In the endless Oblivion, an entity wandered about.

Without corporeal or ethereal form, it drifted through the vast expanse. It was unable to interact with anything. Unable to feel anything. Unable to think beyond the only thing it knew.

This was death.

No.

This was nothingness.

It was nothing.

Only nothing.

Until something pulled upon it. Unresisting, the entity was dragged.

Eyes fluttered open almost violently as she sat up.

“Guh!” She breathed heavily, looking down at her caramel hands, the slender digits flexing as they reached up to touch her face, then her hair.

She looked up, and spoke the words that came to her, though she knew not where she learned of them and their meaning.

“Where…Who…am I…?” As soon as the words left her lips in a croaky voice, pain like needles piercing through skin attacked her mind.

She cringed as a flood of memories, or rather ‘thoughts’ and ‘feelings’ flooded her Soul. She could not stop it, even as her brain was scattered to the wind in a thousand broken pieces.

*BLEGH*

Something came up from her stomach. Something that burned her throat and smelled like the backside of a Reekolg. Wait, how did she know that expression? What was a Reekolg? What even was a backside?

Another flood.

*Blegh*

Another load of puke onto the soft ground. Fortunately, it seemed that her stomach possessed little, managing to get away with only a small puddle beneath her and spittle she promptly wiped from her mouth.

Panting again as she tried to steady herself, a cylindrical object suddenly came into view, offered by a hand that seemed familiar, yet foreign. Raising her head with trepidation, she found herself gazing into twin orbs of fire. They pierced her like a lance, yet possessed such warmth to them that she found herself calm at the sight of them.

“Drink this.” A voice low and stoic said, belonging to the amber-eyed man before her.

Before she even knew what she was doing, cool fluids were flowing down her throat. It quenched the thirst she had not known she had, and cleansed her of the burning sensation from her regurgitation. Draining the…bottle, she let out a relieved sigh.

The flood of information had stopped a short while ago, and now she began to sift through the knowledge she possessed.

…

“Saskia…” The word rolled off her tongue, at first with a slight accent but then straightened out. She looked at the man who sat in front of her. “That’s...my name?”

“We technically didn’t decide yet.” The human pointed to the figure lying in his lap. “But if that’s what you choose, we won’t be opposed to it.

Snow white hair and porcelain skin complimented a mesmerising face, a contrast to the light tan and dark hair the man possessed. That said, she knew the woman and man without a shred of doubt in her heart.

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“Lavenna…Zexus…” Saskia eyed her parents, or was the more appropriate word ‘donors’? Regardless, she was a product of their union, or at least that of their mana.

She was a Kitsune.

Looking down at herself, her bushy tail of raven-black fur whipped around to her front. Saskia prodded her limb, testing it before reaching up to flick the two triangular ears sitting atop her head.

A giggle escaped her lips, that of childish glee.

“This feels…nice.” Saskia noted, scratching the back of her own ears. It tickled, but was also comforting. That however, only remained true for a short while, causing her to pout.

Once again, she turned to Zexus.

The two exchanged looks, him curious and questioning, and her contemplative. After a moment, she scooted over to him, crawling on all fours until she sat next to him. Like the ashen Kitsune, she too dropped her head into his lap.

“Can you…?” Saskia felt her cheeks flush, unable to get the words out.

Thankfully, the man seemed to know what she wanted, as his hands quickly found their place behind her ears. Relaxing into what felt like the warmth of a fireplace, the Sorkosi found herself purring as she once again drifted off to sleep.

“Mm…” Lavenna groaned as she stirred from her slumber. Tired, exhausted, perhaps one foot in the grave, she wanted nothing more than to go back to the comforting darkness. To sleep it off until a monster or other forced her to wake up. As luck would have it, there did seem to be a monster tightening their hold over her body.

“Hm?”

Stiff all over, the Kitsune tried to move her limbs, but found that her shoulders and biceps were locked firmly. Eyes opening, Lavenna looked to see just what exactly was binding her.

…

“Eh?”

