The cradle chamber - striving for perfection

I still wasn't sure why Crea insisted that my body was one of a kind. But in the case of my sister, there was no need to think about it. That girl took a lot of little inspirations from my memories to improve her overall appearance but also included one big thing that overloaded Crea's mental circuits. It was also the reason why it was hard to treat my sister as a pure silver elf.

But before losing myself in marvel about that element, I took a good look at the rest of her body. Neither the term innocent nor seductive could be used to explain the first impression she made on me. If I had to describe her in one sentence, then all that would remain after including only the fundamental things was:

My sister looked extremely huggable and would perfectly fit inside my arms.

The petite girl was slim and small - barely reached to the middle of my chest. In comparison to Crea's mature adult charm, hers might never stray too far from the cute wickedness. Although, some signs of the former were present and made the term 'adorably alluring' fit her perfectly. She had shapely legs, ones that were going to look great in stockings or knee socks which would emphasize her springy calves and thighs. A pair of small perky apples was barely hidden by her arm - raising and descending to the rhythm of her breathing.

The main elven features - silver variant - were all present in top shape. Her skin was pale and easily tinted with red. It looked really smooth, she would probably never have to worry about depilation. The damp silver hair was long, up to her waist, in its most natural perfectly straight state. It was like a challenge to me, just how many beautiful hairstyles could that hair be possibly shaped into? Twintails were a given. The long and slim pointy elven ears made me want to touch them and check if they were as sensitive as they looked, discovering my sister weak points was going to be fun.

The bloody red eyes were slightly slanted and had this evil gleam to them. This together with her cold smile, somewhat sharp facial features, and the aura of pride she wore even in this vulnerable state made her look like an uncaring evil princess. I couldn't wait to melt this icy princess and lure out her rare sides, the ones I saw while scanning her mind. For example, the mischievous side who wore a constant small smile showcasing one of the sharp fang-like canines. Or the needy, childlike one that demanded attention and a lot of patting. Her body was different from the one she used to have, but those reactions should be the same.

But her most prominent elven feature were the silver underskin scales. She had them in the corners of her forehead; small patches were present on the sides of her slim waist; some were visible on the inner side of her thighs. However, instead of making her look like a shiny trinket, their glitter was toned down to elegantly merge with the skin without standing out.

All those features made her exceptionally enchanting, she might have been one of the prettiest elves, but that wouldn't be enough to call her truly unique.

The one big thing that made her special was actually split in two.

Growing out from the lower part of her back were two long and thin tails. They were currently coiled around her legs. Each of them was covered with dark silver scales that were utterly different from the underskin ones. Those were bigger, created a protective layer on top of the skin, and had a black metallic luster. The tails were about a meter and half long, and had a very sharp looking tips in the shape of an arrowhead. Something told me that in the eyes of my sister, they were more of a weapon than decoration - an external manifestation of her thorny character.

"Pass me that." Said my sister and jerked her chin at the nearby basket with clothes. Her pale skin was quickly changing colors, like the rising sun, while she tried to cover herself with one of the cocoon's big leafy petals.

"L-let me h-help you." I offered, but she shook her head, took the basket, and carefully, not allowing me to catch more than two or three accidental glimpses of her naked state, moved behind one of the remaining cocoons. My 'perfect plan' wasn't prepared for the option in which she would awkwardly hide behind an obstacle. But maybe that was for the better, I actually froze when giving her the basket, not knowing where to look or how to behave.

She was and wasn't a stranger at the same time, a very confusing situation.

We should probably take it slowly and get used to each other step by step. Nevertheless, those few glimpses were precious, and I burned them deeply into my glorious silver elf's brain - 32K resolution. The very first pictures inside the imaginary album titled 'my adorable little sister'.

Only when Crea started muttering something incomprehensible and stood up, I realized that my sister talked to me in the language I knew well. This also helped to remind of the situation we were in. I would love nothing more than to slowly and deeply talk about a thousand and one things with her, but there was no time for that.

However, Crea didn't say anything. She just stood with closed eyes, deep in thought, and massaged her temples. Looked like we still had a moment for consultation after all.

"Should we escape?" I asked the hidden girl, trying to sound as casual as possible in the current situation. Not understanding the words, didn't equal not understanding the general meaning, a lesson the goddess involuntarily taught me.

"No point in running, we've got no chances." My sister responded in a similar manner.

"You've got any other ideas?"

