Lee blinked his eyes open as he awoke. Waking up, he would sometimes forget where he had fallen asleep. He would expect to be in his bed in his apartment or sometimes at his childhood home. As his senses began taking in his surroundings, he realized he was sitting on something with a lot of cushioning. There was also something leaning on him. He looked down to it, and it was Nicole tucked under his arm with her head resting on his chest. There was also a blanket with the Moon Kingdom's sigil embroidered on it covering both of them.

Nicole blinked her eyes open and looked up him, at first surprised, but smiling at him. Lee lifted his arm to let her sit up while remaining under the blanket. They both looked down to a girl in her mid-teens in a long, blue dress squatting at their feet and holding her chin in her palms. Her hair was a mass of blue that was light but not quite as light as Lee's and so long the ball held by a gold band at the end rested on the ground. She smiled sweetly at them, and gave a giggle as she tilted her head.


Lee and Nicole's screams echoed through the halls of Moon Castle.


"What did I tell you?!" Lee sought refuge behind Ophelia from Otto roaring at him.

"But I didn't do anything," Lee blubbered. "I was out there trying to get to sleep, she came out, we talked a bit, I fell asleep, and she then fell asleep."

Otto bared his sharp teeth and growled. He turned to Nicole. "Lady Dupré, you should've known better. When traveling abroad, you must be extremely careful with your actions and how they could be read. Do you have any idea the kind of scandal you found sleeping with a common vagrant could turn into?"

"I thought you were the one who slept with Bret," Tammy said.

"Hey!" Bret snapped.

"I was going to be sleeping alongside someone," Nicole retorted. "Besides, I've had more pleasant conversations with Laertes in the past day than I ever did with you."

Alex and Bonnie grimaced. "Ooh! Right in the ex-zone," Bonnie said.

"Brutal," Alex added.

"You told her your proper name?" Ophelia asked Lee.

"She literally asked yesterday," Lee answered. He turned to Nicole. "Please, I prefer to be called 'Lee.'"

"As you wish, Lee," Nicole replied.

"You already have a reputation for being a contrarian," Otto growled. "You're a lady of court, and yet you dress like a peasant."

"As opposed to the maid uniforms the other courtiers wear?" Nicole asked, not expecting a response. "I serve the royal family through the Ministry as well as the royal court, just like you."

"And here I thought Tammy was full of vitriol," Bret said, then backed from Tammy and the glare she gave him. "And did she mean Otto is part of the royal court too?"

"That he is." Bonnie explained, "Otto is Markgraf Hans Jäger's younger son."

"Hans Jäger as in King Randa's chief of staff, markgraf of the Sky Knights, and the Violet Count: Hero of the War of Ascension?" Bret asked. "That Hans Jäger?"

"The very same," Bonnie answered. "Surprised you would spout all that about him in a question."

"You kidding? Aviators all over the Wonder Planet know the legend of the Violet Count. He's a pilot's pilot." Bret said. "But, how did the kid of the Chief of Staff's and a war hero up a civvy pilot?"

"I went where duty called," Otto answered. "The markgraf of the Ministry of Windmill Operations asked for me to join their aviators, and I was happy to oblige."

"Being on the list to pilot the King Barbardo is also a nice perk," Bonnie said.

"And these two are exes?" Tammy asked.

"The two courted," Bonnie answered. "It was Windmill Kingdom feudal politics at its finest. The duchess believed her daughter would cement the Dupré's legitimacy as a noble house if she married a man from a family of high standing and the Jäger's saw it as marrying their son into landed nobility. Instead, it was the most epic breakup in Windmill Castle history since what is simply known as the Randa/Camellia Disaster."

"It would've worked if your head wasn't always literally in the clouds," Otto accused Nicole.

"The problem was you're so rigid and archaic in your attitudes!" Nicole shot back. "You act like you'd come apart at the seams if you dared to loosen up from your militaristic, overcompensating lifestyle by even the slightest bit!"

"More money, more problems, huh?" Bret commented. He looked to the two lesser Doggles. "Are you two nobles or…"

"I'm the son of a courier and a chemist," Alex answered.

"I come from two long lines of castle servants and engineers," Bonnie answered as well.

Princess Fine and Princess Rein of the Sunny Kingdom were there. Rein, in blue, was Lee and Nicole's "audience." Fine wore a pink dress identical in design to her sister's and wore her red hair in a pair of twin tails much like Andrea. They and their little companion, a fairy named Poomo, had stayed along the wall and watched.

"Is there any reason we're watching this de pumo?" Poomo asked.

"I have no idea," Fine answered.

Rein commented, "A noble lady defending her love for a commoner. It's so romantic."

Lee's heart jumped into his throat. "What?!"

"What?!" Otto snarled. He swung to Nicole. "You can't be serious! You just met him!"

"'Love' is an extremely strong word," Nicole said. "It's more of a curiosity, perhaps infatuation at most." She looked to Lee with a smile. "However, he is cute and sweet and gentle and intelligent. I could see myself at least try a date to see where it goes."

