LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 25: Dead Week Begins
The two dragons arrived in the middle of the living room where they were greeted by a trio of slightly miffed dragons in their nightgowns. Rather, said trio immediately surrounded their mother and began the interrogation.
"Mother, what's the meaning of this?" [Silvania]
"There's no getting out of this one, Mother." [Caelenia]
"I am severely disappointed in you, Mother. There will be no redemption today." [Lunestia]
The youngest of the three wrapped her tail around the mother dragon's arms while the middle child grabbed the shoulders from behind. Meanwhile, the eldest went and attempted to peel the little dragon off of the absurdly large cookie jar. However, the little one refused to let go, so the sister dragon was forced to just take the entire jar.
In short, the mother's escape routes were all cut off.
"Before you convict me of anything, can someone at least tell me what the accusations are?" [Corinna]
"That is simple. You, Mother, are guilty." [Lunestia]
"Of?" [Corinna]
"Do you even have to ask, Mother? Hmph, even now, you still feign ignorance right before our eyes." [Silvania]
"Oi-" [Corinna]
"It can't be helped then. Big Sis, show her." [Silvania]
The middle dragon presented to her mother a small envelope with a dragon seal. At least, it was a dragon seal until it was split in two with a claw earlier that night. Within the envelope were two pieces of paper: one filled with text, and one with an image.
Hi hiii~, guess who just got to witness our favorite little gremlin make her first friend~?
Yup, that's right, I did! And none of you were there to see it~.
But no need to worry, Big Sis has you covered~.
I did my best to recreate the feeling, but things like this just have to be witnessed in person, y'know?
Anyways, don't fight over it too much, I got lots more for all of us to share.
'Kay, that's it. Love you~.
-Sol
P.S.
Mother also has a bunch of these photos of us from all sorts of ages. She keeps them in her pocket, so good luck finding them. 'Kay bye~.
The attached image depicted a pair of adorable children napping together in a garden with a certain dragon sister posing behind them with a winky face and a peace sign.
With that, the mother dragon figured out why her daughters were in such a mood.
'Twas not because she snuck off to the other end of the continent for the day. 'Twas definitely not because she went to see their dearest sister without them. And 'twas only moderately because they were unable to witness that magnificent sight of the sleepy children.
No, the girls were behaving the way they did because their mother took something from them, something very, very dear. Umu. Because of her actions, they missed the greatest opportunity of...well, just observing the little one's every action.
For the past week or so, their mother had been hogging their dear little sister, leaving almost no bonding time for the sisters outside of meals. The girls were not too bothered initially, as the mother-daughter duo had mostly passed the days reading or playing, nothing exciting.
But all of that changed with the arrival of the message bearing evidence that the two were beginning to have more fun than was allowed. At, least, more than was allowed without including everyone else.
"Looks like I'll need to have a talk with someone in a week." [Corinna]
"Shall we take your lack of denial as an admission of guilt?" [Silvania]
"Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want. Just make it quick. I need to reassess the security of my storage options." [Corinna]
"If that's the case, then your punishment will be initiated immediately." [Silvania]
"And my punishment is?" [Corinna]
Right as the mother dragon asked that question, the elder sister managed to finally peel the little one off of the cookie jar. She was met with resistance, however, when the little one struggled with all her might to reach back to the increasingly distant jar. But, the sister managed to quell the shenanigans by grabbing a singular cookie and placing it in the little one's hands, where she would nibble on it like a squirrel.
"Your punishment is very simple. You, Mother, will not be allowed anywhere near Lia until Elder Sis comes back." [Silvania]
"Uhhh huh..." [Corinna]
"Hmph, even in such a tense situation, you remain stoic as ever. No matter, we know you'll be hurting on the inside after this." [Silvania]
They walked off. Just like that. They ambushed their mother coming home from a trip and robbed a child from her. Truly outrageous. 'Twould not be a surprise if the mother was rather furious after this turn of events.
