A/N: a part of me wants to just redo this chapter as a flashback but then you would all get to find out what the Louds turned into and how their curses work all at once and wheres the fun in that? Hope you enjoy, please fav, follow, and critique. I dont own the Loud House.

Chapter 2

After getting Lily into some street clothes that we packed in the event that we were successful, and rigging my busted Harley to the side of Vanzilla, we drove into the small town of Tecumseh Michigan and stopped at the nearest diner we could find. A little mom n' pop place called Aeries Fairies. I would have thought it cute, if I didn't know how vicious the fae could actually be. We thought the best way to break bad news to someone in Lily's position would be over a hot meal. It was 9:30 so business was rather slow; only a few other patrons sat at the wide counter that separated the dining room from the kitchen. All the same, Luce and I grabbed a booth in the back, ensuring as much privacy as possible.

Lily hadn't said much during the ride over and was now coming out of her initial shock. Though our food had long ago made it to our table, Luce and I didn't touch it. We just watched our sister eat, still riding off the high of a successful mission and relishing in the fact that she was here with us after being separated for so long. Our staring didn't go unnoticed, and Lily looked up from her plate the confusion written clear on her face. "…why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"Right, sorry!," I said sitting across from her, "How's that burger, Lilster?"

"Better than the last…twelve…you just ate?" Lucy asked, hunched over the table.

My baby sis, was in the process of devouring yet another ½ lbs of beef, cramming it down like it was her last meal. Figured, since her rapid healing factor needed a fuel source to stop all the bleeding. One of the several abilities that Lily maintained after we got her back.

Now, when I say the words,"we got her back," I use them very loosely. We didn't completely exorcise the dragon from Lily's body. We did, however, seal the dragon's soul, and by extension its control over her, to Lily's unconscious mind. Enough so that she was the one behind the wheel again. Kind of like rearranging the ammo you keep in the trunk of your car before a hunt to ensure easy access to the stuff you'll need the most. What? Am I the only one that does that?

"Uh-huh. Best dream burger I've ever had!"

Our postures straightened at the implications of that statement. Damnit, I was afraid of something like this.

"...a dream burger…" Lucy repeated, putting emphasis on the word 'dream'. "... you think you're dreaming?"

"Well, duh! Why else would you guys look so much older? The tails a bit of a surprise, but I can dig it!", she told us cheerfully.

I rubbed my tired eyes and took a deep breath. "The Talk" never gets any easier. And no, I don't mean the talk that starts with, "When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…" I mean the talk that involves telling someone the world they used to know is no more and they haven't been in control of themselves for x amount of months or even years. Fortunately, Lucy was there to have it with me.

"Kiddo … that back there at the junkyard? That wasn't you entering the dream. That was you waking up from it."

"What's the last thing you remember? Before waking up there?" Lucy asked.

"...I was...in your corn maze getting ready to scare some trick-or-treaters…" she trailed off, looking away,"...and then…I saw something creepy looking thing fly over me. That's it. Did I get knocked out or something?"

"In a way? Yes…", Lucy confirmed

"You got turned into a dragon." I told her.

She paused her chewing to look at us both with a critical eyebrow raised. "Riiigght…and Lucy got turned into a vampire,"

"Actually, that was Lori, but we'll get into who became what later."

"Come on, guys! Knock it off! I'm eight years old not eight months."

"I'm sorry but you're not eight years old anymore, Lily. You're eleven." I told her, my heart sinking with the weight of those words. "You've been…asleep. For three years."

"...as a dragon?"

"Yes…"

See, growing up as the youngest in a family of thirteen, Lily took a little slice of her family members personalities and integrated it into her own; my love for video games, a bit Leni's sweetness, a dash of Luna's free spirit...

"Pfft…okay, Morpheus. Care to explain how any of what you're saying is even remotely possible?"

…a chunk of Lynn's sass...and Lisa's critical thinking were just a few of the quirks she frequently displayed.

So...I told her everything. The truth that dragons and the supernatural are real and have been long before any of us were around. The truth that our Great-Grandma Harriet's book of spells wasn't just a journal filled with cryptic language and the poetry of a Holocast survivor. It was also the prison that held the souls, curses, and entities of the nastiest monsters her and our Pop-Pop had sealed away during their years of being international monster hunters. From vampires to werewolves to ghosts and the fae, both sides of our family made it their business to put a stop to the big baddies that would do harm to the innocent. And how on October 31st, 2023, said prison had its first major breakout. The book was opened. The barriers were destroyed, twenty-seven of Royal Wood's residences became possessed, cursed, or joined the ranks of the creatures of the night, tipping the balance of power in the war against the supernatural. Among those changed were myself, Lily, the rest of my family, and a good portion of my friends and neighbors.

"...took us three months of field work to find and lure you out of the cave you dug. And twice as many favors." Lucy said after a few moments of silence.

Telling her this with a straight face did nothing to shake Lily's skepticism. And why would it? To anyone who didn't know the truth of the supernatural it sounded batshit insane. It did to me when Pop-Pop explained it. We expected this, thus Lucy decided to provide some more concrete proof.

"Give me your hand." Lucy ordered.

"Why?" She chuckled, "You gonna read my palm and tell me the future or-"

"Give me. Your hand."

Slightly taken aback by Lucy's coldness, she complied and extended her right hand out to her, palm up. With a flick of her wrist Lucy produced a hidden dagger from her sleeve, and made a quick slice across the skin.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?!", Lily asked recoling.

"Now look at your palm."

She glanced downward, and to her surprise, saw the cut Lucy just made begin to knit back together in a matter of seconds, a tiny wisp of steam trailing up from where the skin was closing. Lily jumped out of the booth and began backpedaling towards the door, terror in her eyes.

"O-okay that felt pretty real. I think I'm ready to wake up now!"

"Lily, calm down." I told her stepping out of my booth and raising my hands in a calming gesture. "We're not gonna hurt you... but we need you to understand that you're awake, and what's happening right now is real."

"My scaly tailed butt, it's real! Just because Luan passed the comedy torch down to you, doesn't mean you get to-" her protest was cut off as she belched, and three ft of flames burst forth from her open mouth. Guarding my face with my hands, I backpedaled myself, praying this wouldn't escalate any further. I dropped my hands, and when I looked at Lily, her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. It did escalate, and she turned literal tail out the diner's door, screaming.

"Lily, WAIT!"