This could be considered the season finale of an imaginary season 2! But have no worries, season 3 will follow right after.

Episode 10: Forbidden Knowledge

"Are you sure about this, princess?"

"You don't have to come along this time Owen."

"My apologies, but my sword is still yours."

"You should just treat me like a friend already. It bothers me that you're always so formal."

"I am very sorry." Owen bowed his head.

Anne sighed. How could she make him loosen up if he was so serious all the time? She shrugged and then touched the large seal on top of the stone slab. The runes immediately lit up and the library started shaking.

The duo sharpened their eyes and got ready for the jump. It was like being sucked into a whirlpool of magic… only less fun. They were twisted into five different dimensions simultaneously and then reconstructed on the molecular level, all while outstandingly conscious. This torturous way of travel would have made even the bravest wizards second guess themselves.

Not Anne.

With an explosion of paper they suddenly landed inside a pit filled with books. Another layer of the forbidden library. She coughed and for some reason exhaled several large pages of grimoires. The air in this space was messed up.

"We have to search for – cough – anything regarding dragonkin!"

"This instruction seems all too familiar." Owen replied stoically with a pile of sticky books hanging onto his red hair.

Anne ignored his remark and began skimming over book backs and titles at an impressive rate. This was indeed similar to the time she had frantically searched the forbidden library and all the odd places it led to for some information on dragons. Last time it had been a life or death situation (not really), but this time it was even more important (definitely not)!

Information on dragons and their kind were incredibly sparse of course, but searching for medicine was an extra step. This time she was searching for much broader terms, so it should have been easier to net the correct tomes.

Or so she thought.

"Nothing here!" She shouted to the upside down sky. In this entire pit of living books not a single one had a sliver of information on dragons.

"Hm." Owen nodded disappointedly as well and let several grimoires fall off his shoulders. They really got attached to him quickly.

"Next place." Anne touched a single shelf on the edge of the pit and they were instantly sucked into a new dimension!

One whirlwind later they painfully landed on their butts and were met with something quite terrifying. An entire platform made of glass. And below it… horrors with more suction cups and teeth than any creature in Mysteria was ever allowed to possess. And that was saying a lot considering the familiars some high level magicians summoned.

"Their malefic aura is sealed inside." Owen said seriously and tapped the glass with his sword.

"The miasma was sealed by a real amazing wizard. Looks like Erasmus' work." Anne muttered curiously, but then shook her head. Right in front of them at the other end of the platform stood a single book with magic runes on it. She dauntlessly moved forward, ignoring the incessant wiggling below. Owen followed behind with a more reserved pace.

When they stood in front of the tome, Anne realized that it was connected to the pedestal it stood on. From the position she could tell that removing it would probably cause some sort of trap to go off. She carefully opened the pages and flipped through it one page at a time.

"This theory is impressive… no revolutionary! Why would they seal it away?" Anne read intently.

"…I may have a guess." Owen said darkly and then sliced right through a large tentacle aimed for Anne's eyes. His magic sword easily turned the monster into dust.

"Oh, so it made those things." Anne looked at the gem on the back that was spawning more tentacles. She was rather unconcerned though.

"Hah! Hurgh!" Owen kept cutting them down as Anne kept reading, but eventually he was overwhelmed and had to retreat.

"This one is a bust. How disappointing." Anne sighed and closed the book. In the next instance dozens of creatures jumped her.

"Princess…"

Anne raised her hand and a large seal appeared around her that burned them to a crisp.

"…the next gate is over there." He gallantly opened a magic door that had appeared in the center of the platform.

"This could take all day. But we only have a few hours left." Anne made a disgruntled face and stepped forward. "Grea…"

Inside the princesses' shared room, a certain dragonborn was listlessly staring out the window. She had already put on her night gown, but there was nothing keeping her in bed. Today had been a little frustrating to her.

"Anne, where are you?" She whispered with her head leaned against one hand. Her tail slumped down visibly under her gown.

"Whoaaaaa!" Anne flailed her arms in the air. They had been falling for almost thirty minutes! This place just didn't seem to have a bottom.