"There are a lot of holes in my memory, but the goddess shouldn't hurt us, that would cost her too much. She didn't fish us out from the river for no reason. By the way… I'm glad you're a true silver elf now… but well… nevermind. I will respect that thing, it's your choice and the effect is surprisingly good." Her voice was melodic and playful, but there was a hoarse undertone to it that caused her to sound slightly wicked.

"What thing? And when did you learn this language?" I decided to follow her lead and change the topic to something lighter. She was right, Crea might seem dangerous, but if I looked at the actions alone, then she really helped us and had yet to do any actual harm.

"The long ears and fairy scales. As for the language, I learned it from you of course, I copied it from your memories. You didn't copy mine?"

"I had troubles with keeping myself in one piece, and you tell me to study a new language on top of that? And what's wrong with those two elements? I really don't get it."

"Heh, not study, simply copy everything. I've made copies of a lot of things from your memories. But don't worry, I will teach you this world's language and some basic elven common sense while at it *giggle*." She sounded really amused and even included small laughter, but then changed her tone back to a cold neutral one and said: "Don't talk to me now."

Since my elven ears easily caught every little noise that came from behind the cocoon, it wasn't hard to realize why she told me that. She struggled with putting the clothes on, not used to the new body, and had to concentrate solely on it to make any progress.

Watching her naked state had been too big of a hurdle for a beginner like me, but listening to the friction between the material and her skin was just right - this corrupted thought made me feel like trash. And the sleazy smile crawling on my face made me look like one as well.

On the one hand, I wanted to help her with every trouble she had. That what older brothers were for, to guide and protect their cute little sisters, and to tease them a lot but that was for later. On the other, I had troubles with stopping the influx of perverted ideas.

I had to correct myself and win her trust, so that next time she would accept my offer to help.

When my idealistic dreams were going through a harsh reality check due to the first face to face interaction with my new little sister, Crea reached some kind of a conclusion on her own. A small shudder ran down my spine, announcing that all three of us were now connected telepathically. Apparently, physical bodies weren't as much of an obstacle for her as she had told me.

'Obey or die.' This message was sent to us both 'Come out, now.' This was an order for my sister. No objections would be tolerated, and we both knew that. On top of that, the air around Crea started swirling threateningly.

Playtime was over.

A few seconds later my sister stood in front of us. She stood straight and proud despite the fact that she only managed to put on a pair of panties and a short-sleeved green blouse. She was also trembling slightly, either from cold as her long hair was still wet, or because she was pushing her new body too much. The previously coiled tails were now randomly swaying behind her. And I wasn't the only one unable to stop every emotion from being reflected outside. Her skin didn't go back to its natural pale color even once since she emerged from the cocoon. The angry expression clearly showed that this half-nude state was really hard to bear for her proud self.

'Go and stand next to her.' I carried out this order without a word. The fact that she bothered with making sure that we would all understand each other raised my spirit. She watched us in silence for a very long minute. 'We scrap the twins idea, there's no way you can pull it off. I don't care how you are going to call yourself in private, but in public, you're not related to each other. Understood?'

'No. He is my brother, and I'm his sister. That's important. You can't deny me this.' My sister's rejection was lightning fast and made me feel ashamed that I was actually considering Crea's words, and terrified - the temperature around the goddess was quickly rising. Clouds of vapor began to raise from my sister's damp hair.

'For heaven's sake! FINE! Just not twins, you look like thirteen years old, and he's around twenty! For a pair of silver elves, that's fucking thirty-five years of difference! Why did you even made yourself look so young? People won't treat you seriously, fuck.' For once, Crea included even the translation of the many swear words she used as soon as something didn't go according to her plans. Or just stopped filtering them out.

'I've got my reasons.' That was all my sister had to say in this matter.

'And this? The fuck is that?' Crea moved closer in an attempt to grab one of the swinging tails. She was about three meters away from us, and we were already sweating profusely. It wouldn't be strange if we got burned if she came any closer than that. My sister involuntarily took a step back but stumbled.

This time I was able to act.

I caught her small hand, helped to regain balance, and placed myself in between the goddess and my sister. Shielding the latter from heat.

It was hot.

Burning. Hot. Fuck.

Crea stood in front of me, waiting for me to move.

It hurt. Scorching hot. Shit.

No more. Too hot.

It hurt. Too much.

My skin was burning.

'T-that's a t-tail, a very c-charming one.' I answered the question instead, hoping that it would end this endurance contest.

An additional wave of hot air exploded from Crea, forcing me to release the grip on my sister's hand to shield my face. I was unable to stand the burning sensation any longer and moved aside. The temperature wasn't enough to peel off my skin or cause severe burns, but those damn elven senses made me feel as if I was thrown into a pot of boiling water.

