after her girlfriend or something. If that's true, then her girlfriend's really cute and I wanna fluff meet her soon.
Oh, Mama also tried teaching Big Sis how to feed me, buuut...
12 days earlier
"Keep holding her just like that. Now, slowly release your aura. Slowly, that way you don't murder your sister." [Corinna]
"Like this?" [Lunestia]
"Yes. Now, start channeling it into her body, again, very slowly." [Corinna]
"Um, Mother? I believe Lia's aura blocks out my own like this." [Lunestia]
"Exactly. What you have to do now is concentrate it; form a small stream of it and use that to break through." [Corinna]
"...Okay, I think I've got it." [Lunestia]
"..." [Lucillia]
"M-mother? I-Is she supposed consume this much?" [Lunestia]
"What? Can't handle it? I thought you wanted to help out your poor old mother who has to sacrifice so much three times a day just to feed your little sister." [Corinna]
"No, I can handle it just fine. It's just...will Lia be alright?" [Lunestia]
"She'll be fine. How else do you expect her to grow big and strong if not by eating? Also, you're doing a wonderful job, dear. You would do well as my replacement." [Corinna]
"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" [Lucillia]
"U-uh...Mother?" [Lunestia]
"Oh dear, I don't think she liked the sound of that." [Corinna]
"WAAAAAH!!!" [Lucillia]
"I don't think so, either." [Lunestia]
"WAAAHH!!!" [Lucillia]
"Well, do your best to learn how to tell if she's hungry and bring her to me whenever that happens." [Corinna]
"Yes, Mother." [Lunestia]
Well, yup. It's not like Big Sis was bad or anything. It was...kinda tasty and warm and stuff, but I just had one problem.
If Big Sis is the one feeding me, WHEN DO I GET TO SEE MAMA?!
Until I can feed myself, I require at least one Mama meeting everyday!
Sorry, Big Sis, but I need my daily dose of Mama to survive.
Though it was pretty fun seeing her neutral face look all flustered when I started crying.
Other than that, there only one other highlight from the past week. And that isssss...I learned how to walk! Or re-learned? Remembered? Whatever.
It happened kinda randomly.
After my first few days of life, my body apparently started growing pretty quickly. I have no idea what my height was nor what it is now, but I do know that I grew a lot taller; tall enough that my legs are apparently strong enough for me to stand. Pretty neat, considering I never even got to crawl.
So one day, around the end of the first week, Big Sis was carrying me around and giving a tour of the house. By the end of it, we were back in my room, and I ended up staring out the window.
I really wanted to see what it was like outside in a world where you can breathe freely, so I tried to get Big Sis to take me there, but she wouldn't budge. She tried using the excuse that she couldn't take me outside without Mama's permission, so I rebelled.
"FWEEDOM!!!" [Lucillia]
While Big Sis was still in shock, I wiggled out of her lap and ran out door that was open for some reason. I think I passed by Mira when I was running out.
I made it down the stairs thanks to the tour Big Sis gave me, and I came across my first nemesis: the front door. I was too short to reach the handle, and Big Sis caught up to me.
Fin.
Oh, did I mention I can also talk now? And yes, that really was the first word I said.
Sheesh. Whatever species I am (I'm guessing some sort of dragon if those books I read are accurate in this world), we sure grow quick.
Welp, that pretty much sums up all the exciting things that happened in the last two weeks.
I started running around a lot after Mama said I could go outside as long as someone went with me. After that, I spent most of my days out in the garden Big Sis Silvie takes care of. She's growing a bunch of really pretty flowers and also a couple trees that are really nice to take a nap under.
She also manages the country's plants and wildlife with Big Sis Caela, and those two go out a lot for inspections and stuff, which is why I don't get to see them that often. BUT! It's for the sake of the plants and animals, so I forgive them.
Mhm, go sisters go! Save them plants! Animals too!
The people on my old world sure as hell didn't, and they got what was coming. Then, I guess they really missed the animals because they started acting like them and decided to fuck like rabbits and bring a bunch of innocent generations into their problems. I guarantee you that over 95% of those people never even saw sunlight in their entire lives.
Just concrete, dirt, and shitty water. Don't even get me started on the 'food' if you could even call it that. And worst of all, the people somehow remained just as shitty as they were before the war.
You would think a literal apocalypse that caused everyone to shove themselves underground would bring some amount of unity and community and all that, but you'd be dead wrong. Or just dead.
