[Lowen to Yui TFTG]
Ever since Lowen was a very little boy, when he and his sister still had their parents to rely on, his older sister told many different stories to him to try and help him drift off to sleep. And every single one of those stories had a common element. A young princess, and the Knight that courted her and helped protect her.
It was why he was happy to meet the Prince. Not because he was quite what he expected, but because he definitely matched the description of the kind of man that appeared in those stories. The kind of man that was there to protect the ones he loved. And while his sister wasn't exactly a princess, he hoped that he could end up taking care of her, just like he would try to take care of her once he grew up and became an adult.
Even after everything had come to an end, after they had all worked hard to try and save the world from the influence of the ones that wanted to bring it to ruin, Lowen's simple wish still remained. His wish to see his dearest elder sister being happy in the arms of a wonderful man. A Knight beyond compare.
But he couldn't be that Knight. And his sister wasn't that kind of princess. And yet he kept on dreaming about a princess and a Knight, just like the stories that his sister had told him all about back in the day. Even as recent as the night before, he had dreamt of a pink-haired princess with a rose-like motif, and a black-haired Knight who didn't seem to speak, yet kept her complete loyalty and her adoration...
It was something that made his heart skip several beats. It was the kind of delight that just made him... Really happy. The kind of dream that he wanted to be a part of. Because of how many times his sister had told him this kind of story, and because... Well, if he could be like that Knight, then he could make her happy as he protected her. And if he could protect her, then he could protect Garuda too! If those dreams came true, then he could definitely make everyone happy.
"You've been having strange dreams?" But his dear sister Louise wasn't very pleased with what she heard. In fact, she just seemed disinterested. "Are you sure they're not just normal dreams that you've been growing really attached to, Lowen?" She asked, as she kneeled down and patted the green-haired boy on the head as he came running to try and tell her about the dreams that he had been experiencing.
"B-But it's a really nice dream! There's this pink haired girl, that's not quite as adult as you, but still makes me think of you. And then there's this Knight, who's really mysterious! And they fight alongside each other, just like you always wanted to do!" Lowen said, his voice far too excited for the kind of story he was trying to tell. "It has to mean something, Sister. It just has to!"
Louise sighed and gently rubbed the back of her head. Really, it sounded like the boy had ended up running into a Dragon that was causing problems. That was the only reason why he would have a dream like that. Stories like those were out of style nowadays, especially after all the adventures she had gone on together with the Prince. "It must just be one of your vivid dreams, Lowen. Maybe you should just relax and try to enjoy it, rather than seeking any kind of deeper meaning..."
"No, it definitely means something! You always said that dreams were a window into the future, Sister! I can't believe you!" At the end of the day, Lowen was still a child. And he was sure that the dreams that he had seen were important. Especially since all of the adventures that he had been on served to prove that dreams really could come true. So why would this one not be able to? It didn't make any sense that it would just be something normal! It had to be something new!
And with that, the boy ran off. All while Louise just had to sigh as she shook her head. She knew that Lowen wanted to be an adult, but it was stuff like this that made it hard for her to take him seriously and not want to protect him. Especially since there was such a high chance of things going wrong when she wasn't looking...
"You really should be going after him, you know." The wind seemed to speak to her, the voice belonging to a Dragon that was not on the best of terms with Louise. And yet they shared a common goal, protecting the green-haired boy that was so close to them. "It's not like a Sister to try and blow her brother off. You wouldn't want him to see you as a menace, would you?"
"What are you trying to play at, Garuda?" Louise said, as she could practically picture the smirk on the green-haired Dragon's face. Ever since a lot of the problems with the world had died down, Garuda felt that she didn't need to take such a physical form. But that just meant that she could pester the elder of the two siblings more than she already did.
All that Garuda did was laugh at the girl that had tried to make it sound like she had done something. "Nothing. You just watch and see what happens when you blow off somebody that close to you." She said, casting a foreboding net over the impending future. All for the sake of messing with the pink-haired elder...
Louise narrowed her eyes... And against her better judgment, she listened to Garuda. She headed off, not knowing where Lowen might've run off to. With any luck, she'd be able to find him before he did something that he'd regret.
And if she didn't... Well, she just hoped that things would be alright without her.
---
Lowen had headed straight home. Heading straight to bed. Because not only had arguing with his Sister and having her older mind try to challenge his dreams made him frustrated, he couldn't help but let her words in and start to color his perception. Were his dreams really just that, dreams? Or were they a window..?