Otto massaged his eyes. "Lady Dupré, your mother asked me to look after you on this foreign trip to make sure you did nothing rash."

Nicole sharpened her glare at Otto.

"Uh oh," Bonnie exhaled. "He just pushed the Georgette button."

"You shouldn't have done that, Otto," Alex added.

"Georgette button?" Fine asked.

"Duchess Georgette: Lady Nicole's mother," Bonnie explained. "They don't see eye to eye on…just about everything, so her becoming the topic of discussion can have unpredictable results."

"Nothing rash?" Nicole fumed. "You want nothing rash?!"

Nicole stormed around Ophelia to Lee. Before he knew what was happening, she had grabbed his shirt to pull him down and held the back of his head as she locked her lips with his. For what felt like forever, but was just a few seconds, they kissed. It was just their lips touching, part of it being Lee too in shock to do anything else.

She finally released him and swung back to Otto. "You can report back to my mother I did that."

Otto just stood there, mouth hanging open as if his jaw would fall out of his head if not attached. He closed his mouth and glowered at Lee, to which Lee retreated behind Ophelia in response.

"Like I said, the Georgette button," Bonnie said.

The door opened and Spigot came in with Emily and Franklin behind him. "For the love of God, they could probably hear you in the Jewelry Kingdom. What's going on here?"

"Lady Nicole just spite kissed Lee," Bonnie answered.

Spigot looked to the ceiling in response. He then looked around. "Where are the princesses?"

Fine raised her hand. "We're princesses!"

Spigot looked to them with a glower. "I meant Princess Milro and Princess Sophie."

"The maids just dropped off our clothes," Ophelia said. "They're getting dressed in the other room."


Milro fastened the hook and eye of her skirt to complete the bottom half of her outfit. Fortunately, their clothing made it through the wash just fine as promised. If anything, they felt softer than ever before. "Clothing feels so great out of the drier," Sophie put into warms the warmth from them.

Sophie had started with the white, long-sleeved blouse she wore under the jacket. She was methodic in putting the buttons through the lace-trimmed placket and the cuffs of the puffy sleeves. She then stepped into the center of her cage crinoline and pulled it up to her waist, causing it from what looked like a spiderweb flat on the ground to the birdcage shape that would give her skirt its structure. She tucked her long tail under the waist line before fastening it.

"Shouldn't you put your skirt on before your top?" Milro was used to wearing a bodice that went over the skirt. Speaking of which, Milro picked it up and put her arms through the sleeves.

"I like tucking my blouse in them," Sophie answered. She pointed. "Can you pass me my inner petticoat? The one with the ruffles."

Milro picked up the purple garment that was tier upon tier of ruffles. There was another that was flat except for the ruffled hem. "No wonder your skirt has so much volume."

She handed Sophie the petticoat. It matched with Sophie's bloomers which were also layer upon layer of lacy, purple trim and had three layers of ruffles where they gathered just below her knees. "Are all these ruffles a Windmill Kingdom style?" Milro asked. "I mean, even your underwear?"

Sophie presented her foot forward to show her undergarments better. "Oh! These are all the rage in the Windmill Kingdom. How about, when we get new wardrobes, I see if we can get you some pairs?"

"Uh, no thank you." Milro was happy with her basic, non-lacy, single-ruffled bloomers. Besides, she was hoping they would not need new wardrobes. "But, thank you for offering, Sophie."

Sophie slipped the petticoat over her head and spread it over crinoline. She shook and flapped it to get it to lay even.

Milro buttoned up her bodice that went diagonal between two flaps to the centerline and then straight up to where the sides of her collar met. She had done it so many times it was second nature. Her mother had insisted she dress herself rather than leaving it to her servants when she had the time so she was well-practiced.

They heard a commotion outside—rather than to the side where the engineers were arguing. "Princess Milky, come back here!" a female voice yelled.

They turned to the closed door as it came from the hall. "You can't be out in the hall in nothing but your undergarments!" another called out.

"I'm not wearing that thing!" a young girl's voice shouted back. "Why can't I wear my normal clothes?"

"Multiple princesses are visiting, Princess," the first woman's voice answered. "You have to dress formally."

"But I look like a vulture in it!" the girl's voice retorted.

"It's the exact same as your mother's," the second woman's voice stated.

"And she looks like a vulture too!" the girl's voice declared.

"Princess Milky, get back here!" the second woman's voice snapped.

The door flew open and someone rushed inside, pulling the door closed behind them. It was Princess Milky wearing nothing but her dark purple camisole and knee-length bloomers. The pink-haired princess of the Moon Kingdom was tall for being only six, approaching the height Milro was at eight. Between her mother being so tall and her infamous appetite, she seemed to be in a constant growth spurt.

Milky rested her ear to the door. "Where did she go?" the first woman's voice asked.

"Maybe she doubled back and got around us," the second answered.

"You check back there while I go down there," the first said.

