Stretching her four legs out with a low groan as she smacked her lips and opened her eyes, Sora got a full view of her room, using her chakram vision; everything was silent, and, glancing at the clock in the corner Emilia had made, Sora sighed.
5 A.M., huh… I guess I don’t need to be worried about breakfast if…
Her big ears perked a bit upon recalling she had more than just her daughter in her house.
Breakfast will be good, but we can do that whenever they wake up… Maybe I should have had Mofupsi sleep at the foot of the bed like Nari joked. It just feels weird to sleep alone again.
“Bah…”
She swiftly scanned downstairs to find her self-proclaimed servant sleeping in fox-form on the couch; she was far larger than Sora and could grow over three meters, but seemed to like the one-meter size.
Feeling refreshed, she sat up, still in her fox form since she’d become accustomed to it with Emilia’s sleeping preference; she swapped to her human state and floated over to the wardrobe to pick out one of the items her daughter made.
Sunday… A dress would be typical for today, so… Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve worn a nice light pink dress—the tiny lines are fun. Shoulderless or cross-strap? Let’s go with shoulderless today!
She selected her outfit out with wedge heels—fashion was good when you didn’t have to actually walk in them—floating to the bathroom to figure out what kind of braid she’d go with today.
She crafted a few styles before settling on a more simple twin-twist, but, part way through, a short puff of air streamed through her mind as she recalled one particular person that had slipped her thoughts.
Wait… Diane is still a thing. Why can’t cancer ever just die?
Three tails flicking to the side after slipping into the dress, Sora opened her bedroom window to fly into the city to clear her mind. Kedragor, Wendy’s dragon, was draped over the roof, making Sora snicker.
Some guard dog you are, huh?
Proceeding higher, the darkness wasn’t difficult to penetrate with her vision, giving her a spectacular view of the fantasy metropolis; Sora held her wrist behind her back, hovering above the world to passively scan the population below.
Unlike when she had used her mother’s side, she had a different way of searching for things, but despite her acute perception and the wide net she cast, Sora couldn’t find Diane anywhere.
Sora settled into a slow hover while pondering the vast field of Vulpes and humans that she instantly identified, able to differentiate between each one by how they’d taste as if browsing an on-display menu; if she were actually the Existence predator she was meant to be, she might scare herself; everything was food for her to sink her teeth into.
Anything living provided a far greater nutritional value than typical, non-magic-infused items, yet in a place teeming with her grandmother’s phenomenal magical weave—repaired by Inari—Sora’s mouth started to water, bringing her mind back to Wendy’s first experience with eating the day before.
Wendy’s not 100%... I really need a name for whatever I am. There’s something I can do right now! Let’s see, it needs to be cool… Nullborn… Voidborn?
“Hmm.” She floated back to stare up at the shiny, colorful planets above before creating a chakram to spin above her.
I feel it’s less born in the Null-Void and more ‘seeking’ the void that Null-Void brings, so… Voidseekers? Voidseekers is cool enough, I guess.
Well, going from there, Wendy isn’t 100% Voidseeker, so it makes sense her stomach wouldn’t be as refined as mine; she probably needs to grow into it, but I didn’t have that issue when I changed. I could eat and eat and eat…
Her buffet of devouring Nephesh’s energy made her smirk. Even if he was a 12-dimensional entity, she’d managed to surprise him; then again, he was severely limited. To be fair, she didn’t actually eat it, now that she thought about it, but rapidly processed it into a reverse blade to cut through everything he threw at her.
She hadn’t thought about trying to mimic that style of attack since, yet she hadn’t had an opponent at that same level that forced her to cut through the tidal wave with its own borrowed strength.
Wendy’s going to have it rough, but it should help me figure out more about my dad’s side… How is he doing? Is he okay?
Dispersing her copy chakram, Sora sighed, and closed her eyes to block out the world; it would be some time before she was strong enough to actually pursue him to find out, but without a doubt, she’d search for her father.
In the meantime, she had a family and friends to support, and to do that, she had to gain more power. As Inari told her, the powerless, by definition, could accomplish nothing; she had to get wiser and stronger.
Vision hardening as her flaming, jade irises opened, Sora righted herself in the air before spreading her arms to summon the four chakrams she could currently maintain—excluding her base—and brought them in front of her to do a challenging exercise she’d become rather fond of recently.
She placed her true chakram in the core of the others, allowing each to expand and encircle the previous before taking a deep breath and making a crushing gesture with her hands as the disks rapidly increased in speed until the twirling appeared to make flaming spheres of Null Void.