Laid out in the capsule, a figure of dark hair with white and gold highlights hugged her tightly. It was to the point of being suffocating, but that was not Lavenna focused on. Instead, her attention was entirely devoted to the figure’s ears. Two tails were also laid out across her stomach. However, as opposed to before, there was now one white and one black tail.

“So it worked…?” Lavenna asked, more to herself than anyone else.

An answer came nonetheless.

“It seems so. Saskia is her name, apparently.” The voice of Zexus said from her right.

Her head swivelled in his direction, and found the man resting against the side of the capsule. He had his back to her, but she could immediately tell that he was on the brink of collapse.

“Are you okay?” Lavenna asked, her voice more concerned than she would have liked to sound. She cared a lot for him, but he did not need to hear it from her.

“Just tired. It’s been four hours since the transfer.” Zexus pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded at Saskia. “She was up for about five minutes after it happened. I gave her water, and she fell asleep again.”

“I can feel that.” The ashen Kitsune rolled her eyes and smiled. “Is she okay?”

Her husband nodded. “Yes. She’s stable. Surprisingly so, in fact.”

“That’s good.” Lavenna sighed, managing to snake out one of her arms. She held it over Saskia’s head, and patted the Sorkosi softly. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll keep watch.”

Her Bonded did not argue.

*Click*

Zexus awoke not to the everpresent noise in his head, but to the sound of laughs and giggles. He arose, his joints creaking and cracking with every movement.

“Shouldn’t have slept in a sitting position.” He rolled his shoulders as his eyes adjusted and his blurred vision cleared.

Lavenna and Saskia were still on the capsule he rested against, now sitting with their legs dangling over the edge rather than how he had laid them down. The two seemed to be in high spirits. More specifically, the younger Kitsune seemed very joyful, like a child without a worry in the world which, in a way, made sense.

“Morning Z. Wait, actually, it’s like…midnight.” Lavenna greeted him, a cheerful grin adorning her beautiful face. “Feeling well rested?”

“Somewhat. I’m not tired, at least.” He replied.

“You seem slow.” Saskia blurted out, a raised brow. “Are you pent up?”

…

“Can we refund this?” Zexus pointed at the innocent-looking Sorkosi fox.

“It’s not a shop.” Lavenna replied, deadpanned.

“She reads me too well.”

“That’s because she’s like…the two of us put together and then some. Plus the link.”

Zexus frowned. “I thought she’d be a separate entity.”

“Kinda…?” Lavenna held a finger to her cheek. “She’s my clone, but mixed in with some other mumbo jumbo.”

…

“I am right here, you know?” Saskia said after a moment of awkward silence. The young Kitsune glanced between her two progenitors.

“What do you think of us? Who are we to you?” Zexus asked, his mind still half-asleep and thus unable to find a better way to word his question.

The Sorkosi did not seem to mind, however. Her long brows creased as she pointed at Lavenna first. “Me. I mean…I guess…we’re the same person, just different paths.”

She pointed at Zexus, her expression becoming slightly more complicated as she tried to identify her emotions. “Um…you’re more…I don’t know? Husband…?”

Another moment of silence dawned upon the trio.

“Return.”

“Why?! If anything, you should be pretty happy about this, no?” Lavenna pointed an accusatory finger at him. “This is like every man’s dream, right?”

Zexus folded his arms, his gaze hardening as he looked down at the two women. “I’m no weak man.”

The ashen Kitsune quivered. “It’s not about being weak… I mean, uh…”

She turned to Saskia. “Help me out here?”

“It’s a free pass, forever.” The dark Kitsune said, confident.

…

“Do you even know what that means?” Zexus was skeptical.

“Obviously. It means you pretty much got two for the price of one.” Saskia smirked, pulling Lavenna over with an arm around the latter’s shoulder. “You should be very happy.”

Zexus sighed, sounding as exasperated as he possibly could.

“Stop pretending to be so disappointed, jerk!” His wife smacked him.

Saskia, on the other hand, seemed quite amused and playful. “Well, I guess we should change his mind.”

…

“Return.”