The sounds of shoes on the floor outside faded. She rested her back against the door and exhaled a sigh. She looked down at Milro and Sophie, and they looked up to her. Milky got down on her knees.

"Oh wow, what awesome-looking Milro and Sophie dolls!" she exclaimed.

Before Milro and Sophie could react, she had picked them up in her hands. Fortunately, she was very gentle as she cradled them and held them in place with her thumb with no pressure.

Milro looked up to Milky. "Milky, we're not dolls. We're actually Milro and Sophie."

Milky looked down at them, her medium blue eyes going wide. "Really?!" She lowered her hands to let them slip down to the ground. "I'm so sorry, but why are you so small?"

"It's okay, Milky," Milro said. "We're like this because we were cursed by the Mother Tree."

Milky turned back to the door. "The Mother Tree can do that?" She turned to them; eyes filled with worry. "Please don't let my nanny know! She'd want her to shrink me for misbehaving, I just know it!"

"I don't think it works that way," Milro said.

Milky heaved a sigh. "I hope not."

"How did you not think of looking in the rooms?" the first woman's voice was back.

"You didn't either!" the second yelled back.

The door opened and a Human and a Rabi maid glowered at Milky. "There you are, Princess Milky," the Human said.

"You're in a heap of trouble, young lady," the Rabi added.

Milky stood up just for them to grab her and pull her backwards. They dragged her, despite her struggles, to the door. "No! Milro, Sophie, help! They're gonna make me wear the vulture dress! Tell them that you're okay with me wearing my normal dress!"

"This isn't up for a debate!" the Human stated.

"And how can you go in front of our guests while half-dressed?" the Rabi added. "It's worse than the uniforms those workers wear."

Milro wanted to comment that, while she would not go out in only them, a camisole and pair of bloomers were designed to be perfectly appropriate to be seen in. They covered more than a man's typical base layer.

"Peeking bloomers is actually quite fashionable in our kingdoms," Sophie said. "In fact, I believe they are inspired by desert clothing."

"Please, do not encourage the young princess when she is like this," the Rabi maid said as she and the other maid wrestled Milky through the threshold.

Milky grabbed the doorframe as they pulled her out. "Remember me as I was," she said before being pulled out of view.

"Where does she get this?" the Human asked.

"I have no idea," the Rabi replied.

The Rabi came back and curtsied. "Our sincerest apologies, Your Majesties." She pushed the door closed.

With the commotion over, Milro and Sophie completed dressing. Though, they were now trapped in the room as they could not push the door open even if they found a way to reach the handle. Milro was reminded how much of a challenge something as simple as moving from room to room was going to be at this size.

A knock then came on the door. "Princess Milro, Princess Sophie—" the door opened slightly for Ophelia to poke her head in "—are you dressed?"

"Yes!" Milro answered.

The door opened completely and the engineers entered.

"What was all the commotion in there?" Ophelia asked.

"Oh, Princess Milky was just having a disagreement on what she was going to wear today," Sophie answered.

"Right." Ophelia went to the baskets. She searched through one with a woman's Drop Kingdom and woman's Windmill Kingdom uniform. "This is ours." She moved it to the side.

She passed the next with more uniforms for women to Tammy. "This one is yours."

She took a small Windmill Kingdom jacket from the next and put it down. "Here you go." She handed it to Alex.

She gave Otto the last one. "And this one is yours."

"Milro, Sophie," Fine and Rein said at the same time as they entered. They looked around. "I thought you said they were in here," Rein said.

"They are." Bonnie pointed down to Milro and Sophie.

Fine and Rein looked down at them. "Milro, Sophie," Rein said.

"What happened to you?" Fine asked.

"Cursed by the Mother Tree," Sophie answered.

"You call this a curse?" Fine asked.

"It's wonderful," Rein added dreamily.

"It is?" Ophelia and Lee asked at the same time.

Rein clasped her hands together and stared on with longing eyes. "You're so small, delicate, and vulnerable: needing a big, strong prince to protect you."


Rein could picture herself sitting in Prince Bright's hands. She would wear a dress that practically enveloped her in frills and lace and general poofiness, yet only filling his cupped palms. Bright would look particularly dashing.

"Have no fear, my little princess," Bright said in his gentle, comforting voice. "I will always protect you."

Rein looked up into his big, brown eyes. "Oh, Prince Bright, in your hands, I feel like no harm could ever come to me," she said in a small, delicate voice.

"And just think how big food is compared to you now?!" Fine's exclamation intruded.


Fine could picture herself in pink lederhosen over a white blouse and carrying climbing equipment as she came to the foot of a literal mountain of giant fruits and sweets topped by a massive pineapple and accompanied by a random yodel. She gasped at the sight of it.

Fine threw up her hands and jumped for joy. "It's time to eat!"


Back in reality: Milro and Sophie as well as the engineers stared on as Fine and Rein seemed to be off in their own little world.

