Pizza Time
Humming a tune I learned from Sher Aka, I sit on Rayla’s lap while we wait.
“You seem quite happy, oko.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah, it’s quite the contrast to earlier today.”
“I dunno, I feel normal.”
“Normal is good,” Rayla says while brushing through my hair.
“Why are you staring so much at me, Scarlet? Are you mad?”
“Huh? No, not at all. I just want to look at my pretty little sister while I have the chance.”
“Heh, okay~”
Vincenco’s voice interrupts, “Pizza’s ready!” as he brings us three disk shaped baked breads with cheese and other toppings on them. Rayla’s looks a bit more unique because it has cream on it instead of tomato sauce.
Looking at it somewhat skeptically ane says, “So, that’s a pizza, huh. How do we eat this Scarlet? They didn’t give us any cutlery.”
“With your hands of course, that’s why they cut it into pieces.”
“Huh…Shouldn’t we wash our hands first then? Is there a sink here?”
“I don’t think so but if you want I’ll lick your hands clean.”
Rayla seems to think a little then asks, “Is Dragon spit really like water or is that just something you say?”
“It is, you could drink it and be fine.”
“Sigh Fine, I’ll try it.”
“Really? That’s surprising, in a good way!”
“Yeah, yeah, just do it before I change my mind.”
Scarlet then begins to lick Rayla’s hands clean causing me to chuckle.
“What’s so funny, oko?”
“Well, you look like a couple doing naughty things, haha.”
Rayla takes a look at Scarlet again and with an annoyed and slightly disgusted face says, “Yeah, in a way it does.”
“Alright, I’m done.”
“Thank the Gods…”
“Now your turn, Rose.”
“Okay!” I try holding up my arms for her to lick my hands but they’re extremely weak and after a short time they begin to tremble under the strain.
“There is no need to push yourself, Rose!” Scarlet says as she quickly leans over the table and puts both of my hands in her mouth giving them a quick clean.
After that, she licks her own hands clean and picks up a slice of pizza for me, “Alright, open up wide, Rose!
I do so and take a big bite out of the pizza. It tastes wonderful! The meat is juicy and fatty and the cheese, bread and tomato work really well together. The chili and firecap mushrooms taste great too and they make me feel really warm inside. It’s like a flame in my neck coming up from my stomach, going up to my nos- “Achooo!”
Letting out a loud sneeze I notice that some fire came out of my mouth with it.
“So cute! Do you like the taste, Rose?”
“Yeah…But I think I achoo I think I might be allergic to it.”
“Oh no, that’s a completely normal reaction. The spicy food just stimulates your mana production. Once you get older you won’t sneeze anymore but until then I’m going to enjoy the view~”
Rayla is the next to try a bite from her pizza. The melted cheese strings pull down as she picks up her piece, “Mmmmh! This really is good!”
“Kikikiki, right? It’s a Blaze staple!”
Now taking a bite herself, Scarlet exclaims, “Yeah, this place is pretty good. Not even close to the best I ever had but it’s a good pizza. Would you like to try a bite from mine, Rayla?”
“Hmm…I am a bit skeptical but sure.”
She now bites into the beef fat and raw warmed up beef pizza.
“...”
“Hmm, you know what, it’s a bit weird both in texture and flavor but it’s not bad.”
“Told ya!”
We then continue to eat and enjoy ourselves. I however need to stop at two slices because I’m full.
When we’re done eating, Vincenco puts my leftovers in a cardboard box and Scarlet wraps me up in a blanket before leaving the restaurant. It’s only once we’re outside that I see my reflection for the first time in the window. I look like a toddler version of Scarlet’s male form but instead of red hair mine is still pink and black. My scar has also completely disappeared.
“Eh? Scarlet is that me?”
“Yep!”
“I look just like you!”
“Pfft, of course you do, you're my little sister after all.”
“Do…Do you think when my curse is lifted I’ll be pretty like you too?”
