Sora felt Aidan stir awake. He twisted as if in pain. She opened her eyes and was alert. Scouts have to sleep lightly. Looking through the window shutters, it was still night.

"Aidan? What is wrong? Are you hurt?"

She met his eyes and he groaned. "It is Dawn. She is in pain. I think it is something she ate. She feels like she has to dump a big one." Aidan declared with all the delicacy of a rampaging rhinorse.

He turned around and got off the bed.

"Let's go there. Can you walk?" Sora was already slipping her robe on.

"Yes, I'm fine. It is just this annoying pain. Let me fix it."

"Pain Resistance."

They crossed the corridors of the dormitory in their robes and entered the princess' room. Dawn was lying on her side, clutching her lower abdomen.

"Can you see what is wrong with her?" Sora asked.

"Can do." He gathered Life mana.

"Lifesight." The information flowed into his mind.

> Abnormal status: None.

Sora reached the bed and checked her temperature. No fever.

"Says there's nothing wrong with her," Aidan announced.

Sora holds her hand and asks, "Dawn, what are you feeling?"

Aidan rolls his eyes. Was it too hard to ask him?

"My head and my breasts hurt. I think I squeezed them sleeping on my stomach. I'm also constipated and it is hurting, I want to visit the latrine but I don't know if I can get up." She answered.

Sora got an arm and signaled for Aidan to get the other side. "Lift her carefully, help her walk."

they took her to the latrine and carefully placed her sitting on the bench. They got outside and closed the door.

"Are you sure the spell came negative? No abnormal status?"

"Yes, but I don't know how precise the spell is. Maybe it was made to ignore minor conditions, or there is some skill involved to get a reading. And it does not says anything, it is a divination spell. The knowledge is dumped in my head."

"Is anything coming?" She asked him.

"No. I think It is really bad constipation." His face showed how painful it was, "The cramps won't go away. It doesn't hurt because of the spell but they are really annoying. It is like something is wringing her insides."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Cramps? Like in your lower abdomen and the small of the back?"

"Yes. She also feels bloated, why?" Aidan answered, suspicious.

Sora started to laugh uncontrollably, to which Aidan became really annoyed. She leaned on the wall. "I think your spell was right. There is no 'abnormal' status regarding Dawn."

"What do you mean? I can feel her pain, of course, there is something wrong!" He was distressed and now was getting also angry. "Are you mocking me?"

She had to focus to control her fit of laughter. "No. Good news, bad news, which do you want first?"

"The good news," Aidan answered, impatient.

"Lumina's body is not barren. She can have lots and lots of royal heirs."

He was having a hard time understanding those cryptic hints, "How can you be sure of that?"

"Bad news, you are going to bleed for a few days."

In defense of the boy, he was always a late riser. Besides the sleepiness, he was feeling all her pain and was confused and distressed. Sora patiently waited for the gears to click in place.

"The moon-blood?"

Sora nodded. "Congratulations, Aidan. You are a real woman now."

Aidan went pale.

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The atmosphere in the bedroom had a mix of Schadenfreude and empathy. Pearl and Sora were at the same time delighted that Aidan now knew their plight and sharing their rapport with the cramping princess.

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"Drink the tea slowly. It will alleviate the discomfort." Sora gave her ginger tea.

"Is it always this bad?" Dawn asked. It made no sense. She couldn't even tell when the other girls were having their moon-blood.

"Sometimes. But the first is almost always stronger," Pearl pointed at the steaming towel on top of her bare belly. "Is the warm towel helping?"

"Yes, thank you. It feels like it is melting me." Pearl made a worried expression when she said 'melting', "Don't worry. It is hard to burn me."

Cythrel knocked on the door and entered right after. "I've warned the Headmaster. He excused us from classes today. How is our girl?"

"I'm better now. Until the cramps come back. I feel like something is squeezing me down here."

The elf sat on the bed next to the princesses. "Must be hard to endure this every month."

Pearl glared at the other girl, "You will soon know how it is, dear Cythrel. Don't worry."

"Actually she won't," Sora interceded. "Elves don't have the moon-blood. None of the fey races do."

"Lucky thing..." Pearl cooed.

"And how is our hero doing?" Cytrel turned to look at Aidan, laying on the chaise longue and trying to cope with his newfound reality.

"You know, for someone that had every bone crushed, stabbed through the heart, and so many other close encounters with death and pain, one can wonder why is he in such distraught," Pearl wondered.

"I think what he needs is a hands-on experience." Sora went to pull him up by the arm. "Rise and shine blooded boy."

It is very common in private conversations, usually by nosy aunts, to ask about young girls 'is she blooded yet'. Sora took him to Lumina's dresser and opened the underwear drawer.

"See these towels?" She asked, taking one small brown towel with ribbon straps from the drawer.