But she wasn't. In fact, she remained calm as ever, cooler than snow.
"What in the world has gotten into them? If they wanted to babysit so badly, they could've just asked the normal way." [Corinna]
Her only bodily reactions consisted of a singular sigh and a shake of her head. Truly an unshakeable one, she is.
"Works out for me though, so I'm not complaining." [Corinna]
"Yeah, well you never complain about anything when it comes to your girls." [Helios]
"That's not true. There were plenty of times when I wished the girls weren't so independent since that meant less time for me to-wait. How the fuck are you talking to me right now?" [Corinna]
"I don't know, maybe try the big ass hole in the spacetime continuum that you forgot to close? Which, by the way, you might want to hurry up and do so. This thing's starting to sound a little spooky and I don't want to deal with what comes out of it." [Helios]
"You saw nothing." [Corinna]
Before the fire dragon could even respond, the hole closed up. Finally left to her own devices, the dragon mother took the absurdly large cookie jar and passed it to the fishy maid for safekeeping. She then headed to her office for some late night paperwork.
...
On the other hand, the girls had relocated to the bathroom to cleanse their sister of the day's dirt and dust. She was surprisingly well-behaved as they were scrubbing and dubbing. She especially seemed to enjoy the process of washing her hair and polishing her horns.
Things were going quite well until the little one refused to leave the bath and began rebelling.
"Get out of there right now, Missy! I won't say it again!!" [Caelenia]
"I DON'T WANNA!!!" [Lucillia]
The little one found the hot bath a bit more comfortable today compared to all other days. For whatever reason, the nice, comfy warmth of the water provided her with a strange sense of envelopment and fulfillment never before seen or, well, felt.
On one hand, it would mean her bath times from this day on would be much more appreciated and loved, which is a great outcome. On the other hand, the caretaker(s) of the child, be it her mother, sisters, or maid, would undoubtedly suffer trying to get her out.
Much like what can be observed right now.
"Gah, it's not working...Silvie! Hurry up and fish her out!" [Caelenia]
"I'm trying my best, but for some reason, you people decided to put me in charge of doing this! ME! Have you seen my tail?!" [Silvania]
Owing to her attribute of Nature, the dragon with a green thumb bears scales that closely resemble leaves. They rustle with the wind, and they even photosynthesize to some degree, albeit mainly converting ambient divinity to mana. And perhaps the most unfortunate trait of her scales for the moment is their inability to move through liquids efficiently.
But at the end of the day, they are in fact scales and not leaves. That's what matters most.
At least, except for situations like the one currently faced by the leafy dragon.
Now completely disregarding what was just stated above, the source of the sisters' plight was not actually due to poor compatibility.
"Gah! She's too fast! I feel like she's faster than I remember, which doesn't make this any easier, and CAN SOMEONE HELP ME ALREADY?!!" [SIlvania]
"Alright, stand aside. I got this." [Caelenia]
In the past, the little one was significantly easier to fish out of the bath, despite her smaller size. So much easier, that even the leafy dragon could do so with little to no effort.
But now, the sisters find themselves a new obstacle before them. The name of such a grand bump in the road that could throw off even a trio of elder dragons is...their summer vacation! Er, well, the summer vacation that included two of the three sisters.
That highlight of that trip was a visit to a city that was under the sea. As a result, the little one gained much experience with traversing through mediums that are wetter. Combine that with the high temperature of the water, and you have quite a party, take it from me.
Yes, me. The voice in your head as you look at this collection of light beams aligned to certain wavelengths that happen to bounce into the backs of your eyes...
...
...
...
...
...
>:D
...
The two fisher-dragons struggled left, right, and upside down trying to get the little one out of the bath. The elder sister spend that time thinking. No, she did not take up philosophy as an occupation, she was searching through her memory banks to figure out what the cause of the little one's behavior could possibly be.