Thanks to a little spell, he didn't need to worry much. All he needed to do was sleep away thanks to the spell knocking him out, and then he would find that dream once again. Especially as the wind started to blow through his hair inside the dream. It was such a vivid image. A vivid image that spread across the darkness that would've taken up the space inside his mind.
Lowen could see a plain spreading far across the horizon. Green blades of grass that were blowing gently in the wind. All of them reminding him of Garuda's roost, as well as the hills around his village. All of it bringing such fond memories to the forefront. Had he ended up in the wrong dream? If he had, then he wasn't exactly against this...
And yet it didn't feel entirely familiar. It felt like he should know of this plain, and yet it didn't feel like he had been here before. Why did that feeling rush through his heart? It didn't look any different from the kind of scenery close to his village...
"Yui, there you are..."
A voice echoed through his ears. A gentle voice that made his heart tremble. He knew that voice. It was the voice of the Knight that kept appearing in his dreams. The Knight that always protected the ones that were close to him. He didn't expect him to appear like this, and yet here he was...
Or at least, he had to be somewhere nearby. But a simple look around didn't exactly allow Lowen to find him. Moreover, who was he talking to? He couldn't see anybody that went by that name, much less anybody in general. "Who are you talking to?"
He didn't get an answer. In fact, it seemed like the voice had been carried on the wind, and it was like... Like he was still completely lonely. Like he had just imagined the voice, and filled in the blanks from there. But that wasn't possible. He was sure that it was the Knight. He was sure of it.
"Yui, what's the matter?" The voice spoke again, and this time the feeling inside Lowen grew stronger. The feeling of his heart pounding against his chest, the feeling of something growing bigger and more impossible to ignore. How could he possibly have ignored that kind of feeling?
It was love. He was sure that it was love. It was that fuzzy feeling inside his heart that just kept growing and growing with every moment that passed. He knew of it, though he hadn't experienced it first hand. But he definitely remembered the kind of look that Louise had on her face when she talked about love. It was the kind of face that he honestly loved. He wanted to see it again. But how could he see it again if she wasn't here to be loved by the Knight?
"S-Sir Knight, where's this Yui you're trying to call out to?" Lowen tried to speak, not even realizing what he was saying. Why would he realize that he was formally addressing his Knight? It was his Knight, after all. He was supposed to be gentle and courteous towards him. Because that was what a Princess should be... Wait, did that make sense..? He wasn't a Princess, was he..?
"Ah, Yui... Seeing you smile at that like me... It gives me the kind of strength I need to carry on." The Knight's voice poured through the air again, and his words managed to wrap all the way around Lowen's heart. Not only making the sensation of the muscle pounding against his chest grow even stronger, but also making the love pour all the way through Lowen's body and make him unable to fight back against it spreading its tendrils all throughout him.
Why would he try to fight back against love, anyway? Sir Knight's love was very clear. He loved all of the Princesses that were in his employ. He was the Princess Knight. And that meant that he was going to protect the ones that were near and dear to him. Because that was the kind of Knight he was.
Of course, Lowen was having more and more difficulty realizing what the difference between himself and this 'Yui' was. He didn't know what she looked like, nor would he be expected to know. But he knew that she loved Sir Knight. And if she loved Sir Knight, then that was a quality that they both shared. That, as well as the smile towards the ones they loved...
Now that he thought about it, they were very well alike, weren't they? They were both gentle, they were both the type to smile towards the ones they loved, and then... They were... Well, they were both female, weren't they? That had to be right, it felt like that was true...
And the more that he thought that it was true, the more it became the truth. Because that was how dreams worked. He didn't even realize that his clothes were changing, turning from a gentle green to an even gentler pink and white as his robes became a proper dress. One that didn't show off much, except for his thighs that were quite slim.
But it didn't take long before his figure started to fill out. After all, he was supposed to be a girl. That was what his heart was telling him. So having his thighs be all nice and thick, especially as they tried to stretch out of the lovely stockings that were sticking so tightly to the rest of his legs... That was just what one would expect from a girl...
Lowen couldn't exactly call himself a he any longer, could he? Those thighs were just one thing, but as the feminine air continued to spread along his body, it became harder and harder to identify him as a girl. Whether it was because of the gently painted nails that were now attached to the tips of his fingers, or the extra cushion around his chest, or the staff that he now held that was rose tipped, or the way that he showed off part of his chest...