Rein rested her chin on the back of her hand. "Put me in your breast pocket, Prince Bright," she swooned, "so I can listen to your heartbeat."

Fine was literally drooling. "Oh wow! This cherry is bigger than my head!"

Poomo floated above and between them, wearing that embarrassed and tired look Milro had seen him wear so many times when Fine and Rein's imaginations ran away with—rather than away from—them.

Bonnie pointed to the twin princesses—a distinction that had to be made at the moment since there were also twin engineers now—and looked to Milro and Sophie. "Are they usually like this?"

"This is actually pretty tame for them," Sophie answered.

Milro tried to push aside that awkward feeling of Fine and Rein's antics. She instead paid attention to the very different outfits they wore from usual. It was a maxi-length dress that was pink for Fine and blue for Rein like most of their attire. The sleeves were long with ruffled cuffs and puffed shoulders under a light-colored mantelet with a medallion of the Sunny Kingdom's sigil over their chest like a worker uniform only not going up to their necks. The skirt was layered with the outer skirt much shorter than the two skirts under it, all of them trimmed with lace. "Are those new dresses."

Fine and Rein snapped back to reality. Fine spread her skirt and turned to the side to show it off. "Yup! They're based on what our mother wore when she was our age."

Rein spread her skirt in a curtsy. "Don't we look princess-like in them?"

"I think so," Milro replied.

"Yeah," Sophie added. "You won't be confused for a couple of street urchins wearing those."

Fine and Rein let out a soft grunt and winced at receiving that "compliment." Poomo rubbed the back of his head. "The sad part is: that was an all too frequent problem for us de pumo."

Poomo had changed as well. He was still the white fairy wearing a blue hat topped by an orange sun. However, along with the tuff of blond hair that came out from under his hat, he had an equally blond goatee connecting to a mustache to form a ring around his mouth. "When did you grown the beard, Poomo?" Milro used her thumb and index finger to make a circle around her mouth to trace where his facial hair was.

Poomo floated down to her. Knowing how small he was, seeing he was about the same size as them reminded Milro of just how much they had shrunk. "I see you noticed de pumo."

Poomo turned to the side, puffing out his chest and stroking his beard. "As the attendant to the princess, I believe it makes me look distinguished de pumo."

Fine and Rein's expressions suggested they thought otherwise. "He looks ridiculous," Fine said, confirming it.

"Tell him to shave it off," Rein begged.

Poomo stopped mid-stroke and twitched his brow.

"I like it," Sophie said.

"I think it looks good," Milro said. It might look strange on Poomo, but that is more it was new.

Spigot took his shirt from the basket holding his uniform. "If we're done with the morning antics, get dressed. I'm ready for breakfast."

"Actually, it'll be more of a brunch," Lee pointed out. It was already past eleven in the morning.

"Whatever," Spigot groaned. "I'm just ready to get something in my stomach."


Two maids escorted the engineers into a dining room. The single, oval-shaped table had fifteen chairs gathered around it. A tiny table on it with a pair of chairs for Milro and Sophie sat at the center. Small platforms holding salt, pepper, butter, and other condiments hovered above the table—making circles over the places. Two other maids were setting places.

"The regent and princess will join you shortly, sirs and madams" one of the maids said.

The engineers sat down in the chairs with tall backs. "Eating with the royal family?" Ophelia mused. "We should travel with the princess more often."

"Regent Moon Maria is always happy to entertain guests along with their entourages," a maid said as she set a place. "Besides, it's the foundation of the Desert Code."

"Desert Code?" Nicole asked.

Another maid adjusted some silverware. "The Desert Cide states, 'The more inhospitable the terrain, the more hospitable a host you should be.'"

Nicole held her hand for Sophie to climb out of her pocket onto her hand to be set down next to the small table. She did the same for Milro. They took their seats at the tiny table. It felt odd sitting at a table on top of a table.

"We've stayed over in the Moon Kingdom a few times," Rein said.

"Their food is so yummy," Fine added. She clenched her fist. "Assuming you can get any before Milky eats it all."

"Sounds like meals with Lee." Ophelia sat down. "He made be built like a pencil, but I swear he has a hollow leg."

Lee went to sit down next to Nicole. However, Otto took the seat. Lee sat in the seat next to him. Nicole got up and motioned for Bonnie to move from the seat on the other side of Lee. Bonnie flew to Nicole's old seat and Nicole took hers. Lee shifted his eyes from the greater Doggle to the half-Doggle on either side of him and then sat back as they glared past him at each other. They then turned away and Lee relaxed.

The pair of maids that had escorted them in opened the main door. "Presenting their Royal Highnesses, Regent Moon Maria and Princess Milky." Moon Maria and Milky walked in. Milky wore a black dress and giant moon crown matching her mother as well as the expression of a cat that was in the midst of an unwater bath. Now that Milky mentioned it, Milro could not get how the black dress with white, fur trim around the neck resembled the plumage of a Flame Kingdom condor—a type of vulture—out of her mind.

