Ersia: Raven Dawn

The sky burned tangerine, and children's laughter chimed like wind-bells on the breeze. Gentle currents stirred the air as glittering magical torches bloomed along the roads of Fleurein, dressing the town for nightfall. Among the milling crowd, two girls and an adult wandered contentedly, greeting the buds of nightlife. Though they wouldn't linger long amid the aftersun bustle, their first evening outing together shimmered with quiet joy.

Viena, Lisabelle, and Alan were on their way home when the sky broke open. Rain fell sudden and heavy, a silver curtain sweeping the cobbled streets. Too distant to return dry, too close to shelter comfortably, they chose the simplest path—run through it. They couldn't risk Eleanor worrying herself ill again; home was priority.

"Fuah! Finally!" Lisabelle huffed as they stumbled back through their door. She slipped off her shoes and shrugged her coat onto the vestibule floor. "Colder than usual... Autumn's nearly here, right, Vivi?"

"Achoo! Sniffle"

"Ten minutes in drizzle and you're already sneezing? Come here."

With Alan already vanished to the guesthouse out back, Lisabelle locked the door and strode to Viena, brisk and decisive. Before the girl could retreat, Lisabelle's fingers were deftly peeling off her damp tunic.

"W-What are you doing?!" Viena’s cheeks flared scarlet.

"Getting rid of those freezing clothes before they sap your warmth, obviously."

"I can do it myself!"

Lisabelle stepped back, hands on her hips, giving space—but only for a breath. Viena stripped reluctantly, shedding only the outer layers. Dissatisfied, Lisabelle swooped back in, ignoring Viena’s sputtering protests as she stripped her bare with brisk efficiency. Their bickering crackled through the foyer like fire-snaps, but in the end, Viena—grumbling—yielded.

"Look, I'm naked too! Stop making a fuss out of it, will you? We're both girls!" Lisabelle scolded Viena who was sitting near the bathroom door with her face buried between her knees.

"Y-You are so shameless!"

""Don’t make a drama out of nothing. That's lame! Come on, get inside or you will catch a cold for real!"

After a lot of hesitation, Viena followed Lisabelle as she peeked from the bathroom door. There, she saw Lisabelle preparing something. She took a small thing from a small wooden trinket box on the upper cabinet. Curious as she had always been, Viena entered the bathroom step by step, covering her private parts.

"It's been a long time since I got washed in the rain. Now, is the perfect time to use this."

Lisabelle showed Viena a small emerald stone the size of a nail. The stone gathered Viena's attention as much as Lisabelle's naked body. The little girl's eyes are moving alternately between the stone and Lisabelle's pudenda. Her blush deepening as unfamiliar curiosities sparked to life.

Lisabelle tossed the stone lightly toward her. "Here. Slot it into the faucet."

Lisabelle pointed to a small hole in the faucet. Viena slowly walked towards it and put the stone to see that the hole fit perfectly with it. Then, Lisabelle turned the faucet to make the water flow into the bathtub.

"Don't get in yet, I have one more thing to show. Look at this."

She brushed her fingertips over the emerald. It pulsed once with green light—and the water rippled, heat blooming through it like spring thaw. Viena’s eyes widened, wonder eclipsing her shyness.

"But how?!"

"Enchanted gemstone," Lisabelle replied with a wry smile. "Not expensive if you know where to find the right ones. We’ve got nine more stashed for exactly moments like this."

"It needs magic to activate, doesn’t it?"

"A little spark of Anima is all. That triggers the imprinted Meta inside and keeps the enchantment running until it burns out."

Viena remembered Randia's lessons—Anima and Meta, the twin forces: power drawn from within, and power borrowed from the world. Yet what astonished her tonight wasn't merely the enchanted bath, but the quiet ease with which Lisabelle wielded that magic. She had always known her sister’s strength—unyielding as iron—but hadn't imagined her fingers could command spells just as deftly.

“Don’t forget to wash your hair too, alright? You can just dunk your head under if you want,” Lisabelle said, rinsing suds from Viena's dark strands.

Without protest, Viena slipped under the water. Warmth wrapped her in soft eddies, loosening muscles worn from rain and running. A small, contented sigh bubbled up as she surfaced. Lisabelle smiled faintly, her eyes distant—she was remembering something. Perhaps that winter long ago, when their aunts had taken them to the steamy hot springs nestled between snow-laden cliffs.

“Alright, I’m getting in too!”

“Huh? Wait—!”

Lisabelle slid into the tub with a splash that sent a spray across Viena’s face. Startled, Viena sat bolt upright, irritation flashing in her eyes—only to falter the moment she met Lisabelle’s unguarded, bare form again. Her cheeks flared crimson as she reflexively shielded herself, though modesty now seemed rather pointless.

“You’re covering up again?” Lisabelle teased, stretching her long legs beneath the water. “Relax—we’re both girls. And I’ve already seen everything, haven’t I?”

Reluctantly, Viena lowered her hands and sank chin-deep into the bath, her eyes cautious slits peering over the ripples at Lisabelle.

“What?” Lisabelle cocked a brow.

“… They look bigger when you’re naked,” Viena muttered, gaze flickering to the faint mole above Lisabelle’s left breast.

