“Since that’s done, this is the perfect time to start explaining things.”
‘Ah right. I got so focused on the menu I almost forgot.’
“Alright, so let’s start with the most recent one…children. More specifically, the process of conceiving one.”
She took a deep breath.
“The first way is…uh,” she hesitated, a blush creeping up her face. “D-do we need to have the talk first?”
“What talk?” I asked.
“The b-Blennies and the Barra...Barracudas?”
‘Blennies and Barracudas? …Wait could that be…the seafolk’s birds and bees talk?! It is, isn’t it?!’
Upon my realization, I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.
“BUHEHE! Aw man. I’d pay to see that again!” Mayari squealed.
Ignoring the stupid starfish, I focused my gaze on Master.
“No, that’s fine Master. No need for that talk.”
She let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Phew, wait, of course, you knew…otherwise you wouldn’t have been so surprised when it was brought up that I had two moms,” she realized, smacking her forehead. “I feel so dumb right now…”
The table fell into silence as Master contemplated her life.
“Anyways,” she started back.
‘Whoa, she recovered quick!’
“Obviously, it’s not possible for two girls to have a kid biologically speaking as you probably guessed. That is what you guessed right?”
She looked at me questioningly.
‘Never mind. I spoke too soon. She’s still frazzled.’
I nodded my confirmation.
“Wait, before that…how did you even know about that?” she asked, eyes slanting and scrutinizing me.
‘Uh oh. How am I gonna get out of this one? Oh wait, I said before that I had a friend that taught me the things that I know…let’s just go with that. My friend is the health class I took in middle school.’
“Uh, my friend taught me,” I replied.
“So, they taught you only one way when there are actually two others?” she scowled.
“Well, you see that they taught me how to speak but not how to read. After interacting with all of you, I’ve realized the information I received is very odd. It’s rather in-depth in some subjects but pretty sparse in others.”
“Mhm fine.” Master finally conceded. “As I just mention there are three ways. One is obviously the one we’ve been talking about. That’s not an option for same-sex couples. Another one is called Soul Convergence and Fusion or SCF for short. SCF takes a bit of Soulia from the two…hmm? What’s wrong?”
“Uh, what’s Soulia?”
“Ah, crud.” she facepalmed. “Your database of information is really faulty. That’s a whole explanation on its own…and to be completely honest…I’m not sure I would be the best to explain it. I’ll leave that to Kna’Ve.”
The two-headed lady in question's smile grew as Master threw her the topic. Looking at her grin, I felt a shiver run its way through my body.
“But for now, just think of it as the life force as well as the source of magical power for all living things.” Master continued.
Ms. Kna’Ve’s smile completely deflated.
“Don’t get mad, hun. I promise you can lecture her all you want later,” the golden dragonoid soothed her girlfriend.
‘Did I just get offered up as a sacrifice?’
“Now as I was saying. SCF takes a little bit of Soulia from each of the to be parents and sort of combines them, forming a child. The resulting child may be the same species as one of the parents or one entirely different. That’s how my sister and I were born. I’m simplifying a lot of the technical Any questions before I explain the next one?”
“A couple of them, actually.”
“Ooh! The food’s here!” Mayari shouted.
“Lay 'em on me, Maua,” Master said, eying her food.
I halted, seeing the food being placed in front of me.
The burger I mean grouper was absolutely massive. It was definitely the biggest burger I ever saw by a landslide. I looked at the other’s meals, and they were in similar proportions.
“Maua?” Master asked before stuffing a wrap into her mouth.
“Ah, right. First of all, having a child the biological way hurts right?”
“Ha. I haven't had one myself, so I can’t say for certain, but it seems that way.”
“Then why would anyone have a kid any way but that?”
She stuck out her sauce covered fingers. “Two reasons. One: Some people want to preserve their species, so they want a guaranteed way of ensuring their child is the same as them. Two: they can’t.”
“They can’t?”
She licked her fingers before continuing. “Most people don’t have enough Soulia to actually successfully complete a SCF.”
“Is the Soulia loss from the baby making permanent or something?”
Master shook her head.
“No, but it doesn’t matter if you can regenerate it if you use all of it and die.”
