Sora hid the anger raging in her breast as Kari laughed off the group’s concern; fuming, she allowed her aunt to take her to see Emilia, currently located in some magical forest on the green planet. To make matters worse, her aunts were set to leave tonight.

Emilia squealed as they appeared out of nowhere, dropping the several balls of floating liquid White was having her make complex designs out of, practicing her weave quality while multitasking.

“Auntie Kari! W-Why are you wearing a blanket?”

Kari looked down at the Null-Void article Sora had crafted, pulled around under her arms and tucked into the side to act as a sort of dress. “Heh-he—well, I kind of left the clothes you made me above ground… before I destroyed the whole planet! My bad!”

“Woah!” Emilia’s ears peeled back with her widening eyes. “The whole planet?!”

“It was a super planet, too! Waaay bigger than this.”

“No way. You’re so strong! I can’t do that.”

“Hehe. Maybe if you study hard, you’ll surprise yourself because I’m pretty sure your mom could eat a planet or two. Am I right?”

Wendy forced a laugh. “Eh, yeah—maybe, but I’d definitely throw up.”

Sora’s arms crossed under her bust. “I haven’t tried to destroy a planet yet—when would I actually use an attack like that when it would kill, uh, everything?”

Emilia seemed to catch onto her mood, inching closer to Seiōbo. “Psst—why’s Mom pissed?”

“Haaa. Because your Auntie Kari did something stupid.”

“Oh.”

Kari snickered, making Sora’s agitation double. “It’s fine, Emi. No need to worry about me; I’m invincible, remember?!”

“Mhm! Umm. You’re okay, though? You haven’t been coming by to eat, so…”

“Totally!”

Totally not! Sora internally huffed but could understand why Kari was downplaying it; then again, she’d been downplaying it before they even got here, and she had to wonder if that was a part of her setting her Shadow free.

She caught White’s expression as he studied the black-maned wolf, likely understanding the issue at a glance.

On the other hand, Tola appeared to be having a bit of trouble keeping her eyes away from the male Vulpes’ open, v-shaped kimono—his skin almost tantalizingly exposed—the struggling woman still had nearly seven weeks to go before she’d win their bet.

Rayla and Luna were both struggling to keep their two—far smaller—magical weaves in the air, refusing to be the first sister to let theirs drop; Emilia seemed to have a driving effect on the twins to push beyond their limits.

Sora remained to the side as her daughter excitedly presented Vix-chu, annoying Sora even more with his adorable chirp at Kari’s cooing; if it wasn’t enough, he gave Sora a wave from the wolf girl’s shoulder that said: I’m cuter in every way!

Emilia soon pivoted to how she wanted to set up another baking competition at their home—with herself as the judge—challenging Kari by saying Wendy was really good at making cookies with her tutelage, which was more of the reverse, but Sora couldn’t enjoy the conversation.

You’re so stubborn! Sora internally roared, berating the wolf in her head to ease the tension in her tight chest. I thought you were over this whole ‘lone wolf’ thing and that we could all grow closer as friends, but you’re cutting everyone out! Why are you so stupid?!

Who up and tells their evil side that they can have the run of the house and doesn’t think they’ll try to burn it down? No. Kari knew what her Shadow would do—that’s the point of why she did it—stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She didn’t know why her nose burned and couldn’t explain the weight against her heart at first, but as Kari laughed with Emilia and clapped at the girl’s excitement of showing off her new skills it became clearer.

You’re not alone anymore, Kari, but after everything—all the shit we’ve been through… You could have turned back into the old Kari or… become even worse than Lori. What would I have done, then? How could I tell Emilia the big strong Auntie Wolf she looked up to would have killed her.

Sora had met the weaker, shallower version of her Shadow, which had been terrifying enough, but allowing the entire thing to roam free to enact the darkest intents of her heart?

Kari… Are you even aware of what you could have done? You can’t have. How could you laugh like this when you could become even worse than your… can still become worse than your uncles?

Nari performed her magic again to allow Kari to introduce Alva to Emilia, who was as enchanted as Wendy had been. Naturally, the little girl took up every second she could squeeze out of the people she wanted to be around, but eventually, White cleared his throat to gain her attention.

“It is wonderful that your Auntie Kari will be around more, yet we are still in class, Emilia, and we have much to refine before our six-month time limit is reached.”

Emilia glared at the white-furred Kitsune, ears pulling back with a slight twitch to the left one that typically happened when she was annoyed. “That’s not set in stone, White! Who knows what will happen—lots of stuff happens—we could live here forever; you don’t know!”

