Little Blaze
When I wake up again, I’m still in the theater but now I have a blanket over me. It seems like a completely different play is now being performed on stage.
“Good morning, Rose. Did you sleep well?” Scarlet whispers to me.
“Yeah…Sorry, I fell asleep.”
“It’s fine, you were exhausted.”
“It’s not fine…I missed the play and you also had to buy more tickets. I just wasted a lot of money…”
“Kikikiki, you ‘wasted’ a total of six copper. You could sleep here for a hundred days and you wouldn’t even get close to making a dent in my allowance.”
“But still…You’re not supposed to spend money, right?”
“I’m allowed to spend it freely on entertainment, just not on helping me with things like getting an escort or to pay for transport. But I’m sure mom and dad would allow me to spend the entire treasury if it was used for your wellbeing.”
“I see…” stomach growl
“Are you hungry, oko?”
“Just a bit, but it’s fine. We can eat after the show is over.”
“Nah, let’s go now. We can just watch the play again another day.”
Scarlet picks me up and puts a blanket around me, “I heard from the ones at the meeting that there is a pretty big immigrant area from Blaze, they call it ‘Little Blaze’, let’s go eat there.”
“Okay…”
Going outside, it seems to be early evening now. Snow is gently falling from the sky and the sun is about to go down soon.
Scarlet then looks at me with a cheeky smile and asks, “Do you want to see something interesting?”
“Sure?”
“Okay, close your eyes then.”
“Allright.”
I close my eyes then shortly after a guy’s voice says, “You can open them now.”
Confused, I open them again and find myself being carried by a handsome guy in a red and black suit. He has a well trimmed haircut and looks kind of like a younger version of the portrait of Scarlet’s father but with red hair instead of pink. He smells just like Scarlet.
“Scarlet? Is that you?”
“Yep! What do you think?”
“Pfft, you look and sound so weird, hahaha.”
“Oh~ Don’t I look handsome, my love~?”
“Pffft, hahaha. Stop it, hahaha.”
“Are you sure baby girl? I hear from my friends that the hearts of the ladies at court flutter anytime they look at me. Does thine heart flutter as well, your Highness?”
“Ahahahaha, sure! Totally, pffft…It never fluttered as much as today my prince~ Hahahaha.”
Scarlet chuckles and asks, “You’re really enjoying this aren’t you? I should surprise you with this form more often, haha.”
“It’s just, you look and sound so stupid, haha. It’s really funny! Right, ane?”
“I dunno, I don’t think it’s funny as much as it’s fascinating. It’s like you’re a completely different person, Scarlet. Is Scarlet even the right name now? Do you have a different name for that form?”
“I do go by Carlos when in this form but I genuinely don’t mind what you or Rose address me by.”
“So, why did you change sex, manya? Just to cheer me up?”
She chuckles, “No, to be honest I didn’t expect you to find me so entertaining. I transformed so people won’t recognize me in Little Blaze.”
“I see.”
Rayla asks, “So, how recognizable are you anyways?”
“Hmm…People from Blaze would probably recognize me. Otherwise, only nobility, academics or people from high Society would probably recognize me. As for my parents, I think a lot more people would recognize them but I’m not too sure. In my male form though, it’s very unlikely that anyone would recognize me. But we’ll find out soon enough, we’re here.”
Looking ahead, there is a huge open gate that says “Welcome to Little Blaze” on it. Behind it, the streets look noticeably different than the ones we went through before. There are red and green decorations with Roses on them everywhere. The people here are also noticeably dressed differently, wearing a lot more form fitting clothing and some even showing skin or exposing their abs despite it being winter. The streets also seem littered with restaurants.
“Is this what Blaze is like, manya?”
“Pfft, no not at all. This is just some tourist spot, but they do sell a very popular food in Blaze here called ‘Pizza’. I was told one of these restaurants here makes the best pizza in the NU.”
“Pizza? What is that?” Rayla asks.
“It’s a type of bread with tomato sauce, cheese and other toppings on it.”
“Huh, so like a sandwich?”
“Not at all, haha.”
Walking through the streets, we eventually come upon a restaurant named “Vincenco’s”, “Alright, that’s the one.”
Going inside, it’s a very small restaurant with only six tables, right next to the counter where you order. It looks more like an indoor food stall than a restaurant.
Walking up to the front, surprisingly no one stares at me for long, despite me looking like a grown man being princess-carried by a slightly younger looking guy.
The person manning the counter is a muscular looking young man without a shirt on.
“Ey, hello and welcome to Vincenco’s. What can I help you girls with?”
A bit surprised, I raise an eyebrow and ask him, “How did you know?”
“Pfft, kiddo I wasn’t born yesterday and no matter how hard this city’s piss filled streets try, my nose hasn’t gotten bad yet either.”
“Huh…”
“So, what can I get ya?”