"Princess, please grab my hand." Owen stretched it out towards her and they connected. Then he rammed his sword into the walls of the eternal tower and they finally stopped their descent. "Have you seen a door?" He asked curtly.

"Nope. This tower seems to be a trap." She cast a quick spell with her spellbook and the next instance they could walk on air. Or rather the air around their feet turned solid.

"Hm?" The knight looked out one of the windows and spied something.

"Of course!" Anne followed his gaze and saw the road outside the tower. They jumped through the hole and walked across the tiled ground. No matter what level they might have exited, it was always ground floor outside. At the end of the yellow tiled road they found a sculpture made from emerald. It had horns and wings… "Grea!"

"It does resemble the dragonborn slightly." He agreed.

"Ah, but the tail is just wrong." Anne said disappointedly. The statue had horns and wings, but the tail was very thin with an arrow like tip.

"This material shines brighter than the armor of any paladin…" Owen muttered and extended his hand almost mesmerized.

"Wait a second, that isn't-" Anne tried to stop him, but it was too late. As the knight touched the statue they were suddenly warped into a peculiar dimension.

Everything turned dark before their eyes until a small chandelier flickered away the indestructible black. When their senses returned they could tell that they were in some kind of study.

"Hmm? Hmhm HM? Do I sense... visitors?" A luscious deep female voice echoed inside the study. From a formerly invisible chair rose a large woman. Her clothes were that of a sage or a really old-fashioned professor. Yet her body was youthful… and voluptuous. "I do not get many visitors around here. Usually impatient students who have not learned a simple Armageddon spell yet." She pulled off her rectangular glasses and smiled lasciviously.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Owen was the first to speak up, but he did not break eye-contact.

"Ohoho, you aren't bad at all, are you boy? Those chiseled cheekbones and the slightly incompetent puppy aura. What's your name?" The woman stepped forward and into the light.

"I have no name to give to a demon." He replied completely on guard.

"Hah? I must have been wrong. I cannot stand rude people." She softly flicked her fingers forward and the next moment Owen disappeared into thin air. His entire existence was erased in a single motion!

"Where did you send him?" Anne asked confused.

"Back to the tower to air out his bad manners some more." The woman replied with a hearty shrug and then settled back down on her armchair that had floated over. "You seem a little more open-minded girl. What is your name?" And there they were. The long curved horns and the wings that acted like a layer on top of her coat. The thin tail was elegantly waving in the air. A demoness.

"Anne." Replied Anne.

"No hesitation…" She was seemingly impressed.

"You are Lady Daemonia, right?" The young princess asked calmly.

"So I was not forgotten just yet. That is honestly somewhat bothersome. The more stray souls wander here the less I can focus on my studies." She pouted and then flicked her fingers to make some tea cups appear.

"I read your book on theoretical magic particle movements in the subspace." Anne said with sparkling eyes.

"Oh that old thing? You are quite advanced. In fact I felt your presence even from here before. The souls speak well of you little Anne." She smiled devilishly.

Both were fully aware of who they were facing and the curiosity was hanging in the air.

"As much as I would love to have some professional discourse over magic theory, you have not come to this dreary realm to have a leisurely chat, no?" She sipped on her tea and closed one demonic eye.

"That's right, I came here for specific information." Anne nodded.

"Well well, do tell." She smiled expectantly.

Anne told her the true reason they had come to the forbidden library.

"PFFRT!?" Daemonia spat her tea across some books and coughed embarrassedly at her outburst. Her cheeks were tinted slightly red while she magically fixed the room.

"…" Anne did not show a sliver of shame or dissuasion.

"A mage of your caliber wanders this twisted place for something so trivial…" She could hardly grasp it.

"It's not trivial." Anne denied her firmly.

"Apparently not. Honestly, who am I to judge mortals?" She admitted defeat and put down her cup. "I must assume that you love this dragon dearly."

"Y-yes." It was Anne's turn to become a bit red.

"I have some experience in interspecies love affairs. Teehee." She chuckled mesmerizingly.

"A-affair…" Anne gulped.