Everyone chuckled, and Sora knew she had her hands full in the coming months.

Seiōbo floated in to pick Emilia up, surprising the girl as her tails went stiff to look down at the beautiful, black-haired woman.

“Why don’t we plan on a bake-off tonight, Dear? You can be the judge of our little contest, and you’ll be able to select the treat.”

“Really, Aunt Bobo?!”

“Mhm!”

“But… do you really have to go tonight?”

“Haaa. Unfortunately. We must continue our path through your mother’s life; there is still much your Aunt Nari and I have to learn.”

The blonde shimmered out of nowhere beside her sister to whisk Emilia away, spinning in a quick circle. “And… we can return with all sorts of unusual goodies we can figure out to make together!”

“Yeah! Will you bring a sweets cookbook with you—a cool one that is easy to understand—so Rayla and Luna and I can try something on our own?”

“Naturally! I’ll find a really good one—oh, I think Sora is about to go on a trip to France with your grandfather soon. We could pick up something from there!”

“Yes!”

Setting her down, Nari winked and waved while preparing a weave to transport them across the planets to their home. “As Sensei Bobo says, studying hard always makes the sweets taste better!”

“We’ll study super hard!”

Her daughter’s shining grin and the mystical forest around them were replaced by the magically expanded kitchen, and Sora shifted to shoot a dirty look at the wolf, summoning a staple blue dress and underwear with Kari’s proportions out of Null-Void to toss the girl; she’d grown in a few areas in the months they’d been apart.

“Humph. Could you be a little more worried?”

Snatching them out of the air, Kari sighed and went to the next room to change; Sora could tell Wendy was a bit uncomfortable by the tension as Nari and Seiōbo sat at the bar to observe.

“Thanks… Look, haaa, Sora, I get what I did wasn’t the smartest thing, but I did it—it’s over—I mostly won, and now I’ve gotta drop my pride or whatever and get some help.”

Sora rolled her eyes while leaning against the counter. “You seriously don’t know how bad you messed up. How often have you met your Shadow?”

“Way to show your frustration, giving me a dress, and I met a portion of her, I think…”

“No! See. You don’t know anything about that stuff,” Sora growled, tails flicking to the left, “and I could have just stripped you naked by dispersing the blanket. So, a thank you would be appreciated.”

“I did say thank you.”

“You could say it again! Gah. Why are you so… so frustrating sometimes? You get depressed about stupid things you shouldn’t blame yourself for and do stupid shit you should feel bad about but just brush it off like nothing.”

Kari came back into view, sliding the blue dress over her head and flipping out her mane of black locks before plucking at the back to poke her tail through the hidden exit, zipping down the free area to allow wiggle room.

“I don’t know. I’m just not all that bothered about much right now—I succeeded; my dad’s side is unlocked. Sure, there were some risks and speed bumps, but I’m—getting help…” she redirected, spotting Sora’s lifted eyebrow.

“You were going to say fine.”

“Can we stop?” Kari grumbled, amber irises shifting to the others while scratching the base of her tail. “Shouldn’t we be talking about how I can lock my Shadow up again?”

Sora’s jaw locked for a second, biting back another comment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Your attitude could be a direct result of freeing your Shadow; you’re supposed to be ‘Balance,’ but you let go of the chains. Aunt Seiōbo, Alva?”

She looked at the pair for support, silently observing their back and forth as Wendy awkwardly got out the supplies to cook breakfast burritos.

Alva’s swaying gray tail slowed. “You are not wrong, Sora. You could say the fractures in the collar around your Shadow’s collar are allowing her to affect your personality, Kari.”

“Okay?” Kari shrugged. “So, what do we do about it? I beat her and threw the collar back on. What next?”

A stream of hot air puffed through her nose, and Sora threw up her hands. “Fine. You guys explain it; I can’t deal with her right now.”

Kari’s mouth fell into a frown while hugging her sides in a lax posture. “Really? I’m cooperating, Sora. Chill.”

“How can I chill—how can you?! You nearly went mad, potentially killing everyone you know, including Emi—or forcing us to kill you—before you moved onto the whole planet, or did we forget you’re planet buster-level now?!”

She pointed an accusatory finger at her incredibly idiotic friend. “You could have showed up and stabbed us in the back and we wouldn’t have even known why or what the hell happened to you?! You just—just up and changed on the drop of a dime because your Shadow took over?”