"I hope you all slept well." Moon Maria seemed to glide, so graceful in her walking to the table. "And may I present my daughter, Princess Milky."

"Hello, everyone," Milky said, her movements not nearly as graceful and her demeanor not even a sliver as pleasant. Moon Maria cleared her throat. Milky looked to her and then faced forward. "Sorry." She curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, princesses and um—" she looked to the engineers making up the bulk of their guests "—what do I call the others?"

"Engineers will suffice," Spigot answered.

Moon Maria and Milky sat in the seats at the head of the table. "Since it is so close to noon, I planned more of a lunch than a breakfast, if that is okay for you."

A maid placed a large, boiled lobster in front of Lee along with butter sauce. "You got no complaints from me, Your Highness." He picked up the shell cracker.

Ophelia also got a lobster. The Doggles had steaks while large salads were provided for the Beavers. Fine, Rein, Milky, and Moon Maria received a mix of a lobster tail, smaller steak, and salad. Milro and Sophie were given tiny portions to fit their size.

The servants also set down a basket with fresh baked bread and a bowl with an assortment of fruit. Milro was surrounded by the bouquet of aromas from their meal. From her perspective, Milro had to agree with Fine. Food was mountainous compared to them. Even the pieces her salad were made from where so thick they looked like cubes.

"It's too bad Andrea didn't come with us," Ophelia mused allowed.

"Who?" Rein asked.

"My girlfriend," Ophelia answered. "Though, even if I had a chance to ask her to come along, she would've refused."

"Why's that?" Fine reached for the breadbasket at the same time as Milky. They stopped and glared at each other, like two predators facing off over a kill. However, that gave Lee an opening to take it and remove the largest baguette to put on his plate. Fine and Milky stared on as he returned the breadbasket to the center.

Lee cut the baguette into a top and bottom. "Andrea suffers from acute brontophobia." He stopped. "Or is it astraphobia?" He turned to Ophelia. "Is she more scared of lightning or thunder?"

Ophelia shot him a glare, making him sit back and continue to cut his baguette. "Regardless, she avoids thunderstorms as much as possible," she said. "So, she's not about to head into any kind of foul weather on purpose."

Ophelia sighed. "It figures. I'm a storm chaser in a steady relationship with someone terrified of storms."

"She is even wary of stratiform precipitation," Lee said. "Like, last summer, there was what appeared to be your garden variety rain shield over Saginaw City, but there must've been an embedded cumulonimbus tower. Because, out of nowhere—" Lee smacked his hand on the table "—BOOM! A bolt of positive C.G. struck the southwest outer tower. It sounded like a bomb went off, and rattled the windows in the castle's main lounge. Andrea jumped a good meter off the ground and right into Ophelia's arms."

He took out his phone and flipped it open. "And there was the odd little squeak she made."

Ophelia pointed at him. "Do not belittle the 'Thunder Eep.'"

Lee pressed a button a few times. "Here it is."

Ophelia tried to reach for Lee's phone, but was just of reach three chairs down. "Don't show them!"

"But you submitted it for both our union calendars," Lee said. "Everyone's gonna see it all June."

Lee leaned forward to hand his phone to Fine. Ophelia buried her face in her hands.

Fine took the phone and she and Rein looked at it. Rein smiled; her eyes seemed to light up. "You're such a cute couple."

"Can we see?" Sophie asked.

Fine held down the phone for them to see. It was a picture of Ophelia holding a half-Beaver maid like a bride. Both stared into the POV in shock.

"You two are a lovely couple," Sophie said.

Fine handed Lee back his phone. "Why are you in the Moon Kingdom?" she asked. "If what happened to Milro and Sophie was because of the Mother Tree, shouldn't you be in the Seed Kingdom?"

"We just stopped here over for the night," Ophelia said.

"We'll be headed back to the Seed Kingdom once we're done here," Lee added.

"We could call this the meeting of the twins," Sophie said. "Lee and Ophelia and are twins too."

"You are?!" Fine and Rein gasped together.

"It's not like being twins is all that special," Otto commented.

This got a glare from Nicole from across Lee. Lee just pulled the meat out of the tail half of his lobster onto the bottom of his baguette and poured his butter sauce over it. He put the top on to make a sandwich and bit into it.

"What about you, Princess Fine, Princess Rein," Ophelia asked, "why are you down here?"

"We're going around seeing how the different kingdoms have been doing in the past five years," Rein said.

"We've also been getting back in touch with people we met when we traveled the Wonder Planet," Fine added. She turned to Moon Maria. "Speaking of which, where's Shade?"

"Shade is visiting the main camp of the Masked Nomads," Moon Maria explained. "He is going through the ceremony of being recognized as an adult in the tribe. It is part of the process of taking the throne when he turns eighteen."

Poomo nodded. "It's so wonderful to hear Prince Shade is taking steps to prepare for taking the throne de pumo."