"If this is to please her, then you should have everything you need already."

"N-no, I am not sure how to do it!" Anne replied flustered.

"If she is your size, then surely your hands will be enough." Daemonia replied floaty.

"T-that can't be all there is to it. W-what about t-technique?" She was very jittery now.

"Like motions? I have not performed such acts with dragons before, but using the tongue tactfully could feel much better."

"TONGUE?" Anne almost fell off her chair.

"Are you afraid to be poisoned? You shan't die after just one or two times." She smiled with a hand in front of her mouth.

"Once is enough. Really." Anne said strongly. "I just want to relief her stress and make her feel good… Maybe she will learn to love her body more."

"As much as you love it?"

"Hnng…" Anne buried her face in her hands.

"Ohoho, nevermind this old demoness. Youth is so delectable, I cannot help myself. Although I do prefer older gentlemen." She added with a shrug. "No matter, if you need more instructions I can send you to the dragonbone graveyard. The remnants of an ancient dragon tribe are still buried there. That includes their cultural relicts and tomes."

"Isn't that grave robbery?" Anne remarked with a sweaty face.

"It is not a crime if nobody finds out~" She winked and then clapped her hands. A portal opened next to Anne. "I have a deep interest in you now, little Anne. Do not underestimate a demon's curiosity!"

"I will definitely come back to talk more!" Anne swore and waved her goodbye. "Ah and could you please send Owen after me?"

"Your rude companion? He is doing marvelously inside the wind tunnel… Oh well. For a cute little thing like you I can hardly be stingy."

The portal closed and Daemonia licked her lips as she watched Anne disappear.

"It's not like… she has to come back before midnight." Grea said with serious nods. She was sitting in front of the desk and pretending to do homework. In truth she had finished it hours ago. Right now she could barely do more than some self-study and write some notes.

Anne had left right after classes to do something with Owen. When Grea had asked her about it she had made some hasty excuse and slipped away. The only words she could still remember where these:

"I will deeefinitely be back on time!"

That earnest look on Anne as she balled her fists all fired up was really cute…

"When is 'on time'?" Grea whispered as she rolled the ornate pen on her papers. This beautiful pen was the only thing she could always count on. "…dummy."

"Oof." Anne held her spinning head. She had landed unceremoniously inside the dragonbone graveyard. For a place littered with sharp bones and claws she did land on something surprisingly soft though. "Owen?!"

"I will gladly… be the princess… stool…" The student knight spoke like he was about to breath his last and he was bleeding from several spikes inside his chest and arms.

After dragging the unfortunate bodyguard out of the maws of death they quickly scoped out the area. It was pretty dreary, but still beautiful… in a morbid way. Skeletons and teeth, claw marks and scales, everything reminded of the gigantic godlike creatures that roamed the world freely in the past.

These dragons were related to Grea in some distant way. It made Anne's heart race.

"I have spotted some goblins that are looting the ruins in the east, but it appears safe otherwise." Owen gave her his opinion.

"I wonder if there really are any tomes in a place like this." These dragons didn't seem exceptionally able in orthography. At least claws of that size would not be holding any pens.

They entered a house… only to realize that it was the bone structure of a really bulky skeleton. Inside they found all manner of rare items and treasures, but they were not here for looting. Certainly. Definitely.

"There actually is a book!" Anne exclaimed and grabbed the tome that had been stuck to a great green emerald. "Wow, so many complex runes." Opening the book alone blinded her for a moment.

"Hm, I hear the goblins approach. Excuse me while I dispose of them." Owen turned around and drew his blade.

"Really? This is a dragon's most ticklish spot?" She was reading in fascination as her spell auto-translated as best as it could. This information was revolutionary in its own way. It talked mostly about everyday things in dragon culture. It was a few thousand years old, but some of this surely had to still apply to Grea. "T-the tip... huh." She saved that info deep inside her mental memory banks.

But what she was really searching for was even more specific. It had to be in this kind of tome for sure. From the edge of her visions she noticed movement and swiftly summoned a small fairy familiar. The small girl with fiery hair burned the gobbling to cinders and then winked cutely.

