The mana tree's leaves rustled gently under a night sky glittering with two moons. The air in Exiastgardsun was crisp, with a calmness only broken by the occasional giggle, shuffle of feet, or the soft plop of a misfired mana bubble. Inside Lucretia's sprawling wooden home, a chaotic energy lingered even after bedtime.
Twelve children. Twelve bursts of raw, unpredictable energy. And one very exhausted mother-elf curled in her hammock, hoping, praying, for a full night's sleep. No such luck. The girls' side of the room, lined with soft mattresses, each with custom-designed bedding, had been whispering for over an hour.
"Today, I dodged Adiw's spin like three times in a row!" Fahleena whispered, twirling a lock of her pink twin-tailed hair. "That means my evasion stat is going up again. Obviously, my destined rank is rising."
Jessica chuckled, fluffing her pillow. "He was aiming at the dummy, not you."
"But I am the dummy of destiny, destined to dodge destiny's dummies!"
Yuuna scribbled in her book, barely reacting. "Please lower your voice. My eardrums have feelings too."
"Feelings are optional!" Fahleena whispered loudly, striking a dramatic lying-down pose.
Orchid yawned, hugging a plush fox. "I tried to cook again today."
Sakura stiffened. "What happened?"
"…It turned blue."
"…Was it supposed to?"
"No."
Sakura let out a breath. "We'll hold a purification ceremony tomorrow."
Giggles erupted from all corners of the girls' room. Meanwhile, on the boys' side of the room, peace didn't fare much better. Kyle stared at the wooden ceiling, wide awake, eyes twitching.
"This is it," he muttered. "I can't take it anymore. The girls are STILL talking."
Across the room, Fahleena's voice perked up. "Did someone say dramatic confrontation? I'm ready to monologue!"
Jessica called out, "Kyle, go to sleep before you embarrass yourself. Again."
"Too late," Yuuna murmured. "The embarrassment occurred roughly 17 minutes ago. I have it timestamped."
Sakura added gently, "You could try breathing exercises. I read they help."
Kyle groaned, burying his head under his pillow. "This is a nightmare. A sparkly, chatty, pink-haired nightmare."
Adiw mumbled something in his sleep beside him, hugging a pillow tightly. Fuhiken, the ever-responsible older brother, lay perfectly still, even his breathing synchronized to some internal rhythm. Gigih, tucked into a dark corner with a blanket over his head, occasionally twitched in his sleep, mumbling what sounded like incantations. Yetsan's sheets rustled faintly with each breath, smooth and freshly laundered.
Kyle sat up. "I declare a pillow war."
Sinryo's eyes snapped open. "Finally."
Within seconds, two pillows soared across the invisible border dividing the boys and girls. Fahleena gasped, flipping upright like she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment. She struck a pose, one hand over her eye and the other raised dramatically to the ceiling.
"Very well!" she proclaimed in a booming whisper. "You dare challenge the Empress of Eternal Moonlight in her sanctum of dreams? Then let the battlefield be strewn with feathers and fate!"
With a dramatic roll, she retrieved her pillow and pointed it at the boys' side like a sacred artifact. "By the authority of the Celestial Feather Pact and the 7th Law of Fluff, prepare yourselves!"
She leapt into action with a war cry that sounded suspiciously like, "FLUFFNOVA INITIATE!"
Kyle ducked and retaliated with twin feather projectiles. Jessica, already halfway up, flung her pillow with sniper-like precision at Kyle. It smacked him mid-face, knocking him flat.
"Oh-ho-ho, assassin's grace!" she quipped.
"UNFAIR!" Kyle coughed, spitting feathers.
Yuuna remained still in her bed, shielding her book with a mana barrier. "Note: Pillows are now officially classified as ranged weapons."
Gaby rolled from her bed, sighed deeply, and whispered, "This is why we can't have nice things."
Chaos bloomed. Adiw joined the fray wielding two pillows like war clubs. Sinryo dual-wielded the smallest cushions for speed. Fuhiken, trying to restore order, blocked incoming attacks with a blanket, yelling, "We just cleaned this room!"
Lucretia, from her hammock on the second floor, groaned and sat up. She blinked once. Twice. And then she felt it, the sudden spike of mana, the thrum of her own magic stirring without her will. She stood, eyes glowing faintly gold. Her hand lifted. No chant. No incantation.
Just a single word:
"SLEEP."
Two overlapping magic circles bloomed above the children's room, one pure white, the other shimmering gold. The wave of mana swept over them like a lullaby woven in divine command. Twelve children collapsed mid-battle, pillow missiles falling harmlessly to the ground. Peace returned in a breath. Even the pillows seemed relieved.
Lucretia blinked slowly, the lingering haze of sleep still tugging at her thoughts. "Did I... cast a sleep spell in my sleep?" she whispered to herself, bewildered. Her gaze flicked to the suspended runes still glowing faintly in the air, then to the peacefully snoring chaos brigade below.
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The magic circle still hung faintly in the air: Absolute Order.
The magic circle then fading. She tiptoed down, checking each of the twelve. All breathing normally. All sound asleep. Peaceful. She sighed in relief, tucking a blanket over Sinryo's half-exposed foot. The room, strewn with pillows and peaceful children, resembled the aftermath of a victorious siege, a fluffy, nap-inducing siege.
She looked around, expression unreadable. "I guess it's time to give them separate rooms."
And so began the new sleeping arrangement.
By next evening, Lucretia used her magic to separate the once-shared room into two wings of the house. A sliding door enchanted with noise-suppression now divided the boys' and girls' dormitories.
It didn't stop the chaos, but at least now, it had borders.
Fahleena, now convinced her dreams were prophetic, began writing in a glittery journal she titled Chronicles of the Pillow War. Yuuna simply annotated the date as: "Event: First Sleepwide Incident. Result: Deployment of Forbidden Tier Magic. Risk level: Yellow."
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