"Mama, look! I did it!" [Lucillia]

"Don't get too excited just yet, the hard part's coming." [Corinna]

"Hmm?" [Lucillia]

*POP*

"FWEH?!!" [Lucillia]

All of a sudden, the wings popped back out!

"Mama! They're broken again!" [Lucillia]

"That's what happens when you let your guard down. Even if the opponent is yourself, they'll still end up stabbing you in the back. It is a good opportunity for more practice though, so go ahead." [Corinna]

More struggles, and then some more...

A little more...

A little...mooooore...

*POP*

Ahah, there she goes, except-

"NYOOO!!! Come back, COME BACK!!!" [Lucillia]

Two wings still remained on the child's back, and the tail was nowhere to be found.

The child, once her beloved tail disappeared, did not freak out, nor did she burst into flames. What she did do was turn into a mannequin and slump onto her mother's lap like a sack of...whatever a sack would contain.

Now was not the time for teasing since tears started to form in those tiny eyes, so the mother quickly tapped her daughter's tailbone and brought back the missing appendage.

In response, the child gave a nice, big hug...to the tail that is. It put her in a rather awkward posture though, seeing as the tail was barely long enough to reach over from underneath her skirt, but that didn't matter to her. 

"UWAAAAA!!! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!!" [Lucillia]

The fateful reunion took place a whole five seconds after the two were separated. To bear witness, a mother dragon and a (kind of) mother fish observed the event with some headpats for the child.

One mama wiped away the tears while the other mama poured a fresh cup of juice. It took some time and several cups of juice for the child to finally calm down.

She was still hugging the tail though.

"Are you okay now? Your tail won't go anywhere, I promise." [Corinna]

"*sniff*...really?" [Lucillia]

"Really, but not forever. You'll have to keep practicing on your own until you can manage yourself. But, that'll be for later. Let's just put these away for now." [Corinna]

As she said that, the mother dragon tucked her daughter's wings away and plopped the little one down from her lap. The child attempted to climb back up but was led away by hand.

When their adventure was over, the pair of dragons and the fish found themselves buried in a ridiculously large mountain of paper. Wait no, those were books; you could just barely see the bindings here and there. 

The child was certainly excited, to the point where it was a miracle she could even hold back. The reason for that was due to a single question in her mind...

"Mama!" [Lucillia]

"Yes?" [Corinna]

"Where's the birdie?!" [Lucillia]

"Use your inside voice, sweetie. And what do you mean by that?" [Corinna]

"When there's a place with a bunch of books, there's supposed to be an oval with glasses!" [Lucillia]

"My lady, it is pronounced 'owl'." [Mira]

"Yeah that." [Lucillia]

"Oh, you mean Ludwig? You won't find him here. He lives up at the castle in his great-grandmother's nest." [Corinna]

"Booo~" [Lucillia]

"Don't worry, you'll meet him soon enough. Instead, how about you find something you want to read first?" [Corinna]

"'Kay." [Lucillia]

Just as the child was about to run off and become a paper dragon, the fish grabbed her shoulders and filed a complaint to her superior.

"Your Majesty, may I?" [Mira]

"Something on your mind?" [Corinna]

"I would like for your permission to clean the room before letting Her Highness roam free." [Mira]

"If she wants something specific, she could just ask me. I'm 80% confident I remember what's in here." [Corinna]

"I have no doubts about your memory, Your Majesty. I was concerned that when the time for dinner came, we would be unable to find her." [Mira]

The child was quite tiny at roughly 100 cm tall, and her wings had finally been put away. Add on her tendencies to run away, and the likelihood of some shenanigans occurring was quite high.

Fortunately, where one mother fell short, another was present to make up for it, and the soon-to-be crisis was avoided.

"Well, that would be quite a headache to deal with. Go ahead, do your thing." [Corinna]

The small one, who was too distracted by the books to pay attention to the conversation, was released from the fish's hands and fell into the embrace of some lovely black scales instead.

In exchange for the tale she wanted to read, the child received a tail. She couldn't quite read that one, but she was happy with it nevertheless.

The fishy mother quickly went to work once the opportunity presented itself. 

A whip-crack went the fishy tail, and the deed was done. 

The former amalgamation of paper and ink became dozens of neatly-organized stacks of books. Not only where they sorted by subject, but the sub-categories themselves were also in alphabetical order. In the case where there was no determinate title, the approximate age of the writing was used instead. 

For the first time in who-knows-how-long, the floor was visible. Not only that, but there was actually furniture in the room all along! There was a desk, a sofa, a coffee table, some nightstands, a wardrobe or two, and a very large bed.

The child was moments away from picking her first read of the day, but she explored around the room a bit and realized something.