“Then who’s capable of doing it then?” I asked.
“Mainly strong bloodlines and Bloomed. Strong bloodlines meaning those people who like to preserve their species, mainly nobles. The strongest person from a species will marry the strongest other person, resulting in a stronger kid. Bloomed are people blessed at birth with an unusual amount of Soulia.”
“These Bloomed people sound interesting. Is there any way to distinguish them?”
“Honestly, no. They can easily blend into the populace. The patterns that we've seen just far are just guesses that fall apart pretty quickly. But in general, Bloomed are girls who have an attraction to the same sex, that may be of an unusual species and are big eaters. But that’s only in general, there’s been records of Bloomed individuals that didn’t fall under that criteria.”
I took a look around the table.
‘All three of them are definitely big eaters. They’re almost done with their food. Each of those meals were enough to feed three people! Ms. Kna’Ve and Master are dating, and I think Mayari has a girl she likes. I’m not sure if their species are common but that’s two out of three.’
“Yes, the three of us are Bloomed,” Mayari confirmed. “Aunt, can I tell her about the third method?”
“Oh? It would better you than me,” Master answered. "Please do."
“The third way of having a kid biologically is kind of a lie. It's more like half a method. Instead of creating the kid with Soulia, you sort of adopt them? With consent from the child, you can replace the Soulia of one of their parents, making them your child. That’s what my mom did with me, while my other mom did with my sister. So technically I have a mom and a stepmom and my sister is my stepsister but that’s besides the point.”
“So-“
“I know you have questions, Maua…but aren’t you going to eat?” Master interrupted. “Your food’s going to get cold if you don't.”
‘Come to think of it. I haven’t eaten anything since I’ve came to this world… and I’m still not hungry. But it would be rude to not at least try it.’
With that in mind, I took a bite of the cheese grouper. And it was delicious. It tasted exactly like a cheeseburger but it was the most delicious thing I ever tasted.
I swallowed the bite, eager to taste it again when I felt a twinge of pain in my core.
Then an amber liquid flowed out my mouth and onto the table.
“Since that’s done, this is the perfect time to start explaining things.”
‘Ah right. I got so focused on the menu I almost forgot.’
“Alright, so let’s start with the most recent one…children. More specifically, the process of conceiving one.”
She took a deep breath.
“The first way is…uh,” she hesitated, a blush creeping up her face. “D-do we need to have the talk first?”
“What talk?” I asked.
“The b-Blennies and the Barra...Barracudas?”
‘Blennies and Barracudas? …Wait could that be…the seafolk’s birds and bees talk?! It is, isn’t it?!’
Upon my realization, I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.
“BUHEHE! Aw man. I’d pay to see that again!” Mayari squealed.
Ignoring the stupid starfish, I focused my gaze on Master.
“No, that’s fine Master. No need for that talk.”
She let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Phew, wait, of course, you knew…otherwise you wouldn’t have been so surprised when it was brought up that I had two moms,” she realized, smacking her forehead. “I feel so dumb right now…”
The table fell into silence as Master contemplated her life.
“Anyways,” she started back.
‘Whoa, she recovered quick!’
“Obviously, it’s not possible for two girls to have a kid biologically speaking as you probably guessed. That is what you guessed right?”
She looked at me questioningly.
‘Never mind. I spoke too soon. She’s still frazzled.’
I nodded my confirmation.
“Wait, before that…how did you even know about that?” she asked, eyes slanting and scrutinizing me.
‘Uh oh. How am I gonna get out of this one? Oh wait, I said before that I had a friend that taught me the things that I know…let’s just go with that. My friend is the health class I took in middle school.’
“Uh, my friend taught me,” I replied.
“So, they taught you only one way when there are actually two others?” she scowled.
“Well, you see that they taught me how to speak but not how to read. After interacting with all of you, I’ve realized the information I received is very odd. It’s rather in-depth in some subjects but pretty sparse in others.”
“Mhm fine.” Master finally conceded. “As I just mention there are three ways. One is obviously the one we’ve been talking about. That’s not an option for same-sex couples. Another one is called Soul Convergence and Fusion or SCF for short. SCF takes a bit of Soulia from the two…hmm? What’s wrong?”