Yes, he wasn't a he. He was definitely a she. She was a girl that wanted to show things off. Well, just in a modest kind of way. The kind of way where you wouldn't look at her for more than a few seconds before acknowledging her general beauty, and then you'd look to somebody else. Because you knew that she was taken...
Oh, taken... Yes, that's right. That's exactly what she was. She wasn't just taken, either. She was under Sir Knight's protection. She was one of the Princesses that was not only being protected by Sir Knight, but also empowered by him. That was how she was able to utilize her fully realized abilities. Thanks to his trust and his love.
As her hair lengthened ever slightly and turned from green to pink, she truly was indistinguishable from the kind of mental image she had. This was how she believed Yui to look. A young woman that was a bit bustier than her older sister, while remaining a lot more gentle because she didn't have to face the same sort of hardships that she had to. Yui's life was a lot gentler. A lot safer and a lot more loving...
Because she had Sir Knight. He had found her when she was still at her lowest. And thanks to his protection, thanks to his love and his care, she was able to grow stronger and she was able to be everything she wanted. And she couldn't help but thank him as much as she possibly could. Because she knew that he deserved all of it. He deserved all of her love, all of her attention, all of her care...
And she was rewarded for that love. As a phantom hand reached out towards her. It was Sir Knight's hand. Reaching out to her and beckoning her to join him. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as he did. Ah, of course she wanted to join him. She had always wished for that..!
"Sir Knight, I'm so happy..!"
"LOWEN! WAKE UP!"
---
Just like that, the young dreamer was forced out of her sweet dream. All thanks to the potent voice of her elder sister calling out to her. Was that... Her sister? Or was that just a stranger? It was getting hard to tell, her mind was all sorts of foggy. Especially since she had just been awoken from such a deep magic-induced sleep. Maybe she should just go back to sleep...
"Lowen, I swear, this always happens when I take my eyes off you!" Louise shouted, as she grabbed the young lady that was currently sleeping in her brother's bed. She didn't think for a second that it was some sort of stranger. Lowen had gotten transformed far too many times for her to think that it wasn't him. "I told you that those dreams weren't supposed to be prophetic, why did you obsess over them?!"
Yui blinked a couple of times as she tried to understand what her older sister was telling her. "I don't know... What you're talking about..?" She asked, blinking a little more as she looked down at herself. Strange, she wasn't wearing that dress she had been wearing in her dream. She was wearing a school uniform, and her hair was nice and brown, and she generally looked like a completely ordinary girl. Which contrasted dramatically against Louise's much more fantastical outfit. Were they sisters or were they from a different world entirely..?
"I'm sorry, do you have the right girl..?" Yui asked, blinking more and more as it felt like this was the actual dream, while the dream had been her reality. She was having such a difficult time trying to tell any of it apart. "I'm Yui, not Lowen..." She muttered, yawning as her heart still yearned for her dear Sir Knight. Goodness, she wanted to be with him more than ever. She wanted to cuddle him, she wanted to hug him and squeeze him and kiss him and tell him that she wanted to be there for him forever...
Louise just sighed and let go of the transformed Lowen, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright... He's gotten lost inside his own mind. Great. Now I'll have to go ask the Prince if I can borrow Cleo's services..." She muttered, before looking out through the door. "Garuda, you're out there, aren't you? Take care of her while I talk with the Prince. I can't stand to look at my brother while he's like this."
Brother? That felt so familiar, and yet it felt so wrong. Yui had to wonder why it felt like that. At least, she tried to wonder about the significance of that statement, right before a green-haired Dragoness suddenly made her way into her bedroom, the oversized green-haired woman towering over the much slimmer and much smaller girl...
Garuda grinned, before kneeling down to look straight into Yui's eyes. "So... This is what happened to you this time around, mmm?" She said, with the brunette looking at her with such a quizzical look. "You're probably very confused. But you shouldn't worry. I know how to help you. But in exchange... How about I tell you a few stories?"
"Oh, I'd love to hear those stories. Thank you!" Yui said, giggling softly. All while she watched the green-haired Dragoness taking a seat on her bed, allowing her to place her head right on that big lap. So she could relax and listen to the stories...
Stories that would serve to give her a brand new mental image, one that would gradually change her yet again, much like the mental image of Yui had...