'Those - things - are not the flaws I can accept. I'm going to cut them off.' The goddess didn't immediately push forward, an evil smile was present on her face after obtaining that small victory. She started to concentrate the entire heat around her right palm.

Her words made me angry, and being angry from a safe distance was pretty much all I could do at the moment. I didn't even know how my sister reacted to this situation. I was too ashamed to look at her.

I turned my anger at myself, at Crea, at this entire situation into words:

'You're blind Crea. You call me unique and different, yet I see no difference between the two of you and me! Am I different just because there's something in me that you can accept?! Is that all your era of changes can achieve? A tiny change that I can't even notice? But when a truly unique being appears in front of you, you're unable to accept her! You said it yourself that it's hard for you to imagine an elf different than others, and that you want to make one. Don't you realize that you're still bound by those shackles? How can you talk about starting an era of rapid changes when you're unable to accept a true change?! Now imagine that everyone's going to be like that. Rejecting the things that are new, different, and strange. You think you can conduct a revolution and convince them to change, while in reality, you're just one of the many who are unable to break through the life they're used to? Good luck with that.' I threw it out like a machine gun, worried that she was going to stop me if I made a single longer break.

To my surprise, Crea looked at me with eyes full of jealousy.

'That's the way of thinking of a short-lived race.' The goddess started sending in calm, tired manner. 'The elves are different, you see-'

'Are you going to give me the 'with a life spanning over the centuries, it's hard to make big changes' talk?' I interrupted her and immediately continued. 'It's you who doesn't understand. Change is a change no matter if you live for a ten, a hundred, or a thousand years. Something that used to be like that is now like this. Some changes are for the better, some are for the worse. That's all there is to change. You think humans accept revolutions with a single nod of their heads as if nothing ever happened and that's it? Hell no, everyone's afraid of change, fearing that the next change will be for the worse. The main role of a leader is to convince his people that the changes he wants to introduce are going to be for the better! It's equal to earning their trust.' I made a short stop to catch a breath and checked her reaction. This speech could use a lot of polishing, after all, I made it on the spot, yet she was actually listening attentively.

However, her palm was still wrapped in a layer of burning hot red particles.

Luckily, I still had some more things to say.

'And why the hell are you jealous of being able to change? It's the human race who has all the rights to be jealous of you! Elven body and mind are superior, it's impossible to disagree with that after trying it out by myself. On top of that, the elven lifespan is so much longer, there are so many changes an elf can experience in his life! One revolution? Hah! I bet that you went through at least a dozen shocking and history changing events. If not, then just kill me now. Living for a thousand years without anything ever changing? That's the most boring thing I ever heard!'

Only after sending it, I realized that in the spur of the moment I went way too far with my last statement. But hell, it was too late to take it back. I closed my eyes and prepared myself, praying that Crea had an eventful life. Like always, it was easier to be brave with words than with-

The attack came from behind.

A small fist hit me in the kidney and caused to groan from pain.

"You foolish coward. Those tails may be more important than your life, but don't go and get yourself killed before I grow bored of you. And don't think I'm some kind of a weak maiden who needs your protection." The attack power of my sister's words was zero. She was behind me… which meant that when I moved to the side, she did the same and was still using me as her shield.

'Crea, isn't information and technology what you really want? It's one of your bad habits to get fixated on a single point and ignore the rest. Our bodies are more than acceptable. If you are going to get stuck every time when something's not perfect, then we won't get anywhere.' Sent the girl who slowly moved from behind and once again proudly stood by my side.

It was hard not to stare at her, but I somehow limited it to a minimum.

'You… you still remember his words?' Crea pointed her slightly shaking finger at my sister, and we held our breaths. If Crea still wanted to cut off her tails, there was nothing else I could do. But then, the burning aura wrapped around her right palm dissipated. '... finish putting on your clothes, or is that all you're going to wear? You get turned on by standing half-naked in front of your blood-related brother? Works fine for me hehe…' The goddess laughter was an empty one, she looked tired and mentally exhausted. 'When she's done, I will show you to your rooms. Let's rest for today, and tomorrow I will explain the situation outside.'

Against the combined power of my arguments, my sister's personal remark, and probably the price attached to those two bodies - Crea gave up. But we also suffered, I was red like a lobster due to light burns that hurt like hell, and it was getting worse with every minute. My sister was red like a thousand suns, Crea words dealt a heavy mental blow to her.

"Need help?" Once again I offered a hand to the silver-haired girl. This time my expression should be clouded by a grimace of pain.

She ignored it without a word.

I guess my timing was bad.