Before I know it, I’m three months old. One day, Mama comes into my room holding a small strip of cloth. After tying the blindfold behind my head, she gently coils my tail around her arm before lifting me out of the crib. I wonder what’s going on, since this is the first time I’ve been blindfolded.

“Alright, Lily, let’s go meet the rest of the family!” Mama says, breaking out into giggles.

I switch my attention to my heat and mana sense as we enter the hallway, once again surprised that I can still sense everything so clearly. Passing over the almost-smooth tile, we make our way to the living room.

There I am greeted by a bunch of unfamiliar faces, save two. Obviously I have already “met” Katrina, although the blonde kitsune seems eager to finally get a chance to interact with me. There’s Mama too, of course. I know from before that everything about her is a vibrant green, with the only exception being her lightly tanned skin.

“Say hello to the Elapida family, Lily!” Mama coos. 

I blink. Elapida? Really? Some higher power out there must really enjoy their puns.

Then I remember I was supposed to be doing something. “Awo,” I say, doing the best I could to pronounce the word.

“So this is Katrina,” Mama starts, going over to the left end of the semicircle.

“Hi, little Lily! I’m your big sister!” the fox-girl exclaims, reaching out so that I could grab her finger for a moment.

“Then we have your daddy,” Mama says, holding me in front of a man who looks about twenty-six, with messy hair and kind eyes. After he tickles my cheeks for a moment we move on. 

“This is your sister Daffodil.” Coiled next to Daddy is an echidna with the characteristic tail and hair-snakes. She smiles at me and takes the opportunity to softly tickle my sides.

“Here’s your brother Andrew,” Mama says, holding me up in front of a man that looks like a slightly younger version of Daddy. He introduces himself by rubbing my tail, which feels nice, like a hug.

“And this is your sister-in-law, Mabel!” Mama finishes, turning to the last member of our family and nearly dropping me as I squirm.

Monster girl or not, manticores look scary. Between her plated tail, bat-like wings, and claws that looked capable of tearing a limb off, it’s hard not to be.

“Aww, I’m sorry sweetie,” comes a voice with just a hint of southern accent. “I didn’t mean to scare ya; Goddesses know I just wanted to meet ya.”

With such a kind voice speaking to me, I find the courage to turn back toward her. She is looking at me with a soft, sympathetic smile. I can’t help but like her, in that moment.

“An May-buh!” I say, reaching for the kind onee-san. 

“Aww, looks like she wants you now!” Mama laughs before carefully passing me to Mabel.

I look up, and I swear her smile is the brightest thing in the room, with the only thing coming close being my giggles of happiness. As I look into those smiling eyes, I know that I’d be safe here, with my family. Exhausted after all the excitement, I fall asleep.

At six months old, I, Lily Elapida, am finally able to crawl. It’s rather strange, given my lower body. I would end up swaying back and forth as I slowly wiggled my tail, supporting my upper body with my arms. Luckily, it seems to come pretty naturally.

One day about a week after I started crawling, Mama takes me out to the front yard to play. The town looks almost like a normal suburb, with grassy lawns, trees scattered about, and flagstone-paved roads running throughout. The only difference is that there is nothing that could be called a driveway, just a paved footpath leading to the road. My guess is the town is too small to need carriages.

As I’m slithering around in the grass, I hear the sound of a door opening and closing nearby. I look up from the bug I’m chasing and see that the next door neighbors have also come out to play. 

I knew from Mama that the neighbors have a daughter around my age, and this is my first time meeting the little dragon. Dragonling? Dragonet? Whatever.

I make my way over to where the little ball of scales sat, playing with the grass. After glancing at the older dragon and looking at Mama for permission, I decide to introduce myself.

“Hewo, I’m Wiwy,” I say. Why did Ls have to be so dang hard?!

The little dragon girl finally notices me. “I’m Mewody,” she replies.

And just like that, I make my first friend in this world. Melody and I would play from dawn 'til dusk some days; chasing and toppling each other, building towers of blocks, or acting out our daydreams with dolls.

At one year old, I had enough control of my tongue to be able to speak, and since I already knew the language, I could start speaking in full sentences right away. Needless to say, my whole family was surprised when I went from babbling to eloquence over the course of a week. I do my best to teach Melody, but it was only a couple months later that my guidance enabled us to properly communicate.

At one and a half, Melody and I could finally walk without help. Well, not really “walking” for me. Again, it took a couple months after I figured out how to slither upright in order for Mel to get the hang of it. It turns out, she’s just about one and a half months younger than me.

Our childhood was filled with adventures: playing tag, splashing in the nearby stream, playing in the mud after it rained, you name it. We grew up together, and she was like another sister to me.

But things were bound to change, and when I was six years old, we moved to the capital. I’m not proud of how they had to pull me into the wagon while I was crying and flailing, but I was younger then. Even later on my emotions sometimes get away from me, so how else was I expected to respond to being ripped away from the only town and friend I knew in this life?