Arms and fingers quivering with the effort with every centimeter her hands came closer together, she only managed to make it a meter apart before the outer chakram cracked and shattered under the escalating force, her true body rotating in the opposite direction to resist all the effort she put into crushing herself.
Not a centimeter more, and the next ring was crushed—her true body was too strong compared to her copies, no matter how much she empowered them—and sweat started to slick her Null-Void body while doing her best to keep the clone chakram together, her concentration slipped.
Ejecting Emilia’s clothes and pendant below as her hands slammed together, a supernova of the compressed Null-Void engulfed her, and disrupted her body, leaving her semi-dizzy in her stunned plummet to the ground.
Chakram hitting a roof at an angle, she rolled into a drain pipe to get caught on the edge as the world went black, and to make matters worse, when her spinning world returned, she was looking up at her new sister, entertained servant, and two aunts.
An amused smirk on Nari’s face, she teasingly poked at her chakram, making Sora float back. “Having fun, hmm?”
“Couldn’t wait to get into the training room, Mistress?”
Seiōbo had her heels and necklace dangling off her right two fingers, her left arm under her bust. “Hehe. A good way to wake us up, Sora.”
“Yeah,” Wendy mumbled, holding up her dress and undergarments. “It felt like someone hit me in the gut. Thanks.”
Reforming her body in her typical red dress for simplicity's sake, she rubbed her forehead with a light groan, ears still ringing. “Ugh… How long was I out?”
“Several minutes,” Nari mused, adjusting her nightgown. “We weren’t sure if you’d start releasing more Null-Void pulses since Wendy said you were vibrating a ton.”
The girl’s puffy, brown tail swung to the side while staring at her. “Super weird. It was like you were a bomb in count down, but every time you hit one, you flipped back to ten.”
“Huh… Well, hehe, now that you’re all awake, why don’t we make some breakfast!”
Seiōbo flicked back her black locks with a short huff as Mofupsi silently hovered in the background, smoking her pipe. “Unbelievable. In that case, while we make some food—“
“The chocolate puff balls in milk!” Nari cheered.
Mofupsi lifted an inquisitive eye. “I have yet to see these treats.”
Wendy jumped on the topic. “Wait, you have those—chaco-puffs?”
“Emi made a bunch,” Sora chuckled. “Yeah, we can do that. Mofupsi, do you—”
“Mmh. Yes, White did wish to see me when I awoke. I suppose my chocolate tooth will be cured at a later date.”
“So sad!” Nari cried before giving her a thumbs up and look that would make a heroine blush. “I’ll send you a bowl myself; believe it!”
“Hmm-hmm. You are my savior, Mistress Nari.”
“I will always stand up for my chocolate sisters!”
Their hands came together in a dramatic way—Nari’s influence had been strong the previous day—and with a touching departure, Mofupsi teleported away.
“Be strong, Sister!”
Her four-tailed aunt screamed out a sigh. “As I was saying, aren’t you forgetting someone important, Sora?”
“Diane,” Sora groaned. “Maybe we should just let her rot—she served her purpose—humph; throw her out of the Realm in some apocalyptic demon-world or something. I don’t know… what do you want to do with her, Wendy?”
Releasing a sigh while looking down at her naked body—her daughter’s precious clothes discarded in her panic—she accepted the articles offered to her, not appreciating the entertained snickers that followed.
“Thanks,” she huffed, giving them a tight-lipped smile, and held her breath, trying to add pressure with it to pop her ears before realizing she was being stupid; her chakram didn’t have ears to rid herself of the pressure she was feeling, making her blush a bit at their questioning stares at her puffed-up cheeks.
“Eh, heh… I don’t know, Sora. I was thinking about it last night, and she did give me the thing that woke me up—that made me your sister.”
Sora rubbed between her eyes as Nari’s magic transported them back to the kitchen to hasten her chocolate-filled breakfast. “Sure… but that wasn’t her trying to do the right thing; we just kind of stole the item to do it—the item she stole originally. Umm, Aunt Seiōbo, that… isn’t going to start some kind of war?”
“I dunno,” Seiōbo shrugged. “How should I know what Primordials will do if they discover we used one of their lost artifacts; I’ve never met the creatures.”
Moving to the next room to redress, Sora puffed out a long sigh. “Fair… What do you want for breakfast, Wendy?”
“Already thought all about it!” she called back, opening the fridge. “It’s been forever since we made breakfast burritos. What do you think?”