No one could work together. No one could be nice to another. The only ones who did were full of bullshit and scheming behind your backs to gain power. Even my own parents...no they don't deserve to be called that...those assholes couldn't give two shits about me and tossed me out in a sack.
It happened not long after I first discovered my powers as a mage. I was maybe three or four. Neither of them were mages. I was the black sheep. Relations between mages and regular people were apparently real bad before the war, but after? Let's just say there was a reason why mages identified themselves as a literal different species.
Or so I read from an old history book that I got a third of the way through before I couldn't take it anymore and tossed it into the fire.
Honestly, I felt the same way as those mages. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of shitty mages, too, but at the very least, some of them actually seemed to give a shit about each other. We'd form groups, packs, whatever you wanna call them.
We'd scavenge together, sleep together, rely on each other, even call each other family. We'd support one another and give our lives for each other. We'd feel like actual people trying to survive in a shitty world.
That's what we were supposed to do anyway. In my case, I just got exploited to all hell. At first, I thought those assholes gave a shit about me, but that was all a lie. I was just a source of free labor for them. A test dummy, a sacrificial pawn, and an unofficial slave, nothing more.
But I taught them a lesson: don't ever exploit someone if you aren't even stronger than them. We were out on the prowl one day, and I detected a bunch of humans lying in ambush. Some of them even had guns, but those posed no threat to me.
I didn't tell my group, though. I led them into it. A big fight broke out. All the humans died. None of the mages did, but all of them were tired and heavily wounded. Except for me.
They tried to leave the place, but their wounds kept them from going. They tried to have me drag them to safety. I couldn't care less about them.
At some point during one of my solo travels, I found some plants and mushrooms that grew really quickly if you gave them the right nutrients: flesh and blood. Edible, and tasted pretty decent, too.
I went up to them, I silenced them, and they became my food. Does it count as cannibalism if you eat a plant fertilized by someone's corpse? If so, then I don't care. I stopped considering them people a long time ago.
The same goes for all the other mages and humans. They were less than people; they were merely animals, food for the strong. I was strong, so they were my food. Nothing more, sometimes less...
How did I get on that topic again? Fuck if I know. For some reason, a bunch of memories from my previous life started flashing back in my sleep the past few days. That shitty life I wanted to leave behind came back to haunt me.
Since then, I could barely get any good sleep. Not even Mama's arms could really help. My head hurts. A lot. I wish Mama could kiss me and rub my head to make it go away...but she can't. None of them can.
These are...my problems, relics from the past. No one else needs to deal with them. I have to get through this on my own. That's how I got through all my problems back then; it's the only thing that ever worked. I couldn't rely on anyone, couldn't trust anyone, and to be honest, I still can't.
I want to, I really do...but my heart can't do it. Mama and the others...they've been good to me...really good. I...I wanna tell them. I always wanted to have someone that I could just yell and scream and shout anything and everything to and they'll listen.
But every time I try, every time I ...I can't. My voice just...disappears whenever I open my mouth, and my brain stops working.
I don't know what to do.
...
Haah, whatever. The only that does work is to just suck it up and deal with it. I've had enough with these 'dreams.' It's time to wake up anyway; I can feel my room starting to warm up from the sunlight.
As soon as I opened my eyes, something immediately feels off. No, I didn't wake up in my old body like some stupid cliché moment. My vision is just really blurry.
"Ah! Good morning, Your-" [Mira]
She didn't even finish her sentence before moving over to me, casting water magic around my eyes, and patting my head after.
"Are you okay, Your Highness? You had those bad dreams again, didn't you? It looks like you were crying in your sleep again, too." [Mira]
Crying? Me? So my eyes were blurry because of...tears? I never...I can't remember ever crying in my last life. There just wasn't any point.
I know I've cried a lot in this life, but those were just normal baby cries for attention and stuff; no hard feelings or anything.. This time is different. My tears keep falling, my nose is runny, and my throat feels like someone shoved a rock down it. It feels horrible. I feel horrible.
Worst of all, I can't even tell why I'm like this. I don't have any attachments nor any feelings about my past life, so why am I like this?
NO, STOP IT LIA! Stop thinking about that right now! Focus on the present!