Milro stopped at hearing this. Forget dagger, it felt like a broadsword had been driven through her heart hearing this. It sounded like Shade was much further along in his path to becoming king then she was of being queen despite their similar age. Granted, he would take the throne much soon with his father gone, but he would not have let what happened to her happen to him.

"You all right, Milro?" Sophie asked.

She looked up to Sophie and put on a brave face. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about something." That was a lie, but Milro felt even more withdrawn after the events of yesterday. Fortunately, Sophie did not push further and the others seemed engrossed in their meals.

Even though Milro took the smallest bit of butter to put on what was essentially a crumb, it was still all she could do to fit in her mouth. Looking to the fruit in a nearby communal bowl. Even a single grape would fill her up for a full day.

"Didn't the Nomads give him the lizard he rides everywhere?" Emily asked.

"Indeed," Moon Maria answered. "He raised Regina literally from an egg. A rider and their lizard can literally grow up and then old together."

Nicole picked up her glass. "Well, I think everyone hopes Prince Shade and Regina will grow old together."

"Here, here," the crowd said.

"Tell me a bit about yourselves," Moon Maria suggested. "It's not every day I play host to workers from other countries and certain not this many at once."

"I don't know what to say," Spigot said. "I'm Jerome Spigot: master chief engineer of the Cloud Generation Service, and this is my weather observation team. Admittedly, I assembled it on short notice, so we're a bit new to each other as well."

"I suspect the princesses' present predicament is the reason for that short notice," Moon Maria said. "How do you think your investigation will help them?"

Spigot swallowed. "We're hoping the Mother Tree will accept an explanation of the current weather conditions as enough to restore them to normal size."

"'Hope' being the operative word," Emily added.

"What have you found?" Moon Maria asked.

"So far, what we've found out of the ordinary is that the cloud cover over the Seed Kingdom is forming snow at unusually warm temperatures," Lee answered. "That is likely the reason it's been such an efficient precipitation producer. However, that has only led to more questions we hope to answer today."

"Then I wish you luck on your endeavor," Moon Maria said.

"Maybe we could help," Fine suggested.

"Do you know why water vapor would favor deposition into ice crystals over condensation into supercooled water droplets in a supersaturated environment characterized by temperatures warmer than ten degrees below freezing?" Lee asked.

Fine and Rein's eyes glassed over. "Uh, what did he even just say?" Fine stammered and trailed off.

"Doesn't water just freeze when it's cold?" Rein asked.

"The Sunny Kingdom monitors the weather, right?" Nicole asked. "Have you heard anything about what's going in the Seed Kingdom?"

"About that," Rein said.

"We just leave everything to Omendo," Fine added.

Milro could not say anything on the matter. She just trusted that Spigot and his engineers had things under control. She had read about the process for making clouds, but she had never so much as visited any part of the cloud machinery other than the castle's Cloud Management Room.

"The data the Sunny Kingdom collects is not of much help in this situation," Lee said. "They're keeping track of the climate rather than weather."

"Aren't those the same thing?" Rein asked. This got Ophelia shaking her head and sweeping in finger tips across their throat.

"Not at all," Lee said. Ophelia dropped her head into her hand in response. Nicole weaved her fingers together to rest her chin on them and listened intently. "Both have to do with the state of the atmosphere, but weather and climate are on completely different scales of time and space. Even how they're studied require different disciplines and put emphasis on different properties.

"The reason for the Sunny Kingdom's observations is to diagnose the health of the Blessing of the Sun," Lee explained. "As the source of power for our environmental control equipment, their performance is the best way to see if its energy output is stable. So, they are more interested in overall trends and macroprocesses rather than any individual events and more localized drivers of near-term atmospheric behavior.

"Like, their approach towards precipitation would be like taking all that's fallen over the continent and nearshore waters over the past week and made it into a giant cube." He held up one open palm. "They then compare it with the average cube at the end of March and beginning of April." He held up his other open palm. "If you do that, they are roughly the same." He rocked them up and down like they were on the sides of a scale. He picked up the claw of his lobster and his shell cracker. "That's because our cloud production is normal meaning the energy we're receiving from the Blessing of the Sun is normal, and that is the end of the Sunny Kingdom's interest in the matter." He cracked open the shell on the claw and pull it off the meat.

"That is true de pumo," Poomo said, clearly embarrassed as well as Fine and Rein, "but you didn't have to make it sound so cold de pumo."

"It's not cold at all, just the scope of your observations emphasizes the long-term over immediacy," Lee said. "And climate monitoring is vital. It can inform us of trends that might not be seen looking at individual events and drivers."

Lee bit into his claw and swallowed before continuing. "The issue we face right now is a much greater portion of that cube is falling over the Seed Kingdom. Events like this are limited in time and area, little more than a curious blip on the climatological scale. However—on the meteorological scale—it is having an immense and immediate impact on the Seed Kingdom in the here and now. Weather can have incredible social and political implications."

"And the Crisis showed it mostly blows back on us," Spigot commented. "That's why we created the Weather Observation Corps."