"Wait." [Lucillia]

"I'm waiting." [Corinna]

"Isn't this Mama's room?" [Lucillia]

"That would be correct, yes. What about it?" [Corinna]

"Why is it so boring?" [Lucillia]

"Well that's not a nice thing to say." [Corinna]

"But it's true!" [Lucillia]

Save for the absurd amount of books, the rest of the room was rather plain. The walls were empty, there were almost no decorations, and the bed itself looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. It looked more like a guest room than anything.

None would ever assume that it actually belonged to the ruler of the lands and owner of the house, especially after the child comfirmed that the bed had become quite stiff after a preliminary test via freefall.¹It's just a fancy way of saying she jumped on it.

The child, who was rubbing her head from the hard mattress, then decided that a different type of pillow was necessary. 

"Mama, come here!" [Lucillia]

"Where's 'here'?" [Corinna]

"Here!" [Lucillia]

In this instance, the point called 'here' was defined as the couch. The child's head popped up from behind the couch as she beckened her mother over. 

The mother took her seat, and shortly after, the child took hers with several books in hand. Needless to say, the child's seat was located on her mother's lap. 

Lucillia

Books, check; Mama, check; Other mama, check. I think that's everything! Time to laze around for the rest of the day!

"Just don't fall asleep or you'll miss dinner." [Corinna]

"Kayyy." [Lucillia]

Hmm, which one should I start with? The one about the slime mama or the one about the dragon papa? I can probably relate more with dragon papa, but slime mama seems really cute too...BLAH!

Why is it so hard to choose?! Mama, pick for me!

"Just pick one at random, read it, and then read the other one later. It's not like you'll ever be pressed for time." [Corinna]

Eeny, meenie, miny, moe, catch a wyvern by the tail, if you touched it, uh, good luck with that. Eeny. Meenie. MINY. MOEE!!

Welp, guess I'm reading about some slimies and their mama today.

Some slimies later

UWAAAAAHH, THEY'RE SO...CUUUUUUUU-

"Sweetie, you'll fall if you keep rolling around like that." [Corinna]

"But Mama can catch me." [Lucillia]

"Just because I can doesn't mean I always will~." [Corinna]

"Mmmmm, Mira, Mama's being a meanie!" [Lucillia]

"What would you like me to do about that?" [Mira]

"Come here, I want a new lap!" [Lucillia]

"You have been standing there for quite a while now. Come take a seat and get some rest." [Corinna]

"If you insist." [Mira]

"WAIT!" [Lucillia]

"Yes, my lady? What is it?" [Mira]

"Can I have more juice?" [Lucillia]

"Of course." [Mira]

"Yay!" [Lucillia]

Some hours later

Fwah~, what year is it? Time really just flies by when you're having fun, huh? Because last I checked, there was still light outside, but now it's all dark and spooky.

I kinda wanna go out and explore, but Mama banned me from doing that anymore after I played hide-and-seek with them once. My hiding spot was so good that they couldn't find me at all, and I could just fall asleep so I did. They still didn't find me when I woke up, but I was really hungry so I just went back.

Speaking of which, I'm hungry right now. But then, I also want to finish reading the rest of the books about the slime mama. Hmmm, decisions, decisions...

Ah, you know what? I'll just ask Mama! I would ask Mira too, but she went out a while ago to help make dinner. So now, the only person I can bother is Mama.

"MAMA!!!" [Lucillia]

"..." [Corinna]

Eh? That usually works. What gives? Is Mama broken now?

"..." [Corinna]

Alright, that's it! No more missus nice dragon!

.....

Blehhh, nothing worked. I tried poking her, biting her, hugging her, climbing all over her, making weird faces, making funny noises, and nothing!

I even tried tickling her nose with my tail, but her book kept getting in the way so I couldn't do it!

*Knock knock*

"Who's there?" [Lucillia]

"Your sister. I'm here to remove you from your indulgement of literature by tempting you with the lure of nourishment." [Lunestia]

Blink blink...can someone translate that?

"It means it's time for dinner. You girls can go on ahead while I finish this." [Corinna]

"Kayy." [Lucillia]

Hmph, how come that worked so easily for Big Sis and not me? Mama wouldn't even budge when I tried it.

Meh, whatever. The important thing is that food's here! Or I guess, it's actually there, but I don't care! Let's eat!

.....

Actually, before we do that, I need to ask Big Sis for advice on how to bother Mama. I must know the secrets! After my crushing defeat earlier, I haven't been able to let it go. I refuse to be the loser! So, that's why I need a Big Sis to help me. 

It's just that, uh, she has really long legs, and it's kinda hard to catch up to her. BUT, this is merely an obstacle placed along my path in an attempt to stop but in reality, it's actually to help me grow stronger!

