Blood Lily

After allowing me a few minutes to calm and compose myself, she broke our familial hug.

"Now then..." she started, "I believe you have some friends waiting to deliver you to your room."

Feeling refreshed and cleansed of negativity, I lightly nodded. Once she opened the door, I spotted two synchronized maids, one a vampire and one a werewolf. Amber and Millie, my friends.

"Greetings, Lady Magnolia," they both said. Then, they turned their attention to me, both with their own grin. "Hi Lil'," they said. "Have fun?"

"Mhmm!" I quickly nodded. I was still a bit surprised that they were allowed to act casual with me regardless of whether mother is here or not, it was kind of funny to see them switch back and forth. Just maid things, I suppose.

"To our rooms, if you would be so kind," mother said.

"Of course, our Lady," they dutifully responded.

And so they led us back up to the third floor, and as we turned towards my room, mother stopped.

"Good night," she said yawning. "Even we vampires need a good rest, so sleep well."

"W-wait, where are you going?" I asked.

She paused and lifted a brow.

"To my room? I believe you learned I sleep in my room just over here, unless..." she said eyeing my friends, "a certain pair of maids forgot to mention that distinct fact in your tour?"

Amber and Millie shot me an instantaneous and nervous look as their faces broke out in a sweat.

"O-oh, uh, r-right. I forgot, m-my bad," I panicked.

She let out a teasing giggle and stuck her tongue out towards us before turning around towards her room.

"Good night," she waved without looking.

"G-good night," I replied, "and, um, I love you, mom."

She halted, seemingly caught off guard. She might not have been expecting me to say it again so soon, but... it felt natural that I should start saying it more often.

"Love you too," she said after turning her face towards me, revealing a surprised yet proud smile.

After she entered her room, Amber, Millie and I returned to my own room, and once the door was closed...

"Oh my god!" they both exclaimed a bit louder than they probably intended.

"You actually beat her?!" Amber asked in amazement.

"That was insane Lil', even my years of training would be no match for that!" Millie admitted astonishingly.

I couldn't deny that this may have developed a bit of an ego in me, one big enough that I failed to consider how they even knew I had won after hours of failing.

"Y-yeah, I did defeat her, didn't I? S-she was no match for me in the end," I boasted with an unnecessary amount of pride. 

"My brother would love to have a few rounds with you, he's the only other person I know who's managed to score against Lady Magnolia," Millie said before pausing for a moment, "....in spite of how smug he is."

"The jerk would love to just rub in how 'guys are better at video games' if he ever learns about you winning, Lil'," Amber added.

"Well..." I started. I didn't like the idea of winning or losing just because of that, but I still felt the need to argue against it, even if it was a bit hypocritical of me. "...I'm not a guy."

Amber and Millie stared for just a moment, awkwardly waiting for me to continue.

"A-At the moment, of course," I quickly added.

"You..." Millie began, sending a shiver of worry down my neck,"...bring up a good point! Oh, I would LOVE to see Max's stupid, smug grin wiped off his face after losing to a girl of all things. Ah, but we'd have to set it up before next- mmmf!"

"Shhh!" Amber interrupted, forcefully covering Millie's mouth. "Could you go a single day without leaking confidential stuff? And, don't go involving Lil' in plans that'll just make him uncomfortable, you know how your brother is."

Released from Amber's grasp, Millie responded.

"Err... right, sorry. I just thought of his reaction after losing and thought-"

"I'll do it," I said, catching them both by surprise. "I-I mean, I just have to beat him in a game, right? It sounds like it could be fun..."

"You really don't want to," Amber protested. "The game might be fun, but he is not, trust me."

"Awww, c'mon Ambs, he's willing to try and put Max in his place, we'll never have an opportunity like this again," Millie whined. "Right, Lil'?"

"R-right," I agreed. I mean, what's the worst he could do? Get upset and call me an ugly goblin? Been there, done that.

"I..." Amber sighed. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you, Lil'."

"YES!" Millie cheered with a delighted hop, her tail swinging vigorously. "It'll be worth it, you'll see!"

I couldn't help but smile at the contrast between her optimistic victory and Amber's pessimistic facepalm. I couldn't help yawning pretty loudly either.

"Well, we'll head down to our rooms now, it's getting late. You'll have to ask Lady Magnolia permission for Max to visit as a guest when you can," Amber said.

"As soon as you can," Millie suggested.

"Mmm," I nodded.

As they headed towards the door, they paused for just a moment.

"Ah, and before we leave, you can leave your clothes in the bin over there," Amber said pointing to her right. "We also stocked your dresser with clothes similar to what you're wearing now, since you seemed comfortable with those."

"Oh, thank you," I responded. These certainly were comfy.

"No problem!" Millie said still very clearly excited for me to crush her brother.

"Night, Lil'," they said in unison.

"Night," I responded in kind.

With a firm ker-chunk, the door shut and I had my room to myself.

First, I went ahead and found my pink pajamas and switched into them before tossing what I had on in the bin, as directed by Amber. Then, I plopped myself on my bed and let a nice, deep yawn out.

What a day. I've never experienced such lows and highs all in the same day, usually it's just lows.

I turned my lazy head towards the mirror. I still felt bad for breaking it, but seeing it again made me hope it would get fixed soo- wait, it is fixed! I felt a bit of relief knowing mother's own creation was still in tact. If I remember correctly, it shows me whatever I consciously imagine myself as, so I'll keep that in mind next time...

Sluggishly, I stood back up and sleepily staggered towards the light switch. Wait, actually, mother didn't have to manually flip it, so what if...

I clapped my hands twice in a row, and while the lights remained on, the addition of more light caught my attention. Turning to face it, I realized there was a tv on top of the desk that had been there. A small box and controller connected to it sat right beside the tv as well, just like in the loungeroom. There was even a chair that matched the desk now.

Huh... she's really fast at redecorating my room.

I clapped my hands twice again, which turned the tv off, as expected. While I was tempted to play some on my own, I was a bit too sleepy, though maybe one game wouldn't hurt... n-no, sleep it is.

I tried clapping my hands three times for the light switch and... success! Two for tv, three for lights. Magic is awesome. Or is this technology...? Alchemy?

What I knew for sure was that the bed was calling my name, well, my nickname. "Come forth, Lil', and rest your weary soul on our plump sheets," it said.

"Of course, I'm coming!" I said, leaping onto my favorite spot, and yes, I had a favorite spot already.

Snuggling the blankets and pillows, I began to drift off to sleep as I focused my mind on all the happy things of the day, though it lingered on just one regret, that being my inability to see the garden. I could try and see it at night, but... after imagining what the full garden could be like just from a blurry view through a window? It definitely wouldn't do it justice.

As my brain slowly ran out of energy while thinking of ways to get around having to wait so long to see it, I fell into a sound sleep.