"The Windmill Kingdom is also considering getting into weather observation," Nicole said. She turned to Moon Maria. "Would the Moon Kingdom consider joining, Your Majesty."

"I don't think our kingdom would have much use for observing the weather in such detail," Moon Maria replied. "It's pretty much the same here every day, so the Sunny Kingdom's data suits our needs."

"I've been telling Allison the other kingdoms wouldn't be interested," Spigot said. "Oh well."


"There's nothing like a good steak." Nicole rubbed her quite full belly.

"That lobster was also quite good," Lee commented. "Though, it was a bit different from the lobsters in the Drop Kingdom. The meat was noticeably sweeter."

"It's probably the local lobsters eat something different, or are different species," Ophelia said. "But, hey, you ate something different and didn't die. We're making progress."

Lee looked down at the cooler he carried. "At least they let me keep the shells."

"Why did you want the shells?" Rein asked.

"I use them to make the base for umi ramen," Lee explained. "The broth is made from crustacean and bivalve shells and served with shrimp and scallops."

"An entire sea-based ramen?" Fine swooned. "It sounds absolutely delicious."

"Oh, Fine," Rein said with a grin.

Lee rubbed his stomach. "There's nothing like it."

"Gotta admit," Ophelia said, "it's your best dish."

"I'm more use to the spiny lobsters they catch in Dark Reef County," Nicole mused. "Queen Elena loves them, but if King Randa ever sees one of the 'overgrown bugs' again, it would be too soon."

"What does King Randa have against lobsters?" Ophelia asked.

"During the War of Ascension, the Royal Province was cut off from food supplies out of the Pasturelands Duchy," Nicole explained. "They imported protein from the Drop Kingdom, which was mostly seafood. I'm not sure why King Randa singled out lobsters, but he finds some excuse to be elsewhere we they're on the menu."

"War of Ascension?" Fine asked.

"The short but violent civil war where the Pasturelands Duke tried to take the Windmill Kingdom throne instead of King Randa," Bonnie explained.

"It's why my family now holds that position," Nicole added. "It was a reward for our loyalty."

"Which you two would know if you paid attention to your modern history lessons de pumo," Poomo said.

Nicole walked to be abreast with Lee. "Thank you for that explanation of the difference between climate and weather. Many naysayers in court argue the Sunny Kingdom already observes the weather. You've given me the perfect counterargument."

"Uh, you're welcome, Lady Nicole," Lee replied.

They walked out to the waiting hoverboat. Fine, Rein, and Poomo were heading into town to reunite with citizens while Milro, Sophie, and the engineers were returning to the airport and the Hurricane to head back into the air. With Star Town as their mutual destination, Moon Maria provided them with a hoverboat to share.

Lee picked up his weather sensor for it to warble and chime. "Temperature nineteen point three degrees Celsius, humidity nine percent, pressure one thousand two point seven hectopascals, and the wind is out of the west northwest at three point two kilometers per hour." He jotted those readings in his notebook.

"I'll be glad to get back into moisture," Ophelia commented.

"You'll get all you can stand and then some in the Seed Kingdom," Spigot said.

They climbed into the hoverboat, arranging themselves so everyone had room.

"I wish we could do more for you," Rein said to Milro and Sophie in Nicole's pocket as she boarded and sat between the two Sunny Kingdom princesses.

Fine crossed her arms and thought. She jumped in her seat and leaned in front of Nicole to Rein. "Hey, maybe we can lift the curse ourselves?!"

"Do you think we can?" Rein asked.

"I know we can!" Fine replied.

"Then we should do it?" Rein asked.

"We should do it!" Fine answered.

"Let's do it!" they cheered together.

"Do what?" Lee asked.

Fine and Rein took Milro and Sophie respectively from Nicole's pocket before she could stop them and hopped from the hoverboat. Nicole and the other engineers looked to each other. "What are they talking about?" Bret asked.

"Oh, they are not." Spigot jumped out of the hoverboat and ran after them. The others followed the master chief.

Fine and Rein stopped and set down Milro and Sophie. They backed up a couple steps in perfect sync.

"Wait, you two, de pumo!" Poomo shouted as he floated after them. "What if you need it later de pumo?"

Fine waved her hand dismissively at him as he reached them. "We get two uses per charge. We can use one here."

"And it's for moments like this that we have the Prominence," Rein added.

"I guess that's true de pumo," Poomo exhaled.

Fine and Rein looked to each other with a smile and a giggle. They took what Nicole had thought were compacts—round containers with the Sunny Kingdom's sigil in a tulip—from their waists and opened them.

They used their fingers to turn the inner mechanism. "Fan, fan, Fine," Fine chanted. Rein chanted, "Ran, ran, Rein."

Light flashed from the mirrors, enveloping the two in blinding light. Nicole shielded her eyes along with the others. "Prominence Dress Up!" Fine and Rein's voices echoed from the light.