All I have to do is simply run faster than she can walk. Fufufu~, genius isn't it? And I know the perfect reward for my hard work. It's that tail of hers, but soon, just like all tails, it shall belong...to...MEEEEE-

*Plop*

"Hm? Lia? I thought you were with me the whole time. What's the matter? Oh, if you wanted me to pick you up, then I'm sorry about that, but you didn't say anything either." [Lunestia]

"Mmm, Big Sis is a dummy! I always wanna be picked up! ALWAYS! Especially by tail!" [Lucillia]

"Alright then. Is that all you wanted to say? We're almost at the dining hall." [Lunestia]

"WAIT!" [Lucillia]

"I'm waiting." [Lunestia]

Hmm, now I'm not sure if I should ask her. I feel like if I did, she wouldn't take me all that seriously even though this is the most serious I've been in my entire life. Also, if we're almost at the table, then that means my other sisters are there which means I could just ask them for advice instead. Decisions, decisions...

Huh, now that I think about it, today's been full of tough decisions hasn't it? What can I say, it's a harsh life out here in the middle of wherever we are. 

"If you wish to ask us for advice, then wouldn't it be best if you talked to everyone at once?" [Lunestia]

"Mmmmm, I'm hungry." [Lucillia]

"If that's the case, then I believe the most optimal result will come if we consult the matter together. Of course, if that's okay with you." [Lunestia]

"Kay." [Lucillia]

Hurray for having big sisters that can make my decisions for me when I want them to. Fufu, it's all a part of my master plan to do sit back and do absolutely nothing in this life!

Actually, that sounds really boring, and I hate being bored. But then again, I also hate having to do stuff. Hmm, okay fine, I'll still do stuff so I don't get bored. But if I don't wanna do it, then I'm not gonna!

*Creeeeak*

"We have arrived." [Lunestia]

"Woohoo." [Lucillia]

"Hm, well since we seem to be the first ones to arrive, why don't we wait a bit for them before you ask your question? Is that okay with you Lia?" [Lunestia]

"Mmmm, kay." [Lucillia]

Ooh look, a piece of bread. Ooh look, some butter with the thingies in it that make your breath smell bad. 

"Take care not to eat too much or else you'll be full before we even begin." [Lunestia]

"**omma nomma nom*" [Lucillia]

Some waiting and nomming later

"Yoohoo~, we're here. Oh, is Mother still not here?" [Caelenia]

"I believe she was in the middle of a book." [Lunestia]

"Ah, I see. She'll be a while longer then." [Caelenia]

"Well, that works out for us because Lia has something to ask." [Lunestia]

"Lia? What's up?" [Silvania]

"I must know the secrets!" [Lucillia]

"Of what?" [Silvania]

"Of how to bother Mama!" [Lucillia]

Eh? Why are you looking at each other like that? And what's with the awkward silence?

"So you wish to...'bother' Mother?" [Lunestia]

"Mmm!" [Lucillia]

"I see. What exactly do you mean by that?" [Lunestia]

"Mama and I were reading earlier, but I finished reading so I got bored and tried to bother her. But then, I tried everything and she didn't even move! And then when Big Sis walked in, she talked instantly!" [Lucillia]

"..." [The Three Other Dragons]

W-why is everyone looking at me like that? Why are you just smiling?! The faces, what do they mean?!!

"Hehe~, in regard to your endeavors, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, Lia." [Lunestia]

"Mhm, just be yourself and you'll succeed~." [Caelenia]

"I wonder if this is how I looked like back then." [Silvania]

"Oh yeah, you were pretty needy when you were a kid, but this one is...ehhh pretty comparable actually." [Caelenia]

"Really?" [Silvania]

"I agree as well." [Lunestia]

Mmmmm, MMMMM!!! Now they're talking about something else! The conversation is supposed to be about me, I tell you, ME!! I refuse to be disrespected like this! I'm gonna-eh? Why am I being picked up?

"Weren't you the one who wanted my attention earlier? Here you go." [Corinna]

"But Mama didn't respond earlier." [Lucillia]

"Better late than never, right? And I did notice you, I just wanted to finish that chapter first." [Corinna]

"So Mama won't ignore me anymore?" [Lucillia]

"Maybe sometimes, but right now, you have all the time you want to bother me. Just don't do it with your food." [Corinna]

"Sir yes ma'am!" [Lucillia]

Hmm, that wasn't what I expected, but I get more time with Mama so I don't care! I get to bother her all I want now, and no one can stop me! Uhh, except for one thing though.

"I'm hungry." [Lucillia]

"Let's get this meal started then." [Corinna]

Fishcat

Hi there. Don't mind me, just recovering from the pain of midterms. If you haven't seen it already, I just started my second series, and you can check it out here. It's a little barebones right now, but you know how that goes. As always, thanks for reading, take care, and stay nourished with delicious food.