Sora’s chest heaved with the unbridled rage filling it as she continued her rant. “Ugh… After all this—everything—I hoped you’d realize how stupid you were and be sorry for it… I just didn’t want you to sink into your typical self-destructive depression—like you usually do—but not this… this ‘shrug your shoulders, meh, Kari,’ you are now.”

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Kari lifted her hands to present herself. “But, heh, I didn’t. Look—I’m not jumping at your throat after you keep yelling at me. I get it; it could have been bad—it’s not—are we done? Can we figure out how to repair this collar thing?”

Sora waved her hand for Alva and her aunts to go on; Kari was basically standing in front of a broken wall with a city burning behind it, tape over the crack in the wall, pretending everything was completely fixed, and she now realizing how pointless it was trying to get through the wolf’s thick skull.

“You’re hopeless, and you didn’t trust me at all to help you with awakening your father’s side!” she shot back, looking to Kari’s mother for support. “I don’t know what I should expect!”

“Uh… probably that I could handle it? I did,” the stubborn Wolf returned.

Nari’s soft voice entered her mind as Alva and Seiōbo began explaining the precise thing she’d done to set a foundation for how to address it.

“Don’t be too harsh on her, Sora; in a way, Kari’s a lot like me—well, heh, kind of.”

Shifting to look at her golden-eyed aunt, supporting her head with the back of both hands, Sora sighed and went to help Wendy so she wouldn’t feel so isolated. How? She’s beyond brain dead if she thinks she’s okay!

“Mmh. Well, I suppose she’s kind of like Bobo and me. Hehe. Oh, even your mother!”

Sora gave her a side-long look. Okay, now I’m lost.

“It just takes me back. Ine was always the responsible one—the golden child—even if I’m so much prettier!”

Quit joking around.

“Half-joking, tee-hee! Anyway. Kari’s had a rough time fitting in like Bobo—at least from what I know about her life—and she has that brooding, ‘I’ll do it myself’ mentality.”

How’s that like my mom or you? Sora grunted, appraising the casual wolf as she leaned against the wall, listening to her mother. Kari’s not a super-outgoing cheerleader.

“Pfft-hehehe!” Her aunt doubled over, causing Kari and Wendy to give her a questioning look, but she ignored them. “If you’re talking about me, all I cheered on was myself before all of this, but Bobo’s told me stories about how shy I got for a bit in my second century. As for your mother…”

Nari’s mischievous lips lifted as she looked back in time, drawing Sora’s curiosity.

What about my mom? I know she was a bit of a hothead.

“Hothead? Ha! Mia was downright suicidal!”

Wha—?

“Yeah! She was a real ‘bad girl,’ hehe. Got scolded more than once by our mother for her own reckless behaviors… like me, playing tricks on Gloria because I was jealous of how pretty she was—well, is—stupid fairy, and I know you can hear me!”

Sora couldn’t help a chuckle at her skyward, internal shout.

“Huu-haaa. Mia was a real headcase, I tell you; there wasn’t a year that went by that she hadn’t tried to implode her spirit or scorch it from the inside or punch herself in the face—yeah, she totally did that once!” Nari repeated at Sora’s skeptical stare.

“One time, I saw her come home with a bloody lip, and… Wait, maybe she was fighting one of the other Founders and lied to me—I can’t believe I fell for that… Yeah, fine, I guess I was a bit naive at times, stupid Mia.”

Sora’s stomach shook with silent laughter. What does any of this have to do with Kari?

“Oh. It doesn’t,” her aunt shrugged and giggled. “I just wanted to see you laugh again. Mad at me?” she asked, throwing out a cute wink and silly grin.

You’re unbelievable!

“Right! Mia-hahaha! Aren’t I eeevil?”

I’m not my daughter.

“Not that big of an age difference to me,” she added. “Hehe. You’re a young, lil’ pup for a mom!”

Haaa. True that. I guess Aunt Inari thought I’d need to mature fast if I was going to handle all this stuff—and have someone I’d prioritize more than others—ugh, yeah, I had that self-sacrificing phase.

“Feeling better?”

Heh. Unfortunately. You’re infectious.

“Total victory!” she snickered, holding up a V-sign. “Do you think Emi will be okay?”

Sora’s mind was instantly pulled away from anything dealing with Kari to ponder her little, ginger tail. With you guys leaving tonight? Well, she got you to stay at least another week longer than you were going to, so I don’t think she’ll complain too much.

A sly grin touched her lips. Hehe. Eat your heart out, Vix-chu; I bet Emi’s gonna be sleeping with me tonight!

“Haha. What is with you and the venom toward that little fox pup?”