"Thanks." She released the contract and then kept reading. Unbeknownst to her the goblin's sword had still been sailing through the air and then stabbed itself into the giant emerald. "Here it is! Yes yes yes!" She was elated and immediately wrote the passage down in her own notebook. "I got all the ingredients in the library. Lucky~"

She smashed the tome shut and then tried to put it back on the emerald, but accidentally tapped against the sword. It inevitably sank deeper into the crack and broke the entire thing apart! Anne's eyes turned white in shock and she tenderly pulled the sword out. The cracks were deeper than her arms were looong!

"T-that was already there when we came here." She whistled and put the tome over the giant crack. Nobody could even tell it was there now!

She hastily sprinted out the skeleton house and searched for Owen. She didn't even notice that something had slipped into her large boot.

"We are back William!" Anne shouted and ran through the library they had just crash-landed in.

"I would never have guessed…" The blue-haired librarian said dryly.

"We will be using the materials cabinet." Owen saluted with two fingers and ran after the princess.

"Why do you always return with holes all over your uniform?" Will wondered with dulled eyes. He was only here to keep the library open for these two oddballs.

In the back Anne immediately followed the steps she had just learned to complete her alchemy. This time she did not need any dragon related ingredients ironically. When she finished the concoction she was sweating and covered in mist, but satisfied.

"Thank you for your help guys, I have to get back to my room before midnight!" She spoke faster than lightning and ran twice as fast.

"…" Owen watched her leave with a smile.

"…give me your jacket." Will said disgruntled and pulled out his wand as well as needle and thread.

It was dark inside the room. The candle had already gone out and the moon was covered in clouds. Anne sneaked inside and squinted her eyes to see anything. Grea must have gone to sleep already, which was probably for the best. Anne straightened her light chestnut hair that had become all wild and glared at the clock. It was an hour past midnight. She had failed.

"Stupid." She scolded herself by pinching her own cheek and then wobbled towards her bed. Right now she felt like she could sleep for an entire week. She carefully put the bottle down on her drawer and then fell flat on her bed.

It was heavenly soft! And so incredibly squishy. These twin pillows were phenomenal. Somehow her bed had even been preheated and smelled wonderful. This was the complete service she was used to from the palace. Except this bed even moaned alluringly…

"G-Grea?" She asked hesitantly with a twitchy smile.

"You are back." The dragoness said with a low voice.

"This is my bed, right?" She made sure that she had not taken a wrong turn.

"Mhm." Grea confirmed lightly and hugged her tail.

"Oh."

Oh indeed.

There were far too many thoughts penetrating Anne's mind to sum them all up in even a short novel, but for now she was pulling her arms away from her girlfriend's bountiful chest. Getting into this spooning position had been rather natural, huh?

"Ehehe… It's already tomorrow." She said awkwardly.

"…"

"Grea!" She jumped on the opposite side of the bed to face the red eyes directly. Grea was flushed for sure and turned right around. "G-Grea, listen to me." She tried her best to keep up with the constant tossing and turning, but eventually got frustrated. "Please look at me!"

"!" Grea looked up with wide eyes as Anne's thin arms pinned her down. She was now hunching right above her.

"I know I'm late." She showed her regret. "But… Happy Birthday." She moved forward and gave her a soft kiss.

The heat created between them could have made most bonfires envious.

After cooling down side by side, Grea kept holding Anne's hand.

"I wanted to say it right at midnight, but it took too long." The princess explained.

"What took so long?" The dragoness asked curiously.

"Hehe, you will turn that disappointment into awe in a moment!" Anne jumped up and picked up the bottle excitedly. "This is dragon balm!"

"Huh? Like a fever medicine?" She tilted her head cutely and her tail waved about.

"Is that what you call it at home?" Anne was taken aback, but corrected her. "This is for scale care." She patted the bottle proudly.

"E-eh? My t-tail?" Said tail went up in surprise.

"Yeah, this is my birthday present for you. This balm is supposed to relief tenseness from any body part and makes scales clean and shiny. It even said it would help improve blood circulation and trim fat!" Such descriptions were usually too good to be true, but Anne's alchemy was far from normal.

