Behind the double doors is a tanned girl with a pair of black bird wings instead of arms and crow's talons instead of legs, but she isn't relevant right now. It turns out that behind the double doors isn't another room or corridor, as Shiro expected at all. There isn't even a balcony. But this explains why the doors are pushing into the parlor. These aren't outward-pushing doors; they are just regular inward-pushing ones. The reason for this door to be inward-pushing shouldn't be security like other doors but rather safety reasons; after all, if they are outward-pushing, some silly wolf girls might just fall through. Another reason is to facilitate the tanned girl's entering the parlor from the air.
Let's get back to the tanned girl. She is about 1.3 meters tall, the same size as us, yet her chest is already a bit bulging. She is wearing a surprising, or rather, extremely revealing, outfit. She only wears a strapless crop top that leaves her midriff completely exposed, short-shorts that might as well be underwear, and a very short loincloth-style microskirt whose sides are almost nonexistent and provide a bare minimum cover to her front and back, all of which are the same black color as her hair and feathers. Her hair and feathers seem to have color-changing effects under the specific lighting conditions, turning slightly more purplish or blue-green but still visibly black. Her hairstyle is quite similar to Nyx's. To be honest, Shiro doesn't think there will be any difference if she isn't wearing her microskirt since it covers almost nothing anyway, especially when she is flying in the air.
Her wingspan is about 6 meters long, the same size as ours when unfolded. Still, her body structure is considered far too inadequate for a human her size when it comes to flying. So she must have some special adaptations. She also has black tail feathers behind her. The black tail feathers should help stabilize and steer her during mid-flight, similar to how our dorsal scales on our tails function.
Our dorsal scales would normally lie flat and overlap like any other scales on our bodies, but when deployed, they will pivot upward and orient their largest surface area to the sides as they rise. When our dorsal scales reach their final position, they will be locked in place, standing straight up, forming a single, continuous, serrated vertical fin. This state will last until we actively release their locks. While they are locked, we can still fine-tune their angles using muscles at the base of each scale. Of course, even with such a complex mechanism, their deployment and retrieval speed are actually astonishingly fast, making the dorsal scales appear as if popping straight up from our spine.
In fact, when we were much younger, we once also believed they were popping up from our spine, but after we dove deeper, we found out that it wasn't the case. This isn't our fault that we misunderstand how they function! Even if we dragons have very high control over our bodies, it doesn't mean we will understand exactly how every part works without needing to do anything, alright! Of course, even if we don't understand how they work, we can still use them without any issue.
Anyway, back to the scene in front of us: the tanned girl lands, folds her wings, and then walks toward Rena and Alice. "Alice, you are back." The tanned girl says. Her tone is intelligent, calm, and confident.
"Hecate, you are here; have a seat first." Rena says in her soft, strangely reverberating voice.
"Alright." Hecate replies and jumps onto a cylindrical wooden rod placed horizontally on a rectangular-based pyramid with the top part replaced by the rod. There is a gap between the rod and the wooden pyramid directly below it large enough for Hecate to comfortably perch on it without needing to worry about having her talons getting struck. So this is what the only weird-looking chair among the 12 chairs is for! Her chair is slightly lower than all other chairs, but if her perching position is added, she should be at roughly the same height as us when we sit on the normal chairs.
Shortly after, Selene and Luna rush back into the parlor in their new clothes, which look virtually no different from their previous ones except there are no mud stains on them and they are clean.
"Selene, Luna, go and get the ingredients; I have already had someone prepare them. We will hold a welcome party for Shiro and Kuro. Nyx, you should also go with them too," Rena instructs. Selene and Luna instantly and excitedly make a sharp turn and run into a wall, but they get up quickly and continue their sprint. Nyx nods, accepting Rena's instruction, and follows behind Selene and Luna at a slightly slower speed. Wow! They are holding a party to welcome us!
Speaking of which, Hecate seems to have functioning, relatively transparent milky-white membranes that flash across her eyes when she blinks. We also have something similar; instead of movable membranes, we have a non-movable transparent scale covering each of our eyes. These transparent scales can change their transparency and even color according to our wishes and needs. These scales exist almost as a transparent outermost layer of our eyes and are very thin and flexible, so they aren't visible normally when they maintain absolute transparency. They also do not interfere with our blinks, though because of these scales, we don't actually need to blink. Of course, these scales will harden upon impact and can become very rigid to protect our eyes. Rumor has it that these transparent scales are thick enough to be visible to naked eyes in the dragons' true form, but since we never see any actual dragon forms, we don't know how true the rumor is. Fun fact: it is not only these transparent scales that can change colors; our normal scales can too. However, Shiro and Kuro are very satisfied with our scale colors, so we are not planning to change them any time soon.
Not long after, the stair room's door is pushed open and a girl walks in. She too is also about the same size as us; however, her chest is gigantic! No joke, they are comparable to our heads! Her waist-length hair, a tiny bit shorter than ours, is a random mesh of vibrant rainbow colors, which somehow looks quite good on her. For the rest of her body, she looks quite human... except for her hands and feet, which are quite removed from what is considered human.
The backs of her hands and feet are densely covered by fine, stiff hairs, slightly thicker than normal human body hairs (normal human refers only to Alice and Kay; no way, we have not yet had time to record human body information yet). The density of these hairs is at least ten times as much as normal human hair density. Their colors are a random mesh of vibrant rainbows, just like her hair. Unlike randomly distributed normal human body hair, these hairs are highly organized with uniform distances from one another, arranged in a grid-like manner, with areas around joints and parameters of the hands and feet having a higher density than the flat, central areas. They all lean toward the tip of the limb they are on. Judging from how they look, they shouldn't be used as weapons or for warmth, so they should be sensory organs. And this is just the back of her hands and feet.