She ultimately left the bathroom, mostly to avoid the splashes, and took a look around the changing room. Perhaps a small hint would reveal itself somewhere unexpected. Of course, since only one person is actually bathing, there is only one basket filled with belongings.
All that resided in that basket was the dress worn that day. The elder sister picked up the dress, tried her best not to visit memory lane, and carefully inspected it.
The results of that investigation were: a handful of cookie crumbs and a couple of feathers. Aha! The key to solving the mystery!
A closer look revealed that the feathers did not belong to your ordinary, average bird. They came from a big bird, one born from flame and ash! Of all the children around the little dragon's age, the elder sister knew of a few who bore feathers, but only one of them included the flame and ash part. And since the message from earlier included a photo of the children, it was easy to deduce the former owner of the feathers and how they ended up there.
But, speculation would have to wait for another time, for the little one's bath time must end first.
The elder sister brought the feathers to the bathroom and made a threat.
"Lia, if you don't want me to throw these away, come out right now." [Lunestia]
*KABLOOEY*
With the force of a thousand cookies and the mightiest of tails, the tiny but fierce dragon blasted out of the water and flew toward the feathers. The resulting tidal wave would have left the sisters completely drenched had their scales and clothes not been completely hydrophobic.
And with her initial velocity nearly breaking the sound barrier, no one could possibly stop her! Yes, no one except the middle sister who used the power of a thousand and one cookies to snatch the child out of the air and wrap her in a towel.
"Grr, grrr, GRRRR!!!" [Lucillia]
"Hey, keep it steady! I can't dry your tail if you keep swinging it everywhere." [Caelenia]
...
Tiny dragon used Tail Whip!
Big dragon's defense was decreased!
Big dragon used Shake The Dragon (don't do this at home exclamation mark)!
Tiny dragon fainted!
It's super effective!
...
After a fierce battle between tail and towel, the sisters finally managed to dry off the little one and put her nightwear on. They celebrated their grand victory by retiring to the middle sister's room with some extra toys gathered along the way.
The final count consisted of: the foxie, the shrimpie, the life-sized armored speartuna, a flowery pillow with built-in heating and plenty of fluff, and several wooden dolls capable of animation.
Being the most childish child of the children, the small child spent no more than fifteen seconds playing with each toy until the supply ran out. The sisters were then faced with yet another trial.
But unlike the last one, this trial may prove far more difficult, for the sisters have taken daunting task of keeping a child entertained until they fall asleep. Mm. Truly a tremendous one. Especially when almost all children have shorter attention spans than a goldfish by default.
The sisters were fortunately saved by the child's sense of adventure and curiosity, even if only temporarily. They had approximately five minutes before the room would be completely explored.
She first rummaged through the closet. Then she inspected the furniture. Three minutes, forty-two seconds, and five hundred-fifty-five milliseconds had passed.
A furious hunt, the sisters quickly but subtly scoured the room at the same time as the little one. However, they needed to exercise extreme discretion, lest the little one catch on and become suspicious of nefarious deeds.
Hm, yes, nefarious deeds. Nefarious deeds require not only nefarious people, but also nefarious trinkets. Trinkets such as...the clearly nefarious plushie shaped like a cloud with a smiley face hiding in the corner of the bed!
The little dragon immediately pounced on it, cutting off any room for the nefarious deeds to be carried out! However, the congregation of vapor fluff did not even budge! It fought back, sending an immense shockwave in the form of soft, comfy snuggles.
They were an effective counterattack, but they were not enough to ward off the small one's advances. She continued to climb atop the mound of fluff, reaching closer and closer to whatever secrets lie at its peak. But the cloud had other plans, for it suddenly took flight!
Through the air it soared, reaching heights only limited by the ceiling of the bedroom. Still the little one held on, however, clinging to whatever fluff possible. Slowly but surely, she climbed aboard the cloud until she found a comfy seat up top.
Meanwhile, the sisters were finally taking a breath of relief.