He’s totally out to steal Emi from me! It’s a zero-sum game, Aunt Nari—total warfare! Emi only has so much love she can give in a day, and he’s trying to steal all my cute time with her; he’s a villain that has everyone wrapped around his bushy tails!

“Ooh! I didn’t realize things were so diabolical! The true villain emerges, huh? You can’t do anything about it, too! Genius! Wait… Does that mean Wendy is the true villain!?”

Huh?

Sora’s mouth parted as her head snapped to Wendy, silently working the pan with seasoned eggs.

“Hmm? What’s up?” she whispered.

“No… It’s nothing…”

Wendy did make Vix-chu as a gift to Emi…

“A bribe? A sleeper agent! She’s been highjacked by your father’s alien Null-Void race—oooh, sent to abduct Princess Emi to marry the immortal Null-Void God! The fiend; she’s just a child! Shi-shi-shi.”

You’re… putting weird thoughts in my head, Aunt Nari.

“Sorry! Sorry! Haha. I get a little carried away sometimes. I like to annoy Bobo with stories like this as we follow your life; she doesn’t want to be spoiled on some parts, so I get to weave in little details that make her start to question if I’m playing with her or not. It’s really entertaining!”

Hehe. It does sound like something you’d do.

“Right! I’m an amazing little sister—the youngest now—mia-haha!”

Sora shook her head and chuckled; Nari did have a way of lightening things up, and the tension in her chest had eased.

Noticing Wendy’s drawn-in eyebrows, tight lips, and agitated tail, Sora scooted over to nudge her side. “Sorry if I made you think I’m mad at you; I was just having a fun conversation with Aunt Nari.”

“Privately, huh? Heh. I was just confused why you gave me that look, like… I don’t know—I was the bad guy or something.”

“Vix-chu is the real villain,” Sora half-playfully mused.

“Huh? What’d Vixxy do?”

“Vixxy? How many nicknames does one fox need?” Sora growled, suddenly feeling like an angry old woman. “Ugh… He steals all of Emi’s attention from me.”

Wendy giggled, probably thinking she was joking. “He is a little cuddle bug, and he always positions his tails and fur to be Emi’s pillow and blanket. He’s so cute, and you should see his little yawn in the morning—so adorable!”

Vix-chu… I’m not gonna lose this war, even if no one can see your subtle plot; I know you’re trying to steal Emi from me! You have everyone fooled but me!

“I’m sure…”

Sora shifted her gaze to Kari; Seiōbo was now listening intently to Alva with more intensity than the wolf’s daughter, and she could guess why.

What’s gonna happen when you finally confront your Shadow?

From what she’d heard of the background lecture, Sora had only scratched the surface of compromising with the more positive side of her Shadow, while Kari had set the whole thing free to do as it pleased.

Shadows were the unfiltered, carnal beast within a person, drawing out all their desires while crushing any semblance of fear—the only fear being constraint—and that was the root push of all chaos.

In contrast, Persona’s greatest fear was entropy, or what its antithesis brought, and it would always lose to the indomitable force of the baser-self without Balance’s guardianship.

The collateral damage caused by Kari’s Shadow had been the near destruction of the foundation the wolf girl had built her societal life around or the cultural framework that embodied her Persona, revealing a more open and honest Kari, which made Sora nervous.

One’s Persona sets an acceptable social boundary of rules to act by to coincide with the framework of one’s environment, but when that was stripped away, it showed the character that hid underneath.

Sora hadn’t conceptualized it to that extent, but it made sense, and that meant that this Kari was more of what her ‘base’ was or how she actually thought and felt. The issue with the lack of boundaries came from the ability for Shadow to push her base into the subterranean levels of her darker desires.

It was chilling to see Kari’s nonchalant attitude toward being told her Persona had more or less been mostly ravaged in the fight, even if she thought she was keeping that part of her safe.

There were two methods Shadow could use to obtain dominance, eat the Persona—which Balance fused with, making it an incredibly challenging meal—or take the long route and decimate the foundation in their Core, which she’d accomplished to a great extent in those eight months.

The scale of power had begun to shift with the fractured Persona, and, knowing she couldn’t totally win after the unsealing allowed Balance to gain the upper hand, she snatched that side of Kari away as she threw the collar back on.

If Kari wanted to use her father’s side, she’d have to tilt the scale in her direction again, giving her the power to gnaw at her bindings.

Alva breathed out a heavy stream of air as everyone else silently ate their burritos. “In a way, it emulates your grandfather’s tale with Gleipnir; your beast is growing stronger because you allowed it to feast on everything you’ve built, and now it is biding its time.”