Brushing through my hair she answers, “Of course, maybe you’ll be even prettier.”
“Pfft, that’s not possible. You and ane are the prettiest.”
“Kikikiki, why thank you, your Highness~ It seems like mine humble looks do make thine heart flutter after all~”
“Ahahaha, stop it, manya. You’re so stupid, ahaha.”
“Calling a prince from a country far, far away, stupid…Your Highness sure is confident in herself, not that I mind~”
“Pfft, okay stop it now, manya. I don’t want the flirty prince anymore, I want my sister back.”
“Alright, I’ll change back.”
It’s a little weird to watch this time as Scarlet morphs back from her male version to her regular one.
After walking through the snowy streets for a bit in silence, I suddenly feel a lot of guilt as a past memory comes to mind and I have a realization.
“...”
“Hey manya?”
“Hmm?”
“I know this might be a weird question but do you think bad people deserve to be loved?”
“Hmm…I dunno, it depends on the person. Why do you ask?”
“Well…Having such a horrible curse on me probably means I was a horrible person that deserved it, right? Do you…Do you think you would still love me if it turns out I’m a horrible person?”
“Yes,” she answers bluntly without thinking.
“How do you know?”
“Because if a child is bad it just means they were raised wrong. I’ll make sure you’re raised right.”
“And what if I’m already a bad kid?”
“You’re not.”
“I…I am. I…I’ve been hiding something from you, manya. Something big.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“I…I know who killed your real younger sibling.”
“What?” Scarlet says as she stops and looks at me, “What are you talking about?”
“I…I know who smashed their egg. It…It was Shara Seleen…My mother.”
“What!?”
“What!?”
Scarlet then looks me straight in the eyes, “Tell me exactly what you know and how you know.”
With my teeth chattering I answer, “I…I know because she told me. On the day that they went to the blackmarket and found the egg…Uli got so overwhelmed with anger from the egg that she smashed it. Ser Adin tried to stop her and cut off her leg in the process but she was too late. That was also the reason they broke up.”
Scarlet is looking at me furiously and her scales begin to show and cover her body.
“I-I’m sorry! I know I should have told you when I found out who your family is b-but Uli is m-my family and I didn’t wa-”
Putting her scaly finger over my mouth, Scarlet says, “I know. Thank you for telling me who killed our sibling. I’m glad you told me, Rose.”
“A-are you not mad at me?”
“No. But I am very mad at Shara Seleen right now. Could you do your sister a big favor?”
“Sure!”
“Could you tell your big sis how much you love her? It will help calm me down.”
“Of course! I love you a lot Scarlet! I don’t want to ever lose you! Never ever!”
Her scales slowly turn back to skin as she asks me, “Is that so? Then can you give your big sis some kisses?”
“Of course!” I say then give her some kisses on the cheek.
Completely turned back to normal Scarlet swoons, “There really is no better cure than having a cute little sister~ Now come on, let’s go, we’re almost back at the hotel.”
“Are you sure you want to leave it at that, Scarlet?” Rayla asks.
“Yeah, let’s not think about it for the rest of the day…”
Walking through the snow, we come back to our hotel about ten minutes later. As we come to the door of our room, Scarlet and I wait outside while Rayla goes in first.
“We’re back! And we have something to show you!”
“Is it something good at least? You guys have been taking forever. Sherry got really worried.”
“Oh? I remember it more like both of us getting worried.”
“Sigh It doesn’t really matter in the end. Point is we were worried!”
“I swear it was worth the wait! We found out something very interesting Rose can do. But you guys better prepare yourself, you’ll be very surprised! Are you ready?”
“Sure.”
“I am.”
“Okay, Scarlet come in!”
As Scarlet carries me inside, I observe as John and Sher Aka’s facial expressions go from intrigue, to confusion, to surprise.
“No way!?”
“What!?”
Sher Aka is the first to walk up to me. She puts her hand on my cheek and asks, “Is it really you, Rose?”