"Phew~. That somehow worked out." [Caelenia]
"That wouldn't have been so hard if your room wasn't boring!" [Silvania]
"Hey, I'm not the one that just has a bunch of plants in my room. You think Lia'd be any more interested in that?!" [Caelenia]
"What's that supposed to mean?! What's not to love about plants?!" [Silvania]
Ah. It would seem the household is cursed to never witness a dull moment as the girls constantly exchange one situation for another rather than enjoying the peace and quiet.
"Quiet, both of you. Caela, focus on driving." [Lunestia]
A quick smack to the tail broke up the fight and brought the middle sister's eyes back to the road. She waved her tail to and fro, fro and to, carefully steering the flying cloud and its passenger around the room.
"Silvie, take these." [Lunestia]
"And what am I supposed to do with them?" [Silvania]
"Use them to play with her. You of all people should be very familiar with what I'm talking about." [Lunestia]
"Ahh. You mean the plushie wars? I can do that!" [Silvania]
And so the youngest older sister to re-enact the very form of entertainment that kept her occupied as a child. A plushie in each arm, she ran off to save the bedroom from the evil cloud and its mind-blowingly adorable mastermind.
With that, the other two were left to their own devices. The middle sister was playing the somewhat dangerous game of guessing what the little one is thinking and how she wants the cloud to move. On the other hand, the elder sister was knitting yet another product. This time, she was making a little blanket to go with the little pillow she made earlier.
...
Time flew by after that.
Worn out by her glorious battle against the mighty foxie and its seafaring companions, the little dragon fell into a deep sleep while still atop her cloudy compatriot. Her tiny blanket was completed just in time as she was then tightly wrapped in a cozy embrace made even tighter when the sisters brought her to bed.
And so they slumbered the night away with nary an evil spirit in sight.
The next morning
.....
Lucillia
Huff puff, huff puff.
"Where'd she go?!" [Caelenia]
"Left! No, right! I mean, left!" [Silvania]
"Make up your mind, woman!" [Caelenia]
"This way." [Lunestia]
Huff puff, not here.
"Ahhh! She's turning around!" [Silvania]
"You don't have to shout it out when I can see it!" [Caelenia]
"Less talking, more chasing." [Lunestia]
GAHHH!! Not here either! That's it. It's time for the secret weapon!
*sniff sniff, sniff sniff*
Hmm, this way!
*Huffington the puffington~*
"Where'd she go now?!" [Caelenia]
"Uhh...I lost her..." [Silvania]
"Haah. Just follow me." [Lunestia]
Al...most...there! Just a little...more!
Huuuuuut~.
Huff, puff, why are doors so tall?! Come on...jump...higher...than the...sky!!
*clack*
Got it! But is she here?
*squeeky the door because apparently all doors in the house are squeeky*
"Good morning." [Corinna]
She's here! She's here, she's here, she's here!! Where is she? HERE!!!
"Mamaaa~!" [Lucillia]
"Yes?" [Corinna]
"Mama!" [Lucillia]
"Yes?" [Corinna]
"Mama Mama Mama! Maaama, Mama!!" [Lucillia]
"Were you feeling lonely last night? Even though your sisters were there? Alright, come here." [Corinna]
"Eheheh~." [Lucillia]
"FOUND HER!" [Caelenia]
The dragon mother's morning was given a startling awakening when not only the slightly lonely little one but the three older sisters all came barging into the study.
Unfortunately for the older children, the little one was already receiving copious amounts of snuggles, hugs, and more hugs from their dearest mother.
They had woken up to find the little one missing along with her plushies and new blanket. They then found her running around the halls and searching through the rooms. They started at their mother's bedroom, then the dining room, and finally, the study.
No matter how hard they tried to win her attention, the little one still ran off as if their company was not enough.
At the end (beginning?) of the day, the girls were unable to beat their mother in childcare. Within the span of not even half a day, the mother's punishment was lifted.