"Yes. I've always wondered what they were for, and why they were placed in the underwear drawer. They are too thick and small and... oh. You tie them..." His voice trailed off.

Sora smiled. "Yes. You tie them. It is easier if someone else does it for you, but you can do it for yourself. How practical it is to have four hands." She pushed the towel to him.

Aidan touched the fluffy brown towel, made of several layers of cloth. One side was fluffy and the other, thick linen. It was dyed with an abstract pattern with tones of red. He decided to hold it by the straps.

"I don't think I should be touching these. Didn't Lumina, I mean, are these used?" He was shaken. Dawn opened and rummaged that drawer several times, but doing it with his male self was unnerving.

"Why? Are you thinking to do something weird with them? Like checking the scent or the taste? They are clean, washed, and scented with mint oil." Sora took another towel and brought it to her nose.

Her blatant accusation annoyed him. He was feeling cornered, "What do you want me to do?"

"Here, take this underwear. See there are four ribbons here?"

"Yes, I thought they were for adjusting to the waist. You tie them to the towel and then put it on."

"Correct. But you have to make sure to put the towel in the right place, or it will leak. That's why it is easier if you do it for her. We can't see our own... undersides."

'It leaks. Scary...', he thought but decided not to say it. He nodded to make Sora move forward.

"This wider part should cover part of the butt, and stay really tight to the body. It is a real bother until you get used to it."

"I think I got it." He felt dazed. "Just one question. Do I switch the towel every day?"

Pearl laughed. "Once a day? Darling, on a good day you'll have to change it only four times."

"She is right," Pointed Sora. "Otherwise the blood dries too much and sticks to you. Oh, and you have to wash yourself when you change towels. It may get a little sticky."

A really bad cramp came. He writhed at the same time as Dawn. If it were not for the pain resistance spell, they would be grinding their teeth now.

"It is better if you put the towel now. I think it will come down any moment now." Pearl pointed out.

Sora pushed him until he was next to Dawn. "Go ahead. Put it on."

Pearl and Cythrel were nearby, watching with bated breath.

"Me?" He asked. All three girls nodded. "Are you telling me to take..." All three girls nodded. They seemed to be enjoying the moment.

"Yes, it is your moon-blood and you are a grown girl. Do it yourself." Sora sentenced.

Aidan sighed and relented. "It feels so wrong for me to be the one pulling Dawn's underwear down."

"Yes, it... No." Cythrel corrected herself, "Absolutely normal. After all, it is you helping yourself."

"Just do it." Pearl hurried him, "Before the first blood comes out and stains the nightgown."

"You are enjoying it, aren't you?" He asked. Dawn lifted her skirt and he pulled her underwear down. "Too late. It is already bleeding."

"Don't be squeamish. It is just a few drops." Sora dismissed, "I'll get another underwear. Use the one you took as a rag and check to see if the bedding was soiled."

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After steeling himself, Aidan changed Dawn's underwear to a clean one with the towel attached. The bedding was fine, thankfully.

"Wasn't she supposed to remain 'untouched by man'?" He complained.

"I'm pretty sure it only counts if it is your 'holy weapon'," Cythrel guessed.

"Cythrel is right. You did nothing wrong." Pearl seconded the elf.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Now you make sure to keet at least two spare towels and two sets of underwear in Dawn's bag," Taught Sora. "Check again if you need to change before lunch. No. Change it before lunch and by mid-afternoon. The first days are the worst."

"Thanks a lot for your support, girls." Dawn whispered.

"You are welcome. Always a pleasure to help a fellow girl. Thank you for the impromptu holiday and for the treat." Cythrel put her tongue out for Aidan.

"Now, get dressed, Dawn." Pearl ushered them, "Let's get going. I want to shop for some trinkets."

"I mean, I should stay in bed, right?" Dawn asked.

"No. Just go on with your day," Pearl answered.

"Really? You expect me to walk with this thing between my legs? Grinding against my privates?" Dawn hissed.

"Yes, why not? I actually expect you to be gracious walking with that thing between your legs. Takes time to get used to it, but we all do." Pearl explained.

"Do you?" He glanced at Pearl and Sora, both of them nodded. "Every moon?" Both of them nodded with an embarrassed smile. "And I never noticed?"

"Most men never do." Sora sighed, "But now you do. All the things we do and your kind never notice. Never appreciate."

Aidan frowned. "Yeah, now I do. You girls are really strong." He showed them a faint smile that quickly crumbled.  Moments later a new cramp came up.

Dawn rolled to the side and buried her face on a pillow. She grunted and groaned.

Pearl held her hand and rubbed it, "But don't worry. In five or seven days it will end."

Aidan's eyes went wide. 'A whole week?' The girls read his face, nodded and giggled.

"Then it is calm waters until the next moon," Cythrel added.

Sora patted Aidan's back. "Welcome to the moon club, sister."

"Shopping time!" Pearl hooted.