“Ugh… Just don’t add jalapenos to mine—Emi loves them, and I don’t understand how the two of you can stand the flavor.”
Nari was in the pantry, removing the typical cereal box Emilia made for all of her sugary breakfast choices as Wendy got the milk out for her. “Oh? I’ve found a thrill for the fiery peppers, too; if you alter their spiritual charge a tad, you can gain a ten-times yield on the flavor while keeping the same degree of spice.”
“No way! Can you do that—wait, are these jalapenos, Sora?”
Finished putting on her dress again, Sora moved back into the large kitchen to find Seiōbo absently staring into space and swiping the air as if browsing an invisible catalog; Wendy held up a bag of bright pink peppers.
“Hehe. Emilia’s touch, but yeah, they’re basically the same thing—or so she says—I’ve never tasted those flaming things. I like my mouth, thank you very much.”
“Mmh… Think she made them hotter?” Wendy questioned with interest, but all of them focused on the casual, four-tailed, 2nd-Generation Founder as Seiōbo slipped her fingers through empty space to extract a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee. “What the…”
“Mmh? Oh, I keep a few hundred options to select from in our travels through time; this particular one comes from when Sora was two-years-old. Nari and I stopped off to have a few while your father had a troublesome time dealing with the sitter and your rather… unruly behavior.”
Nari snickered. “They call it terrible twos for a reason, I suppose.”
“Indeed. What a hailstorm,” she mused. “On that note… there was a rather wonderfully made cheese and ham croissant from one particular EU shop when you were three, a happenstance that it would be during a hailstorm when we passed by… And here it is!”
Sora joined Wendy, Rita popping out to help wash the items, showing off her elemental powers as they prepared to cut the red onions, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado; Emilia, the crazy girl, had already stocked salsa and hot sauce in the fridge.
Turning her green irises to her aunt, Sora shook her head. “Hehe. Do you just order a bunch of bulk items and throw them in a time vault or something?”
“Something like that… Very good, by the way,” she added while pointing at the item. “Now, are you going to do something about this human so I can speed up the time dilated bath I threw her in—she did not smell the best.”
Sora’s focus instantly went to Wendy. “It’s up to you unless you want me to just yeet her some place she won’t bother us again.”
Wendy sucked in her bottom lip before releasing a short sigh, mixing the eggs before throwing them in the pan, and Sora frowned as she added far more than they’d need for the two of them.
“Why don’t we have her join us… I have an idea. Is Fen still in the Realm? If I remember right, she was going to travel to the Red Gate on foot, right?”
“Ugh. You really want to put that witch with Fen… Actually, that might… hehe. Never mind, yeah, that could be pretty awkward for both of them.”
Nari was too busy chowing on her choco-puffs while watching them like some kind of drama to comment.
“Sora… Haaa. I don’t want to get revenge on them. I don’t know, I just feel like we all deserve another chance after everything that’s happened to us; you let Fen go on her redemption journey.”
“I mean, I guess… She hurt way more people than Fen, though—think about that—Diane is some witch that murdered and experimented on who knows how many people.”
“I think you have a selective memory,” Wendy mumbled, beating the eggs. “It wasn’t that long ago since Fen tried to make all those Vulpes and humans burn themselves to death to ‘cure’ you of your confining mortality.”
“Yeah… that did happen more than like eight or nine months ago, so… I just can’t get over how… cold Diane was when I connected to her. All she cared about was satisfying her own curiosity.”
“And Fen only cared about bullying people to feel strong, and Kari just wanted to have a friend—as you said—so she forced people to be around her, right?”
“Point made. Haaa. You’re way more forgiving than me, Wendy. So, you want to have her join us for breakfast?” she groaned.
Seiōbo promptly snapped her fingers between sips of her coffee, and the witch appeared in the doorway; freezing in place, damp black hair sticking to her skin, and fingers clutched around a white bathrobe, Diane’s eyes snapped between them.
“Sora, I—oh, so… Umm, thank you for the bath and—”
“Umgh,” she grunted, tails flicking to the left as she glared at her and Rita shot into Wendy’s fluffy fur to hide. “Just sit down and shut up until you’re spoken to.”
The woman shuffled over to the far end of the bar to sit, vision fixating on the counter in front of her and maintaining her silence.
Wendy gave her a small grimace before sighing and focusing on the eggs in the heated pan. “I don’t know your story Diane, and I don’t really care. Do you want to have forgiveness?”