Scarlet answers, “One pizza Carbonara for the foxlady, one pizza Scarlet for me and a pizza Ruby for my sister. Neither of them had pizza before so I expect good quality.”
“First pizza, ey? Don’t worry I’ll make sure to give you an experience that will make future pizzas taste like dirt in comparison.”
We then sit down at one of the table booths where I say, “That’s kind of a funny coincidence that they have a pizza with the same name as you, manya.”
“It’s not a coincidence, it’s named after me.”
“What?”
“Everyone of the royal family gets their favorite pizza named after them. It’s been a practice for the last two generations.”
“Huh…You really are kind of a big deal aren’t you?”
Giving me a hug Scarlet answers, “We both are.”
“So what’s on a pizza Scarlet?” Rayla asks.
“Well, essentially it’s a normal cheese pizza topped with beef fat and garnished with raw beef shortly before it’s done baking so it has time to warm up a little.”
“Huh…I assume it’s not very popular with non dragons?”
“You’d be right, but a lot of dragons do like it and it’s not that unpopular under Beastfolk.”
“Really?”
“Yep, you can try a piece if you want.”
“Sure, I’ll give it a shot.”
“And what’s on my pizza, manya?”
“Yours is our mom’s favorite pizza. It’s made with fresh chili, chili oil, salami and firecap mushrooms.”
“What are chili and firecap mushrooms?”
“They’re very spicy plants, you’ll love it!”
“Huh, I hope so. By the way, manya. How do you change sex? Do you think I can do it?”
She puts her hand on her chin, “Well…It isn’t complicated but I don’t think you can do it. That curse of yours seems really strong.”
“Well, I can still try, right?”
“Yeah, I guess it’s worth a shot…All you need to do is imagine yourself as the other sex and imagine your body changing into it.”
“Alright.”
I close my eyes and try to imagine it just like manya said. When I open my eyes, nothing changed.
“It didn’t work…”
She pets my cheek, “It’s okay. Once we remove your curse, you’ll be back to normal. This isn’t even your real body, so it makes sense it didn’t work.”
“I guess…”
Rayla seems to ponder something then says, “If that isn’t her real body and she can transform into her draconic form which is her real body, perhaps she can transform into a male version of her real body. Can you try that maybe? Like, imagine you turn into Scarlet’s male form.”
“I guess I could try, but what's the point? Even if it worked it wouldn’t change anything right?”
Manya seems interested, “No, Rayla is right. If it works similarly to your draconic form you would turn into a male version of your true self. It might be slightly altered in terms of appearance, like how you don’t have wings in your draconic form, but it still would be nice to know, right?”
“Hmm…I guess I can try.”
Closing my eyes again, I imagine myself turning into Scarlet's male form. When I open them again nothing…”Eh? Did you guys get bigger?” I say in a voice that sounds like a small child’s.
Looking down, it seems like I’m way smaller and my clothes don’t fit me anymore. Looking up, both Rayla and Scarlet look at me in shock.
Rayla is the first to break out of it and whispers, “By the gods, you’re so small…”
Scarlet then picks me up and gives me a hug, the shirt I used to wear before now covering my entire body. It feels a little weird, both because she is in her male form right now and because this body feels so unfamiliar. Speaking of…”Look Scarlet! I have a tail!”
“Yeah…Sniff Of course you do, you’re my little sister after all…”
“Eh? Are you crying, Scarlet?”
“No…I’m just a bit moved so my eyes got a little teary. How about you, how are you feeling, Rose?”
“Weird and it’s harder to move than in my cursed form but still easier than in my draconic form.”
Hugging me even tighter, Scarlet says, “Let’s have a lot of fun together and hope you get better soon.”
“Okay. Should I try turning back now?”
“Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“Hmm…No, not really. I feel weird but…I also don’t really feel not normal, I guess.”
“Then, try to stay like this until you fall asleep. Let’s show you to John and Sher Aka too when we go back to the hotel.”
“Okay. Oh! Ane!”
“Y-yes?”
“Now that I have a tail we can do it the real way!”
She cogs her head, “Can do what the real way?”
“Nuzzle cheeks! Now you can hug my tail too!”
“Pfft, hahaha. Yeah, you're right. Let me pick you up, oko.”
“Eh, you’re so big up close like this, ane.”
“Pfft, you’re just really small and cute oko.”
“Really? Am I cute!?”
“Yes, very cute! But if you want me to hold your tail you need to relax it a little! If you wag it around like this I won’t be able to catch it.”
“Eh? But I don’t do it on purpose!”
“I know, don’t worry. Just take a deep breath.”
I take a deep breath.
“There you go, it’s calmed down now.”
Rayla then gives my tail a hug while I give her tails a hug as we nuzzle cheeks.
I grin at her, “Heh, this time we did it the right way!”
“Pfft, we always did it the right way, oko. I love you so much!”
“I love you too, ane! And you as well, Scarlet!”