Chapter 23 - Accepting a new member in the family?

From that day onward, Vi, Cris and Noa started training openly, with the blessing of their parents. I must say, this lead to quite a lot of mess done when eating, since the children tried to uphold their promise to Ophelia all the time, and did not need to hide it from their parents anymore.

I think Dad nearly ordered them to not do it, but couldn’t muster the strength to ask and stop them when he saw how much energy they were putting in it, how high-spirited this was making them.

However, if they wanted to feed me, they still needed to do it the old-fashioned way, as Mom and Dad weren’t trusting enough in their wacky proficiency, at least not for now.

All well and good then, right? Well, concerning Shi, yes, but there was another thing on our parents’ mind right now.

“So, how did you happen to get the ownership of a… a Yiburis?” Asked Mom.

We were all in the living room, Yiburis included and, if Mom looked still a bit scared about it, she was controlling herself well enough. Dad, on the other hand, seemed oddly… relaxed? With this look in this eyes, yes, you know, the one people sport when they know more than you could think they should.

Well, isn’t Dad a hunter? Shouldn’t he have at least some knowledge about the Yiburis if he’s roaming the forest and hunting, well, you know, monsters?

Ah! Good point, I did not think about this, you’re as sharp as ever.

Why but thank you, mother. She was genuinely happy about my compliment.

“I explained it already. I tamed it in the barrack!” Exclaimed Vivianne proudly.

“Yes, but how did you do?”

Vi answered the question by a pretty vivid retelling of what happened, with the sounds and motions that went with it. She really lit up like a tiny devil when she was asked to explain something, putting all her energy into it.

“W-wait! Fangs?” Suddenly exclaimed Mom, a bit after Vivianne and finished her explanation, suddenly realising what had bothered her during it. Which was, of course, Vi mentioning her Fangs.

“Oh? Oh yes, I forgot to tell you!”

Airhead.

You’re one to talk.

I did not ask for your opinion.

Too bad that I don’t care.

Vivianne slowly stroked her cheeks and made her fangs slowly exit the tiny holes around her mouth, extending them. They were dully reflecting the light of the room, because of the poison coating them.

Dad did not react, stunned by the sight, but Mom approached her daughter and put her hand near the fangs, just before being stopped by Dad who had overcome his daze.

“Carefully, it’s poisonous.” Mom jerked Dad’s hand back.

“It’s not the first time I work with poison dear.” Uh, that was quite the scary tone wasn’t it, Mom?

“Of course. Sorry.” He took his hand back while smiling apologetically, putting a kiss on Mom’s forehead to ask for forgiveness.

“Don’t think you’ll get off so easily. That will be paid tonight…” She whispered at him, so softly the children wouldn’t have heard it. Besides me, of course.

Maybe I’ll have a little sibling soon? Mom is quite full of energy isn’t she?

I bet she is, with all the modification she’s going through. I nearly feel bad about Dad. Poor him, overwhelmed by his wife's insatiable… desire and unlimited energy.

I wouldn’t pity him. It’s Mom that I pity. It’s a bit unfair she’s the only one brimming with energy, being still all ready to keep going when Dad just falls asleep from all she did to him.

Then maybe we should modify Dad to… balance their night life?

That could work mufufu~~ Too bad we don’t have the necessary tools. Mom will need to endure being somewhat unsatisfied for a bit longer I fear.

True.

Back to reality, you could see Mom being somewhat worried about what was happening to Vivianne. Maybe she had hoped that it wouldn’t go farther than her eyes, but this hope was now seeming more and more foolish.

“Does it hurt sweety? When you take them out? And back?”

“No! In fact, it felt… a bit great when I take them out? Like, as if I was more alive? I want to jump around and run!” She answered, all excited.

“That makes sense in a way.” Thought Dad all aloud.

“What do you mean.” Mom turned her head toward him with brows raised, questioning.

“Let’s not pretend, shall we? Vivianna’s change does sport striking similarities with a Yiburis, be it her eyes or her fangs.” He pointed toward the Yiburis’ eyes and mandibles, where fangs could be seen, as if it had taken them out to follow what its mistress was doing.

“If we think about it like that, since Yiburis take their fangs out only when they’re on the verge of striking their enemies, then Vivianne being somewhat excited when she does the same does make some sense, right?” He ended his consideration with a questioning look shot back at Mom.

“You’re sure about that, dear?”

“Pretty much, yes. What Vi described, how she dominated the Yiburis, that’s something you can sometimes see in Yiburis communities, it’s a way to assert dominance and control over other Yiburis, a bit like with a pack of wolves, only much stronger and violent. What I’ve heard and seen so far only corroborates those thoughts.”