She slowly shook her head, her French accent thickening with her voice. “No… I have lived for centuries, doing nothing but harm to serve my self-interest. I do not expect to be forgiven for my part in the horrors of your life.”
Unseen by the woman, an unusual smile crossed Wendy’s lips that drew Sora’s gaze as her sister used a wooden spatula to mold the cooking scrambled eggs while adding spices. “If I tell you to help those you wronged in the past, would that be possible, Seiōbo?”
The four-tailed Vulpes leaned forward, rolling around her cup with a small tilt to her mouth as she studied the design.
“Peering into her past, I can tell you now, few of the creatures she had a hand in examining still live, nor the humans who crossed her, and unfortunately, as I’ve stated, anything directly involving a Founder, or a being that is a Prime Existence, is impossible to erase, and those that meet them create a cascade effect against Existence itself.
“If she were to go back and correct her mistakes, she would not be the same person that touched your life, thereby changing the present and future, which is impossible.”
“Haaa… Okay, so, if she can’t do that, then the best thing she can do is try to do good going forward. How long does she have to live?”
Nari hummed between bites. “If nothing affects her current timeline… two years, which, heh, will now become three because of this conversation,” she winked. “The ritual magic she used to extend her life comes with a hefty price, and her next life will not be too pleasant due to the damage to her spirit.”
Sora only saw sadness, regret, and disgust of herself from Diane as she stared at her trembling hands. “How does that make you feel?”
“Karma comes for us all, I suppose,” she whispered. “Am I frightened? Yes. Yet, I will accept any punishment, no matter how harsh.”
She didn’t like how meek the haughty and temperamental witch had become; it was such a contrast from the person that had caged them.
Wendy nodded. “Whatever time you have left, why don’t you join Fen on her journey and help her; can you do that?”
Diane’s eyebrows pulled together as she watched Wendy’s tail sway left and right, blocking much of her body. “Would… she accept my help? Creatures like… Vulpes like Fen are… are not the forgiving type, and I would expect to have my soul tortured for months before… Is that to be my punishment?”
“I’ll let the two of you work through it,” Wendy said, making the first burrito with Sora’s help before she presented it to Diane, shifting the book on her back for a second. “Take this with you… I don’t hate you. In a way, as bad as your organization was, it gave me something no one else could… Helped me understand something no one else could…
“My mother walked away from me long before she signed those… those papers, and there was nothing I could do to make her come back. I’d never have what I needed from her, but that’s okay…”
Sora’s nose burned as tears came to Wendy’s eyes, but she struggled through her words with a smile on her face, and Sora walked over to hug her from behind as she continued.
“It’s okay… I can move on with my life now without looking back—even if it hurts—it’s okay… I have people that… that do care about me, and I’ll find my own way. So… Thank you for that, Diane. Seiōbo, could you please…”
With a flick of a tail and a sip of her coffee, their aunt sent the witch hurtling through space with the wrap to meet the two-tailed Húli Jīng, vision shifting to Sora as she puffed out a hot stream of air.
Arms tightened around Wendy’s stomach as she pressed her left ear against her back, Sora was careful to not squish her bushy tail, whispering, “Is that… really what you wanted?”
Wendy returned to making the next burrito, melancholy eyes moving between the items and thick, choking laughter shaking her chest.
“I talked with Mary for a while… before she left, and… and we went over all the things your aunt, eh, heh—our aunt—taught us,” she sniffed. “All the stuff I held in over the years, too… Mary really was—is—such a… an amazing woman.”
“She really is,” Sora whispered, recalling how Mary was the first person to truly believe her about Kari’s bullying. “If I didn’t have her… Heh. She put her life on the line to go against Eric for me—pushed back against him where my other psychiatrists just did whatever he wanted. I don’t think I could ever really repay her, but… that’s the kind of woman she is.”
“Yeah… I really wanted to better understand what Inari was trying to teach us because… because I didn’t want to be left behind, but then… then she helped me realize a few really scary things.”
“Like?” Sora choked, squeezing for a second before breaking away to heat up her own tortilla with the oil; she could see her Aunt Nari and Seiōbo had sober expressions as they stared at their items.
Wendy took a second to collect herself. “I learned… what’s important isn’t how we lived in the past… I’m not the most courageous person—I’m not brave like you, Sora—but that doesn’t mean I can never change. I am… kind of a coward in many ways, and I had to accept that.”
Fingers tightening around the spatula she was using, Sora shook her head. “You aren’t a coward.”