“Yeah. Surprise!”
“B-but how? Has the curse been lifted?”
“Nope, this is me in my male form.”
“What?”
Rayla explains, “The curse doesn’t completely affect her in her draconic form, right? So we thought, what if she tries changing sex? And turns out that worked. This is probably the closest to her real appearance as is possible without removing the curse.”
“Wait, so Tho-Rose, changed her sex from male to male?” John asks.
“Well…No. The cursed form is her real form so it’s technically female even if she doesn’t look like it.”
“I see…” John walks closer to me and sighs loudly, “Damn it, I’m friends with a toddler.”
“Best friends.”
“What?”
“I’m your best friend.”
“Sigh I hate that you’re right…Fuck man, there has to be something wrong with me…”
“It’s okay John, we’re all weird, right?”
“Sigh Yeah…But you’re all weirder than me,” he suddenly gets serious, “Also, never, ever mention to anyone how we met. I don’t want people to think I’m a pedophile.”
“Don’t they already do that?”
“Yes…But for bigoted reasons not logical ones. Either way, let me give you a checkup.”
Following John into his room he gives me a thorough check up.
“Hmm…You really are any doctor’s nightmare you know that?”
“Why?”
“Because your body is different in each of your forms. In your cursed form, you have Human anatomy, but in this form you have Dragon anatomy.”
“What does that mean?”
“That your organs are completely different in each form. For example, usually your heart would be here, in your chest. But because you have Dragon anatomy in this form, your heart is right above where your belly button would be if you had one.”
“I don’t have a belly button?”
“No. Dragons hatch from eggs. They don’t have a xxxcord to be attached to so they don’t have belly buttons unless they purposefully change their body to have one as a disguise. Usually there is a small scar there but since you didn’t hatch from an egg there is nothing there at all. As for this body’s age…It looks like a seventy to eighty year old dragon body, which is about equal to a three to four year old human.”
“Wait…So I’m eighty years old!?”
“No. You’re two months old, your polymorphed form just resembles an older body.”
“Huh…Why is that?”
“I have no fucking idea. It’s possible that it’s because of your curse, it’s also possible that this is just the youngest form a polymorphed body can take or that your polymorphed form takes on a midway point between your body before and after reincarnation. Why that would be the case though, I have no idea. If however, I manage to understand your body and write a medical paper about it, I’m sure I’ll get a lifetime funded xxx to pursue medicine.”
“You should try that then!”
“Yeah…No. Let’s hope you get rid of that curse before I’m so familiar with it I can write a xxx about it.”
“...”
“Hey, John?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you teach me how to do my hair?”
He grins, “Oh? Are you sure you’re up to it? It will be a long and xxx path and I won’t go easy on you.”
“Yes. I’m ready, teach!
“Good, I’ll start your lessons tomorrow. Also, I’m done examining you.”
“Am I healthy?”
“Of course not. You’re still malnourished, your muscles are still severely atrophied, your complexion is horrible and your curse mark looks like it’s trying to strangle you from the back.”
“But otherwise I’m healthy, right?”
“Yes, if we ignore all these problems you’re the image of good health.”
“Nice.”
John flicks my forehead, “No, not ‘nice’. Take better care of yourself.”
“Okay…”
“Come on, let’s go back to the others,” John says as he picks me up and brings me to the other room and announces “Ignoring her other problems her body seems healthy in this form.”
“Great,” Scarlet answers, “I’ll take her to bed then, good night everybody.”
“I’ll join you soon,” Rayla adds.
Scarlet then brings me into our bedroom and puts me to bed, “Did you have a good day today, Rose?”
“Yeah…Hey, Scarlet?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I try something weird with you that you might not like?”
Tilting her head a little she answers, “Sure.”
A little hesitant, I go close to her face then start to lick it, particularly focusing around the mouth and nose area causing Scarlet to giggle, “I love you too, Rose.”
She then begins to lick me in the same way causing me to fall asleep in her arms.