I can't see. Something warm is around my head. Kinda squishy too.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. From the look on your face, I thought you could use a hug." [Mira]
A hug, huh? That brings back- NO! BAD LIA! Haah, why is this so hard? Why can't I just forget everything and live my current life in peace? Why is it that whenever you want to forget something, you remember it even more?!
Especially when I have everything I could have possibly wanted, especially when I never gave a shit about that life, ESPECIALLY WHEN I FUCKING ENDED IT MYSELF, WHY THE FUCK DOES IT KEEP COMING BACK?!!
I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!
(muffled) "AAAGGHHH!!!!!" [Lucillia]
Mira didn't say anything. She just kept hugging me, and we stayed like that for a while. It was...nice, until she let go of me.
"Your Highness, whatever it is that is bothering you, every one of us wishes to help if we can. You can talk to anyone: your mother, your sisters. If you wish to keep it from your family, you may talk to me instead. " [Mira]
"...But...trouble...you...fired." [Lucillia]
Haah, fuck. I know I said I can talk now, but two things are inhibiting my ability to do so: 1) I spent the last several years of my last life alone and without talking at all; and 2) my head is just...really messy right now and I can't even think properly, let alone talk.
But somehow, Mira understood what I was trying to say.
"Hehe~ No need to worry about that, Your Highness. I have been assigned as your maid, and that means I am now your servant and only yours. The only one who can fire me now is you, though I would rather not have that happen, if I may. Fire is quite hot after all, and not very compatible with me." [Mira]
...
That was a terrible joke, but I mean, I guess it makes sense. Mira and I have spent a lot of time together recently, especially when I'm waking up or when my sisters are busy. She told me a bit about herself in that time.
Well, for starters, she's an Undine, which is some water spirit(?) or something like that, hence her dislike of fire. She has fishy fins for her ears. She was born in some mystical forest near a country called Heaven's Gate.
What else...She has blue hair, she's 200 years old but doesn't look a day past 18, she likes hanging out by the lake outside, she likes the color blue, me too, uhhh.
She smells nice, she is nice, she's really pretty, she looks great in her uniform, I don't want her to leave me, I want her to stay with me forever, and I honestly don't know how to describe the rest of my feelings about her. Is it normal to feel like this toward someone you aren't related to? Dunno.
Huh, I think her plan of distracting my thoughts actually worked a little. My head still hurts, but at least I started thinking about a different topic. The only problem is that I'm only thinking about her now and nothing else. Is that a bad thing? Heck if I know.
I'm still not sure how she can be so patient with someone like me. We're not related, nor are we even the same species. If it weren't for her job, we probably wouldn't have met each other or ever crossed paths. And, hellooo, she's only known me for the two weeks that I've been alive! And yet, she cares enough about me and is actually considerate of me to try and make me feel better.
I don't deserve her.
Not one bit.
"Well, until you're ready to share, Your Highness, how about we get you out of bed and change your clothes? I imagine you must be getting hungry soon." [Mira]
She's right. I am feeling kinda hungry. All this thinking is taking up too much energy. Mira helped me out of bed and brought me over to a standing mirror that she brought in a while back.
It's pretty big, big enough to show my sisters' full bodies. It was kind of funny watching her figure out how to bring it through the door without damaging anything, though, I doubt anything in this room could be damaged by something like that.
I'm pretty sure all the materials used to make everything are very strong and durable, judging from the amount of mana I can sense infused them.
By the time I finished analyzing them, Mira already brought out a cute little lolita dress for me to wear. What? You expected something more fancy and royal looking? Too bad. None of my family members dress like that. I mean, I'm wearing one of my sister's old shirts for pajamas, for crying out loud!
We don't even wear crowns either! The only things on our heads are our horns which cover our foreheads and temples and kinda form a crown on their own. So hah! Casual wear is the best type of wear! What about the lolita dress? I always wanted to dress like this, so now that I can, why not?
In no time, Mira gets me out of the big (or I guess normal size for you adults) shirt and into the cute dress with equally cute frilly socks and those close-toed shoes with the little strap across the middle. In one of those fashion magazines I found, I think they were called mary jane shoes or something.
Whoever Mary is, tell her I think her shoes are really cute.
Now then, time to leave the room and go find Mama for food. And I know the perfect form of transportation that not only gets me there fast but also brings me comfort.
"Cawwy~" [Lucillia]
"Hehe~ Of course, Your Highness. Any time." [Mira]
Yeah...definitely don't deserve her.