“Uh, what’s Soulia?”
“Ah, crud.” she facepalmed. “Your database of information is really faulty. That’s a whole explanation on its own…and to be completely honest…I’m not sure I would be the best to explain it. I’ll leave that to Kna’Ve.”
The two-headed lady in question's smile grew as Master threw her the topic. Looking at her grin, I felt a shiver run its way through my body.
“But for now, just think of it as the life force as well as the source of magical power for all living things.” Master continued.
Ms. Kna’Ve’s smile completely deflated.
“Don’t get mad, hun. I promise you can lecture her all you want later,” the golden dragonoid soothed her girlfriend.
‘Did I just get offered up as a sacrifice?’
“Now as I was saying. SCF takes a little bit of Soulia from each of the to be parents and sort of combines them, forming a child. The resulting child may be the same species as one of the parents or one entirely different. That’s how my sister and I were born. I’m simplifying a lot of the technical Any questions before I explain the next one?”
“A couple of them, actually.”
“Ooh! The food’s here!” Mayari shouted.
“Lay 'em on me, Maua,” Master said, eying her food.
I halted, seeing the food being placed in front of me.
The burger I mean grouper was absolutely massive. It was definitely the biggest burger I ever saw by a landslide. I looked at the other’s meals, and they were in similar proportions.
“Maua?” Master asked before stuffing a wrap into her mouth.
“Ah, right. First of all, having a child the biological way hurts right?”
“Ha. I haven't had one myself, so I can’t say for certain, but it seems that way.”
“Then why would anyone have a kid any way but that?”
She stuck out her sauce covered fingers. “Two reasons. One: Some people want to preserve their species, so they want a guaranteed way of ensuring their child is the same as them. Two: they can’t.”
“They can’t?”
She licked her fingers before continuing. “Most people don’t have enough Soulia to actually successfully complete a SCF.”
“Is the Soulia loss from the baby making permanent or something?”
Master shook her head.
“No, but it doesn’t matter if you can regenerate it if you use all of it and die.”
“Then who’s capable of doing it then?” I asked.
“Mainly strong bloodlines and Bloomed. Strong bloodlines meaning those people who like to preserve their species, mainly nobles. The strongest person from a species will marry the strongest other person, resulting in a stronger kid. Bloomed are people blessed at birth with an unusual amount of Soulia.”
“These Bloomed people sound interesting. Is there any way to distinguish them?”
“Honestly, no. They can easily blend into the populace. The patterns that we've seen just far are just guesses that fall apart pretty quickly. But in general, Bloomed are girls who have an attraction to the same sex, that may be of an unusual species and are big eaters. But that’s only in general, there’s been records of Bloomed individuals that didn’t fall under that criteria.”
I took a look around the table.
‘All three of them are definitely big eaters. They’re almost done with their food. Each of those meals were enough to feed three people! Ms. Kna’Ve and Master are dating, and I think Mayari has a girl she likes. I’m not sure if their species are common but that’s two out of three.’
“Yes, the three of us are Bloomed,” Mayari confirmed. “Aunt, can I tell her about the third method?”
“Oh? It would better you than me,” Master answered. "Please do."
“The third way of having a kid biologically is kind of a lie. It's more like half a method. Instead of creating the kid with Soulia, you sort of adopt them? With consent from the child, you can replace the Soulia of one of their parents, making them your child. That’s what my mom did with me, while my other mom did with my sister. So technically I have a mom and a stepmom and my sister is my stepsister but that’s besides the point.”
“So-“
“I know you have questions, Maua…but aren’t you going to eat?” Master interrupted. “Your food’s going to get cold if you don't.”
‘Come to think of it. I haven’t eaten anything since I’ve came to this world… and I’m still not hungry. But it would be rude to not at least try it.’
With that in mind, I took a bite of the cheese grouper. And it was delicious. It tasted exactly like a cheeseburger but it was the most delicious thing I ever tasted.
I swallowed the bite, eager to taste it again when I felt a twinge of pain in my core.
Then an amber liquid flowed out my mouth and onto the table.