“I am, Sora… and that’s okay,” Wendy whispered. “You always stuck up for me and made sure I had clothes and stuff when my mom would spend all our money on alcohol. I would hide in my shell while you charged forward to face all the challenges, and I felt… I felt happy for you to wave your sword for me instead of brandishing it myself.”
Sora flipped the burrito over in the minimal oil she used. “Did I… stunt your growth by doing that? I should have let you stand up for yourself?”
“Mmm-uh. I would have just let people always walk over me; you really did help give me a magical childhood by being my friend… my sister. I just needed to wake up to realize that I can’t keep being the quicksand holding you back and step up to walk beside you rather than behind… stop holding your waist to be dragged forward.”
“You weren’t quicksand,” Sora huffed, but Wendy gave her a sad smile in protest.
“I was, Sora, and Mary helped me realize that’s not necessarily a bad thing… Life is filled with people that fight, those that bully, and those that need protection, but…
“We all need time to build up our strength, and some of us need longer than others, but eventually, everyone needs to pick up the sword and face their own demons, or they’ll become a slave to their Shadow… Someone none of us can be protected from… ourselves…
“Drug abusers… alcoholics… Eventually, those that fight for us only get beaten down—we become the villains the hero can’t conquer—because they can’t save us from ourselves, and they have to admit defeat and leave, or be pulled down to be broken apart.”
Sora didn’t miss the deep, internal glare that crossed her dark-haired aunt’s eyes at the words, recalling the conversation she had about facing the terrifying devil within her, and how Seiōbo had no self-belief in beating the beast within her Core.
“How does that relate to Diane? Are you talking about her facing her own Shadow?”
“No, Sora,” Seiōbo mumbled, her four tails stiff. “That is not what Wendy is speaking about… She is saying Diane has already faced her Shadow while traveling with the corrupted wolfwere, and in doing so, has looked into the mirror and saw the hideous monster reflected.”
Wendy swallowed the lump in her throat while taking her meal to the seat across from Sora on the island, giving Rita a piece of tomato to eat as she floated out of her tail.
“Mary used Niomie as an example… saying she is someone so terrified to look in the mirror… they fabricate an illusion to not break into pieces… the Persona. They believe themselves to be the heroes in their own stories…
“As Mary said, no one believes they are the villain, and those that finally do can become so self-destructive that they become like Diane. Unlike Niomie, Diane came to realize she was the villain and not the breakthrough researcher legend persona she hid behind to escape the devil growing within she refused to address, because…
“Because… any flaw not addressed can only grow… until it’s so terrifying you blind yourself to in any way or addiction you can to just survive the day. When you start vilifying your hero because you know they won’t turn on you… and you use that power over them to make your own hidden monster to move beyond them. I don’t want to do that to you.”
A shiver ran through Sora’s spine as Wendy stared at her uneaten burrito; she just wanted to see Diane punished. “So… you sent her with Fen to find redemption?”
Wendy rubbed her shoulder. “Mary said everyone who finally sees themselves as the villain needs a hero to be there to offer them a hand, and… and if the heroes around them don’t offer that hand, they risk becoming the villain themselves. Allow them to find their own way, but offer a hand, and if they take a path, they can become a hero for someone else someday.”
Sora picked up her burrito to scowl at the first meal she’d made with her friend in years. “I guess I didn’t pay close enough attention to the lessons… I was about to kill her, you know—when she first showed up—and I don’t think I would have blinked twice.”
Seiōbo released a long hum, her focus still on her spinning empty cup. “It is necessary to have the capability to kill if needed, Sora… The challenge is knowing when to draw and use the blade you have refined.”
Recalling the conversation she’d had with Shadow and her aunt about her darker side, Sora swallowed the saliva that had built in her mouth. “Without aggression, you can’t say no… I remember that from Aunt Inari. Power isn’t inherently bad… It is just a tool, and it depends on the restraint of the wielder that measures tyranny versus a competent leader.”
Sora ran her left hand through her hair with a short hiss. “We have so much to learn, huh, guys?”
Nari giggled, cleaning her spoon of milk before jabbing it in her direction. “You had little Emi to protect; naturally, a mom would have her sword at the neck of someone threatening her chocolate heart, yet you kept your cool!”
“Hehe. Right you are, Nari,” Seiōbo laughed, drawing their attention to a shimmering window in space she’d created.
A scrying window opened to spy on Emilia, Rayla, and Luna as they attempted to make scones, but it seemed they’d come to a screeching halt in the process as the twins looked at her stumped daughter.