The light faded and they were different. Fine's twin tails were now long and in drill-shaped curls. Rein's was in a beehive with curling locks coming from the bottom out the back. Their outfits had become more elaborate: three layers of an outer, sleeveless coat, a middle robe-like garment, and a dress as the inner layer. They held small scepters with a head designed to resemble a pink tulip blossom. Those compacts now sat on the white ribbon tied in a large bow over their chests.

The two princesses twisted the heads on their scepters to make them open up like a bloom and reveal the jewel inside. "Twin twinkle bloomish," the said together, holding their scepters above their heads. They began to spin. "Make Milro—" Fine said. "—and Sophie—" Rein added. "—big!" they both finished and stopped spinning to point the scepters forward.

The jewels glowed all colors of the rainbow and spewed a stream of golden light at Milro and Sophie. The surrounded them and became a gold aura around them. They then began to steadily grow.

"It's working!" Fine cheered.

"They're growing!" Rein concurred.

"It working?" Tammy asked in a tone of flat skepticism.

"I know," Lee whimpered, taking a step back. "I'm scared too."

Fine and Rein held hands and jumped for joy. "We did it! We did it!" They stopped jumping and pumped their fists in the air. "A big success!" They were apparently unaware Milro and Sophie had already exceeded their normal height and continued to enlarge.

And continued they did with no signs of stopping. The engineers had to look up and up as the two princesses took on a gigantic and ever-increasing size. "Well," Alex said, "they certainly got the big part right." Spigot smacked his forehead.

Fine and Rein stopped their celebration and turned to the engineers. They then turned back and gasped at Milro and Sophie's out of control growth. They backed away from their expanding skirts as they rose higher and higher above them. The engineers joined them as they reached them.

Just when Nicole wondered when it would stop, the compacts seemed to darken and Fine and Rein's hair and outfits dissolved back to normal. They held their hands out to catch their compacts as they fell from their chests. The glow around Milro and Sophie faded and their growth finally stopped.

Still, they were titanic in size. Nicole had been good in guessing height by eye, and she figured Milro was around 130 meters tall and Sophie at least a couple meters taller. They were so tall even the top of the massive moon on the castle failed to reach their waists.

Milro looked down at the castle. "Um…" she exhaled.

Sophie looked at herself and around her. "Great job, you guys." Her voice echoed around them. She leaned down and held the thumb and index finger what seemed just barely apart—but it was a good half meter in actuality. "But, you might've overdone it by a tiny bit."

"But, how?" Fine and Rein asked in unison, staring up with dumbstruck gazes.

"Because it's what you told the Prominence to do de pumo," Poomo explained.

They turned to him.

"You told the Prominence to make them big, and it expended your entire sunny charge making them as big as possible de pumo." Poomo yelled at them, "You know the Prominence has a mind of its own, and you have to careful how you ask it to do something de pumo!" Fine and Rein flinched at Poomo's outburst.

They turned to each other. "Then this is simple enough to fix," Rein said.

"We'll just go back to the Sunny Kingdom, recharge, and tell it to make them their normal size," Fine said.

"We got this!" they cheered and pumped their fists in the air.

"That's great. In the meantime," Emily said before pointing up and yelling, "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THEM LIKE THAT?!"

Fine and Rein turned to each other again. "Uh…"

Sophie shielded her eyes and stood up her tiptoes to stare out somewhere. Milro turned to her. "Sophie, what are you doing?"

Sophie held her ear and looked to Milro with a grin. "Oh. I was just wondering if I could see Windmill Castle from up here."

Milro gave her an embarrased expression. They both looked down as they seemed to darken for a moment like the luches had. They shrank immediately—like a rubber band snapping back after being instantly released from being stretched—they went from practically filling Nicole's vision to being imperceptible in a blink of an eye. They shrank so fast they did not shrink down but up to their center of mass so they were high in the air somewhere.

Bonnie spread her ears. "I got 'em." She leapt into the air and flew to the general area they were.

"Is it wrong a part of me is relieved?" Emily asked rhetorically.


Bonnie had a bead on the two once again tiny princesses as she flew up to where they were. They were more floating than falling, their skirts having caught enough air under them to slow their descent. She picked up Sophie in one hand and came around to scoop up Milro in the other.

"Are you all right, Your Majesties?" Bonnie asked as she glided back to the others.

"I think so," Milro answered.

Bonnie landed with the two. She set them down. "I think they're their previous size."

"Just to be sure." Spigot snapped his fingers. "Someone give me a ruler."

Lee reached into his waist pocket and took out a 200mm ruler. He handed it to Spigot who placed it on the ground next to Milro. She was 81 millimeters tall and Sophie was between 82 and 83 millimeters.

"Well, you didn't end up any bigger, Your Majesties," Bonnie said, "but at least you didn't end up smaller."

"At least there's that," Fine said.

"I guess," Rein added.

Poomo hung there between them, his limbs drooping under him. "You might dress more mature, but you're a long way from adulthood de pumo."

The three sighed.