“So, I just need to tip the scales the opposite way. Right?”

“Do you know how to do that?” Seiōbo sighed.

“I’m guessing you’re about to tell me,” Kari laughed. “I got that Persona is basically the collar—the order, if you want to call it that—around Shadow’s throat, and bringing her up again will let her get right back to destroying that city inside my Core. I can guess what I need to do.”

Wendy leaned forward, finishing her twelfth item faster than Kari could eat her fifth, showing she was still growing after her change. “Build the city again? I’m gonna make another, Sora… Wow, I feel fat.”

“Heh. Clean out the kitchen while you’re at it. Haha. I’m joking,” she laughed at the dirty look the bushy, brown-furred Vulpes gave her. “How does she build it back?”

Alva hummed, pulling their focus. “Daughter, you first need to rest—no training or fighting.”

“Ugh.” Kari’s fingers slid through her hair as she shook it out, glaring at the wall. “Is there any other way to speed it up; can Seiōbo or Nari just heal me like Sora used to do to people?”

“It’s… more complicated than that,” her four-tailed aunt mused, wearing a thoughtful smirk as she crossed her legs to straighten her dress.

“Hah. Isn’t it always.”

“Well, hmm, I could restore your spiritual levels with a snap of my fingers, cleansing the Yin from your system and restoring you to relative balance, but that would be nothing but a bandaid over a mortal wound. You do realize a strong, assertive structure is within the Yang—or Persona—and is one of the last fragmentations of it left within you.”

“Seiōbo is correct,” her mother warned. “Chaos is recessive by nature and uses the assertive element of the Persona’s structure to channel its rage, which is a part of the white in the black within the symbol of Yin and Yang. You must invoke the rebirth process inside of the chaos to redefine what you value, and that is what your Yang does; it sets a system of value.”

“Okay! Can we get rid of all the fancy talking and just get to what I need to do?” Kari growled. “Do I need to meditate or something?”

Sora sat back, setting her half-eaten second burrito on her plate and looking out the window at the bustling street. “I think… you need to interact with people… Rebuild that social structural boundary. Right?”

“You were listening,” Alva chimed, directing a bright smile in her direction. “Yes. There will be moments where Kari’s Shadow will seek to rise to the surface and stress her chain; the more my daughter positively connects with others, the further this city of hers will start to restructure. One requires the help of their peers and to be socially challenged in order to develop boundaries.”

Nose twisting with disdain, Kari hissed out her annoyance. “That sounds… exhausting. Can’t I just do the whole inner meditation thing and talk to people in my past or something?”

“It wouldn’t have near the same effect as brushing up against real people whose spirits then generate an imprint on you,” Seiōbo explained. “Think of it as… providing sound construction material to the potentially faulty ones of your past interpretations of such materials that have been warped over time and interpretation.”

Sora couldn’t help but grin at the diagnosis, which was better than she thought. “Ho-ho! So… you get to go on a traveling mission to meet all sorts of different Vulpes and help build the Realm. I’ll be sure to make time with Wendy, Emi, and Mofupsi to join you! Won’t this be fun?”

Wendy and Kari had the exact same dull reaction, looking at each other.

“Yay… Community service.”

“Yup! This will be great!” Sora chimed.

She took their Friday training day off to walk around town with Kari and Wendy; her aunts went to explore something after the conversation, and Sora figured it was something to do with Seiōbo’s own trial ahead.

Eventually, it dawned on Sora that her aunts had been bolstering their own Persona by bringing it in line with her; Seiōbo was engaging in the same thing Kari was tasked to do.

Kari was a bit of a grump at the start but soon warmed up to the experience of just hanging out; she wouldn’t let it pass that she’d beaten Sora in destroying a planet, showing how much she cared about keeping up with her, and Sora began to realize Kari’s own fears about being left behind were similar to Wendy, and maybe Nari, as well.

She’d been so preoccupied with her own progress and Emilia that she hadn’t taken into consideration those close to her who were struggling in their own unique ways, dealing with their inner challenges on their own path, and how she wouldn’t be who she was without going through the highs and lows.

By the time Emilia returned from school, the heat Sora felt toward Kari had tempered; she’d been stupid beyond relief, and there was nothing to be said otherwise, but she could understand why she did it now.

I guess I just need to support her and not belittle her anymore. I made my point.

Sora glanced at her friend and smiled before sliding over on the couch to hug her.

“Huh—what’s up?” Kari mumbled as Emilia ran through the front door.

“Bake-off weekend!”

Shaking her head, Sora pulled back and giggled. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”