“Umm… Mom got the milk out, and… How do you make the dough! She makes it so easily, but I know we’re missing something that makes it go up.”
“Yeah…” Luna mumbled, her ears pulled back while staring at their lifeless bread. “What did your mom do again?”
Arms crossed, Rayla swiftly nodded, jumping up to look at a drawing Vix-chu held up; Emilia appeared to have made it because it was utterly unintelligible to Sora. All she got was her daughter made a diagram of her throwing random things around like a juggler into a pot. “What were the things she did again—the things—remember?”
“Chu?”
“Ugh. I don’t know… she just throws it all in a bowl and goes to town on it—pounding the stuff like it stole her chocolate—and then she uses flour on it so it won’t stick… I think that was the stuff that made it get big and puffy—heh, like Vix-chu’s tails!”
“Chu!” the fluff-ball chirped, wiggling his tails and making the girls laugh, but it soon became cries as Rayla looked at the picture and picked up a pot.
“The white stuff—like this?” Rayla asked while dumping a bunch on their mushy lump.
“No!”
“Chu-chu!”
“That’s the powdered sugar—Rayla… Hold on, ugh… I’ll extract all of it…”
“I can do it!” Luna jumped in, accidentally spinning it around with her magic to layer all of them in the sugary dust.
“Balh—ack… Luna!”
Vix-chu held his paws over his mouth with snickers. “Chu! Chu! Chu!” the fox had basically turned into a Kitsune by the powder attack.
“Sorry! Eh-heh, sorry!”
“Mmm! So good,” Rayla giggled, licking her lips with a grin and making them all laugh before starting to cry in lost frustration.
“Aww… Poor things,” Nari mused. “I think you should go save your daughter, Sora.”
Sora streamed out a chuckling sigh. “I guess so. Thanks for keeping tabs on them, Aunt Seiōbo.”
“No problem!” she chimed, lightening the depressing atmosphere with her distraction. “What’s the story going to be?”
Wendy looked down at her burrito and grinned as she set it back onto her plate. “Why don’t we go over and say we wanted to have breakfast for them but woke up late; I’m sure they’ll love it.”
An amused grin split Sora’s lips. “I like that idea! I can even tell Emi I was growing lonely last night and wanted to see her.”
A mischievous gleam came to her blonde aunt’s golden eyes. “Not that it’s true. Hmm?”
“Of course not,” her older sister mused with a wink back. “Sora is a big girl and can sleep on her own.”
“Cut it out!” Sora growled, fighting a blush. “I’ve just… gotten used to her sleeping next to me.”
Wendy didn’t come to her defense, lifting a knowing eyebrow. “I’m sure. Hehe. Someone’s grown attached—can’t cut the string, Mamma?”
Jabbing her sister in the shoulder, Sora huffed before feeding into their laughter. “Maybe I am! Hah. I’ve only been a mom for like nine months—max, and most of that time hasn’t even been with my cute daughter! Give me a break.”
“Okay! Okay!” Wendy grinned, rubbing her shoulder. “Let’s get over there before they really start crying.”
Nari was the one to spin the magic, teleporting Wendy and her to the doorstep, and one knock later, they were staring into the girls’ powdered white faces, watering eyes pleading for help.
“Mom!”
“Oh? Seems we got here just in time,” Sora said, smile softening. “Want help with breakfast?”
“Yes! Please! Auntie Wendy, too?”
“Yup! Want to make scones?”
The girls’ eyes widened in wonder, and Rayla nodded frantically as her tail started to wag.
“Yeah! T-That’s what we were trying to make?”
“How did you know, Mom?” Emilia asked, directing her dubious stare at Sora despite Wendy making the comment.
Vix-chu floated into Wendy’s welcoming arms. “Chu!”
Giving the fox a side-long look, Sora was more than prepared for that question as her attention went back to her daughter, and she leaned forward, slid a finger down her cheek, and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm. Powder sugar! Hehe. Not hard to guess, Sweetie; I know how much you love the buttery, fluffy goodness that is the all-powerful scone!”
Doubt vanishing in an instant, Emilia’s own tails began to weave in excitement. “Mhm! Will you show me how to do it this time?”
“We’ll do it together!”
“Wooh!”
Heading inside, she spent the morning helping the pre-teens learn the fairly simple process of making their new favorite breakfast before heading to the training room to further support Wendy; they had a long week ahead of them, and if she hadn’t heard from Kari in a few days, she’d have to drop in to see what was up, because she was starting to get worried.