The most special thing about her hands and feet is that she has seven fingers on each of them with a thumb on each side of each of her palms and feet. Her nails aren't human nails; instead, they are sharp, rigid, claw-like hooks that are made of material resembling insect exoskeletons with the same colors as her hair. She also has an extra joint in each and every one of her fingers and toes. Her palms are extremely smooth, without any texture like normal human palms. We believe that her soles are also smooth, but we cannot see them because she has tightly fitted pads that are strangely stuck to her soles. Well, even if she doesn't, we can't see them while she is standing on them anyway.
There is also a robust, slightly raised mound the size of an index fingertip on each of the pinky finger sides of her wrists. The mound is covered with the same materials as her nails and has approximately 50 tiny holes on its surface. The mound's surface is smooth and has the same rainbow colors as her hair and nails.
She is wearing a one-piece, form-fitting milky white bodysuit that leaves only her hands, feet, and head exposed. The bodysuit is very thin and fits super tightly, making direct contact with her skin throughout; even the concave shape of her bellybutton is visible on it. It is almost as if the bodysuit is part of her. Because of how tightly it fits, Shiro suspects that she isn't wearing anything underneath. Despite how tight it appears to be, it isn't restrictive at all, as it is very elastic. When light hit her bodysuit, it created a prism-like effect that made it appear like a constantly shifting rainbow.
"Arachne, here you are; I thought you would be too immersed in your weaving again this time and we would have to call you after the meal is ready," Rena says. "Have a seat first. Selena, Luna, and Nyx have already gone down to get the ingredients. They will be back soon."
"I understand. This time, I notice that the number of people on the second floor is unusual, so I decide to investigate after detecting Nyx's sound waves," Arachne replies as she walks toward a chair and sits down. So she is Arachne; then, the mound on her wrists should be an organ for weaving purposes. It also explains the uses of her non-human parts.
Arachne's tone is empathetic, understanding, inclusive, and gentle. It has a soothing quality that makes listeners involuntarily drop their guards against her... which should be perfect for indoctrinat—Shiro means spreading our teachings! How can someone as lovely as Shiro do such a horrible thing as brainwashing people? She just enlightens and corrects the flawed ideas of the heretics and guides them to the right path with truths! Although they may not appreciate Shiro's kindness at the beginning, there is absolutely no way they will not after they are fully cured!
Anyway, Shiro is unbelievably kind, isn't she? She even gives heretics a chance to redeem themselves with her help! According to Aunt Phyllis, 'Burning the heretics outright isn't correct; everyone deserves a second chance. If the persuasion doesn't work, it isn't too late to purge them.' Although Shiro believes that directly burning the heretics is more efficient, and Kuro thinks that not sending them to the 'Underworld' allows potential threats to survive, we should follow Aunt Phyllis' advice; after all, she has lived for so long, and there must be a reason for her seemingly irrational decision that we have yet to comprehend!
At this point, all of us are already seated, with Alice closest to the kitchen. We also remove our robes and hang them on our chairs. Shiro sits on Alice's right, and next to Shiro sits Kuro. On Alice's left is an empty seat. Then, next to the empty seat is Kay. After Kay is Hecate, who sits with the double doors facing her back. Arachne is sitting on Hecate's left. Then, between Kuro and Arachne, there are five empty seats, which should be reserved for Selene, Luna, and Nyx. As for Rena, she is sitting on Alice's lap! Why is she sitting there when there are so many seats? Even Kuro and Shiro aren't that close physically... most of the time!
Soon after, the stair room door is pushed open, and Selene and Luna, along with Nyx, follow closely behind. "We are back!" shouted Selene and Luna in synchrony. One of Selene and Luna is holding a large barrel in her arms, while the other is holding a basket full of fresh internal organs in one hand and two smaller baskets full of fresh meat and fish, respectively, in the other. We don't know who is who since no one has introduced them to us yet.
Nyx has a small basket containing eggs slung over her forearm while carrying a crystal-clear glass bottle, which contains dark red liquid, in her hand. Her other hand is still holding her umbrella. These baskets are lined with a thin layer of the same type of fabric as their clothes but are relatively transparent. Is everyone here only using this type of fabric? Why is it everywhere?
"Thank you, Nyx, Selene, Luna; just leave them on the kitchen table," Rena says as she gets off Alice's lap, walks toward the right wing opposite the kitchen, and performs a ritual humans call 'hand washing.' All four baskets are placed by them onto the kitchen's table; however, the big barrel is taken to the round table and placed next to Arachne, while the glass bottle in Nyx's hand is placed in front of the seat opposite Alice's on the round table. Then, Nyx turns around and walks toward the door connected to the stair room. Where is she going?
"No need, Nyx, thank you," Alice says. Nyx nods and turns to walk back to the round table. So what exactly is she going to do just now? What's up with this cryptic conversation?
"Don't look at how cold she normally appears to be; Nyx is actually very thoughtful. Just now, she is planning to go and get some plant-based produce for Alice and Kay, right, Nyx?" Arachne explains. Perhaps she senses our confusion, or she is simply explaining Nyx's actions to us, the newcomers. Anyway, Nyx lowers her head a little shyly and blushes slightly.
Arachne continues, "Unlike us, Alice, Kay, and the vast majority of normal humans' main diet consists of both plant and animal products. Although we can eat plant-based produce, we can only do so in limited quantities, with Selene and Luna able to handle the most and Nyx the least."
At this time, Rena has already started cooking after taking her various utensils out from somewhere, which we expect to be a cabinet (we aren't sure because we were focused on Nyx and Arachne at that time, so we did not pay attention to Rena), and started cooking on the nearly invisible blue flame. She is also humming a tune that sounds a lot like a lullaby. Of course, the reason why it sounds this way may be because of her unique voice, or she may just really be humming a lullaby.