Chapter 4: Chapter 3: A New Family, A New Friend

The next thing I knew, I was three months old. One day, Mama came into my room holding a small strip of cloth. After tying the blindfold behind my head, she gently coiled my tail around her arm before lifting me out of the crib. I wondered what was going on; this was the first time I’d been blindfolded.

“Alright, Lily, let’s go meet the rest of the family!” Mama said, breaking out into giggles.

I switched my attention to my heat and mana sense as we entered the hallway, once again surprised that I could still see in full color without my eyes. Passing over the almost-smooth white tile, we made our way to the living room.

There I was greeted by a bunch of unfamiliar faces, save two. Obviously I had already “met” Katrina, although the blonde kitsune seemed eager to finally get a chance to interact with me. There was Mama too, of course. Everything about her was a vibrant green, with the only exception being her lightly tanned skin.

“Say hello to the Elapida family, Lily!” Mama cooed. 

I blinked. Elapida? Really? Some higher power out there must really enjoy their puns.

Then I remembered I was supposed to be doing something. “Awo,” I said, doing the best I could to pronounce the word.

“So this is Katrina,” Mama started, going over to the left end of the semicircle.

“Hi, little Lily! I’m your big sister!” the fox-girl exclaimed, reaching out so that I could grab her finger for a moment.

“Then we have your daddy,” Mama said, holding me in front of a man who looked about twenty-six, with messy brown hair and kind violet eyes. After he tickled my cheeks for a moment we moved on. 

“This is your sister Daffodil.” Coiled next to Daddy was an echidna with an ocean-blue tail and hair-snakes, while her hair and eyes matching the man next to her. She smiled at me and took the opportunity to softly tickle my sides.

“Here’s your brother Andrew,” Mama said, holding me up in front of a man that looked like a slightly younger version of Daddy, if Daddy had green eyes. He introduced himself by rubbing my tail; it felt nice, like a hug.

“And this is your sister-in-law, Mabel!” Mama finished, turning to the last member of our family and nearly dropping me as I squirmed.

Monster girl or not, manticores looked scary. Between her plated magenta tail, slightly lighter-colored bat-like wings, and claws that looked capable of tearing a limb off, it was hard not to be.

“Aww, I’m sorry sweetie,” came a voice with just a hint of southern accent. “I didn’t mean to scare ya; Goddesses know I just wanted to meet ya.”

With such a kind voice speaking to me, I found the courage to turn back toward her. She was looking at me with a soft, sympathetic smile. I couldn’t help but like her, in that moment.

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“An May-buh!” I said, reaching for the kind onee-san. 

“Aww, looks like she wants you now!” Mama laughed before carefully passing me to Mabel.

I looked up, and I swear her smile was the brightest thing in the room, with the only thing coming close being my giggles of happiness. As I looked into those gleaming bronze eyes, I knew that I’d be safe here, with my family. Exhausted after all the excitement, I fell asleep.

---

At six months old, I, Lily Elapida, was finally able to crawl. It was rather strange, given my lower body. I would end up swaying back and forth as I slowly wiggled my tail, supporting my upper body with my arms. Luckily, it seemed to come pretty naturally.

One day about a week after I started crawling, Mama took me out to the front yard to play. The town looked almost like a normal suburb, with grassy lawns, trees scattered about, and flagstone-paved roads running throughout. The only difference was that there was nothing that could be called a driveway, just a paved footpath leading to the road. My guess was the town was too small to need carriages.

As I was slithering around in the grass, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing nearby. I looked up from the bug I was chasing and saw that the next door neighbors had also come out to play. 

I knew from Mama that the neighbors had a daughter around my age, and this was my first time meeting the little dragon. Dragonling? Dragonet? Whatever.

I made my way over to where the little ball of fiery scales sat, playing with the grass. After glancing at the older rust-colored dragon and looking at Mama for permission, I decided to introduce myself.

“Hewo, I’m Wiwy,” I said. Why did Ls have to be so dang hard?!

The little dragon girl finally noticed me. “I’m Mewody,” she replied.

And just like that, I made my first friend in this world. Melody and I would play from dawn til dusk some days; chasing and toppling each other, building towers of blocks, or acting out our daydreams with dolls.

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At one year old, I had enough control of my tongue to be able to speak, and since I already knew the language, I could start speaking in full sentences right away. Needless to say, my whole family was surprised when I went from babbling to eloquence over the course of a week. I did my best to teach Melody, but it was only a couple months later that my guidance enabled us to properly communicate.

At one and a half, Melody and I could finally walk without help. Well, not really “walking” for me. Again, it took a couple months after I figured out how to slither upright in order for Mel to get the hang of it. It turns out, she was just about one and a half months younger than me.

Our childhood was filled with adventures: playing tag, splashing in the nearby stream, playing in the mud after it rained, you name it. We grew up together, and she was like another sister to me.

But things were bound to change, and when I was six years old, we moved to the capital. I’m not proud of how they had to pull me into the wagon while I was crying and flailing, but I was younger then. Even now my emotions can get away from me, so how else was I expected to respond to being ripped away from the town and friend I knew and loved?