"…." Grea teared up.

"Ehhh?! Was that a bad idea?" Anne panicked.

"Because I said… I felt fat?"

"T-to be fair, I love the thickness of your tail and it's not going to make it turn into a lizard tail or anything. I just thought if it feels heavy it would be nice if we could relief the tension a bit-" She was interrupted by a single hand holding on to her torn sleeve.

"You went that far… just because of my insecurities." Grea said quietly.

"…that's not it." Anne said matter of factly all of a sudden. "I just wanted to make you happy."

"Anne!"

"Grea."

They smiled with a deep affection that had only been growing over the school year. Turquoise eyes met deep red and they felt all tension fade away.

"I got some advice on how to apply it." Anne suddenly said mischievously. "Just leave it all to me."

Ever so shy Grea could not sleep that night. But her tail was entering an unknown world of pleasure.

(To be continued)

Bonus:

"Princess Grea's birthday is coming up?" Palla, the student teacher asked and blinked a few times as she set down her coffee.

"Yes and I don't know what to do." Anne had stayed after class to help her with the correction of some tests. Palla had her hands full trying to become a full-fledged teacher, so Anne's help was appreciated.

"Did you consider making her a potion of fortune?" Palla suggested with pride in her genius mind.

"But Grea doesn't really need money." Anne was not into it.

"Hah. I was merely jesting." Palla wiped a drop of sweat from her temple and focused on her coffee.

"Owen said he would get her an ornate sword."

"How… quaint." Even her suggestion sounded better than that.

"And Hanna is not telling me what she will get. I bet it's something elegant and amazing." Anne pouted.

"You should know your roommate best, no? Does she have no wants?"

"Grea is always so humble. She will never ask for anything. One time I asked her and she just wanted me to make some tea. I do that every day!" She leaned her head sideways against the desk.

"You do go quite far for your friends, huh?" Palla looked at the test sheets on her side. Compared to Anne who had already finished all of her share…

"We are best friends." Anne said happily. "I wonder if she would be happy with a kiss…"

"Pfffrt!" Coffee was acquainted with sheets. Palla was shaking in surprise. She covered her mouth while wiping the coffee away carefully. Did students these days just casually do such things to each other? It was not like she was that old either, but in her school days they had never crossed such lines… not even with her best friends. Just imagining it made her turn into a mess.

"No way, that would be just like the tea. I need something special."

So kissing wasn't even special anymore! Just how far had the student body gone in those few years she was away?

"Miss Palla, do you know anything that makes dragons happy?" This extremely advanced student (in so many ways) was earnestly asking for her advice!

"Not in particular. Their bodies operate in a different manner from our own. That is to say, Princess Grea does have most human features as well, so it should be easy to find something-"

"They are different… Yes, I need something that would suit her different biology."

"Ah… hm? Is that so?"

"I don't know how to make Grea any prettier, but there must be something that could help."

"Like a beauty massage?" Palla shot into the dark.

"Ohhhh." Anne's face lit up. "Her tail, she is always sighing about her tail. Those scales would feel nice if I could rub them all over~"

Was she really thinking of the dargonborn's happiness anymore? Somehow she had her doubts. Also why exactly was the princes the one to do the handiwork herself?

"You are great with alchemy, so do you know any oils?"

"Something that could affect even dragon scales? Such a thing would be powerful indeed." She cupped her chin, but only drew blanks. Not like she was allowed to use forbidden ingredients herself.

"They must have some information on how to make that kind of stuff in the forbidden library. I only got half a day left, so we got to hurry." Anne pushed her chair back and got up. "Thank you for your advice Miss Palla! You are already a great teacher."

"Y-you're quite welcome. This is nothing for someone like- And she is gone." She pushed back her silky raven hair and looked to one of the pictures on her desk. That group of friends from her academy days… If she had been more like the princess could she have gotten closer to them?

"Not that close, though." She covered her forehead with one hand when she thought about kissing her classmates. Maybe she really was getting old.