“So I’m transforming into a Yiburis?” Asked suddenly Vi, who was, after all, still in the same room and still driven by her usual curiosity.

Mom’s face tensed when she heard the question, recessing blood making her skin pale.

“Hopefully not. If I had to guess, I would say you’re taking some traits from Yiburis, not transforming into one.” He put a knee on the ground and smiled at her, looking her in the eyes without flinching.

“Be it your eyes, your cheeks or anything else, you’re still our little girl, right?” He said with a smile to blind the sun.

Mom was stunned for a second but soon enough followed her husband’s lead. “Yes, our dear little girl.” She added, hugging her powerfully with Dad mixing in along.

“Yes! You’re still sis’, sis’!” Exclaimed suddenly Noa, who jumped on the three of them with enthusiasm.

Crisnée had me in her arms, but she still got close of the group and put her head against Vi’s, whispering: “You’re amazing and you’re you.” Softly.

Okay. I vote in favour of including Crisnée in our devoted ones.

I follow.

Unanimity.

Nobody knew what had happened in my head, but I couldn’t say it was a tiny matter. I rarely devoted myself to someone and it held quite the weight, even if in this life I seemed more open to doing so.

After all, I don’t think getting under the protection of the most powerful entity of the planet could be seen as something minor. And for those asking, so far, I had only protected her because I packaged her with Vi and Noa, but now I was doing so for her own sake. That’s a big difference.

“Thanks everyone.” Whispered Vi back, just loud enough for everyone to hear properly.

***

“And so there’s truly no risk keeping this… this Yiburis with us?”

“Frankly, I can’t give you a perfect answer, but if I had to trust my guts, I would say that it’s safe enough not to kill or separate it from them. After all, you seem pretty attached to it, right?” Answered Dad to Mom before asking the question to Vivianne.

“Yes.” She was nodding her head powerfully.

“Okay, then…” Mom looked at Dad, who shrugged and nodded. “...we’ll let you keep it. But! It’s your responsibility! You’ll need to feed it and tend to it, okay? Keep it in check?”

“Yes Mom!”

“By the way, you said that it arrived here two days ago, right?” Suddenly asked Dad, curiosity in his eyes.

“Yes?”

“What did it eat and where did it poop during that time?”

“Eh?” The question seemed to take Vi by surprise.

“I don’t know? I’ll need to search I think…”

“Ahahah don’t bother sweetie, it was a trap question. I already did my little investigation. It was just to make you think a bit about it. Okay?”

“Yes Dad!”

“Good. For the food, I heard all around that grain stocks had been raided of small amounts. Since Yiburis are omnivore, this seems to answer that, in particular since, when you know what you’re searching for, Yiburis’ tracks aren’t that difficult to discover. For me.”

Was that a bit of self-gloating?

Bad Dad, self-gloating is bad.

You should really think about what you say before saying it.

Oh I do, I just don’t care if I’m worse than the people I’m admonishing~

You punk you-!

Ahahah!

“As for its waste, this thing showed quite the intelligence, it hid it within a waste pit where we put it with the rest of our cattle’s waste. Overall you pet seems quite intelligent, in particular for a Yiburis.” Seeing the question in his daughter’s eyes, he kept going. “Yiburis, when alone, are dumb as rocks. We don’t know why, but they only start to show intelligence when they’re in pair. And even there it’s not to the extent of yours.”

Oh? It seems that its behaviours are off the chart. We’ll need to monitor that.

Well, we have seen changes in its body, but without data to compare with, I can’t say if it’s normal for a Yiburis to change like that or not.

Yeah. But I think we can safely hypothesise that at least part of those changes are unusual and take their source in Vi, right?

We can. But we’re still no closer to an objective answer.

...True.

“Well, better not think too much about it. Just keep an eye on it, right?”

“Yes Dad! So, what does it eat normally?” She asked right back.

“Ah! Already taking care of it I see, that’s good! As I said, it is an omnivore… an omnivore is a living being that can eat anything, just like us. We eat vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, meat, fishes, potatoes and bread, all kind, and your Yiburis is like that too, even if it does like meat more. So starting from today, I’ll help you make balanced food for your pet, alright?”

“Thanks Dad!”

“Then-” But before Dad could continue his sentence, Mom put a hand on his arm.

“If you’re taking care of this, I’ll go back to the workshop. I’ve still too many potions to make, sorry?”

“Don’t worry dear, go save the city while I deal with the children, okay? I love you.” He kissed her, and she kissed back. “I love you.” She smiled, winked and hugged one last time her children, Crisnéer included, giving them all the warmth and care she could before needing to go back to her potion production. She even patted the Yiburis on the head, if only lightly, which made Vi smile brightly.