“These?” Lisabelle gave a nonchalant shrug before sighing and pressing her arms beneath her chest, lifting them slightly. “Yeah… for some reason. They just get in the way when I have to move quickly. So, I have to keep it tight inside my clothes all the time.

"To think that it's not going to get any smaller, it sucks you know,"

She exhaled heavily, absently bouncing her ample bosom once in frustration. Viena’s gaze wandered—taking in Lisabelle’s long legs folded awkwardly, her knees poking just above the water’s surface.

“You’re too tall for this tub,” Viena observed bluntly.

“Hm? Perhaps.” Lisabelle stretched languidly, her toes grazing the tub’s end. “It’s smaller than I remember. And my clothes are getting tight again—it’s already the third time in six months I’ve had to alter them.”

Viena blew bubbles into the water and fell into a quiet lull, both of them letting the heat sink into their bones.

“What about the hair?” Viena asked abruptly.

Lisabelle glanced at her, puzzled. “What hair?”

“The hair.”

“My hair?” She swept her damp locks over one shoulder.

“Not that hair…”

A beat passed before Lisabelle smirked knowingly. “Ah. That.” She stretched her legs a little more, water sloshing gently. “It’s normal. Just trim it short or clean it off if you prefer. Grows back either way—monthly chore, maybe.”

“It looks weird. And nasty.”

“It’s N-O-R-M-A-L,” Lisabelle spelled out firmly, wagging a finger. “You’ll have some when you’re older too.”

“Eww, no!”

Rolling her eyes with a crooked grin, Lisabelle lunged forward and tickled Viena’s ribs mercilessly. The girl shrieked, laughter and splashes filling the small bathroom as water sloshed over the tub’s rim.

In the kitchen, Eleanor—just risen for a drink—paused, a gentle smile softening her wrinkled face as echoes of their laughter threaded through the house. Shaking her head fondly, she set her cup aside and padded quietly back to bed, heart eased by the simple music of their mischief.

---

After their bath, wrapped in the lingering warmth, Lisabelle and Viena dressed and padded into the sitting room. Lisabelle rummaged through a drawer and fished out a well-worn measuring tape—the same one she used for tailoring and the occasional obsessive mending of her clothes.

“Alright, stand straight against the wall,” Lisabelle instructed, tapping the plaster. Viena obeyed, her heels clicking together with exaggerated formality. Lisabelle smoothed Viena’s damp hair and marked the top of her head with a small charcoal stroke, then stretched up to do the same for herself—Viena was nowhere near tall enough to reach.

“Let’s see…” Lisabelle measured carefully, squinting at the numbers. A slow grin spread across her lips. “One hundred and ten centimeters. Wow—you’re really tiny, aren’t you?”

“What? No way!” Viena blurted, scandalized. “I must be at least one-thirty!”

Lisabelle doubled over with laughter, her voice bright and ringing. Still chuckling, she beckoned Viena to follow her to the window at the back of the house, the one overlooking Eleanor’s sprawling sunflower garden. Afternoon light slanted gold across the glass panes.

“See, Vivi? That window is at least one-forty tall. Let’s stand you up beside it and see if you even reach it.”

Grudgingly, Viena shuffled next to the frame. The gap between the crown of her head and the top edge of the window was laughably wide. Her small shoulders sank in defeat. Lisabelle slung an arm over her sister’s shoulder, fingers playfully tugging at Viena’s cheek.

“Aww, don’t sulk, short-stuff.”

“Hmph!” Viena twisted away, but not fast enough to escape Lisabelle’s teasing.

“Say, Vivi… want to know how tall I am?” Lisabelle’s voice lilted with mock-innocence.

Viena glared sideways, lips pursed.

“One sixty-seven!” Lisabelle declared triumphantly. “Grew two centimeters since last month!”

Grinning ear to ear, she rested her chin on Viena’s head and kept scrubbing at her sister’s cheek until Viena swatted her hand in exasperation.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop,” Lisabelle relented with a laugh. “But hey—you want to know how to get taller? Like, really taller? Works like magic, I swear.”

Viena hesitated, suspicion furrowing her brow. Still… her curiosity got the better of her. She glanced up. “…How?”

Lisabelle’s smirk deepened, glinting with secret satisfaction. “Perfect. That settles it. We’re going somewhere fun next week—on Sabada. You’ll ask your dad for permission, and I’ll smooth things over with Alan and Gwen.”

Her tone had already shifted into the crisp, confident cadence she used when planning one of her schemes.

“Don’t worry—it’s only fifty kilometers away. Three hours of travel, tops.”

Viena tilted her head. “Is it going to be just the two of us?”

“Of course not, silly!” Lisabelle waved her hand dismissively. “There’ll be a bunch of folks. Twenty adults, minimum. Twenty-two if Alan and Gwen are on the same ship.”

Viena’s brows knitted tighter. The prospect of traveling far from home, surrounded by unfamiliar adults, prickled unease along her spine. But the promise—the promise of a growth spurt dangled temptingly in front of her like ripe fruit. Could she risk passing it up?

“…It’s a day trip, right?” she asked cautiously.

“Yep. We leave before dawn and make it back just before dinner.”

Viena bit her lip, considering. Finally, her small shoulders straightened.

“Hm ... Okay then. Count me in.”

Lisabelle’s grin widened as she slung an arm around Viena and pulled her into a side hug, the late afternoon light catching in her eyes like firelight.