About Rose…
Hugging mama tightly we move towards the banquet hall.
“Do you think they’ll come today?”
“I’m not sure but I don’t think so.”
“What if they do come?”
“Then your mama will protect you.”
“I’m scared mama…”
“I know dear. But it will be fine. A birthday is a joyous event! Are you looking forward to the cake?”
“Yeah…”
Brushing through my hair mama swoons, “My~ Two years old already…If you keep growing so fast I won’t be able to keep up. You’ll be too cool for your mama before I know it.”
“Pfft That’s never going to happen.”
“You say that now but as a parent it feels like you blink once and suddenly your little girl brings home their first partner. You’d be surprised how fast three hundred years go by.”
“Giggle By the time I’m three hundred I’m already ancient. There is no way it goes that fast.”
“Pfft You’re so cute. Come on, let mama give you some kisses.”
Giggle
“I love you, mama.”
“I love you too, my little Libella.”
After stopping at the dinner hall entry Melina shrinks down to her polymorphed form and we all enter the banquet hall. Inside, the room is beautifully decorated and everyone is already waiting for me. The only one missing is Scarlet.
“Happy Birthday, Rose!” Everyone yells in unison.
Miguel and Emilia then jog over to me and Emilia says, “Happy Birthday, Rose! You’re looking awfully cute today!”
Picking me up, Miguel adds, “Of course she is. She’s our little Libella afterall. It seems even the curse knows to let her be cute on her special day.”
—------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile in the temporary holding facility John Sher Aka and Rayla meet up again, this time dressed and ready for the party. Rayla is wearing a revealing red cocktail dress with an open back and slits on the side to show her hips and thighs, Sher Aka is wearing a red Kimono with a floral print of different flowers with her hair put up by a decorative hair needle and John is wearing a white suit with green and red accents.
Looking her up and down John asks, “Are you sure you want to go looking like this? It looks like you’re the one that’s part succubus.”
“Right? It does look a little much but I was told as long as I don’t show my belly it’s completely fine. I even asked what a revealing dress would look like and they just showed me something that would reveal my entire butt. Like completely. No fabric whatsoever in the back and that’s apparently socially acceptable here.”
“Well…Scarlet did say nudity is normal so if you wear clothes in this country you might even be on the more conservative side.”
“Depends on the social circles but Rayla looks fine,” Scarlet says as she enters the room.
“Scarlet!? It’s been so long!”
Rayla yells and runs over to Scarlet to give her a hug.
“Pfft It’s only been two years. I’m glad to see you’re doing well as well.”
Looking over at John, Scarlet says, “Wow…You got really buff.”
“Thanks, you’re looking the same as always, haha.”
“Well, two years won’t do much to me. Nice to see you again as well Sher Aka. You're looking pretty healthy.”
“Yeah…Thanks to your uncle... More importantly though, how is Rose?”
“Well…Actually that’s the reason I came to meet you here instead of at the party. While you were away, Rose has…Gone through some changes.”
Instantly getting serious Rayla asks, “What kinds of changes?”
“Well, for starters the most important one and why I’m here is to tell you that she seems to have permanently mentally regressed.”
“By how much?”
“Basically she is at the level where she was previously only when the mental regression started and sometimes she goes full baby mode.”
“What do you mean when you say, ‘full baby mode’?” Sher Aka asks.
“That she acts indistinguishable from the baby she is. According to my mother, for most of the first year she was here she didn’t even speak, just made some baby noises and that’s it. When I met her for the first time at her birthday I thought she had regressed that day but that was actually her at her best.”
“So during that broadcast of her birthday…That’s how she is all the time now?”
“Yeah. She has also gone through some physical changes.”
Letting out a large sigh John interjects, “Here we go…What do I need to study up on this time?”
“Not too much, she is still a Dragon, it's just…She’s part Waterdragon now.”
“Waterdragon? I have never heard of that.”
“Because they don’t exist outside Dragonia and the deep sea. They’re our aquatic cousins with a lineage tracing back to Elqueenes rather than Ifrit.”
“Interesting…So, how does that change manifest?”
“The tips of her hair are blue now, she has webbed hands and feet, a long fin that goes down her spine, one of her eyes turned blue and in her uncursed polymorphed form her hands and feet are a mix of her draconic form and her polymorphed form.”
Scarlet then changes her hands to resemble Rose’s hands, “It looks a bit like that but the scales are blue and she has the webbing between her fingers. She also has a fin on the tip of her tail now. It doesn’t look ugly or anything but it does look weird. Try not to say anything negative about it though, she’s pretty self conscious about all this.”
Sher Aka asks, “Is this mostly an aesthetic change or does it also change how we need to take care of her?”
“It is mostly aesthetic. But she does need to submerge herself in water every once in a while and she does have a bigger appetite for fish now. She also shouldn’t use soap that isn’t made with amphibic races in mind because those can dry out her scales and it’s bad if she breathes it in. Speaking of, she can breathe underwater now and the doctors said she might be able to shoot out water the same way she does fire one day. Please don’t tell her that though, it’s not healthy for her to breathe fire or water at this age.”
“Are there any more changes?” Rayla asks.
“Yes, the bloodline ability of her past life was returned to her.”
“So she has the Emperor’s Sword now? Is that dangerous?”
“She didn’t inherit the emperor’s sword. She inherited something called Gaia’s Garden. It makes plants grow around her.”
“Can she do something with the plants? Like command them?”
“No, they just grow around her. She also can’t turn it off. Similarly Sylvia the Spirit King of wind has given her a blessing that makes her hair flow in the wind when she’s walkin which she also can’t turn off.”
“Huh…Both of those seem…Kind of useless? I guess the plant growing part would be nice if we settle down at a farm.”
“They aren’t useless but they are detrimental for adventuring.”
“Why is that?”
“Well…A person with long multi-colored hair and multiracial features walking around with a mask would already be weird but now add the flowing hair and the trail of vegetation around them and you have someone that attracts a lot of attention. Any mission involving us staying undercover would almost automatically fail.”
“That’s a good point.”
“It would also make her an even bigger target for discrimination and being enslaved. We really need to be careful about how we handle certain areas and countries.” Sher Aka adds.
“It should be fine though…It’s not like we weren’t already doing that after all. Is there anything else we need to know about Rose?” Rayla asks.
“No, I think that’s all. Come on, follow me, we can catch up on our way there.”